I was introduced to the M14 rifle in Basic Combat Training (BCT) in the summer of 1969, at Fort Ord, California and I fell in love with it. I was only 17-yrs old and weighed a whopping 135 pounds at the time. But when I graduated from Infantry School in December of 1969. I had beefed up to 165 pounds. I longed for my very own M14 – however it was not to be, you see the US military M14 was a select-fire rifle, capable of fully automatic fire. When I returned to my National Guard unit in Chicago,…

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On April 26, 1777, it is claimed that 16-year-old Sybil Ludington rode all night in a rainstorm for 40 miles to warn her father’s New York militia of the approach of the British army. — April 26, 1937: The German Luftwaffe’s “Condor Legion” destroyed Basque town of Guernica, in Spain. — Just one day left! We are running a two-week-long sale on all of our pre-1899 antique shotguns at Elk Creek Company, with deep discounts. This sale will end on Monday, April 27th, 2026. Please note that some of these guns have been re-sleeved and re-proofed for modern shotshells! —…

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As the popularity of semi-automatic rifles for hunting and competition increases, many makers tend to overlook the importance of left-handed bolt-action rifles for southpaw operators. Ruger has not ignored 10 percent of the population, with left-handed versions of its Hawkeye and American Gen I bolt-action rifles. Now, the company is bringing out left-handed versions of the American Gen II rifles, starting with its Ranch lineup. Introduced with the Gen I American, Ranch models are compact rifles with a 16-inch barrel that are chambered in common Modern Sporting Rifle cartridges and feed from AR-pattern magazines (or Mini-30 magazines in the case…

For a good part of the 20th century, when militaries and law enforcement agencies needed something that could provide greater effective range, accuracy and capacity than a handgun, but in a package smaller than a rifle, submachine guns and pistol-caliber carbines did most of the heavy lifting. Likewise, when a similar need for some form of personal defense weapon (PDW) arises for everyday citizens today, it’s often fulfilled by some variation of a medium-size, pistol-caliber firearm. The reductions in weight, length, muzzle flash, blast and recoil, as compared to centerfire rifles, drive the continued popularity of this approach. However, there…

Without a doubt, the Smith & Wesson Model 29 is one of the 20th century’s most shootable, collectible “superstar” revolvers. But there is much about this universally-admired .44 magnum that is not known. For example, the serial numbers of the first guns, which officially started at S131700, were not assembled in numerical order, with some of the first Model 29s having serial numbers as high as S167124. The reason for this, according to Smith & Wesson historian Roy Jinks, “…was that the factory was using frames that had already been built, but were for the .45 Target model of 1955.…

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As a public service, I’d like to share my ham radio antenna designs with SurvivalBlog readers. We handed out these antenna-building diagrams, free of charge, at Hamfests.  We sell laminated copies of wall charts and pocket band charts. Below, I am including drawings for Fan Dipoles and OMTA Verticals. (The original idea was Robert Wilson, a nice guy, we shared several ideas, but, after improving on his “math-inspired idea”, we designed and built many iterations of a more practical design.)  For the Fan Dipoles we sell a kit without wire, or a complete build.  Please note that the Fan Dipole…