Survival Guns and Ammo

A few weeks ago I did a post on Survival Handguns listing reasons I lean toward revolvers most of the time then a few days ago I got an email from Lucky Gunner asking if I would like to review some of their ammunition and what caliber would I like to shoot. I don't need much excuse to throw some lead down range so I agreed.
  There was a trend  back in the 1800's when the cartridge came into use for guns to be chambered in the same caliber, rifle and handgun to save carrying two different types of ammo in the field, I kind of like the idea myself because it would be handy in a survival situation. So when Lucky Gunner contacted me I decided to do a review on the .357 magnum ammo and test it on rifle and pistol, they said that would be a first so it was settled.
The ammo was shipped to my house and received promptly, it was the Magtech  125 gr JHP, from experience I knew this was a first rate ammo and was not disappointed.
For testing I used my stainless S&W model 65 and Marlin lever action chambered in .357 magnum.  

As you see the table is wet, it was raining but that is never an excuse to not shoot so a metal spinning target was chosen in lieu of a paper target.
The ammo performed well at 25 yards, the spinning target was then moved to 100 yards for the rifle test. The ammo fed flawless in the lever action, I use peep sights on the Marlin as it is easier on my eyes and all shots hit solidly on target,  357 ammo is an excellent and proven round for self defense and from experience I can tell you it is effective on deer sized animals out to at least 100 yards and a little beyond. This ammo in the Marlin is deadly on hogs as well at 100-125 yards.
With the trend today being semi autos it is good to get back to some basic weapons and see they are still quite capable of getting the job done, just a reminder you don't need the latest and greatest to be well armed as long as you can shoot well with what you have.


Thanks again to Lucky Gunner for the chance test some ammo.
Looking at their web site they have every type of ammo I could ever need, their service was excellent and emails were answered quickly. These days it is good to do business with a company who places a value on customer service.

Survival Handguns, My Thoughts.

I like revolvers, I think it goes back to watching westerns as a kid but they do have a lot of advantages as well.
A little while ago I was reading Brigid, she had done a guest post  with some advice for newer shooters, especially women and commented how a revolver is an excellent choice for a first handgun. I agree, I am not saying you can't learn a semi auto pistol I just think it takes less to 'sort out' if you know what I mean.
I am not trying to start an argument here but it dawned on me there are people out there who are fairly new to shooting or who are preppers and wondering what kind of guns would be good for them so I will list my reasons for liking them.

First I should point I am referring to good quality revolvers, S&W, Ruger, Colt etc. they can be found for excellent prices if you look around at used models, in fact I think all mine I bought were used so they can be found if you look. 
First I will list the disadvantages I see of revolvers, most only hold 6 shots (some 5) and are a little slower to reload. They also tend to be bulkier and harder to conceal than a semi auto especially if they are a big caliber.
Now for the advantages I see,
 I mentioned most hold only 6 shots, to me this is not an issue because semi auto pistols you usually wait till it is empty to reload but with a revolver I can swing the cylinder out and by partially pushing the ejector rod I can lift out the spent cases and replace them thus leaving me with a full cylinder. Apart from target shooting I have never had a NEED to shoot more than 6 shots in rapid succession and I maintain if you ever find yourself in that situation you have bigger problems than your handgun can solve. Another reason I like revolvers is they tend to be more forgiving to dirt and grime and lack of cleaning which could be important in a survival situation. 

 I mentioned earlier they are (in my opinion) a good first gun choice, the reason for this is there is less to think about if you find yourself in a high stress situation, this is very important because you draw it, pull the trigger and it shoots (double action guns of course) You do not have to worry about removing the safety, wondering if one is in the chamber or racking the slide or wondering if the slide is all the way home.  The magazine release button never gets accidentally pushed thus causing a jamb (I have had this happen quite a few times) In the case of a misfire you keep squeezing the trigger till it goes bang, no need to tap, slap, rack to clear a jamb. I have never had a revolver jamb with factory ammo. The only jambs I have had (very rare) are with very hot hand loads and the primer bulged thus causing a jamb.
This leads me to another reason I love revolvers, I do like to reload my ammo, it saves me a lot of money and I don't have to crawl around on the ground looking for all my brass. I also cast my own bullets which saves a lot of money as well and revolvers love cast bullets. I do reload for my 45 and 9mm but they don't feed cast bullets quite as well as ball ammo and this could be important in a survival situation where you would only have access to cast bullets. In a survival situation reloading components may be hard to get but as long as I had primers I could cast bullets and pack the cases full of black powder and have a good functioning weapon, I don't think most semi autos would feed that well with black powder. In a good strong revolver like a Ruger you could devise all kinds of loads which may be necessary in a survival situation and it would function and with some of the long barrels guns you can even hunt quite effectually with them.
There may be a day coming when reloads are all you can find and I can tell you from experience semi auto pistols are not that fond of cast bullets, dented cases, slightly bulged cases, dis-formed lead, weak loads etc, all of which are possible if you don't have the best to work with. I could take a less than perfect re-loaded round and even if I had to force it into the cylinder of a revolver it would almost always fire without jamming. This is just some of my thoughts on handguns.

OK I know I have opened a can of worms and probably started an argument (it's not the first time) I am not against semi autos, in fact I love my 1911 and others however I would never want to be without a revolver as well, especially in a survival situation which will be a less than perfect world.

Survival Ammo

303 British

I like to tinker and experiment with guns and ammo. I have reloaded my own cartridges for many years am always thinking of ways to do it more efficient and save money. This would be especially helpful in a survival situation. I was recently thinking of reloading shotgun shells using the all brass cases, these would be preferable because they would last longer than plastic shells.
I was on line looking at 12 gauge brass hulls and also saw 410 hulls for sale. They both ran about $25 for a box of 25, not too bad so I started looking at loads for 410 shells and ran across a link where 410 shells could be made from 303 British ammo. I decided making my own shells would be better that paying for them so I scrounged around and found an empty 303 cartridge and decided to experiment.
First I annealed the case by heating the top half of the shell over a gas burner till it turned red and then dropped it in cold water. This made the brass softer and easier to expand.
Next I put in a large rifle primer (I understand you could also use large pistol primers as the powder for shotgun is slowing burning like a pistol powder) and charged it with 17 to 20 grains of Unique powder. I decided the amount of powder is not overly critical at this stage because I was not shooting a projectile and pressures would be very low compared to shooting shot (much like a blank) I then filled the rest of the case up with Grits, you could also use cream of wheat, rice, or even pack the case with a t-shirt material. I then sealed the top of the case with wax ( I just jammed it into a candle)
I then loaded the cartridge into my Savage, over-under 22/410.
I folded a rag and placed it on my garage floor, rested the barrel on the rag and fired. The gun barely made a 'pop' sound, in fact it sounded like a dud almost and no recoil at all.

Newly formed 410 shell

 When I ejected I had a fire-formed all brass 410 shell, roughly the same length as a two and a half inch shell (shown at left)
I need to find a supply of spent 303 brass and make about 25 or 30 more and experiment with different loads.  I plan to cut (or stamp) wads from heavy card stock or the sides of wax coated milk cartons. The primers can be punched out with a small punch and then re-primed by hand using a rubber mallet. I will then use a standard load's for 410's,  cover the powder with a shot wad and fill the case up with BB's. A second wad can be placed on top and sealed with silicone or multi-purpose glue.
I will do a second part to this a little later and show results.  I want to also test using single ball ammo as well.  The case fits very well in the chamber and ejects easily.
The benefit of making this ammo is it can be loaded by hand without special tools and you could use large primers you have on hand. You also have the added bonus of developing any special load you can dream up from a slug to bird shot. I plan to explore this in the future for 410 as well as 12 gauge.