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AR-15s

What You Need to Build an AR-15

Purchasing a factory AR-15/MSR certainly satisfies your need for instant gratification. Perhaps you are new to the black rifle world and intimidated by the seemingly never-ending array of choices on lowers, uppers and parts that buying stock just seems easier. However, building your own AR-15 rifle satisfies in the long term. To start, you will need a lower receiver. The lower receiver is the part of the gun that makes it a gun and comes with a serial number. For your first entry-lever AR-15 build, the Del-Ton stripped lower will handle hundreds of thousands of rounds.

AR-15s

The Best of the Best: AR-15 for Beginners

There is a reason why the AR-15 is the best selling rifle in the United States. For its versatility, flexibility, modular design, and ease of use, everyone from beginners to expert shooters love the AR-15—the modern sporting rifle. The love for the AR-15 derives from how easily it is to customize and change. It goes from self-defense to competition to hunting to plinking with a few minor adjustments and accessories. Accessories and add-ons are widely available. Created by ArmaLite Chief Engineer Eugene Stoner the semi-automatic AR-15 uses either a direct gas impingement or gas piston system to operate. Originally chambered for the .223 Remington/5.56 NATO round, now you can find AR platforms in a variety of calibers such as .22 Long Rifle, .300 Blackout, 6.8 SPC, and .450 Bushmaster.

Camping & Survival

Camp Like Champ!

Even though I’m a very independent woman, I’m not afraid to admit there are things that I just don’t do when single. Camping was one of them until my best friend in college and I decided we needed to float the Guadalupe River. This trip required an overnight stay in a campground. In a tent. Without electricity. She grew up participating in Camp Fire and had all the skills needed for us to not only have a fun, but also a successful and safe camping trip. Since then, I have not let anything stop me from spending a few nights out on the lake camping with the girls. With a few basic skills and equipment, you can too!

Camping & Survival

Prepping Skills 101: Bartering and Trading

Throughout history, people have returned to the barter system when money has become scarce or lost its value. During the Great Depression and a long recession during the 1980s, Americans returned to a system in which people traded goods and services without the exchange of currency. Many Americans are losing faith in the American dollar and believe economic collapse is inevitable. Only time will tell if that will happen, but David A. Stockman, former Republican Congressman and President Ronald Reagan’s budget director has said, “The future is bleak.” If our paper money becomes meaningless do you know how and what to barter?

Gun Display Stands. Pistols for sale in the store.

Consumer Information

How to Shop for a Gun

There is one thing us women know how to do with certainty—and that is how to shop! However, if you are anything like me, shopping for an item you don’t know much about like cars or electronics (in my case) can be daunting and exhausting. I’m skeptical of salespeople and mechanics pulling the wool over my eyes, selling me something I don’t need or over priced. If you are new to the gun world, you might not know exactly where to start when shopping for a gun. To make things a little easier, let us look at shopping for guns like we would shop for clothes or shoes—by occasion, size, price, and looks. To narrow down your choices, first figure out the primary reason you want to purchase a gun. Decide how much you can spend on the gun of your choice. Having a budget will narrow down your choices further.

How-To

Handgun Basics 101: Get a Good Grip

When I first started shooting handguns, I had issues correctly gripping my handgun. A proper grip will help absorb recoil, provides shots that are more accurate and is safe. Your instinctive grip might be unsafe, especially on a semi-automatic pistol. Every time you pull the trigger to shoot a semi-auto, the slide moves back. If your thumbs are in the way, there is a possibility of the slide hitting them. You can solve many accuracy problems by correcting your grip.

Camping & Survival

Survival Planning 101: Preparing for a Flood

Floods are one of the most costly of all natural disasters. In the last 10 years, flooding cost the U.S. more than $2.9 million dollars in damage. Of all presidential-declared U.S. natural disasters, 90% involved flooding. It can and has happened in all 50 states. Flooding can happen in a matter of minutes as is the case with flash flooding. Or you may have several days of advance warning of a threat from a flood, such as the type caused by spring thaws. Although you may live in a low-risk area, emergency preparedness officials want you to remember this, if it rains where you live, even a minimal amount each year, than it has the potential to flood.

Safety and Training

Managing Recoil with the Correct Stance

Unfortunately, I have seen way too many pictures of women on the Internet shooting a gun incorrectly. You know the picture or the YouTube—the woman has a gun, she leans back to take the shot and the next thing you know the gun has recoiled back and hit her in the head or she has dropped it. A lot of people repost these pictures on their Facebook wall and hilarity ensues. However, most of the time this mishap is not the woman’s fault. The person who gives them the gun fails to give them any training. To manage recoil, get a good stance that provides proper balance and allows your entire frame to absorb the recoil.

Growing beans, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers on a small balcony.

Camping & Survival

Container Gardening for Urban Preppers: Growing Your Own Food Virtually Anywhere

Being an urban or apartment dwelling prepper presents many challenges. Storage space and privacy is always an issue. If you have always wanted to be self-sufficient, but your location prevents it, you can start by growing your own supplemental food supplies in even the smallest spaces. Called container gardening, herbs, vegetables and some fruits can grow on balconies, patios, front porches, fire escapes, and even windowsills. Some of the best survival foods such as beans, kale, berries, broccoli, potatoes, and spinach will grow in containers. Squash, tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, radish, cucumbers, peppers, and herbs also require a small amount of space to thrive. Small-rooted vegetables are best for container gardening.

Woman shooting a semi-automatic pistol at the range

How-To

New Year, New Gun: Practice, Practice, Practice

Practicing with a handgun will not make you a better shooter or better prepared in a self-defense situation. Training with a handgun gun will. It may be a matter of semantics, but going to the range and pulling the trigger does little more than reinforce habits—good or bad and most likely more bad than good. Training involves a well thought out plan and addresses your ability to develop or improve specific skills. In the process, you will develop the muscle memory necessary to perform the action as a subconscious act.