WRSA Intermediate Rifle Clinic - Kooskia, ID - July 7/8

Grab your gear and join us on July 7-8 in Kooskia, ID for our first Intermediate Rifle Clinic!

What You’ll Need:
• Rifle/carbine
• 200 rounds rifle ammo per day/50 rounds handgun
• At least two mags (Note: we are Garand-friendly, so our courses of fire will accomodate Garand users)
• Rifle sling and ammo carry (mag pouch, bandoleer, etc.)
• Optics/Irons – whatever you would use in an emergency; bring back-up irons if possible
• Enough food/water/sungear/raingear to get you through each day’s shooting; don’t forget the aspirin!
• Pen/pencil/notepad
• Kneepads/elbowpads/groundpads if you use them
• Eye and ear protection
• Binoculars (optional)
• Pistoleros: bring your holstered piece, ammo, and an extra mag/speedloaders; revolvers are welcome

What You’ll Learn:
• Practical zeroing for your rifle
• Rapid reaction shots at various ranges (from 3 to 200 yards)
• The importance of follow-up shots
• Immediate action drills
• Reloading techniques
• Moving safely with your rifle
• The necessity of weak-side training
• Your pistol as last resort

Who: Western Rifle Shooters Association
What: Intermediate Rifle Clinic
Where: Kooskia, ID – see details below
When: 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM
July 7-8, 2007
How much: $75/day; $150/weekend

Prerequisites: Each shooter will be expected at all times to adhere to the standard gun safety rules, with special attention to muzzle and trigger finger control.

Your weekend will be more enjoyable if your rifle is cleaned, properly lubricated, and zeroed at 100 yards. All shooters will have an opportunity to zero their rifles and handguns at appropriate distances.

Make sure to remember your cleaning equipment, lubricants, and any necessary tools/manuals for all of your gear.

Rally point details: All shooter should meet no later than 7:30 AM each morning at Panky’s Grocer Store on Main Street in Kooskia, Idaho. Don't worry - it is the only grocer store in Kooskia.

As a group, we will then proceed to the shooting location for the day. Note that the shooting location for each day may be different, so assembly each morning at the rally point will be a necessity. It will take about 20-30 minutes to drive to the range.

Lodging:

Three Rivers Motel & Resort
- www.threeriversresort.com
Highway 12 Mp 97, Kooskia - (208) 926-4430

Mt Stuart Inn & Apartments
6 S Main St, Kooskia - (208) 926-0166

Clearwater 12 Motel
- www.clearwater12motel.com
108 E 3rd St, Kamiah - (208) 935-2671

Contact: westernshooters@gmail.com

We MUST Regulate Those Dangerous Ammo Caches!

From the just-opened "As I was Saying" file comes this gem - from the "Thus Always to Tyrants" Commonwealth of Virginia, no less:

***
Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine said Tuesday he is hopeful the General Assembly will overcome its affection for firearms and adopt changes to the commonwealth’s gun and ammunition laws in response to the April 16 murders at Virginia Tech...

***

In general, Kaine said, he is troubled that Virginia law allows any individual to stockpile ammunition with no way for authorities to monitor the cache. Seung-Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech gunman, began his rampage with 377 rounds of ammunition, according to police.
***

And yes - I know that such a law is likely DOA in Virginia.

But don't think these folks aren't serious, or that we won't see such legislation in other jurisdictions.

Sic semper tyrannis, indeed.

(h/t to David Hardy's excellent Of Arms & The Law blog for this story)

Is There Anything Worth Your Life?

Hat tip to Bird Dog at Maggie's Farm for pointing to this essay on what is essential in manhood.

Excerpt:

***
...The men of all really thriving cultures know that their lives, if truly lived, are not their own. The samurai was taught to relish each day as one won from death, an unexpected boon: For the moment he swears allegiance to his lord, he must consider his life as already forfeit. Thus, he can lay that life down at a nod, whenever the sacrifice should be required.

Men who went down to the sea in ships, Viking marauders or Nantucket whalers, knew well they might never return, yet they did go; and the man on the mizzen in the midst of a storm knew that his life literally hung by a thread, and that many of his fellows in just his situation never saw land again, but without him and his obedience there could be no voyage beyond the calm of a bay. The crewmen on the Titanic held it as their duty, once the iceberg’s devastation had been reckoned, to assume that their lives were lost. Only so could they tax their muscles and their broken hearts to the last stretched fiber, to save as many other souls as they could, particularly women and children.

The lad who carried the flag in the old fields of war was unarmed and most conspicuous, but most necessary for the rallying and ordering of his comrades. He was indispensable in his choosing the honor of being the single man least likely to survive the battle. The man first up the ladder to scale the walls of a besieged city would likely also be the first man dead beneath; but if he does not go, no one goes.

The Spartans at Thermopylae knew they could not hold that pass forever against a Persian army many times their strength, but they held long enough for the Athenians to prepare for the onslaught. And you hold a pass by understanding that your life is not your life. You block the opening. The foe must break through over your dead body.

A man need not bear a saber to be a true soldier. When Louis Pasteur was searching for cures for infectious diseases, he had not our same luxury of safety. He was a devout Catholic who attracted to himself young men of high ideals and similar devotion. Those men knew that to be Pasteur’s assistant meant constant exposure to, and experimentation with, disease. Theirs was less a profession than a creed. They went forth in the wake of a plague in Egypt, to seek knowledge and cure the sick.

One gentle young man, like the holy Damien of Molokai, contracted the disease himself, and laid his body down in that alien land.

The men embraced the risk. They were dispensable; the cause was not.(emphasis added)

***

Read the whole thing.

Next Steps: From Dump to Dump

The latest from Habcan:

My Gunny always maintained that the most dangerous thing in the field was a 2nd Lieutenant with a map. I was a 1st, so of course that comment never applied to me! But the comment is germane if you need to find your way.

Oh sure, you are in your home AO, so you don’t need a map, the sun is always to your South, the North Star shines at night, and in the city there are signs on every streetcorner. That approach to navigation will get you DEAD in anything but ideal conditions.

But you have a GPS, you say? Wonderful! Now EVERYONE knows where you are!

Yeah, but you still can call your friend on that neat little two-way radio, describe where you are, and ask directions?

Ri-i-ght. You really aren’t ready for this, are you?

Weather can obscure sun or moon and leave you disoriented. Natural or manmade disasters of any proportion can alter landmarks to be unrecognizable, and those street signs will be GONE. If you are the type who drives to work every day on the same route, you KNOW the way, right? You go along this road until you come to the big tree, hang a left, go on to the big redbrick building, then right to the church, and on to your workplace. Nuthin’ to it!

Well, friend, just suppose those landmarks disappear? How many blocks/kms/miles between turns, EXACTLY? Do you KNOW? If caught at your workplace after an ‘event’, can you find your way back to your family?

Another scenario: It’s Bugout Time! The main roads are of course plugged, so do you have alternates routes to where you want to get to? Have you actually taken the time to check them out, or even just figured it out on the map on the kitchen table?

A map is a wonderful thing. Studying them is a great hobby. Get a map of your AO in as large a scale as possible. The ones the military use are best, and show elevations and contours. Get a soft pencil. Get out doors and check out the map against the terrain. Make notes, both on the map itself, on a plastic overlay sheet, and in a notebook. Check it out in detail.

Note all the culverts under the road. Take pics of the bridges and buildings. Pencil in the little clumps of brush and trees that might be useful to camp in. Is there water? Find out where the RR tracks go. Is there an abandoned rail line in your AO, the rails and ties removed? It’ll go through cuts in the hills and be raised above the swampy spots. It’s a good way to get from A to B, and level. You might even not need a 4X4! You could push a handcart with suitable wheels along it and move a lot of stuff if you had to. Check it out!

As you drive your daily commute (in Condition Yellow!), note the potential hides, bugout holes, steep ditches, EVERYTHING, and keep marking that map!

Hiking across your AO while ‘hunting varmints’? Mark the fences. Where are the gates? Power lines? Telephone lines? Underground pipelines are marked at every road crossing. Learn the signage. Keep adding this sort of intel, and your map will become a goldmine of factual information, much better than ‘anyone else’s’!

Get your family/team involved and you’ll never again hear “Are we there yet?” when going to your ‘location’, or the kids wanting to go home to the TV when you’re just out for a local family drive after supper. Suddenly, you’ll discover that your ‘AO that you are completely familiar with’ got either a lot smaller, or a lot more interesting. DETAILS, man! You want DETAILS!

Now, of course you have a compass. PLEASE have a compass! Not one of those silly little things in the end of your Rambo knife-handle that has a big N on it and a wobbly needle, but a real old-fashioned non-electronic North-pointing prismatic Compass. One you can sight through that is marked in degrees, so you can take bearings on landmarks from where you are. Two or three cross-bearings plotted on your map will establish your position pretty exactly. WRSA will cover this at some time in the future with a Course in Land Navigation, so I won’t say more here.

That position you just plotted may be where you have established a dump of essential equipment and the bearings will allow you to find it again. It might be worthwhile to take/check those bearings at night? Think about it.

Perhaps you and your distant family or team members have established several of these dumps. Plotted on your map(s) it would be helpful if you knew the direct-route bearing from one to the next. An idea is to have all one sort of materiel in each dump, so that if digging is involved, you don’t have to disturb the seals on the ammo crates to get at the toilet paper.

Ah yes, Toilet Paper! Toilet paper and feminine paper and baby paper - the definitive Currency of Worth after TSHTF. The first thing to disappear from the NOLA supermarket shelves!

As I said at the beginning of this: you just have to get from Dump to Dump! Keep thinking about it.

Next Steps: The Grey Man

The latest from Habcan:

The Grey Man is always invisible in plain sight.

The Grey Man is totally aware of his environs, his own capabilities or lack thereof, his weaponry and his levels of competence with that weaponry. He constantly strives to improve upon both his capabilities and competence. In public, he is always respectful, even to the point of obsequiousness if the situation calls for it. He always appears to be just a little confused by what is happening around him, while in reality he is alertly doing a tactical assessment.

The Grey Man NEVER draws attention to himself by word, dress, action, or mannerism. The Young Grey Man is dismissed as a wimp, the Older as a doddering old fool. The Grey Man derives great inner satisfaction from having this portrayal of himself accepted by all he meets, for it means he is succeeding in his disguise of his actual persona.

The Grey Man is a private man. He practices with his weaponry in private, or only with his fellow Grey Men, always in a secluded location. If he must resort to use of a public facility, he schedules his practice for times when he is likely to be the only one there. At such times he would probably wear bright clothing, to be remembered only as ‘that guy in the red jacket and sunglasses’, a quite different person from his usual persona. If right-handed, he would always occupy the leftmost station on a NRA bullseye pistol range, with his back to an observer, or the rightmost one for riflery or combat pistol practice. He would not have his name emblazoned on clothing or equipment, nor would he have any noteworthy affiliation proclaimed on his cap. “He’s just a guy. Comes every Wednesday morning for his coffeebreak. Always pays cash.”

The Grey Man does not drive a pink Cadillac with steer horns on the hood, NOR does he drive the biggest mutherin’ 4X4-with-all-the-bells-and-whistles BOV in the lot. The older his vehicle is, the rustier, the less likely it is to draw attention (or to be stolen, for that matter). This vehicle is, under its exterior, scrupulously maintained and in excellent running order. If pulled over by authority on the basis of appearance, it can be shown to meet or exceed all requirements under licensing laws, and an obsequious co-operative manner precludes a search under the seats. The Grey Man does not speed on the highway: cruise control is his friend. So is the Highway Patrol: he waves to any he sees. If he travels the same route constantly, at the same times, The Grey Man becomes a ‘fixture’ and can be dismissed from conscious observation.

It helps the Survivor to build up this persona of The Grey Man gradually and over time. The anti-gun sheeple neighbors will quickly rat out the ‘Patriot’ who is always loudly declaiming about his ‘Rights’ and ‘what will happen if they try to take my guns’. The Grey Man goes far out of his way never to offend anyone, imitating the duck which appears calm on the surface of his pond whilst paddling like hell under the surface.

Be seen as conservative in all you do. A Survivor is a Grey Man, and that little old grey man alone over there in the corner is probably a Survivor!

And that young guy next to him? Just another wimp? Or are they both watching each other’s backs?

Making the other guy waste precious time in assessing the situation is a big part of staying alive. Practice being grey now, while there's time to build your skills.

Are You A Terrorist?

'Cuz if you are, then there's likely gonna be folks from the G coming to see you some day.

Not likely tomorrow.

Maybe not next year.

But they will come.

And you won't like what they have in mind.

So who's a terrorist, according to the people who brought you such perennial favorites as Waco, Ruby Ridge, and Manzanar?

Well, according to the State of Pennsylvania, you are a domestic terrorist if you believe any of the following statements:

- Gun Control is a conspiracy to enslave us starting with the removal of our ability to either defend ourselves or forcefully change our government.

- The first ten amendments of The Constitution are God given and all others are temporary, invalid or outright fraudulent.

- All judicial authority resides with the people. The jury, not the Judge, directs trials and can nullify laws they do not approve of.

- U.S. sovereignty is being surrendered to the U.N., World Court, and World Bank, with the U.S. becoming an economic region of this New World Order.

- Anti-Government activists often believe they have never accepted U.S. citizenship or can renounce it.

- Federal and State governments do not have the legal authority to levy taxes or interfere with travel or private enterprise by requiring licenses or regulating activity or conduct.

I especially like this gem:

- The extreme fringe believes that the U.S. government is either the enemy or has been subverted by the enemy and must be actively defended against.

And what picture does the State of Pennsylvania use as an illustration of these scurrilous types?

You guessed it - the image above.

So much for Anthony Wayne and the Pennsylvania Line.

Fortunately, those of us living in the South don't have to worry about statist thuggery like that, or at least we didn't until the State of Alabama recently came out with their own list. That list is now unavailable, but it existed long enough to create a ruckus recently.

Then there are our old friends at the FBI, whose Phoenix Field Office came up with a classic back in the Clinton I years, which was also quickly suppressed due to public outrage.

The optimists amongst us would conclude that the Alabama and Phoenix examples prove that "the system can work, if enough people get involved."

God bless those folks - and may they be right.

For my two cents, I think those examples prove that the G is smart enough to learn from its missteps and knows enough now not to be so blatant about their agenda.

Just remember - your belief in the righteousness of your actions and beliefs may someday be challenged by a "public servant" in Ninja mask and suppressed MP5.

Your survival depends upon your ability to fearlessly face that cold, hard possibility.

And then taking steps to shift the odds in your favor.

Next Steps: Thoughts on Basic Survival Weaponry

From Habcan:

My Gunny used to say that the most important weapon you could have was your brain and its mindset. After that comes hardware - practical hardware - the kind you most like have already. And let me say right from the get-go, you do NOT need to go out and spend a fortune to arm yourself for survival! Oh sure, you CAN, but you don’t NEED to.

I had a pal many years ago who was completely happy with his choice of an inexpensive .22 single-shot rifle. His rationale was that he was an excellent woodsman/hunter, and the quieter little .22 would feed him while a big ‘kaboom’ just draws unwanted attention. He went further to say that if TSHTF, one quiet shot would get him any more-sophisticated weapon and its ammunition carried by an enemy so unfortunate as to pursue him in his own AO. He just stocked up on .22 shells, particularly those of the subsonic variety. His logic is irrefutable.

A survivor MUST have a .22 - the simpler the better, so breakdown is a non-worry. You can chop both ends off it for easier concealment if you need to without compromising its effectiveness. A surgically-placed .22 will take even a moose or black bear.

Ask an Indian. Or ask these guys – they too recommend the .22, in the form of a pistol:


***
And that firearm is a heavy barreled, match grade, .22 caliber pistol. Barrel lengths vary from 5-10 inches, the longer the barrel the better. These are not the types of pistols that you buy at a pawnshop or at a farm sale. They are tricked out, highly accurate weapons systems. With or without optical sights the pistols have rifle like accuracy. RUGER and Smith & Wesson make the two most common models carried. The preferred finish on the firearm is stainless or after-market weatherproofed camouflaged coating. Many cadre have red dot scoped sites, which increase the abilities of the firearm. Many will shoot a golf ball at 35 yards easily and quickly. If the batteries go dead in the wild places, it is just a turn of a screw and the scope comes off. The batteries are the size of a nickel and weigh less than a dime. Constant run time is over three days. The standard match grade target sights are already sighted in and ready for the worst. These weapons are not cheap. Many cost more than standard combat handguns after the modification are added on. To add to the package a powerful tactical flashlight is mounted under the barrel (Streamlight or Surefire). Why a flashlight? When a red or amber lens cover is added it becomes a nocturnal game-getter.
***

A survivor MUST have a knife. Yes, a big Rambo knife will do what a small knife cannot, but it draws attention and in a pinch you can dress out a deer-sized animal with a 2” bladed pocket knife: I have done it, on a bet. Have a knife.

A survivor MUST be able to stay warm and cook. To have fire in the simplest fashion, get a BIC. Get a five-pack! A Bic and a can of hairspray is a flamethrower. That can be useful if the need arises.

Boston’s Gun Bible has all you need to know about more-sophisticated armaments within its ample covers. Get it and study it, and make your choices, based on YOUR requirements.

Some will tell you that you MUST have a semiauto Main Battle Rifle. Well, maybe that is true if you plan on going into battle, or defending a base you have retreated to. Carrying one will draw a lot of attention. A survivor will appear as the unremarkable ‘Grey Man’.

More about that later on.

What Comes After Appleseed?

First in a series by Habcan:

My Gunny would have suggested ‘Mindset’, I think. He was a very practical NCO, with much experience, and I listened to him then, so it stands to reason to listen now.

Appleseed or any basic rifle program gives the newbie a handle on how to produce multiple hits in a limited time under some stress accompanied with much noise, as in a battle, and rewards a certain required score.

What do you do next? You come down out of the Nirvana of achieving ‘Rifleman’ status and get practical, that’s what! Appleseed is FAMILIARITY TRAINING – nothing less, but also nothing more.

Now, how to put that ‘familiarity’ to practical use? Somehow, I don’t see patriots engaging in any set-piece battles – at least if they want to live to see tomorrow. What folks have to learn instead is how to survive in a hostile environment. To survive, they have to think. So people have to learn HOW to think and WHAT to think about, until they do it as subconsciously as they have learned to change the mags of their prized M1A or charge their M1. In other words, one must develop a warrior’s mindset.

It is simply not enough for people to only know HOW to use their weapon of choice. They must also know WHEN. To use it effectively, they have to be constantly AWARE, so that WHEN doesn’t sneak up on them and grab their ass. To be AWARE involves having a proper warrior’s MINDSET.

“Which is what?”, you ask. Well, you sure don’t want to come on like Rambo. You want to be as unobtrusive as possible, but always AWARE.

Colonel Cooper taught graphically with his ‘Conditions’. ‘Condition White’ signified total unawareness. ‘Condition Yellow’ signified normal watchfulness for potential threats, ‘Condition Orange’ signified awareness of particular threats, and ‘Condition Red’ signified appropriate reaction to an actual, real threat. If you observe 99.9% of people walking down the street, (or driving the freeways for that matter!), you will quickly identify them as being in ‘Condition White’.

That’s how folks get themselves mugged or into auto accidents. That’s also what can get you DEAD.

We want freedom-loving Americans to stay alive, so starting NOW - implement the good Colonel’s ‘Conditions’ in your everyday life until you use them subconsciously. Later on in this series, we’ll get into a little fieldcraft/streetcraft, and your success will largely depend on this ability to be AWARE of surroundings so as to take appropriate reactions utilizing skills with a variety of weapons.

You will please note that I said REACTIONS. We are NOT - repeat NOT - advocating that our folks INITIATE any ‘rumbles’. We just want you to SURVIVE them. In these turbulent times, trouble is coming soon enough for anyone who believes that the citizen, and not the state, is the ultimate source of political power.

WRSA Schedule/Courses - Updated As Needed

UPDATED 1/11/11: Several of us have attended very useful training sessions with both Gabe Suarez and the Front Sight organization; each are highly recommended.

Stay low, keep moving, use cover, reload often, and good luck.

Up the Republic!