Lester: Most Critical Self-Sufficiency Skills

More On Water:

Conserve what you have and keep some in storage. Unless you live within walking distance from a lake or river, a couple hundred gallons is a minimum goal. An above ground swimming pool or cistern is a great resource to have. Rain barrels to catch roof run-off and a gutter system to direct it is also a great resource. Really need a variety of filters and capture mechanisms. Might want to rig Solar-Stills to allow sunlight to produce condensation distilled water for you.

REI sells the Katadyn Expedition filter unit for about $200.
This is a 3gal gravity feed distiller with 3 cerramic candle filters that will last forever if you don't task them with handling dirty water. Three gallons of raw water is poured into the top reservoir over a span of about 24hrs, the "candles" filter and move the water to a holding tank with tap below. The unit nests and does not seep water when full.
VERY RECOMMENDED! Filters are easy to clean and long-lasting. Just don't let wet filters freeze!

MSR Waterworks is my choice for personal filter. Repair and replacement parts are available at almost every backpacking store and are cheap. The filter threads onto a Nalgene bottle or other repository like an MSR Dromedary bladder bag. Might fit the Camelback, I've never checked. Nice to know your water can't be contaminatated while pumping or by some hose that isn't clean. Pump mechanism is easier to handle than the Katadyn hand held units. Sweetwater and others may also work. One improvisation is to use as much pre-filtering on the intake hose as you can. The less crap your filter ever has to work, the longer it will last...

Food:
Need to have long-lasting food reserves, organic whole-grains, and ability to garden, sprout, can and preserve what you harvest, forage, grow, and kill.

Rodale's Organic Gardening magazine, especially the old, small-size issues are worth consulting. Fukuokas Japanese gardening book and resources on French Intensive Gardening Methods are worth owning. You need to know how to make your own Compost Tea, cures for pest infestations, and how to make soil enhancements. Drip irrigation is vital for hot climates. Heirloom seeds, or even buying organic beans and whole grains are the best to grow food. You'll have what you have...

Gotta have a dependable cooking facility and sink for food processing. Maybe set up a nice cleaning station outside between garden area and back door? Anything not used gets composted or used to trap varmints. You need a .22LR or pellet gun to kill birds or varmints that get into your garden, or attack your chickens. Yo do want eggs and meat? Probably want to raise a hutch of rabbits also because earthworms thrive in their droppings and earthworms will really make your soil fine...

Food to store...
Organic short-grain brown-rice,
Hard Red Winter Wheat, Golden Wheat for pastry,
Rolled Oats,
Corn and Popcorn,
various cooking oils,
Natural Peanut Butter (Adams), or organics
Honey, Organic Maple Syrup
Beans of all types
Legumes like split peas and lentils
Nuts,
Raisins, dates, prunes
Other dried fruit (make your own with a dehydrator)
Sugar also stores well
Canned foods especially meats and prepared beans
Canned Veges are great in stews or campfire potlucks.

Got a woodburning cookstove?
Me either.. Although can cook on a freestanding wood furnace or in the fireplace.

Live in a moderate clime? Look at how the settlers lived. A wood-fired stove/range in the house was a fire hazzard; still is. Solution was to have a "cook house" close enough to the house for practical use but without all the risk or expense. In modern times, something like a barbecuing shed. A place to get out of the rain, keep large briskets and other big cuts of meat. Sink or two for preparation and likely a massive firebox for slow-fire smoking with a couple of different smoke chambers. Or maybe you have a chuckwagon sort of barbecue cookoff rig? All set with one of those, except for a shed roofed place to setup and keep out of the elements.

Campfire cooking works too, but needs attention. Cast Iron cookware enables many options. Dutch-oven with integral feet and the rimmed lid with bail pickup is about as multi-purpose as cooking tools come. The lid has the rim to hold coals. You bury a batter or stew in coals and get oven-like cooking results. Turn the lid over and you have a concave frypan, cook eggs or anything pretty easy on the inverted lid. Just lay it on the coals or suspend over by setting up a few rocks for support. Be sure you also have a cast-iron skillet that the lid fits; just all that much more versatile if you can swap a lid between the two....

Barbecue rigs are okay, but most aren't very durable. Maybe you have a homemade brick barbecue pit? Easy to make with bricks an mortar, and very workable for many kinds of cooking. If you want fancy, route a flue pipe up the back and build an oven box of sheet steel adjacent or over the firebox. Can even put a thermometer and asbestos gasket on to be real fancy; but after a while you'll learn how to regulate your temperatures.

Just trust God

Have large pond. Check.

Have cistern with link to roof runoff. Check.

Small well with hand pump. Check.

I'm ready.

Cookbooks!
Better have lots. Always room for a new way of making your food taste better.

Got lots of bulk storage foodstuffs? Macrobiotic cookbooks can show you many recipes that will build your immune system and taste good. Eating should promote your health, not just fill your belly.

White rice is about king of the shit foods.
Nothing but starch. May as well cook up a box of Corn Starch for all the food value you get, which is to say; none!

Tasty stuff, but does nothing for you. Brown rice though has not been polished and so has all the nutrients that make it The Premier Super-Food. If you are going to pay money for something, may as well get nutrition from it. Organic products are worth the extra money, if you aren't limited in the funds dept...

Meat. Most Americans eat so much meat it promotes digestion problems, costs a lot of money and overtaxes kidneys and liver. Red meat is worst offender. Beef is typically overly treated with hormones in feed and other veterinary means. Couple of ounces per day is about all you "need". Try eating lesser quantities and in a while you'll find you don't miss it. One nice rib-eye steak will easily serve 4 adults if prepared thinly sliced in a stir-fry. Brown rice and beans form a complete protein, and promote all the health attributes you need.

Spices should not be overlooked.
We buy lots of canned tomatoes. The #10 cans are especially cost effective. Pasta stores great as do all spices. Thai and Italian cuisines are great for one pot dishes loaded with all sorts of foods. Brown rice works great in lieu of pasta. Noodles are great in everything from soup to salads. Easy to make at home, but cheap to buy initially.

Flour is not longlived for storing.
Buy wheatberries and other beans and grains; grind your own.
Hand grinding is slow. There are a couple decent, fast working, hand mills. We have a Corona, it ain't one of the fast ones; so we bought a Kel-Tec electric mill after using the Champion Juicer attachment which was okay, but messy. The Kel-Tec will grind a 5gal bucket full of flour (about 25lbs) in 25mins.

We make bread, pizza dough, and pastries using a couple bread machines to mix the dough. works great. For bread, we use bread pans. Buy 2 of the same machine at resales and you are set. Might look for a grain mill on ebay... Should probably be able to adapt a Corona or other hand mill to an electric motor using a pulley.

If God has not Led you to Know what is coming, then I discern you are a bit late to the "Trust God Completely" witness which I have given here for almost 7 years...

Yet, who Knows why God showed me and Made The Way for me and my family to be "out of the line of fire" and why HE Enabled us to have made many great preparations? Well, I understand the "why". The Why is because I surrendered unto HIS Will almost 27 years ago, and live In-HIS Accord.

Some people glibly reply "Trust God", yet in actuality they never have... I've always found Trusting HIM mean HE Provides The Way for our Deliverance, but we must live in confidence and take action...

Cooking with organic foods and preparing whole grain meals using less meat and especially red meat will greatly enhance the health of most Americans. If you have serious illness or know persons who have, Macrobiotics has a great legacy of promoting bodily self-healing.

You want your meals to do more than take away hunger pangs; you need to be healthy.

People who are sick often are not healthy, or their immune systems are compromised; about the same thing. Eating right will bring your body up to speed and enhance your immune system. Once begun, your main needs will be First Aid and maybe preventative treatments using self-directed Homeopathic Remedies, Naturopathy, and Herbs.

Homeopathy is proven and effective. Kent's Repertory and The Materia Medica are the primary references for treatment. Independent healthfood stores, or possibly a dispensing Homeopathic pharmacy if you live in a major metro area, will be your best source for remedies. Standard Homeopathic, Boiron, Dolisos are manufacturers of remedies.

Herbs and Naturopathy are a bit more of a craft than a learned skill of "taking the case" which defines the correct remedy diagnosis in Homeopathy. All are learned skills. Herbalism is our primary adjunct to Homeopathics. I endorse Prescription For Nutritional Healing by Balch & Balch as the finest handbook for self-directed health, along with Jethro Kloss' classic Back To Eden, and Earl Mindell's Vitamin Bible.

For First Aid you want Red Cross type references to burn, puncture, fractures, and other accidental trauma. First aid supplies especially a variety of gauze pads and SuperGlue in lieu of stitches for wounds that won't tear open.

Communication.

Worth have some way to listen to what's going on out there.
Probably a good idea to have walkie talkie CB and Family Radio freq units and to monitor the frequencies. Hear what is going on around you.

Best and most reliable radio format is AM upper/lower sideband. A used tabletop radio from Yaesu, Icom, or Drake will enable worldwide reception with correct antenna matching. Some areas of extreme longitude may not receive shortwave or AM signals very well, but any activity in their regions will be easily heard. Fact is, broadcasters "aim" their signal by antenna and site selection. With low population density from longitude 50 and onward, not many aim signals to those regions. Still skip and other conditions may make listening worthwhile...

A Drake R8 with its standard group of 4 filters and other extras included as standard make it the best buy of tabletop receivers. The radio can hook directly to a 12v battery for mobile or home AE power source, and the unit has 2 inputs for pl256 connector antennas as well as 100 memories. Later production units have even more features. Any decent tabletop of recent manufacture can be run by a laptop or other computer via serial port and software interface.

CB radio is great for mobile use and monitoring hiway conditions. 10 meter Amateur radio and marine band radios are in the same frequency range and may be modified to allow broadcast on CB as well. Lots of info on modding radios to open up their capabilities, just google it.

The best CB radios will have upper & lower sideband. Might look into running an amp with your CB. Trucker radio shops and truckstops often have this gear. You don't need a ham license to buy gear; only to use it. Once shtf, doubt there will be any FCC out taking names... Better to have and test, then put away til needed than never obtain again.

Lots of info on the internet about how to erect and assembly your own dipole and longline antennas.

Having radios is one thing, knowing how to best employ them another. An antenna can be routed inside you attic or under the eaves of a building. Electric powered amplified or Active Antennas work pretty well also.

Knowing where to listen is critical. A scanner function works very well. Drake R8 has one. Scanning FM radios work from 30mhz to 1200mhz; not all in all ranges. Yaesu FRG9000 is a great compact FM with USB/LSB functions plus many extras. Most military and police FM radios these days are trunking, which means they skip frequencies throughout use to make monitoring very difficult. I am not a scanner FM guy, so don't know; but newer radios are very complex to enable monitoring of trunked frequencies.

Monitoring Times published by Bob Grove of Grove Enterprises remains THE radio listeners magazine. Try their website and look for other frequency lists online. Buy an issue of MT to obtain their monthly frequency list and Utility and Military listening column discussions.

Probably want to listen for the SkyKing AirForce Emergency Action Messages EAM and the Navy communications. Grove also used to publish a Frequency Guide from 0-30,000HZ which had all federal and private services listed. I never heard any FBI or IRS transmissions, but they used to have networks and check-ins. FEMA also has a big network, heard them once or twice. The MARS networks used to be big, those were phone patches for soldiers etc run by Volunteer Hams. Often on the SAC/AirForce networks you can hear phone patch conversations.

Lots of info on the Ham Bands which go from 1800-27000 hz.
3700-4000 LSB, 5700-6000LSB, 7000-7300USB, 9200-9500USB, were most active with some also at 15000-15300, 17500-17800, and 20,200-22,500. 10meter ham band is very big for mobile and repeaters for all over the country, 25,500 to 26,000 right where the CB bands start and marine bands...

Got the comms thing handled, you think?

What about watching your area with visual?
Good Binoculars you can carry with at all times will be invaluable, as will be excellent binos made to be used for long durations, and also a quality 60mm objective spotting scope.

Might want something like a hunting blind, up in a tree to watch from. Maybe a platform to lay on your roof, where it won't damage your shingles or trap debris from trees. Anywhere you can get UP and get a clear look-out is important.

Ever gone out and looked over the approaches to your home or property? Might even move debris or drop a few trees to be sure the easy access routes are blocked. Cactus, thorns, hedges etc all are good barriers that deliver invaders in a route known to you and presumably well-defended... But if you can't see them first, you are disadvantaged.

Do you need small Zeiss or Leica binos to fit in your shirt pocket? No. I decided I didn't. But I do have a nice Olypus set that is about a cigarette pkg in size. No reason no to always have binos with you. Even the cheap bushnell or tasco work pretty decent. Keep you from walking into some shit you didn't know was there. Always be watchful and listen. Might want to have guinnea hens as they are better than peacocks for sounding an alarm. Small dog indoors will hear things rottweilers outdoors miss. You need all the edge you can get.

Best value in binoculars for continuous use I have seen are the Fujinon Mil-Spec 7x50mm the real military deal, about $200-250 in perfect condition. Heinsoldt surplus binos from the East German army are also very fine. Hard to go wrong with an older Zeiss armored pair in 8x30 or 7x45. Several hundred but worth it. I owned Steiner Mil/Marine 8x30s and they fogged. Maybe the 7x50 Commander is better?

Nice to have "the best" in spotting scopes; but unless you want to spend $2500 for ocular lens and scope body, buy Kowa, Pentax, or Fujinon; even a Bushnell Spacemaster is a fine optic. Not looking to DigiScope and publish, just want to identify and see good detail.

Haven't talked about rifles yet, but same way with scopes. Not much "need" to buy better than Sightron III, Leupold, Bushnell 4200, Burris, or maybe Falcon Menace & SWFA 10x. Can spend $4,000 pretty easy on "best glass" optics, but your scopesight is foremost a sight, not a spotting scope. Suvivalists aren't snipers. Might need to hit at longrange, but nobody pays your way. A Leupold, Sightron, or Bushnell 6.5-20x will enable all you can use, but for about $2500 less. $2500 buys a lot of organic food or handloading gear...

Food: How Much?

Need to have enough food in storage; not frozen, so that you can make meals your family will eat and halfway enjoy for at least a year. Got a big freezer full of goodies? Better have an inverter and battery with a solar panel or two to keep the compressor running for an hour or two every other day or so. The freezer needs to be located out of the sun, away from heat sources and wherever it will more likely stay coldest. Might cover it with blankets or other insulation. Minimize opening and run it only enough to keep everything marginally frozen, unless you have a good Alternative Energy system to depend on.

Hunting will be too dangerous to be an option. Need to be armed with a weapon that can take a large animal if one presents itself, but any hunting you do will best be served by Trapping. Silent, deadly, and traps work for you 24/7.

You need to have your food storage so you minimize your need to venture out during the shit in the fan stage or for the next year after things have calmed down. Probably not going to be "safe" out in the woods, unless you are really isolated.

Probably a good idea to build a makeshift greenhouse or elevated cold frame attached to Southerly facing wall of your house or barn, likely both. Gonna need to start seed under grow lights. Learning to sprout seeds for vegetable nutrition helps you learn to start plants. Mung beans, Alfalfa seed, and Wheatberries are great protein sources, especially when you grow Wheatgrass and juice it.

Bread dough with added nuts and bean flours makes highly nutritious and high protein breads. Probably could live on bread and sprouts alone, but you will have a varied diet that will enhance your health and trim your weight to balance. Powdered milk is very good product for storage, at least to make yogurt, cheese and cook with. Better to store Rice Milk and Almond Milk products. These last several years without souring in the waxed paper cartons.

Cereals like Bear-Mush, Oatmeal, Cracked Wheat, 7 grain etc, along with Grits are super for hot breakfast and are tasty when served with beans. Eggs store very well with minimal refrigeration. The 5doz packed deals for $8-$10 last 6mos or longer. Easy to eat lots of eggs and omelettes and not feel like your diet is suffering. Many sausages store well without refrigeration. Jerky does the same. Hormel bacon bits are very decent and store well.

Dehydrating vegetables like green beans, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, peas etc can all make a decent meal combined with rehydrated Jerky or canned meat and dehydrated or freeze dried mashed potatoes.

An Excelsior Dehydrator, 9 tray model is a must-have if you would make your own food storage. Fruit jerky, protein bars just about anything that needs a very low heat which few stoves can handle will be done right in an Excelsior. Jerky is made optimally at about 140F, other veges and fruits around 110F or lower. Can make yogurt in an Excelsior very easily. Just takes seeing the potentials.

Buy food on closeout or almost spoiled for cheap and then dehydrate it...

Food Preservation.

Virgin paint buckets, 5gal type with hammer-down gasket seal lids make great storage receptacles for grain, beans, legumes etc. Almost all are okay for foodstuffs w/o acid content. There is a number stamped into the bucket. #2 IIRC is the one which is NOT usable for food consumables. Best to avoid them unless you're sealing your food in other bags first.

5gal bucket, never used for any chemical or other non-food storage should be cleaned out with vinegar or bleach solution and dried. Gather your grain, plus a pillowcase and hammer and just before you intend to fill the buckets, get a 1# or larger brick of Carbon Dioxide "Dry Ice" from your grocer or source.

Layer-in grain to 1/3 deep in the bucket. Then wrap the CO2 brick in the pillowcase or other fabric and hammer it into smallish chips about the size of a half inch. Spread 5-8 chips across the top of the grain, doing all buckets you are filling at once, then fill next 1/3 and do another layer of chips, then fill to top and add last layer of CO2 chips and loosely fit bucket lid over top.

Buckets will hold about 35# of grain, beans etc; 25# of oats which are bulkier. After about 30min the CO2 will have gassified and permeated the bucket, then hammer down the lid firmly and label the bucket with date and contents. Best to put the maker or source of the grain and other info

25 and 50lb sacks of grain are available from Healthfood Stores. Worth spending $$ for Organics if you're buying from healthfood vendor. If buying non-Organic; try Feedstores, Farmer's Co-Op, and your County Agent to get names of farmers that will sell direct. You want Non-Treated grain for animal feed or human consumption if buying at Feedstore or Co-Op. Probably a good idea to buy Local Honey from these sources too. Honey needs no additional preparation for longterm storage.

Mason jars, gallon plastic jars, and salvaged food condiment buckets gotten from deli or other sandwich vendors etc will also work for smaller, pantry sized storage.

We have stored Organic Short-grained Brown Rice for over 10 years; eaten it and enjoyed the rice as much as any bought fresh when stored by the CO2 bucket method outlined above.

White rice has NO Nutrients.
Brown rice is a Super Food for nutrients and protein, combining with most beans to make a Complete Protein.

There is lots of BS out there about "brown rice goes rancid" when stored. Not something we encountered, ever. There is no reason to store or buy white rice. May as well store white flour, another really crappy food.


If you're gonna store food, look at the nutrition angle. May as well eat food that will Build Your Immune System and provide needed vitamins and nutrients. Might just get healthier by eating from your food storage, and what is wrong with that?/

Unless you are that dip-shit from GB yesterday who was going to take everything he wanted/needed from others.

Great Info, Thanks!

Survival Gizmos. Always attractive to those with more money than time, and those who trust the advertising they're exposed to.


Heirloom seeds, non-hybrids are undoubtedly worthwhile; but shop for them. Grain and beans are "seeds", buy organic and aside from soy beans, you can be sure they will sprout and likely produce yield that will sprout as well. Shop and save. Try your local Farmer's Co-Op and Feedstore. Feedstore will also sell chickens and chicks, and other poultry and rabbits. Chickens an Rabbits can be a great homestead source of meat, eggs and earthworms (live under the rabbits' cage).

Seeds aren't going to be your financial ruin or a major deal. Yet there are lots of gizmos touted which are just a rip-off.

Alex Jones promotes a machine that "makes water from air". Undoubtedly the machine works, but for $1500 and a total dependency upon 120v AC current and a steady supply of filter and reverse osmosis parts which must be changed out every couple months, the machine is impractical.

For about $200 REI Co-Op sells the Katadyn Expedition drip filter. This processed 3 gallons of water in about 20hrs and stores it in a reservoir with tap valve. No electricity and filter units last forever if they don't freeze while wet or full of water; being ceramic, they'll crack. The filter units are of the "candle" type and can be cleaned with a Scotch Brite green scrub pad. Ours has been in use almost 10yrs and shows no wear on the candles. We filter our well water and the candles only need cleaning about once a year... There are other more expensive candle filter units out there. No reason to spend more but that's your call.

Another BS item Jones touts is the "solar generator" a $1500 item that uses a solar panel to charge a battery which in turn powers an inverter. Jones says, "buy several and power your whole house"; except he don't tell you for $4500 you could really buy a real versatile setup...

We own solar panels, storage batteries and household inverters. There is no cheap way to obtain the ability to power your whole house. Costco sells a $250 kit with inverter battery and solar panel about the same as the Jones deal he says he believes in...

Got money? Read HomePower magazine and come to understand how much real solar panels that deliver 200 watts or more per hour cost, and how ineffective 12v DC power transmission is. Study up on how to intertie your solar and inverter with your powergrid and home breakerbox. Study on which inverters are built to last and how much capacity you need.

Blowing thousands on crap that don't work is a major problem for most people. Got plenty of money? If you buy shit and never test it or learn what your needs really are; all you are is a chump.

Don't be chumped.

Got a well for your water source?
Be sure your inverter can ACTUATE the well-motor and get that impeller spinning up to operating RPM before the controller box shuts it down for overheating... That is Real World Knowledge you must have.

Takes about 3-4x the current flowing capacity a heavy-duty motor is rated at to Actuate the Armature and develop operational RPM. This means if your well-pump or Ref/Freezer compressor needs 4000 watts to operate, you must be able to flow 12,000 watts or more for a minute or longer to get the motor at operational RPM. If your inverter won't flow the watts/amperage your machine won't work...

Takes a lot of solar panels to generate 1KW per hour. 24volt is about the minimum for effective distant location of panels from battery storage and inverter. 36 or 48 volt is better. The higher the voltage, the smaller gauge wire you can use to transmit current from panels to battery, and from battery to inverter. Takes two 12v rated panels to produce the same watts in 24 volt array.

Gonna just power a few gizmos and fluorescent lamps? Harbor Freight and Northern Tool among others sell cheap solar panels. Xantrex and other moderate priced inverters will work to produce 1,000 watt regular current with 2500 or more peak for 1 minute. Combine with a HD 12 volt trolling motor battery and you have a usable system for around $250. Tie in several panels and batteries in series and you have more capacity for storage and production of power.


If you have a home well system, you can't own too many pre-filtering units. WalMart sells Culligan plumb-in filters. If you can saw a plastic pipe and use pipe-glue you can install one of these. Water off first unless you have a valve for cut-off. Nice to be able to use cheap filters you can wash and clean like the fiberglass and rope spun filters costing a few bucks. If your water has odor, you need charcoal impregnated filters, not reusable but they do rid odors... About $15 for a housing and $5 for a couple cheap filters... Good value and quality.

Worth owning a good battery charger also. Get a 24v capacity if you are doing a 24v array.

Thank a bunch Lester!

Always there will be bullies.
If they come in uniform, with armor; not much you can do aside from not be there... ("Out of the line of fire", remember?)

Chinese peasants used to bury their excess food so they weren't ruined when warlords robbed them... Take the metal bucket bails (handle) off your Food Storage Bucket and no metal detector will detect your food.


Got guns?
Americans can own weapons.
As a Born-Again Christian, I was Led By God to buy weapons.


Women need a handgun they can carry and rely upon to stop an aggressor. Not some small .38 Special "Lady Smith" from S&W. It takes a .45 Automatic with 200gr bullet or a .44 Special with 200 grain bullet to "Stop" an aggressive man with one shot to the chest.

Kids need to be able to shoot also.

Not gonna be any hunting "out there", not unless your place is in densely remote wilderness. Like somewhere about 200 mi above Edmonton, Alberta or between Tok and Fairbanks Alaska... You can kill game animals with Defensive weapons, but can't defend yourself with hunting guns too reliably.

A .308win or .30-06 rifle with heavy bullet will kill bear, elk or moose. An AR-10 or M1a can produce aimed fire capable of hitting accurately at 300yds with great speed; and do so all day long. Those rifles are made to shoot extensively, whereas a hunting rifle barrel will burn its throat and rifling with continued fire once the barrel gets too hot to hold.

A .223 remington loaded with heavy bullets of 68/69 or 75/77 grains will also stop men at distance and take game animals. Not as reliable on the big game animals, but the rifle is easier to shoot precisely, at least an AR-15 is. Shoot a large animal in head or neck trying to destroy brain or spinal cord and it will die promptly.

A large bore handgun will also take game. .45 auto isn't as capable as a .44 Special, but within 25 or 50 yards it will fire very accurately and hit hard. If a deer wanders into range, you have it for dinner if you do your part in the shooting dept.

The .45acp in Colt 1911 (Colt .45 automatic), or Glock type is THE BEST defensive weapon you can own. Might want a .40 caliber instead of a .45, but either one will work. If going .40 caliber (10mm) I favor the 10mm Auto cartridge although it is a bit harder to control than the .45acp. I don't own anything smaller than a .45acp for defense.

If you had to buy just one rifle, but were limited on funds, which way would you go? I was thinking .30-06 but was not aware of what you were saying about the overheating of the barrel from repeated firing. I don't have $1500+ to put into a AR-10/15 or M1A....is the .223 the way to go maybe?

Owning guns without owning the means to load ammunition, or reload your empty cartridge cases is just stupid.

Lee Engineering has made handloading and reloading affordable for many years. You can still buy the Lee Loader; a boxed tool that enables you to reload fired brass cases with new primer, gunpowder charge, and bullet and shoot again. Cost about $25 or less used on Ebay. These are slow going, but do a fine job of making excellent quality handloaded ammunition.

Lee also makes other loading tools and the RGB (really good buy) line of 7/8x14 dies. For about $100 the Lee Anniversary Kit sets you up in the single-stage loading business. Lee also makes a Progressive Loader that is well regarded for under $200.

Lots of manufacturers make kits. A kit includes a Loading Press, powder scale, powder measure, and means to prime your brass and trickle powder into the scale. Buy one of these, RCBS and Redding make nice kits, and all you need are loading dies for the cartridges you want to load and shellholders for same. The RCBS Rockchucker Supreme kit can be found for under $300 occasionally and it is great gear to possess.

The Dillon 550b for about $400 is the best way to load lots of ammunition fast. The 550b comes with a powder measure and needs only a conversion kit and dies to be put to work. A single stage press used by an experienced operator might produce 50 rounds per hour, with a Dillon 550b you can do 5x that many.

Bullets are the whole enchilada in shooting.
The bullet does the work.
Match ammunition from Black Hills, Federal, and other vendors is expensive; like $30 per box of 20 for rifle cartridges. More for special cartridges. The same $30 will buy you a box of 100 match bullet to load. If you have empty brass, all you need is primers $4 and powder $30 for 7000 grains (1lb).

Loading .308 match ammunition will take about 4400gr of powder per hundred. A 5lb caddy of Reloader 15 or other suitable powder will cost about $100. Five Lbs gets you about 800rds of loaded ammunition. Nosler Match bullets are sold in 1000 lot bulk packs for best price. Might find blemished match bullets on their site very cheap from time to time... 1000 bullets for under $180 plus a carton of primers (winchester large rifle or Federal match if shooting these in a bolt-action rifle) will cost about $35.

Buying match ammo in an 800rd lot would cost about $1200, or after you own the tools and brass, you can load it yourself for about $325.

Loading match ammo for .223 is about half the cost again.
24gr of Reloader 15 powder, Rem 7.5 primers, and Nosler 77gr bullets at $140 per thousand gets your cost to $265 per thousand, except you still have enough powder to load another 400 rounds remaining...

Pretty cheap to buy once-fired military cases to load. Lake City and WCC winchester are Top Quality. Have to process the primer pockets, but it isn't hard to do; just takes another tool like the Dillon 600 for $100...

Can usually find 1500 1x fired military 5.56mm cases for $100 delivered, or 500 1x for about $65 delivered. Can prep these for precision or just size, reload and you're set....

.45acp brass is also cheap to buy. Easy to reload and because the powder charge is so small, you get 1000 rds plus per lb of powder... Shoot lead cast bullets for practice or hunting at about $45 per 500. Can load these on a Dillon at 300 per hour. Hornady bulk bullets flat nose jacketed are a good all-around solution for $40 per 250.

A .30-06 Garand would be a very good choice for value. Should be able to find one for around $700. Can also find the PolyTech M1a in same price range. If you look at gunsamerica.com and gunbroker.com and AR15.com equipment exchange, you should find a deal on a DPMS or Armalite AR-10. Around $1000 for as-new condition, maybe $1200 with a scope...

The AR-15 is very usable. Chrome-lined barrels are the ticket if you expect to ever have to shoot a lot of rounds at one time. A 1:8 or 1:7 twist barrel is needed to handle the heavier bullets that really make the AR-15 work on a higher level. 55gr fmj bullets will really rip crap up, but for precision at any distance you need a 69gr and best a 75/77 gr bullet. Hit a deer with one of these at distance and you will break bones. I have recovered 75gr Hornady match bthp bullets from rock background and the bullets twist like a pretzel, but all hang together. A 55 gr bullet just blows up.

For a bolt action rifle, I believe the FN PBR and other FN production sniper oriented rifles are equipped with chrome-lined barrels, and they give nearly match grade performance out of the box. Might find a Springfield O3A3, or a quality Mauser. Would be hard to beat an 8mm Mauser for power and also price of surplus ammunition.

Lots of choices. .303 Enfield also is a good round and the 7.62x54R in a Mosin Nagant

In an AR-15 I prefer a 20" barrel, a 20" barrel will also work fine in an AR-10.

Last Edited by Lester on 02/11/2011 12:07 PM

Ok, thanks for this info and all the other you have today.

Last Edited by braindamaged62 on 02/11/2011 01:37 PM

great info I even learned a few things.

Lots more like that at:

[link to www.gunsgrubandgold.com (secure)]

May find some helpful tips there.

Soaking brown rice before cooking increases nutritional value:

[link to scienceblog.com]

Brown rice is a nice base for beans. If I'm in a rush, I keep cans of pinto beans. You can toss it on the rice with some toppings (cheese, salsa, onions) and you have a meal.

Brown rice is also really good in vegetarian chili...of course it doesn't taste exactly like meat, but it does imitate the texture of chili. Soy sauce can give it a meaty flavor, and olive oil gives it the oil.

Hope that helps.

Best way to cook short-grain Brown Rice is in a crockery vessel called an Osawa Pot. Osawa Pot is in turn placed in a pressure cooker of 6qt or larger size. Cook with 1/4 sheet of Nori (seaweed) for additional vitamins... Pressure cooker retains ALL Nutrients that otherwise cook off in a vented pan etc.

Osawa Pot is a Macrobiotic cooking tool. If you really want to get into self-sufficient eating and using your food supply to keep you healthy, macrobiotics has more to offer than any other "diet" you might follow.


My wife showed me a 20yr old Miso soup base the other day. Looked Perfect! Never been refrigerated. Brown and hearty Red Miso is exceptional in its health promotion properties. Miso Soup is credited with restoring many of the Hiroshima/Nagasaki survivors.

Brown Rice can be ground to make flour. Have you looked at whether you have Gluten Intolerance issues?

Eating is supposed to build your body up, not load it down with chemicals, hormones, and shit that taxes your kidneys and liver.

Too many people think owning freeze-dried stuff is the ticket to having a food supply... Not if you want to live healthy...