EssOne

Palmetto released a video of a torture test of the PA-15 rifle that is impressive as heck. It's here: http://www.guns.com/2013/06/11/palmetto-state-armory-torture-test-video-2/   Palmetto makes very good equipment. I have had two of their rifles (builds) and think very highly of them. Hope this helps.

This post is intended to present our ideas about maintaining an emergency food supply. It does not deal with a complete emergency plan, only the food part. If you are considering such a thing, I hope it will answer some of your questions and hopefully we have done some of the leg work for you. It is intended to be simple, obtainable, and easily transportable should you ever be faced with an evacuation, as well as being long-lasting and highly edible without cooking. Here 'tis It all fits on an 18"x48" shelf We aren't preppers or survivalists, but we have nonetheless maintained our emergency food supply since Nine-Eleven, over 13 years ago. We don't believe in Zombie attacks or the complete meltdown of Western Civilization, but we do believe our country is vulnerable to disruption by our enemies and that in such an event it may well be up to the individual family to provide for itself without outside assistance for a time. We have also seen essential services disrupted by natural disasters like Katrina and the megastorm up in New Jersey last year, so that is also on our minds as we do all of this emergency planning stuff. Now, here's another thought you might consider: There are certain events and circumstances in our region that, if they came to pass, would leave local government no choice but to order the immediate evacuation of your home area. If that happened, chaos will prevail and there will be neither food nor hotel rooms available on the evacuation routes. Even fresh drinking water would be very difficult to come by. So our emergency food and water supply is designed to facilitate quick loading in vehicles, easy consumption without cooking on the road, and long shelf life in such an event. With all that in mind, we have set up our supply to last us roughly a month on a survival basis, (but certainly not a culinary delight basis.) Here are the factors we considered to be important, presented in disorganized, willy-nilly fashion: (1) Emergency planning means to plan for the worst thing that can hit you, which in the case of an emergency food supply would be your inability to cook food. So in designing our emergency supply we chose canned foods over dried foods or MRE's because of their ready availability, variety, longevity without refrigeration, ease of immediate consumption, and much lower cost. We also chose only those canned foods that can be eaten out of the can cold. It isn't the best thing that ever happened to you, but I was in the C-Ration Army and have eaten a heck of a lot of canned food cold from the can and it will sustain you. We also went in big for high calorie foods, since it only stands to reason that food will be in short supply and you want every smidgen of nourishment you can get in relatively small quantities. .(2) Assuming that the worst season this could happen in would be winter, we went very heavy on protein, which is essential for keeping you warm. (Note that combining rice and beans gives you a complete protein.) (3) We went heavy on the foods that have a can completely full of product, like the Roast Beef Hash, SPAM Lite, Refried Beans, Spanish Rice, Fried apples, etc, etc. Greens, corn, green beans, etc. are pretty useless for providing the concentrated amounts of nutrition we want, and they have too much water in the can. Having said that, we did throw in some watery veggies like beets, carrots, and sweet peas just for variety and morale purposes, but these have far better nutritional values than the others I mentioned. (4) We went heavy on stewed tomatoes because of their high Vitamin C content and because they make a good base for a cold slumgulleon stew. I imagine diced tomatoes would work well too. (5) We went heavy on beans and bean products because of their carbs, calories, low fat, and their high dietary fiber content. (5) Getting away from sodium in canned foods is almost impossible, but I set an arbitrary limit of 240mg per serving in our canned veggies, and kept it as low as possible with our meat products. Be aware, however, that sodium content will vary from brand to brand in the same product, so you have to check each brand - i.e. Bush blackeyed peas have 540mg per serving, while Allens blackeyed peas only have 240mg per serving. Also, in the meat department, SPAM Lite has much less sodium than regular SPAM and Roast Beef Hash has less than Corned Beef Hash. So we opted for the lowest sodium content in each product category. (6) We stuck mostly with name brands unless we knew for a fact that a particular generic was as good, which didn't happen often. Our feeling is that in an emergency we will have enough to contend with without having to suffer third rate foods. (7) We stayed away from canned prepared foods like pastas and so on, but they are a consideration. We’re evaluating a 10 can pack of Ravioli to see if we want to include it. (8) It does no good at all to plan your supply around canned products and then forget the can opener. So we have one high-grade can opener, one high grade church key/bottle opener, and one good folding knife in each of our cars, and another package of these is kept with the canned foods. They are wrapped in Saran Wrap and then a ZipLok bag for rust prevention. Tough stainless steel can/bottle opener One of the best portable can openers on the market. (9) Your supply must contain a transportable supply of drinking water, and there are lots of ways to accomplish this. Here photos of the containers we used. Our total supply is 29 gallons, of which we could realistically take only about 10-15 gallons in the vehicles. Recycled half-gallon tomato juice jug 2.5 gallon water storage container with spigot (10) Your supply should contain a good supply of miltivitamins and any other meds you need on a daily basis. Finally, we do indeed have a stove to take on the road with us. It is an old fashioned Coleman gasoline stove that I've adapted to burn Propane as well as gasoline. So heating food shouldn't be a problem, but if it is we're prepared to eat cold food. OK, here is our supply as it now exists. (Cardiologists please sit down.) There are some photos thrown in to give you some idea of the amount of room it occupies. (It is all contained on a shelf measuring 18"x 48.") I believe the whole shebang would fit into, say, about a large plastic tub and a half for transportation. Here goes. NOTE IN THE PHOTOS THAT THE PULL DATES ARE WRITTEN IN LARGE NUMERALS ON THE FACES OF THE CANS. ALSO NOTE THAT NONE OF IT REQUIRES REFRIGERATION. FOOD FOR EMERGENCIES VEGETABLES AND FRUIT 105 each, 14 oz. cans of vegetables and fruit, as follows: 10 cans of Spanish rice 10 cans of refried beans 5 cans of mixed pinto and great northern beans 5 cans of blackeyed peas 10 cans of mixed vegetables 5 cans of shellie beans 5 cans of honey carrots 5 cans of regular sliced carrots 5 cans of sliced white potatoes 5 cans of sliced beets 5 cans of sweet peas 15 cans of stewed tomatoes 10 cans of fried apples with cinnamon 10 cans of Lite peach slices MILK PRODUCTS 10 each, 14 oz. cans of Vitamin D Evaporated Milk BREAD 18 each, 16 oz. cans of B & M molasses bread with raisins Excellent bread with a three year shelf life. MEATS 60 cans of meat products as follows: 15 cans of boneless chicken breast meat (Sam’s Club) 25 cans of Lite Spam 10 cans (16 oz.) canned ham from Aldi's. (similar to SPAM, but better IMHO.) 10 cans of roast beef hash OTHER 29 gallons of fresh water 100 Lipton tea bags 2 each, salt and pepper shakers 400 multi-vitamin tabs 500 enteric coated aspirin tabs We certainly don't have all the answers. This is an unsophisticated, easy on the budget, way to get a month's food in the barn. it's a work in progress, so we are constantly evaluating new products, like the ham from Aldi's. it's just the way we see things. Hope it helps answer some questions.

Agreed.  If we now have over 30 states with Republican majorities in their legislatures and Republican governors to boot, that would seem to be a fertile field for the NRA to plow in.

I agree. I don't see it happening in Tennessee either. And I tend to think it wouldn't have happened in New Orleans either if the government services hadn't been so horribly unprepared and badly managed by such a negligent mayor. Confusion breeds lots of mistakes, and the situation in New Orleans is one of the most confusing and chaotic I've ever seen. When they let 70 school busses drown, well, that's a pretty good signal that fecal matter is about to occureth.

You guys are better men than me. My safe would be such a buggernasty to remove I've decided to sell it with the house and get another one if I ever sell again. Seems there's no cure for the common birthday!

First rate information OS.  The only people who should wave paper in an officer's face are credible representatives waving it at the Chief in the Chief's office. An individual gun owner waving it in an individual officer's face during an emergency would have no effect at all beyond irritating an already irritated cop. Besides, I don't think the issue of confiscation in this discussion is concerned with the actions of an individual officer. Rather, I believe it deals much more with the broader issue of state and local government and their agencies confiscating firearms from a number of gun owners during a disaster. In that vein, this is a very well-crafted statute that doesn't give local government much wiggle room at all. I wish all statutes supporting private gun ownership were this well written.

Here's the gun at present. So far all I've done is install the left side of the BHP ambi safety, but I've ordered the right side lever and pin, as well as a pair of checkered Hogue grips. Then comes the trip to Novak as soon as I can shoot a good group with the gun. it has an excellent trigger, so that'll be about it for this upgrade. More photos when I get it back from Novak's.

There are some pretty good weekend sales going on right now with free shipping. First, Palmetto has a high-quality upper without BCG or charging handle here for $280:http://palmettostatearmory.com/index.php/daily-deals-new/psa-16-carbine-length-chf-m4-5-56-1-7-upper-without-bcg-or-charging-handle.html   The BCG/charging handle package is $125: http://palmettostatearmory.com/index.php/psa-nib-5-56-nato-bolt-carrier-group-and-charging-handle-combo.html   Not a bad combination/price since you're saving around $20 for shipping. $405 out the door for a quality upper is not bad at all. If your friend watched his prices on his lower assembly he could have a complete AR out the door for less than $600. FWIW.

I agree with Garufa - Palmetto is a very good place to look. Their stuff is very high quality and priced very reasonably. Palmetto frequently markets assembled uppers with blemishes for really good prices, and the blemishes don't amount to much at all, so you might look for one of those. Chrome lining holds down on fouling but isn't essential in a plinker, but be aware that an unlined barrel requires more elbow grease to clean and you have to work harder to get the copper fouling under control if you shoot a lot.    I see a bit of a conflict between having a 5.56mm plinker that will double as a deer gun, if that's what you're saying. I've never thought the 5.56mm cartridge to be very good on deer. It's legal in some states but not in others, so your friend might want to check his Arkansas game laws before sinking his money into a 5.56mm rifle.  Hope this helps.

OK thanks. I'll do that.

Thanks, Smith. I'm being told by several Novak's customers that they are now able to do the job without disturbing the finish. I'll post again when I get it back and we'll see if it's true or not.

Thanks very much. Good information.

Which gunsmith did you use?

A couple of years back I bought a new-in-box FEG PJK-9HP that was still in the factory wrapping. Since then it has proven to be a really fine shooter and a super good-looking, tight gun. It's so nice I have removed the mag dissconnector, changed out the original safety for an ambi one, and I am in the process of getting custom grips for it. One thing I would really like to do now is get rid of the itty bitty "hump and bump" sights on it. Thus begins my problem. I've talked to Novak and I can send them the slide alone, and they will mill dovetail slots and replace both front and rear sights with a fixed, three dot sight system for a total investment of $215.00, including shipping both ways. But, without having the whole gun they can't guarantee zero, and sending the whole gun runs the cost out the overheads so I can't even consider it. Does anyone have any ideas of a better way to go when it comes to upgrading the sights on this gun? Any help appreciated.

I have a friend here in the Tri Cities making nice leather holsters and he has borrowed a number of pistols from friends to make patterns from. He also asks customers to leave the pistol with him for a day if he doesn't have a pattern for the gun they want to use. There's not a thing wrong with it unless he wants to rival Bianchi or Safariland, in which case it might get a bit impossible. But a small operator should have no problem doing this. All bets are off if your brother in law stays in New York. These comments are intended for a Tennessee operator only.

There's another angle to this discussion.....the other guy's actions in responding to an insult. I was in LE for three decades and was expected to exercise "uncommon restraint" at all times. I wish I had a nickle for every time I got flipped off or worse and ignored it. I didn't like it, but I did it anyway because responding to someone else's stupidity can get you into just as much trouble as being the antagonist yourself. When you do that you're letting your ego overload your common sense. The fellow you flipped off was just as much in jeopardy of bad things happening as you were, or worse, and in my book used far worse judgment than you did. But two wrongs still don't make a right. I'm just sayin' there were two sides here and I didn't mean to unload on the OP.

 I guess I'm with Mike .357 on this one, neighbor. I think you're looking at the wrong end of the problem. I think your time would be better spent building some self control and coming up with a less provocative response than figuring out how to get out of the next mess your lack of self control gets you into. Public displays of anger and derision can really mess up your life good.

No sweat Sir. I should have done a better job in the original post of explaining that I never look at the GPS when I'm driving and that I only use it on long trips when I have a right seat navigator to run it for me....So I don't need to keep it up at eye level. I'll do it right next time. Best wishes.

I've deleted the original post.

The reason I mounted it down there is that we only use it when my wife and I travel together, never locally, so she operates it and I go by the voice commands. If I was going to use it by myself I prolly would have looked at mounting it higher. I never look at it unless we're stopped. I don't keep it set up all the time. It stays indoors until we go off on a trip so the dash looks clean and I can use the dash pocket for other things....that and I don't care to get a window busted out by someone who wants one the easy way.

Post deleted by LMTFAN.

Hmmm. Boy if they adopt a mandatory lifetime fee instead of the 5 year fee I guess I'm royally screwed - I'm 72!

Absolutely beautiful. The worst slap I ever had was from a prewar Model 70 in .270 with a max. handload in it. The owner failed to tell me about the max handload and I walked away with a blood blister in the shape of the steel buttplate on my shoulder. Those are interesting scope mounts. What are they?

Gregintenn, you have a wonderful rifle. There are two things you need to know about it. First, on the older Model 70's the stock tended to crack down in the action mortise between the trigger mortise and the magazine mortise. This is easily repaired if cracked. Secondly, most Mauser type rifles have two guard screws, one at the front of the mag and the other at the rear of the trigger guard. Both must be kept extremely tight. Well, the Model 70 has a third screw, which holds the front end of the trigger guard in place. Never tighten this screw anywhere near as tight as the front and rear guard screws or it will warp the action. Just keep it snudge and no more. It has nothing to do with mating up the action to the stock. If you find the stock cracked as above, get back to me and I'll give you the prescribed fix. Best of luck with such a great find.

Yeah no problem guys. I just wanted to let the OP know that there is another good entry level rifle out there with pretty darned good reviews. Best wishes in finding the gun you want.   FWIW I wouldn't sneeze at putting together a rifle from Palmetto State Armory either. They make good stuff for prices in the Ruger/Smith and Wesson range, and often have their assembled lowers and uppers on sale. (If you do this, buy the assembled upper and lower on separate days or they have to sock you with a federal excise tax.)  I've put Palmetto rifles together twice and they are good merchandise. I've seen reports that their uppers are the same ones Colt uses and their stripped lowers are made by Aero Products, so they're using good components. FWIW again.