by Ron Foster
The Firearms Tactical Institute reports:
"Number 1 buck is the smallest diameter shot that reliably and consistently penetrates more than 12 inches of standard ordnance gelatin when fired at typical shotgun engagement distances. A standard 2 ¾-inch 12 gauge shotshell contains 16 pellets of #1 buck. The total combined cross sectional area of the 16 pellets is 1.13 square inches. Compared to the total combined cross sectional area of the nine pellets in a standard #00 (double-aught) buck shotshell (0.77 square inches), the # 1 buck shotshell has the capacity to produce over 30 percent more potentially effective wound trauma. In all shotshell loads, number 1 buckshot produces more potentially effective wound trauma than either #00 or #000 buck. In addition, number 1 buck is less likely to over-penetrate and exit an attacker's body."
This little tidbit of info was important to him in more ways than one because of the location of his backdoor. His backdoor was actually a backside door that had its own characteristics to deal with. Particularly was the fact that he was most concerned with in that his LP gas tank was right in the line of fire when you opened the door about 70ft away. A miss or an exit wound with 00 buck was not something he felt like testing out for safety against the tanks steel walls. Definitely no ball or slugs getting fired in that direction he concluded. He knew the idea of shooting a gas tank and having it blow like a Hollywood movie was generally BS but he erred on the side of wisdom and safety in choosing his loads.
One of his prep storage steel buildings sat only a few feet away from the house and formed an alleyway that lead to the front of his house. Unless you as a would be perpetrator had already cased the joint well, you wouldn’t be expecting Randal to come out the backdoor and appear around the front of the house behind a bush or catch you off guard going the long way around the back as a less than friendly greeting. The penetration of this load is more than adequate to end a dire situation. Less recoil made his follow up shots quicker and with less punishment of a heavier load he might have chosen for thicker skinned critters.
Recoil has to be considered for a defensive gun. Remington’s Magnum 00-buck load has 12 pellets—about 1 1⁄8 ounces of shot—launched at almost 1,300 fps. Some folks have been humorously noted to say that this load is not pleasant to shoot in many ways. It’s capable of dislodging fillings, changing your mind and blurring vision during the process, making practice as pleasant as visiting your mother-in-law and fast follow-up shots as difficult as a return visit. On the other hand, Remington offers an eight-pellet Managed-Recoil, 00-buck load at 1,200 fps with recoil half that of the Magnum load
He particularly liked the fact that if you looked at his way of ending a confrontation, he was sending 16 pellets of .30 caliber down range every time he hit the trigger.
Within the confined spaces of your house, does anyone really think an intruder will know the difference between #4 buck, #4 shot, O or OO buck? Anyway you go, the recipient is going to have a bad day--a very bad day.
It was the distances from the front road and what was likely to be possibly encountered coming from the woods in back of his house that he chose his special loads for. He had loads for everything, from double 65 cal balls to duplex turkey shells containing number 4 and 6 shot.
He really had too much ammo for all his guns if there was such a thing he had decided. Maybe he could figure out a barter deal with some preppers at the meet? Well that would be the logical thing to consider, but he wasn’t going to transport a shit load of ammo there. Hell you could get labeled as a terrorist for damn near anything these days and he disliked traveling through Georgia and all its cops even without a bunch of prepper paraphernalia he might have an explanation for.
That’s the problem with buying ammo, you can’t return it and shipping it yourself or to somebody else was cost prohibitive as well as put you on the radar of folks you didn’t need to alert to your lifestyle or possibly theirs. No, the extra ammo cans of ammo could stay home. Meanwhile put Mr. Frick Shotgun to bed. This was his backdoor shotgun; he defined the two roughly on the sound they made when they were racked to chamber a shell. He had screwed an old army footlocker to the floor in a small addition to the house that had originally started out as a laundry room.
The original homes out of town owners had intended to sell him the house with a washer and dryer but somehow the dryer had mysteriously disappeared at some time and they were unaware it had been stolen until the closing. After living here for a few months, the neighbors and Randall had shared a few ideas who had done it, but this type of conjecture was considered just learning the lay of the land and who to watch out for. It is weird how southerners handle their business sometimes. You could hint at the possible perpetrator that you knew for whatever reason you had in mind that they were sometimes up to no good but you were not supposed to point any fingers or suspect them in public. That was a no-no and the community could turn on you for suggesting it or even mentioning it with some redneck bad results.
Anyway, Frick the pistol handled scatter gun attitude adjuster went to the bottom of the footlocker and was covered with an olive drab green bandanna. A few No 10 can food preps went in front of it and a box or two of things like a solar shower and a Waterbob went over it. He was careful of the laser light combo that the guns design necessitated that it be mounted sideways on the barrel. The light was a cheap forty buck add-on that worked in three positions; laser, light or light with the laser by its design of placing the laser in the center of 4 LEDs. It wasn’t as practical as it sounded because unless you had your eyes adjusted at night low light levels, the laser didn’t go that far, but a 140 lumen light was plenty for his needs and he was satisfied with his purchase.
Night on his little hollow of prepperdom on the hill was often times stygian darkness that didn’t even allow you to see your truck parked 6 steps from the door. If you came out of a normally lit house and had no night vision, it was like entering a coalmine from a sunlit day. You couldn’t see shit and were vulnerable to anything that might be lurking and seeing you framed in a doorway. Many a time when he had to go out to his truck at night to retrieve a pack of cigarettes or some forgotten item he had reminded himself to check the ground with the little LED flashlight on his keychain for snakes on the way to the truck and under it before he opened the door.
When the sun began going down, the woods around him appeared jet black unless you actually walked into them and that was a major disadvantage that he had considered and tried to prep for. One rabid fox could ruin your day, so he was not going to get chomped if he could help it.
That pistol-handled shotgun was about useless for hunting or defense past 50 yards, but he could pray and spray the whole wood line quickly with devastating effect and hopefully be the last man standing and uninjured.
He had practiced with the thing many times as if his life depended on it, which was the general idea anyway. Blowing off at least 16 round balls minimum of 30 cal lead heading in the direction of a threat will definitely spoil their aim and cause them to duck and he could empty 6 rounds of this or 96 pellets in about 4 seconds which was more than most could do from a semi auto rifle in the same amount of time. He called it his poor man’s machinegun or ambush ender. Before the gun enthusiast detractors start up about the method of his to handling madness, just keep in mind that point man in Vietnam often carried a shotgun in response to ambushes in the jungle with very good effect.
Randall padlocked the footlocker and put an old Native American print throw blanket over it to make it appear as a table between two chairs. Wasn’t much of camouflage job, but it would suffice for now he hoped if the burglars were in a hurry.
A lot of folks kept a single shot 20 gauge or a 12 gauge shotgun at their backdoors for rattlesnakes, rabid critters or two legged varmints and the obvious hiding places were already a place they would be looking anyway. This type of gun could be found new or used from 100 bucks or less in any pawnshops in the area and most people grew up with them and knew the custom of having one handy and within easy reachi
ng distance from a door.
They were only worth about 30 bucks to hock one if some pilfering fool got one. The younger crack heads or meth heads who seemed to be growing vastly in numbers or encounters would sometimes grab them as easy to get rid of but hardly worth it, because they were usually older than dirt models and the owner had never written down the serial number.
Randal had once told an elderly neighbor who had a break in and who was constantly complaining about the way the world was going that it wasn’t the first time somebody had the same concern. He had quoted a piece from his college philosophy questions that probably went over the old country boys head but he liked it anyway.
'Bury me on my face,' said Diogenes and when he was asked why, he replied, 'Because in a little while everything will be turned upside down.' Laertius Diogenes
8
The Arrival
Joyce told LowBuck and his wife Cat to give her a minute before they settled down for a bit and let her call her son and tell him that she had arrived safely. She stepped out on the patio for a bit of privacy and LowBuck chased his female pit-bull puppy called Liberty inside so it wouldn’t pester her while making the call.
“Oh she is so cute!” Joyce exclaimed making friends with the dog before LowBuck could corral her.
“Yeah she is a sweetie, but if you got a camera or phone in your hand she likes to tell you quite loudly you need to pay more attention to her antics instead of it.” LowBuck said scooping up the exuberant hound and letting Joyce pet the wiggling pup.
“I will be inside in a few minutes; I have been hearing several bad weather reports for California all the way over here and just want to make sure he is getting ready for it.” Joyce said giving Liberty a final ear scratch.
“I have been hearing the same thing. Looks like we might get some of it here in the next day or two. I am hoping all that rain doesn’t get to Prepper fest until late in the week.” LowBuck said handing off the excited dog to his wife who did a nose to nose touch with her as she playfully chided the dog for being so happy to great a new friend of theirs.
“Well with the long drought the Midwest has been experiencing I know that getting a lot of rain is a welcome relief, but it sure is pretty bad timing for us.” Joyce said and went to sit on the picnic table to make her call.
“Hey Jack! How are you making out?” Joyce asked when he answered the phone.
“Hi Mom, everything is fine here. How are things with you?” Jack replied.
“Good. I hear you are having lots of bad weather. Any problems?” Joyce asked while eying the hot Arizona sky.
“It has been raining cats and dogs the last few days. It has been quite a storm. How is the weather where you are at?” Jack asked.
“It is kind of cold, but no rain here as of yet. Did the weather service issue any flood warnings or watches yet for your area?” Joyce inquired.
“Yes. The weatherman says possible risk of coastal flooding and mudslides inland. It doesn’t sound too bad right now, but we have worst weather forecast later on in the week ahead. I am a little bit worried about that. Randal has been broadcasting articles and YouTube vids round the clock with different experts saying this might be a precursor to an ARkStorm.” Jack said tentatively.
“Jeez really? I haven’t looked at the internet in a couple days. That is a very serious threat, anything official on the nightly news regarding the possibility of an ARkStorm?” Joyce responded worriedly.
“Nothing at all has been on TV regarding an ARkStorm but there is a lot of speculation on the storm strengthening with gale force winds.” Jack said glancing at the TV weather channel he had been monitoring for the last couple days.
“I think I will call Randal and get his take on things developing when we get off the phone. I would like to know more about the chances of an ARkStorm actually forming.” Joyce said while wondering if she should cut her trip short and return home to California.
“If you hear anything interesting please give me a call back. I guess if we have to evacuate we are still going to meet up in Texas at Uncle Vicks?” Jack said thinking back on the bug out plans he and his mother had rehearsed.
“Well go to your Aunt Susan’s in North Cali, if it’s just normal flooding and use the list of things to take out of the house so you won’t miss anything. Did you get your car out of the shop yet?” Joyce asked.
“No the shop said they were having trouble finding a part and with their work backlog it would be sometime next week before I get it back.’ Jack said gloomily.
“Try and get them to give you a loner car.” Joyce replied
“Already tried to get one, they said they were out of them. I have been getting rides from Nancy to take care of a few things but other than that I have been just sitting at home.” Mark explained.
“That’s not a good situation at all. Have you talked to Nancy of what you all might do in the event of an officially ordered evacuation?” Joyce asked in a concerned tone.
“No, I talked some to Mark about it and he was going to call his parents and ask them where they wanted them to go if one was ordered. I will talk to Nancy later on today, surprisingly enough she has an interest in becoming a prepper these days.” Jack said chuckling.
“Good for her! I bet Mark is happy she is coming around. You not having a car yourself complicates things a lot. That beetle bug car of hers won’t haul very much gear and there is no telling where her folks will tell her to evacuate to. I will give her folks a call as soon as you find out what Mark has to say.” Joyce said puzzling over several problems that might occur if an evacuation was actually ordered and her son was without a vehicle.
“Ok, well I will call you back in a bit and give you an update. How is everything else going? You had a chance to visit with LowBuck and Cat yet?”Jack asked looking out the window at the storm which was still blowing a steady hard rain down on the backyard.
“No, not yet. I just got in a few minutes ago. I haven’t had a chance yet to catch up on all the prepper gossip or plans as of this moment. I met their dog Liberty though. She is adorable! Well, let me jump for now and I will talk to you a little later.” Joyce said concluding her phone conversation.
“Bye.” replied Jack, wishing she could have given him some kind of news.
“Sorry about that LowBuck, it took me a bit longer than I thought. Have you all heard anything about the possibility of an ARkStorm hitting the coast?” Joyce said worriedly.
“Yea Randal was tweeting and posting that those things occur about every 200 years and we are overdue for one. He has been citing some interesting articles and we were just now on the internet laughing at his latest preparedness tip and pun about it “ LowBuck said pointing over at the computer monitor.
Joyce went to look at it with Cat and LowBuck went in the kitchen to mix up some drinks and start a little party.
Randal suggested that flood plain residents should be aware of a concept called the Painted Mattress Survival Boat might which might save a few lives in an emergency situation. People often times waited too late to evacuate or storm debris trapped them from accessing the evacuation routes. Having an axe available to break through attic roofs and a water proof storage bag like white water rafters used was also on his flood prone area prep list.
Tim Anderson of the web site Instructables shared his version of this boat.
Make the "Katrina Granny", an improvised boat by painting a mattress.
This boat is perfect to get from your house to high ground when the flood hits.
This truly is the fastest boat in the world. To build that is.
You can even use it for a mattress while waiting for the disaster to hit!
Next time you're driving to the beach and you see a mattress and some paint cans dumped by the side of the road, you know what to do!
It doesn't much matter what kind of goop you use to seal the cloth of this short-term boat.
If you're just in a hurry to float, consider paint, tar, varnish, linseed oil, Crisco,
lard, butter, heavy grease, wax, etc.
Of course Randal liked to tweak on concepts and ideas and came up with a use for his dining room table that he wanted to try out.
“Kind of scary sometimes what redneck ingenuity can come up with, but that thing looks like fun!” Joyce thought to herself
“That was good for a laugh and an interesting preparedness tip!” Joyce said chuckling while reaching for the drink LowBuck offered.
“I am surprised that old heathen didn’t use a weed eater for an engine or put pontoons on his riding lawnmower.” LowBuck replied grinning.
Cat agreed with them that Randal could come up with some off the wall preparedness tips. She jokingly asked Joyce if she had invested in any water wings after hearing about the possible threat of an ARkStorm.
“No, but I checked all the beach toys and Mark`s childhood pool toys to see if they would still hold air. I also looked at Randal's relatively inexpensive “pop-up “camouflage dome tent and found one online. A pop-up tent can be set up and taken down extremely fast, with very little effort. The idea is to find a secluded area in the woods or a local park, put up the tent at sunset and then take it down again at or before sunrise the next morning. There is no campsite for anyone to find because it does not exist during the day. This is also known as stealth camping and many long-distance cyclists use it to avoid staying in motels. They camp on public or private land and take off before anyone knows they were there. “Joyce replied and they settled in for a long chat.