PHOENIX (Reuters) - A mountain lion attacked, killed and partially ate a New Mexico man, authorities said on Tuesday.
A search party found the body of Robert Nawojski, 55, in a wooded area near his mobile home in Pinos Altos, New Mexico, late last week, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish said.
Nawojski was reported missing by his brother last week. A search party found a mountain lion lurking near his home, and reported it to the Department of Game and Fish, who shot and wounded the animal.
After the lion ran off, the officer found the door to the mobile home open, the water running, and Nawojski's false teeth on the table.
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From the report, it's hard to tell if he was outside the trailer, or if the cat actually came into the trailer and took him. Either way, it just goes to show that we all need to be alert and aware of our surroundings. Packing a handgun is a good idea, too. Personally, if I see a panther lurking around my homestead, I'm gonna do everything I can to kill it.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
New Mexico man attacked, eaten by mountain lion
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Shooting a M48 Yugoslavian Mauser
Mauser '98 in 8x57 being fired from a field improvised rest and reloading with stripper clips. Mauser '98s are great rifles; I consider it the most reliable rifle ever designed. Yes, even more reliable than single shot designs because of its secure claw extractor and mechanical advantage (camming) during chambering and extraction. Herr Mauser was a genius.
The rifle in the background is an FAL.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
K-Bar Bowie Knife destructive test
C'mon, that's all there is? He should've welded it back together and continued with the test!
Seriously, if you get one of these and baby it just a tiny bit more than he did, it'll probably do you OK.
If you want one, here's where to get it:
Actually, that is amazing performance, especially for such an affordable knife. Anyone remember the marketing hype for the, now defunct, Carbon V Trailmaster Bowie by Cold Steel? I'd say the Ka-Bar bowie measures up to that claimed performance, and at a third of the price. I don't know if the Cold Steel actually measured up or if it was just ad hype, but it's a moot point now anyway. I think Cold Steel still offers their bowie in carbon steel, but it's made in China now. The Ka-bar is made in USA; one of the few remaining holdouts.
I have a USMC Ka-bar, and now I am planning to get one of these bowie knives too.
Mora Clipper carbon steel knife destructive test
He gets pretty destructive with it in the third video! Pretty tough for a ten dollar knife. Pretty tough for a knife of that size in any price range, for that matter.
Here's a link. The link says it's stainless steel, but that only applies to the green handle version, which is a dollar more. This red handled version is carbon steel.
The Sling
A sling is a projectile weapon typically used to throw a blunt projectile such as a stone. It is also known as the shepherd's sling.
A sling has a small cradle or pouch in the middle of two lengths of cord. The sling stone is placed in the pouch. Both cords are held in the hand, then the sling is swung and one of the two cords is released. This frees the projectile to fly in a straight line. It flies on a tangent to the circle that the pouch makes. The sling derives its effectiveness by essentially extending the length of a human arm, thus allowing stones to be thrown several times farther than they could be by hand.
The sling is very inexpensive, and easy to construct. It has historically been used for hunting game and combat. Today it still interests sportsmen as a survival tool and as an improvised weapon.
The sling in antiquity
Origins
The sling is an ancient weapon, the origin of which is lost in antiquity. It is certain that slings were known to Neolithic peoples around the Mediterranean, but it seems likely that the sling is much older. It is quite possible that the sling was invented during the Upper Paleolithic at a time when new technologies, such as the atlatl and the bow and arrow, were emerging. With the exception of Australia, where spear throwing technology such as the woomera predominated, the sling became common all over the world, although it is not clear whether this occurred because of cultural diffusion or independent invention.
Archeology
Whereas sling-bullets are common finds in the archaeological record, slings themselves are rare. This is because the materials from which slings are made are biodegradable and because slings are low-status weapons that are rarely included in a wealthy person’s grave where preservation might be more probable.
There are exceptions. The oldest known extant slings were found in the tomb of Tutankhamen who died about 1325 B.C.. A pair of finely plaited slings were found among a number of other weapons. The sling was probably intended for the departed pharaoh to use for hunting game. Image of sling from the Tomb of Tutankhamen.
Another Egyptian sling was excavated in El-Lahun in Al Fayyum Egypt in 1914 by William Matthew Flinders Petrie and now resides in the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archeology. It was found alongside the remains of an iron spearhead and thought by Petrie to date from about 800 BC. The remains are broken into three sections and not quite complete. Although very fragile, the construction is clear: it is made of bast fiber (almost certainly flax) twine; the cords are braided in a 10-strand elliptical sennit and the cradle seems to have been woven from the same lengths of twine used to form the cords. Image of the Lahun sling and reconstruction by Burgess.
Ancient representations
Representations of slingers can be found on artifacts from all over the ancient world, including Assyrian and Egyptian reliefs, the columns of Trajan and Marcus Aurelius, on coins and on the Bayeux Tapestry.
Written history
The sling is mentioned by Homer and by many other Greek authors. The historian of the famous retreat of the Ten Thousand, 401 BC, relates that the Greeks suffered severely from the slingers in the army of Artaxerxes II of Persia, while they themselves had neither cavalry nor slingers, and were unable to reach the enemy with their arrows and javelins. This deficiency was later rectified when a company of 200 Rhodians, who understood the use of leaden sling-bullets, was formed. They were able, says Xenophon, to project their missiles twice as far as the Persian slingers, who used large stones.
Ancient authors seemed to believe, incorrectly, that sling-bullets could penetrate armor, and that lead projectiles, heated by their passage through the air, would melt in flight. In the first instance, it seems likely that the authors were indicating that slings could cause injury through armor by a percussive effect rather than by penetration. In the latter case we may imagine that they were impressed by the degree of deformation suffered by lead sling-bullet after hitting a hard target.
Various ancient peoples enjoyed a reputation for their skill with the sling. Thucydides mentions the Acarnanians and Livy refers to the inhabitants of three Greek cities on the northern coast of the Peloponnesus as expert slingers. Livy also mentions the most famous of ancient skillful slingers: the people of the Balearic Islands. Of these people Strabo writes: And their training in the use of slings used to be such, from childhood up, that they would not so much as give bread to their children unless they first hit it with the sling.
The late Roman writer Vegetius, in his work De Re Militari, wrote:
Recruits are to be taught the art of throwing stones both with the hand and sling. The inhabitants of the Balearic Islands are said to have been the inventors of slings, and to have managed them with surprising dexterity, owing to the manner of bringing up their children. The children were not allowed to have their food by their mothers till they had first struck it with their sling. Soldiers, notwithstanding their defensive armor, are often more annoyed by the round stones from the sling than by all the arrows of the enemy. Stones kill without mangling the body, and the contusion is mortal without loss of blood. It is universally known the ancients employed slingers in all their engagements. There is the greater reason for instructing all troops, without exception, in this exercise, as the sling cannot be reckoned any encumbrance, and often is of the greatest service, especially when they are obliged to engage in stony places, to defend a mountain or an eminence, or to repulse an enemy at the attack of a castle or city.
Biblical Accounts of Slings
The sling is mentioned in the Bible, which provides what is believed to be the oldest textual reference to a sling in the Book of Judges, 20:16. This text was thought to have been written about 1000 BC, but refers to alleged events several centuries earlier.
The Bible also provides one of the more famous slinger stories, the battle between David and Goliath from The First Book of Samuel 17, probably written in the 7th or 6th century BC, describing events alleged to have occurred around the 10th century BC. In this story, the shepherd David, unarmored and equipped only with a sling, defeats the warrior champion Goliath with a well aimed shot to the head. The story serves to emphasize two important aspects of the sling: it is a low-status weapon, but in the hands of an expert it is not to be underestimated.
The sling was the weapon of choice for shepherds in the field due to its usefulness for fending off other animals. This fact is reflected in The First Book of Samuel 17:34-36 as David convinces Saul to let him fight Goliath on behalf of the Israelites. Saul must have been convinced of his great skill with the sling for he knows if David is defeated so is the Israelite army. The sling may have been a low-status weapon among the Philistines but it was a perfect weapon for the Israelites for it required little resources and was easily produced. Due to this fact this was a commonly used weapon by the Israelite militia. Use of the sling is also mentioned in Second Kings 3:25, First Chronicles 12:2, and Second Chronicles 26:14 to further illustrate Israelite use.
Combat
It is clear that many ancient peoples used the sling in combat and that organized armies included specialist slingers as well as equipping regular soldiers with slings as a back up weapon. As a weapon, the sling had several clear advantages. In general, a sling bullet lobbed in a high trajectory can achieve ranges approaching 600 yards — significantly farther than what could be achieved by bows in any period, including the famed longbow. Arrows were typically loosed along relatively flat trajectories that seldom managed to send them beyond 100 yards. The current Guinness World Record distance of an object thrown with a sling stands at 477.0 m, set by David Engvall in 1992 using a metal dart. Larry Bray held the previous world record (1982), in which a 52g (1.8 oz) stone was thrown 437.1 m. Modern authorities vary widely in their estimates of the effective range of ancient weapons and of course bows and arrows could also have been used to produce a long-range arcing trajectory, but ancient writers repeatedly stress the sling's advantage of range. The sling was light to carry and cheap to produce; ammunition in the form of stones was readily available and often to be found near the site of battle.
On the other hand, some modern historians have posited that unlike archers, it was probably difficult to deploy slingers in very close formation because each man requires a significant space in the line of battle and slingers cannot easily be deployed in multiple ranks. Historian Arther Ferrill has attempted to contradict this proposition by pointing out that the underhand technique (see "How to Sling" section below) would have allowed a slinger to swing his sling within a space not much larger than one needed by an archer or a comparable missile-armed warrior, and the debate remains largely unresolved to this day. There is an overhand slinging technique called 'figure 8' that allows for an accurate and powerful sling throw in a limited space. With a relatively short sling and ideal ammunition fig 8 is good for 300 metres plus. Given that most slingers engaged in battle would have been very experienced in a variety of throwing styles it is extremely likely and possible that slingers were deployed in ranks and while needing a little more room than an archer would not have required so much as to make it impractical. Underhand sling styles tend to be fairly low powered and relatively inaccurate. An archer can easily shoot from behind protection or fortification — including downwards from the top of a wall — whereas a slinger must expose his person to the missiles of the enemy - not true, an experienced slinger could easily arc his stone over any intervening object. An arrow is more likely to penetrate armor or shields due to its sharp point, but a sling could do damage to relatively soft armor (such as quilted cloth) by percussive force without the need to break the surface of the armor itself. It has been said that to achieve range and accuracy with a sling required a long period of training. However, this is probably no more the case than for the bow, and when the target was a mass formation great accuracy was probably not so essential. This is incorrect - accuracy with a sling is usually only acquired after several years of use - accuracy with a bow can be achieved in a matter of days.
Caches of sling ammunition are frequently found at the sites of Iron Age hill forts of Europe. 40,000 sling stones were found at Maiden Castle in Southern England. It is proposed that Iron Age hill forts of Europe were designed to maximize the effectiveness of defending slingers.
The hilltop location of the forts would have given the defending slingers the advantage of range over the attackers and multiple concentric ramparts, each higher than the other, would allow a large number of men to create a hailstorm of stone. Consistent with this, it has been noted that, generally, where the natural slope is steep, the defenses are narrow and where the slope is less steep, the defenses are wider.
Construction
A classic sling is braided from non-elastic material. The classic materials are flax, hemp or wool; those of the Balearic islanders were said to be made from a type of rush. Flax and hemp resist rotting, but wool is softer and more comfortable.
Braided cords are used in preference to twisted rope because a braid resists twisting when stretched. This improves accuracy.
The overall length of a sling could vary significantly and a slinger may have slings of different lengths, the longer sling being used when greater range is required. A length of about 120 cm (4 ft) would be typical.
At the center of the sling, a cradle or pouch is constructed. This may be formed by making a wide braid from the same material as the cords or by inserting a piece of a different material such as leather. The cradle is typically diamond shaped and, in use, will fold around the projectile. Some cradles have a hole or slit that allows the material to wrap around the projectile slightly thereby holding it more securely; some cradles take the form of a net.
At the end of one cord, a finger-loop is formed; this cord is called the retention cord. At the end of the other cord it is common practice to form a knot; this cord is called the release cord. The release cord will be held between finger and thumb to be released at just the right moment. The release cord may have a complex braid to add bulk to the end, this makes the knot easier to hold and the extra weight allows the loose end of a discharged sling to be recovered with a flick of the wrist.
Polyester (Dacron (TM)) is an excellent material for modern slings, because it does not rot or stretch and is soft and free of splinters.
Modern slings are begun by plaiting the cord for the finger loop in the center of a double-length set of cords. The cords are then folded to form the finger-loop. The cords are plaited as a single cord to the pocket. The pocket is then plaited, most simply as another pair of cords, or with flat braids or a woven net. The remainder of the sling is plaited as a single cord, and then finished with a knot. Braided construction resists stretching, and therefore produces an accurate sling.
Ammunition
The simplest projectile was the humble stone, preferably well-rounded; suitable ammunition may frequently be found in a river. The size of the projectiles can vary dramatically in size from pebbles weighing no more than 50 g (2 oz) to fist-sized stones weighing 500 g (1 lb) or more.
Projectiles could also be purpose-made from clay; this allowed a very high consistency of size and shape of the shot that would be an aid to range and accuracy. Many examples have been found in the archaeological record.
The best ammunition was cast from lead. Leaden sling-bullets were widely used in the Greek and Roman world. For a given mass, lead, being very dense, offers the minimum size and therefore minimum air resistance. In addition, leaden sling-bullets are small and difficult to see in flight.
In some cases, the lead would be cast in a simple open mould made by pushing a finger or thumb into sand and pouring molten metal into the hole. However, sling-bullets were more frequently cast in two part moulds. Such sling-bullets come in a number of shapes including an ellipsoidal form closely resembling an acorn - this could be the origin of the Latin word for a leaden sling-bullet: glandes plumbeae (literally leaden acorns) or simply glandes (meaning acorns, singular glans).
Other shapes include spherical and, by far the most common, resembling the shape of the shell of an almond nut - like a football that has been squashed so that it has an elliptical rather than circular section. This shape is sometimes referred to as biconical, although this really fails to convey the subtlety of the shape.
The ancients do not seem to have taken advantage of the manufacturing process to produce consistent results; leaden sling-bullets vary significantly. The reason why the almond shape was favored is not clear: it is possible that there is some aerodynamic advantage, but it seems equally likely that there is some more prosaic reason such as the shape being easy to extract from a mould or that it will rest in a sling cradle with little danger of rolling out.
Almond shaped leaden sling-bullets were typically about 35 mm (1 3/8 in) long and about 20 mm (3/4 in) wide weighing approximately 28 g (1 oz). Very often, symbols or writings were moulded into lead sling-bullets. Many examples have been found including a collection of about 80 sling-bullets from the siege of Perusia in Etruria from 41 BC, to be found in the museum of modern Perugia). Examples of symbols include a stylized lightning bolt, a snake, and a scorpion - reminders of how a sling might strike without warning. Writing might include the name of the owning military unit or commander or might be more imaginative: "Take this," "Ouch," and even "For Pompey's backside" added insult to injury, whereas dexa (catch!) is just sarcastic.
Julius Caesar writes about clay shot being heated before slinging, so that it might set light to thatch.
The sling in medieval period
Europe
By the Middle Ages the shepherd's sling was largely militarily extinct. The staff sling continued to be used in sieges and the sling was used as a part of large siege engines.
The sling continued in use for the hunting of game.
The Americas
The sling was known throughout the Americas.
In the ancient Andean civilizations such as Inca Empire slings were made from the wool of the Llama. These slings typically have a cradle that is long and thin and features a relatively long slit. Andean slings were constructed from contrasting colors of wool; complex braids and fine workmanship result in beautiful patterns. Ceremonial slings were also made; these were large, non-functional and generally lacked a slit. To this day, ceremonial slings are used in parts of the Andes as accessories in dances and in mock battles. They are also used by llama herders; the animals will move away from the thump of a stone. The stones are not slung to hit the animals, but to persuade them to move in the desired direction.
The sling was used for hunting and warfare. One notable use was in Incan resistance against the conquistadores. These slings were apparently very powerful; in 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, historian Charles C. Mann quoted a conquistador, who said that an Incan sling "could break a sword in two pieces" and "kill a horse". However, they were usually ineffective against conquistadores in plate armor.
Variants
Staff sling
The staff sling, also known as the stave sling, consists of a stave (a length of wood) with a short sling at one end. One cord of the sling is firmly attached to the stave and the other end has a loop that can slide off and release the projectile. Staff slings are extremely powerful because the stave can be made as long as 6 ft, creating a powerful lever. Ancient art shows slingers holding staff slings by one end, with the pocket behind them, and using both hands to throw the staves forward over their heads.
The staff sling has a shorter range than the shepherd's sling, is less accurate and requires two hands so the user could not carry a shield. It was generally used to throw heavy projectiles. Staff slings were good siege weapons because masses of stone could be launched at fortified locations at a high-arcing angle.
The French word is fustibale.
Kestros
The kestros (also known as the kestrosphendone, cestrus or cestrosphendone) is an intriguing sling weapon mentioned by Livy and Polybius. It seems to have been a heavy dart flung from a leather sling. It was invented in 168 BC and was employed by some of the Macedonian troops of King Perseus in Third Macedonian war.
Catapults
The onager is a torsion powered siege engine which uses the energy stored in a mass of twisted ropes and releasing it in one quick motion to rotate what was, essentially, a staff sling.
The trebuchet is a gravity powered siege engine which uses the energy stored in a raised weight to rotate what was, again, a staff sling. It was designed so that, when the throwing arm of the trebuchet had swung forward sufficiently, one end of the sling would automatically become detached and release the projectile. Some trebuchets were small and operated by a very small crew; however, unlike the onager, it was possible to build the trebuchet on a gigantic scale: such giants could hurl enormous rocks at huge ranges. Trebuchets are, in essence, mechanized slings.
Slings today
The sling is used today as a weapon primarily by violent protestors, launching either stones or incendiary devices, such as Molotov cocktails. International Brigades used slings to throw grenades during the Spanish Civil War. Similarly, the Finns made use of sling-launched Molotov cocktails in the Winter War against Soviet tanks. Slings have been used in the 2008 disturbances in Kenya.
The sling is of interest to athletes interested in, for example, breaking distance records. The best modern material is a polyester twine (trade name Dacron). Dacron is strong, smooth, immune to moisture and never rots.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the current record for the greatest distance achieved in hurling an object from a sling is: 477.10 m (1565 ft 4 in), using a 127 cm (50 in) long sling and a 62 g (2.12 oz) dart. This was achieved by David Engvall at Baldwin Lake, California, USA on 13 September 1992. Those of a more traditional bent may prefer the Guinness record for slinging a stone: 437.10 m (1434 ft 2 in), using a 129.5 cm (51 in) long sling and a 52 g (1.8 oz) ovoid stone, set by Larry Bray in Loa, Utah, USA on 21 August 1981.
The principles of the sling may find use on a larger scale in the future; proposals exist for tether propulsion of spacecraft, which functionally is an oversized sling to propel a spaceship.
How to sling
For a conventional throw, one does not make multiple rotations of the sling, a proper slinging action requires just one rapid rotation. The more times you swing it, the less likely it is that you'll hit your target.
(Some slingers will rotate the sling slowly once or twice to seat the projectile in the cradle.)
One makes an overhand throw, using the sling to extend one's arm. This is relatively accurate, instinctive and quite powerful. One faces 60 degrees away from the target, with ones weak hand closest to the target. The coordinated motion is to move every part of the body, legs, waist, shoulders, arms, elbows and wrist in the direction of the pocket in order to add as much speed as possible to the stone. One releases the projectile near the top of the swing, where the projectile will proceed roughly parallel to the surface of the earth.
Another method of release said to be favored by slingers firing into grouped or massed targets is an underhand throw. The motion is similar to that of throwing a softball. The trajectory arc is relatively high. The thrower stands 60 degrees away from the target, and takes one step forward from the trailing foot, letting the sling swing forward. Range is said to be increased with this method, sacrificing accuracy. Several historians have conjectured that this was the most commonly used method in ancient warfare due to its practicality.
There are also sideways releases, in which the swing goes around. These throws make it very easy to miss the target by releasing the projectile at a slightly wrong time. Other slinging methods can be seen, but many authorities deprecate them.
The clumsiest part of using a shepherd's sling is to regain control of the release cord. Conventionally, the loop of the retention cord is placed around a finger of the strong hand. Several projectiles may be held in the weak hand. After the release, an expert will continue the motion. The cradle will catch around a stone held out with the weak hand, so that the end of the release cord swings back to the strong hand retaining the loop. Just after the knot begins to swing, slightly before the knot reaches the strong hand, one drops or throws the projectile toward the ground with the weak hand, starting into the next release. Some persons braid the end of the release cord around a weight to help perform this maneuver. With this method, a skillful user can throw an aimed stone every few seconds in a cyclic coordinated movement, until the weak hand is empty.
From Wikipedia
All text of this article is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
The Slingshot
This information is taken from Wikipedia. It leaves a lot to be desired, but is still worth reading.
A slingshot (also sometimes called a catapult, shanghai, or katty), is a small hand-powered projectile weapon. A forked Y-shaped frame has two rubber strips attached to the uprights, leading back to a pocket for holding the projectile.
It is normally fired by holding the frame in the non-dominant hand, extended at arms length. The pocket is then gripped between thumb and forefinger of the dominant hand, pulled back to near the cheek, aimed, and the pocket released to fire the projectile toward the target.
Home-made slingshots were a popular children's toy for much of the twentieth century.
History
The earliest types of slingshots were invented in Russia. In Russia its name is rogatka, from the word rog (meaning horn in Russian). It's simply a smaller version of a similar but bigger weapon in Ancient Rus', named rogatina.
It relies upon the availability of vulcanized rubber. The most common source of rubber was from the inner tubes of tires, and so it seems unlikely that they were constructed before 1888. Once invented they became an archetypal boy's toy up until shortly after World War II. These were generally self-made from a forked tree branch and "red rubber" inner tubes. (Later inner tubes had carbon-black added, which made them much less elastic. Modern inner tubes use synthetic rubber, and in fact most tires are now tubeless).
Commercial versions were available from early on, and in 1948 Wham-O had as their first product a slingshot, but the sophisticated modern models start with the first wrist-braced slingshot—the Saunders "Wrist-Rocket", in 1954.
Construction and use
Although the simple forked stick and rubber models are still made by children, there are now a range of commercial models, including very sophisticated and powerful ones.
Many more powerful commercial slingshots now have a wrist-braces, and some models have stabilizers, rotating prongs, sighting mechanisms and other sophisticated improvements. While these are not necessary, they usually improve the power, lifespan of the bands and accuracy.
The material for the bands is critical. The best widely-available material is dipped latex rubber surgical tubing or latex sheeting. It lasts about six months before it needs to be replaced. It can be attached to the frame and packet by stretching it over a metal rod of the correct diameter. Some slingshots have been constructed of metal tubing of the exact diameter. Bands should be stored away from sunlight, which causes them to stiffen and crack.
A slingshot champion appearing on the David Letterman Show some years ago[citation needed] said to hold the projectile pocket at a fixed position near the body, such as the hip, and move the frame based on gut feeling and practice, just like a gunslinger or hip-shooter in the American wild west. Many gunslingers could hit a target without raising their weapon to eye level.
Hunting
A slingshot can be powerful enough to hunt game such as small rodents and birds at ranges up to 25 meters. A typical heavy pull band slingshot should be used with 3/8" to 1/2" steel balls. Using lighter ammunition doesn't increase the speed of the projectile significantly.
Link to the original article
All text of this article is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
The Staff Sling
This is an interesting looking weapon. I've made and used slings, but this is the first time I've seen one used with a staff.
Monday, June 2, 2008
The .22 For Survival
I read a really interesting discussion at one of the social networking sites, where one participant opined that .22s are not really very important, because big game is a better use of resources (time, effort etc.) than small game, and small game is better harvested by trapping anyway. The other participant in the discussion disagreed and offered some very well-thought-out commentary in favor of .22s. I asked and received permission to reprint his comments here:
"Yeah, this is all correct info. But I still rely on .22LR as a staple of my supply. I also store a good volume of large bore centerfire for rifle and handguns, as well as a goodish supply of shotgun shells (but not many). My preference is largely regional. I'll get to that in a couple paragraphs.
The 16" ideal barrel length is broadly cited for optimal velocity of the .22 LR, but it is 17" that is the optimum for precision. We see Anschutz and Walther presenting rifles with extended bloop tubes to create a "legal" target barrel length, but their crown is set at almost preciscely 17". That one inch of barrel length slows the bullet to reduce harmonics, sending the vibrations back to the action screws. A well-tuned .22 will actually ring through the wood into your ears as a bullet passes the 16" mark, but that is just before or after the bullet leaves the barrel. That is the stabilization of the bullet, and it is part of what makes the .22LR the most accurate round on the market.
A wise survivalist is looking at teams, not arsenals. Much meat can be had while simply gathering, and seeing a squirrel. One squirrel can feed two people easily on top of a pile of veggies. OK, it is not a moose steak, but it is something. With one person carrying a big bore gun, the moose is down. With another carrying the .22, more meat for the pot. And, right now, with a brick of .22 starting at around $11, that is 500 squirrels for next to nothing. The other fire power is on the scene.
Regionality. I have been in plenty of places where a .44 handgun is not nearly enough to protect against bear or moose. In those areas, I would certainly have someone in charge of a shotgun or rifle of appropriate gauge or caliber for the task. But here in the Great Basin, well, the most meat on foot is in the form of rabbits. A head shot to a rabbit with a .22LR is going to net a good chunk of food. I have served over 8 individual meals on one jackrabbit. 6 on a cottontail. That does not include stock useful in fortifying rice with protein which, individual for individual, small game does better than large.
Many among the survival community promote the .22 magnum. I see this as an expensive waste for most critters. I could go into this more, but would be way off tangent.
Disease within small game populations. Yes, it exists, especially in warm climates. Tularemia is one of the worst. It effects the liver first, causing white spots. It is wise not to shoot a warm weather rabbit that is sluggish or slow to flush. Every rabbit must be field autopsied to see if the liver shows ANY signs of discoloration. Tulermia spreads through blood contact, and enters open wounds common to any outdoor hands. Whether caught with a snare or otherwise, avoid contact with rabbit blood until a full autopsy is done. Parasites, such as bot flies, can affect rabbits and also make them sluggish. A big bloody, bloated, wolf is certainly not appetizing, but it is not gonna transmit any disease...so scrape it off. A slow rabbit is not necessarily off the menu, especially in warm climates, unless you have reason to not care.
Ability on big game. For most of the year, I would not go after big game with a .22. That said, in the winter, I would prefer a .22 within 50 feet...with a spotlight. In survival situations, here in the Great Basin, Hell yes...I would do that. The winter herds clump up and get dumb. You can walk into the middle of a herd without them knowing it, especially at night with a low moon. You do not need an eye shot at that range with a .22 on a mule deer, or a white tail. And if one gets away wounded, ethics be damned. This is survival.
And 50 rounds in the pocket weighs, what? the same as five big bore rounds, or less?
A .22...rifle, handgun, whatever...has a large range of uses, and in its absence there are few tools that can replace it. It is cheap, and everyone owns at least one. What is the harm in $100 of stockpiled ammo, just in case. It cannot be reloaded, but so what? How many meals could escape the pot if only one person in a party did not carry a .22? Penny for pound of meat, okay...a large animal is worth more. But for convenience sake, I would never neglect a .22 for anything. I'd not rely on it. But I bet it would bring me more surprises in take than anything, anything else.
To clarify, by "legal", I meant for competition. Those bloop tubes are also meant to stabilize harmonics further, and increase sight radius. Not really the stuff of survival.
I carry a .44 a lot of the time back country, with 305 grain CorBon flat penetrator loads. While I do not underestimate it, perhaps I underestimate myself. I'd feel much better facing a bear with a shotgun or rifle. Your .45-70 would be perfect. When in a place where an encounter is probable, not just possible, that's when I feel a .44 is not enough.
Your consideration of animal defense is wise, especially in Alaska. But a .22 need not be a second long gun to lug around. A .22 handgun can be used to dispatch squirrels and such pretty neatly.
One other thing I forgot to note is the use of CB rounds. They are quieter than an air gun, but can punch through a 2x4. I keep a couple boxes on hand. A novelty item, perhaps, but it's NFA legal and a good way to take care of coons without waking up the neighbors (as if they really would care, but still).A .22 cb that Aguila of Mexico makes (the Super Colibri) is a real light bullet (about 20 grains) in front of just a primer. The volume of this round going off is about that of a popcorn kernal, and the bullet striking its target is often louder than the report. This is a serious 50-foot and under round. CCI makes a cb round that has just a touch of powder, increasing its effective range out to around 25 yards. They cost around $25/500 and would be great for trap work where silence is important.
Jim (click to visit his site)
