“If you carry a gun, people will call you paranoid. That’s ridiculous. If I have a gun, what in the hell do I have to be paranoid about?”
-Clint Smith
Pros: Compact, accurate, cool
Cons: Rough trigger, price
Calibers: .223/ 5.56 x 45
Price: $2,295.00
When the original Steyr AUG was banned from further importation years ago, the AUG’s already in the USA jumped dramatically in price. This new AUG SA is specifically for the civilian market in the USA and should lead to more reasonable prices. The Steyr is very reliable, ergonomically superior to most carbines in it’s class as is designed inherently ambidextrous. The tremendously compact design makes the AUG ideal for building searches and for movement in and out of vehicles. The new Steyr AUG SA has changeable barrels and a picatinny rail for attaching advanced optics.
Welcome back, AUG.
Pros: Sturdy, improved stocks
Cons: Rough trigger
Calibers: 7.72 x 39 mm
Price: $1,200.00
Las Vegas based Arsenal Arms is known for making one of the highest quality domestic AK-47 type rifles on the market. Value-added features like improved stocks, attachment rails and muzzle breaks make for excellent additions to the sturdy and reliable AK-47 platform. Prevalence of magazines, ammunition and spare parts argue in favor of purchasing an AK-47 type rifle not to mention its reputation in the field for being nearly indestructible.
Pros: Very compact
Cons: Caliber
Calibers: 5.7×28mm
Price: $1,699.99
There is no doubt that the PS90 is an amazing ultra-compact weapon. (Some may argue it does not qualify as a true carbine.) If you need an ultra-compact personal defense weapon and don’t mind the medium-low caliber cartridge, then the PS90 is for you. I am not yet sold on the 5.7 x 28 mm cartridge but I guess if you get your hits, it should be good enough to resolve an engagement with goblins. Kudos to FN for the innovative design.
Pros: Ergonomics, compatibility
Cons: price
Calibers: .223 5.56 x 45 mm
Price: $2,199.99
While priced a little on the high side, this bullpup allows for a full-barrel to maximize the power of the cartridge while keeping the carbine in close for shooting stability and portability. The FS 2000 uses AR-type magazines, a familiar cartridge and is designed for the most advanced optics. The FS 2000 ejects expended casings forward and gives the user a lot of stock to grip the carbine while firing.
Pros: Compact, serious cartridge
Cons: I can’t buy it yet
Calibers: 4.6 mm
Price: ?
This weapons system is not yet available to the civilian market but I hope it will be soon. Here is why…
In our complex world, the stressful events of life can drive you crazy…in my case it’s a short drive. After four wives and four divorces, I could use attention from a mental health professional…at least that’s what the voices in my head tell me.
I need a healthy environment and professional analysis by a trained therapist to keep me from fantasizing about choking the life out my ex’s attorney with rusty piano wire. I would rather clean toilets at a truck stop than to go through another deposition.
The good news is the good people from ‘Therapy On The Fly’ are here to help.
He takes his training and profession and instead of working in an office, he takes his clients out for session in mother nature’s office. Scott brought the two ideas together in a marriage and family counseling class when the professor (himself a fly fisher), related a concept to fly fishing—the light bulb went off in Peterson’s head. What better place to unwind problems than on the river?
Now in his third year of guiding, Scott started when a neighbor who owns The Quiet Fly Fisher asked Scott if he could help out on a day that he was double booked. Since then, being a guide has given Scott an amazing opportunity to improve his teaching and fly fishing skills at the same time.
People are surprised when you talk about great fly fishing in the middle of what is thought of as the central Utah desert. “People are shocked—I was shocked—when I came down to interview for a job at a residential therapeutic facility,” muses Peterson. There are literally hundreds of miles of streams and rivers, and hundreds of high mountain lakes filled with record size brookies, rainbows, browns, cutts, lakers and the more exotic splake, tiger trout and a few secret spots with graylng.
Earlier in the week, Scott caught his personal best tiger trout; 3 ½ pound, 20-inch tiger trout. Within a short drive from Wayne County. Fishermen will find the Boulder Mountains, the Fremont River and Pine Creek – three of Scott’s favorite areas to fish.
When the spawn is on at Fish Lake, the rainbow fishing is unbelievable. Sounds like my kind of therapy. I could use a daily dose.”
Scott Peterson, LCSW
Honey, I am going to therapy to help our relationship, not because I want to get away from your nagging.
I make no claim on expertise with ATV’s as my experience with them is limited to recreational activities but there have been times when I was lugging game and wish I had an ATV available.
My ideal hunting ATV would be something like this:
For clarity I will focus on side-by-side ATV offerings at the NRA Exhibits specifically designed for the sportsman that have a load-bearing roof and towing capacity for sporting gear and game.
Pros: Ducks Unlimited Edition is 4×4 with ‘Realtree’ camo, good towing capacity, 7.9-gallon fuel tank and assembled in the USA
Cons: 6 month warranty
Base Price: $11,649
Pros: Load capacity (1,330 lbs.), Towing capacity (1,200 lbs.), seats 4 passengers
Cons: boring appearance…too ‘golf cart’-ish
Base Price: $10,899
We at SOTS have discussed the return of Urban Homesteading in the USA and the how to start with the basics of emergency readiness. We continue to see in the news that recent events seem to be fueling the emergency preparedness a.k.a. ’survivalist’ movement.
These people snapping up everything from water purification tablets to thermal blankets shatter the survivalist stereotype: they are mostly urban professionals with mortgages, SUVs, solid jobs and a twinge of embarrassment about their newfound hobby.
From teachers to real estate agents, these budding emergency gurus say the dismal economy has made them prepare for financial collapse as if it were an oncoming Category 5 hurricane. (Urban survivalists) worry about rampant inflation, runs on banks, bare grocery shelves and widespread power failures that could make taps run dry.”
While I welcome the increased interest in emergency readiness we recommend to prepare for emergencies with moderation. Emergency readiness is an excellent habit but makes for a bad craze.
Take common-sense steps and avoid the most extreme options as these extreme options can themselves be harmful. Build up your food storage over time and make food storage a part of your normal food consumption to prevent dramatic expenditures in the short-run and avoid large amounts of food spoilage in the long-run. A three day emergency kit in the trunk of your car is prudent, traveling in a camper home wearing a gas mask with your entire food storage is awkward at best and at worst will probably result in your loved ones referring you to mental health professionals.
While there may be a time and place to build nuclear fallout bunkers (e.g. if you live in Israel), it might be a bit premature in the USA now especially if you need the money to pay your mortgage and your utility bills.
Prepare an emergency plan, keep a three day kit and maintain food storage.
Moderation
This decade most law-enforcement agencies adopted the patrol carbine as a supplement to or replacement of the patrol shotgun. Some agencies have re-purposed shotguns for less lethal munitions like this Mossberg Model 500:
I humbly disagree. I believe the shotgun remains the best short-range weapon available to citizens. Apparently others agree with me as there was a very strong showing of new shotguns from manufacturers at the NRA Exhibit hall. Here are the shotguns I found notable.
Pros: Reliable design, excellent sights and rail for optics, price
Cons: Heavy, requires training
Calibers: .12 Gauge, 2 3/4″ or 3″
Price: $479.00
The Remington 870 has a strong presence in the marketplace and use among both law enforcement, military and civilians which means there are many parts and accessories available and it is proven in the field as a reliable and effective weapon.
Remington added an optics rail, ghost ring sites and an extended magazine (7 round) on the 870 tactical which just happens to be the two of the most common after-market modifications made by 870 owners when using the platform to build a personal defense shotgun. (My 870 has had an extended magazine and ghost rings for years.) Kudos to Remington for responding to their consumers.
I am not sure how civilians would find the tactical extended choke useful but you have to admit, it looks cool!
The Remington requires basic training…more than the average handgun and is heavy, particularly if held at the low-ready, on target or at at port-arms for any period of time. To address this issue, I would recommend a tactical sling for the personal defense shotgun (more on tactical slings later).
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Pros: Short, lightweight, rails for optics and lights, simple
Cons: Limited capacity 2-rounds
Calibers: .12 Gauge, 2 3/4″ or 3″
Price: ?
This shotgun system I found to be a creative mix between old and new technology. The century-old side by side shotgun design with modern optics, lights and sights seem to work with the Stoeger Double Defense.
I own a Stoeger coach gun and have found that I can go from port-arms to hits on target faster with the coach gun than with my fastest semi-auto shotgun. The problem is I have only two rounds to fire before I have to go into a reload.
Although there are no guarantees in a gun-fight, the chances are two well-placed shotgun hits will end the fight. In reality, you have to count the time it takes to retrieve, load and bring to bear the weapon not just the time it takes to fire the shotgun. A smaller, lighter, more-simple shotgun gets in the fight sooner.
In the vast majority of shotgun deployments, the weapon is brought to bear and not fired. Under these circumstances, the Stoeger Double Defense here too holds an advantage due to weight and shorter overall length than a pump or semi-auto shotgun.
The Stoeger Double Defense’s greatest advantage is its simplicity. The single-trigger, break-top design can be learned very quickly by even novice shooters and the weapon naturally points in the direction you are facing…illumination, optics and a fiber-optic front sight further improve the process of acquiring a quick sight picture. Smaller-stature shooters may want to give the Stoeger Double Defense a try in the lower-recoil 20 gauge.
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Pros: Short, well priced for a full kit
Cons: No shoulder-stock
Calibers: .12 Gauge, 2 3/4″
Price: $422.00 – $ 547.00
I like this offering from Mossberg because they are marketing the shotgun as part of a ‘Survival Kit-In-A-Can’ and include a buoyant, portable, water-tight container…a survival knife, gun lock and swivel studs for a sling. The Mossberg 500 J.I.C. comes in matte black, desert camo and what they call ‘mariner’ which is presumably rust-resistant.
The top-mounted thumb activated safety is counter-intuitive to Remington and Benelli shooters and the more advanced Mossberg shotgun sights are absent on this platform that relies on a rear ramp/front bead for sighting. The six-round capacity magazine is generous for a compact shotgun.
I have owned and fired the Mossberg 500 in pistol-grip configuration. Although I am partial to the Remington and Benelli, I consider the Mossberg 500 with a pistol-grip a ‘good enough’ weapon. In this case I would have recommended a folding shoulder stock but like the sights, it may have made the shotgun too large for the container.
Bonus points to Mossberg for making yet another cool modification to their basic shotgun platform. These Mossberg 500 tactical mods scored points for glamor.
Bass Pro Shops has just launched a comprehensive outdoors online resource OutdoorSite Library:
The OutdoorSite Library you can find:
I found this site fascinating for two reasons…why Bass Pro or any other major retailer has not done this before and the excellent job they did in their first launch.
Among my favorites where the large selection of hunting stories in the video library and the user generated content of the ‘braggin’ board’ and the talk forums.
My only complaint is that their video library does not offer the embedded videos feature.
*WARNING* Impact hunting shots
Cooler online
Among the most popular items at the NRA exhibit hall were the new offerings in personal defense revolvers. Here are some of the most notable.
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Pros: Light-weight, accurate, compact, low-price
Cons: Specialized caliber, 5-cartridge capacity, thumb-cocking single action
Calibers: .22 magnum, .22 long rifle
Price: $ 289.00
This lightweight single-action ‘cowboy’ revolver in .22 magnum/.22 long rifle comes priced right and is useful for those who want an accurate .22 caliber revolver in a compact package.
Bonus points to North American Arms for their rhinestone mini-revolver:
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Pros: Fast-shooter, accurate, proven caliber
Cons: Price, large size
Calibers: .357 magnum, .38
Price: $ 1,659.00 *gulp*
This is specialized personal defense revolver will find favor among those who are believers in the combat-proven .357 magnum cartridge. This weapon plays to Smith and Wesson’s strengths (it’s revolver series) by improving the action, trigger and stocks to create a revolver that shoots like a semi-auto with the superior accuracy of a revolver. This revolver is offered in a two-tone matte finish which I prefer to the shiny stainless and in with an 8-round capacity.
For those that doubt the speed and accuracy of a revolver…
No misses
Jerry Miculek offers shooting lessons to folks on the Smith and Wesson Performance Center partner ‘My Outdoor TV’.
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Pros: lightweight, concealable, lifetime warranty
Cons: Sights
Calibers: .38 special, .38 special +P
Price: $ ?
Cobra Enterprises is known for their derringers and their ‘Patriot’ series semi-auto pistols. They have recently shipped the ‘Shadow’ a hammerless revolver capable of firing .38 Special +P ammunition with power approaching the .357 magnum cartridge. The aluminum frame makes for a lightweight revolver (15 oz. empty).
The Shadow is produced in three finishes titanium, black and pink. Pink was my sentimental favorite. The good people at Cobra Enterprises plan to ship with optional ‘rosewood’ and ‘ebonywood’ stocks that might add elegance but I found rubber stocks make for a superior shooting grip particularly when shooting +P ammunition. Although the price of the Shadow was not known at the time of this writing, we expect the same excellent pricing we have seen from Cobra on their ‘Patriot’ series pistols.
Having carried the J frame for years as a secondary weapon, I found the compact, hammerless revolver both highly concealable (e.g. as a pocket pistol) and easy to shoot one-handed. The one weakness of this platform is that the sights have to be reduced to a low-profile front post and rear notch to maintain the concealability. People with less than perfect eyesight may find it challenging to acquire a strong sight picture with the low-profile sights.
The folks at Cobra Enterprises distinguished themselves in customer service. Wil Gentry, the president of Cobra made himself available directly to customers at the show and demonstrated an enthusiasm seldom found with some of the larger manufacturers.
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Pros: Light-weight, compact, laser feature
Cons: Price, laser feature
Calibers: .38 special, .38 special +P
Price: $ 525.00 (Hogue model), $ 792.00 (Crimson Trace model)
Ruger’s new LCR, .38 caliber revolver has the features we like in a small-framed revolver…concealable, light weight and capable of firing a +P cartridge. The Ruger LCR comes in two configurations, the Hogue Model with excellent rubber pistol stocks and the Crimson Trace model with integral laser sight built into the pistol stock.
Ruger demonstrated innovation at utilizing different metals…aluminum, polymer and aerospace grade stainless steel to produce a strong, concealable revolver that is among the most lightweight in it’s class.
I will reserve the debate over the utility of laser sights to a different day but for those that find laser sights useful, the feature is built into the Ruger LCR in the Crimson Trace model.
Ruger produced a video to showcase LCR features.
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Hog-leg
According to the North American Wildlife Enforcement Officers Association, poaching is defined as “the illegal killing or taking of any wildlife”.
Wildlife belongs to us all. We harvest game according to a set of management guidelines so that we can all enjoy the bounties of the wildlife harvest without obliterating a species. Poachers violate these guidelines and in effect steal from us all. Whether it’s for profit, malice or amusement, poachers deprive us, the law-abiding hunters of the wild game opportunities we have earned and place species in jeopardy of extinction. As law-abiding hunters with respect for wildlife and the rule of law, it is in our interests to fight poaching.
It speaks very well for a region that enforces their hunting regulations:
The case is one of the state’s biggest poaching cases in recent memory.
Thirty-eight-year-old Rex Powell, 42-year-old Joseph Pantos, 30-year-old Ryan Hoover and 21-year-old Chris Vance face third-degree felony or misdemeanor counts for wanton destruction of protected wildlife, more commonly known as poaching.”
How To Stop Poaching
Stewardship
