Rural Lifestyle

Life in Rural America

Tag: 223 remington

Building a Predator Hunting AR-15

Hunting, Survival Gear, Videos
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Palmetto State Armory Freedom predator hunting rifle

Over the past couple of years coyotes have been stealing my chickens. I thought losses have not been “that” bad, but the time has come to take action. A few days ago I was looking through pictures of when I bought the chicks, that is when I realized just how many of my chickens are missing. Looking at how many chickens I currently have, and then looking at the number of chicks I had, the losses are not sustainable.

I do not count my chickens every day, or even every week. Living in a rural area with free range chickens it is normal to lose one here and there. Hawks, bobcats, coyotes, foxes,,, all love chicken. However, my flock is not a buffet bar. Something has to give or I will never be able to develop a self-sustainable chicken flock for shtf. In other words, the predators are killing the chickens faster than they can reproduce.

Deer Rifle Instead of AR-15

Justification For Owning An AR-15

Political Opinion
5 Comments
AR-15 SHTF Survival Rifle

Ever since the Sandy Hook shooting gun owners have been having to justify their reasons for owning an AR-15. Personally, I think the only reason that needs to be given is “because I want one.”

I feel I should not have to “justify” my choices in which firearms I wish to own. As a law abiding citizen there is no chance my AR is going to be used in a crime. And as a law abiding citizen I seen no reason to explain myself to anyone.

Free men do not explain themselves, we do as we wish when we wish.

Servants, slaves and criminals explain themselves.

With that being said, I would like to provide my opinion as to why people own an AR-15. I am in no way justifying my ownership of an AR-15, simply because rights do not have to be justified. I am giving reasons why I choose to own an AR-15.

The AR-15 is Cool

It is awesome looking, it feels good in my hand. Handling an AR is like patting my wife on her butt, it provides me with a sense of manly satisfaction.

Rethinking SHTF Rifle And Ammunition Choices

Survival Gear
5 Comments
SHTF survival rifle DS Arms SA58 FN/FAL

The shelves are empty, except for a few select calibers. Those calibers are 243 Winchester, 30-30 Winchester, 270 Winchester, 7mm magnum, 45 colt and 30-06 Springfield. A line of people are standing at the counter in the hopes the store got a shipment in.

Sounds like something from a movie? Nope, its the result of panic buying after the Communist Dianne Feinstein talked about another gun ban in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting.

The calibers left on the shelf share some common denominators, they do not fit semi-automatic rifles, nor are they chambered in modern day military grade rifles.

There are semi-automatic rifles on the market chambered for 243 Winchester and 270 Winchester, but they are not very popular with modern day hunters.

What Was Sold Out

Middle Ground Rifle Caliber For SHTF TEOTWAWKI

Survival Gear
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DS Arms SA58 FN/FAL

Someone on my facebook friends list posted a picture of 4 survival firearms – pistol, Ruger 10/22, Remington 870 and AR-15.

I suggested the AR-15 be replaced with an AK-47. This is why I made that suggestion,

22 Long Rifle VS 223 Remington

Calibers for SHTFWhen you look at the two calibers, the 22 long rifle bullet is not much smaller then the 223 Remington. If your shots are less then 100 yards, the 22 long rifle loaded with high grade bullets can get close to 223 Remington. Lets be honest, there is no way the 22 Long Rifle can match the ballistics of the 223 Remington.

22 long rifle, CCI mini-mag hollow points, 36 grain bullet, bullet diameter .222 inch (5.6 mm)

223 Remington, 55 grain bullet full metal jacket, bullet diameter .224 inch (5.7 mm)

There is not “that” much difference between the 22 long rifle bullet and the 223 Remington bullet. Keep in mind we are talking about bullet diameter and bullet weight, and not the cartridge length.

AK-47 Is The Ultimate teotwawki Survival Rifle

Preparedness Articles, Survival Gear, Urban Survival
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WASR-10 AK-47 next to pine tree

Why is the AK-47 is the ultimate survival rifle? Because it works.

  • Year of development: 1947
  • Caliber: 7.62×39
  • Years of service: 1947 – present
  • Nations of service: Every communist nation under the sun
  • Conflicts of service: Just about every major conflict since 1947
  • Bullet diameter: 308 – 311
  • Bullet weight: 123 grains
  • Effective range: 400 meters
  • Capacity: Standard 30 round magazine

The AK-47 is not my primary SHTF survival rifle.

That honor goes to the AR-15 and the FN/FAL.

AR-15 with its 223 Remington / 5.56mm NATO is well suited for dealing undesirable predators that come around the Bug Out Location and small game. There are a good number of people that deer and hogs with the 223 Remington, but I am not one of them. I am a firm believer of using enough gun for the job. When I go deer hunting, I use at least a 270 Winchester or a 280 Remington / 7mm Express.

The low recoil of the AR-15 makes it appealing to people like my teenage daughter.

Some AR-15 AK-47 and Remington 1911 R1 time

Preparedness Articles, Survival Gear
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WASR-10 AK-47 and Bushmaster AR-15

Tuesday, August 7, 2012 my daughter called and said her and her boyfriend wanted to drive up and visit with my wife and I. I said sure thing. My daughter starts back to school in a few days. So why not spend some time shooting an AK-47, AR-15 and Remington 1911 R1. My daughters mom and I have been divorced for close to 10 years. Even though they live in Baytown Texas, and I live in Jasper Texas, that has not stopped me from being part of my daughters life.

After my wife and I got off work, we met my daughter and her boyfriend at new Mexican restaurant here in Jasper. We ate, enjoyed each others company, then went home and watched The Dark Knight. On the way home we stopped the super walmart in Jasper and picked up 100 rounds of American Eagle 223 Remington.

I am trying to cycle out a lot of my steel cased 223 Remington and replace it with brass cased American Eagle or Federal bulk 223.

Wednesday August 8, 2012 my wife and I got up and went to work. Things were a little slow so I asked if I could take a half a day off and spend some time with my daughter. My boss said sure, take some time off. I called my daughter to ask where where she was at. She told me her and her boyfriend were at the camp. I told her I was taking 1/2 a day off so we could go do something with them.

Installing the Magpul Enhanced Self-Leveling Follower

Survival Gear
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This began about 20 years ago when I started stockpiling AR-15 magazines for some kind of SHTF / TEOTWAWKI situation. My buddies and I would make trips to the local gun shows, and pick up magazines here and there. I never intended to stockpile hundreds of magazines like some hardcore survivalist do. All I wanted was a couple of dozen magazines for every AR-15. I think 2 dozen mags for every rifle is reasonable.

Fast forward 20 years. Improvements have been made to the AR15 rifle and magazines. Due to those improvements, my current setup is outdated. Its like anything else. Technology improves, and to get the best out of your gear you need to keep up with the times. A buddy of mine who served two tours (1 tour in Iraq, 1 tour in Afghanistan) told me about Magpul Pmags. When a combat vet tells you he loves something, its in your best interest to pay attention.

Due to my buddies recommendation I ordered 2 Magpul Pmags with the windows on the side.

As soon as I handed and shot the Magpul Pmag I fell in love. The Pmags are light, window to see how many rounds are in the magazine, and anti-tilt follower.

Ok, so what do I do? I have dozens of AR15 magazines that have been collected over the years. But the anti-tilt follower technology improves the reliability of the weapon.

Since I do not want to replace my AR magazine inventory, I bought several packages of the Magpul enhanced self-leveling followers, and started replacing the followers in all of my older AR magazines.

If something is not broke, don’t fix it. My AR mags were not broke, but they did need to be upgraded.

Buying some ammo to go shooting

Random Ramblings, Survival Gear
4 Comments

What is going on at the local walmart? They can not keep American Eagle nor Federal 223 in stock. They just now started getting Tula 223 in stock. But I do not want to stockpile a crap load of steel cased 223.

Next weekend my wife and I are going out to a local sandpit to do some shooting. I just want to fire off a couple hundred rounds of 22 long rifle, 223, 7.62×39 and 45acp.

Is my local walmart in Jasper Texas just not ordering ammunition, or is ammo in such short supply they can not get any in?

If ammunition is in short supply, why can academy sports and outdoors in Lufkin and walmart in Nacogdoches get American Eagle?

Why do I have to drive 50 miles one direction to buy ammunition? Why cant the local walmart get their act together and keep some 223 and 308 ammunition on the shelves? Did I forget to mention my local walmart has not had 308 Winchester in Remington core-lokt in almost 2 months? The last time my wife and I went to Academy sports and outdoors in Lufkin, I had to buy Monarch 308 Winchester.

I just want to go to the sand pit and fire off a few hundred rounds. But for some reason I need an act of GOD just to find ammunition.

Well Rounded Ammunition Stockpile For SHTF

Survival Gear
3 Comments
white tail deer and atv

As I was stacking a new box of 30-30 Winchester (Remington core-lokt 150 grain) and a box of 12 gauge slugs on the shelf, I started thinking about having a well rounded ammunition stockpile.

When talking about ammunition, we need to realize that there is no perfect answer. I live and hunt in southeast Texas, my longest shots are in the 125 yard range. 200 yards is a long shot for this area. The only place we get to see 200 yards, much less shoot that far is either on a pipeline or a highline.

In New Mexico, west Texas, Arizona, Colorado,,, 200 yards might be a short shot.

Talking about stockpiling firearms and ammunition for a long term SHTF survival situation is like talking about trucks. Do you need a truck to pull a boat down to the local boat launch, or do you need a tractor trailer rig to pull 60 tons?

Someone in the south with dense timber will probably do just fine with a 30-30 or 308. Someone making 200 and 300 yard shots may need a 25-06, 7mm magnum, 300 Winchester magnum, 30-06,,,. Someone in Alaska where grizzly is an everyday threat, maybe something like a 338 Winchester Magnum, 375 H&H or 12 gauge slug.

Lets use this article as a generalization, rather then an exact science.

To kick off the discussion, lets start with the two boxes I bought today:

1 box – 30-30 Winchester (Remington core-lokt 150 grain).

1 box – 12 gauge 2 3/4 inch Winchester 1 ounce slug.

30-30 Winchester

Case Against The 300 Blackout

Survival Gear
8 Comments

Purpose:: This article is not to discuss the positive or negative points of the 300 Blackout, but rather should survivalist add another caliber to their collection. This is a blog of a survivalist, as such we are going to discuss topics related to prepping / survivalism and from a survivalist point of view.

History: The 300 Blackout was designed to be comparable to the 7.62X39, but to work in the AR platform. Think of a 30-30 short from an AR.

Availability: While the 300 Blackout is available in the AR platform and certain high grade bolt action platforms, it has not made the migration to the lesser expensive bolt action rifles.

When this article was published there are only a handful of bolt action rifles on the market chambered for 300 Blackout. As of early 2012 Savage has cancelled its plans for a 300 Blackout rifle. A Google search for Ruger 300 Blackout did not turn up any company related information.

From a survivalist point of view, why would I want to stockpile yet “another” caliber that is chambered in a limited number of rifles?

Firearm for a river camping trip

Fishing and Boating, Hiking and Camping
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AK-47 AR-15 Survival RiflesA buddy of mine and I are planning a 100+ mile 3 – 4 day river camping trip. On this trip we will be going into some pretty remote areas. After we put our boats in the river, there are no boat launches for probably 50+ miles. The location is East Texas on the Sabine river.

I would like to bring either a rifle or shotgun for personal protection. Black bears are known to be in the area where we are going, as well as everything from coyotes to wild hogs.

I am more concerned about running into a rabid raccoon, then having problems with a black bear, but you never know.

The options are:

Best Well Rounded Rifle Calibers for Survivalist

Hunting, Survival Gear
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Hunting after SHTF teotwawki

What are some of the best rifle calibers for survivalist? These calibers should be able to fit a range of needs, including hunting wild game in a given area.

There is an old saying I sometimes like to quote, “Always use enough gun.” Because of that, smaller calibers such as the 223/5.56mm, 6mm, and the 243 Winchester should be excluded from the list.

Can small calibers take deer sized game? Sure they can. The question is how humane are they to use?

For my area here in Southeast Texas, the most common calibers are:

  1. 30-30 Winchester
  2. 308 Winchester
  3. 270 Winchester
  4. 30-06 Springfield

Available game are hogs and whitetail deer. Longest shot is going to be around 125 yards. If you are on a pipeline or highline, shots might get out to the 200 yard mark. The rolling hills and thick timber stop the shots from being too long.

Question To The Community

Stockpiling Too Many Types of Survival Ammunition

Survival Gear
Comments

A couple of days ago my kids and I made a trip to the camp to drop off some Remington 30-30 Core-Lokt 150 grain and Remington 308 Core-Lokt 150 grain. While I was in the closet, I thought, “lets just stack all of the calibers together to see what we have.”

  • 30-30 Winchester – 4 boxes
  • 280 Remington / 7mm Express – 3 boxes
  • 30-06 Springfield – 4 boxes
  • 308 Winchester – 3 boxes
  • 270 Winchester – 2 boxes
  • 22 long rifle – 4 bricks
  • 223 Remington / 5.56mm – between 750 – 1,000 rounds
  • 7.62X39 – around 500 – 750 rounds

*Each “box” holds 20 rounds.

The 30-30, and 22 long rifle was probably the worst. The 30-30 had 3 different brand names and 2 different bullet weights, and the 22 long rifle had 3 different brand names.

Mixing and Matching SHTF Survival Gear

Survival Gear
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Knives for SHTF

I find it interesting that Taco Bell can create so many items on their menu by mixing and matching about eight different ingredients. There is the taco meat, sour cream, refried beans, tortilla shell, taco shell,,,,. But by the looks of the Taco Bell menu, it appears they have a thousand ingredients.

Its called utilizing available resources. And the same can be applied to survivalism.

On the flip side of the coin from Taco Bells minimalist approach, I find it interesting that survivalist stockpile so much gear. Certain survivalist think they have to have a special “bug out bag” that is separate from their standard camping / backpacking pack, that they need several rifles

Lets backup a few years, all the way to the early – mid 1980s. Back then I (Kevin), was in High School and was busy camping and exploring the marshes around the Bridge City, Texas area. My backpack at that time was about 14 inches tall, 12 – 14 inches wide, and maybe 6 inches wide. It could have easily been a school book bag, but it was OD green and made out of a canvas material. I had one backpack for all of my camping needs. At that time, that is all I needed. The pack was just big enough for a couple of cans of vienna sausage, or chili, can opener, small pot, matches, contact case, and maybe a spare shirt or socks.

AR-15 For a SHTF Survival Situation

Preparedness Articles, Survival Gear
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AR-15 SHTF Survival Rifle

Would the AR-15 be a good rifle for a SHTF survival situation? The simple answer is, “it depends.” The M16 223/5.56mm was original developed as a replacement for the M14 and the 308.

The mindset was to develop a lighter rifle and lighter ammo so that soldiers could carry the rifle further and carry more ammo. One drawback, instead of shooting a 150 or 180 grain bullet like the 308 Winchester / 7.62 NATO, the 223 / 5.56mm shots a 55 grain bullet.

Lets talk about some of the pluses and negatives of the 223 / 5.56mm:

1. To compensate for the smaller bullet diameter and lighter weight, the 55 grain 5.56mm is supposed to “tumble” after it hits flesh. The “tumbling” creates wounds and does quit a bit of damage to flesh.

I see a couple of issues with the “tumble” theory:

How does the bullet know whether its hitting a wall and should punch through, or flesh and tumble? When the bullet is made, is it granted with magical powers that tells it what the bullet is about to hit, and whether it should tumble or not?

All phun aside, the 223/5.56mm has problems getting through walls. Once the bullet hits something, and it tries to tumble, it loses its energy.

Kevin Felts © 2008 - 2018