My Blued Hawken

Gun ownership is a long-term investment which requires proper maintenance and cleaning in order to keep your guns working at their peak performance. A primary concern with long term storage of any gun — especially those stored in humid climates — is corrosion. Preventing corrosion is a multi-step process, starting with proper care of your firearm in the field, and followed with proper storage.  However, even if you take all the necessary precautions and care possible with your firearm, and even in the best of situations, if you use it corrosion or wearing will probably happen. How you deal with the results of such wear is the purpose of this article.

Most people when they imagine a gun will of course picture one that is “black” to most people. But of course my fashion-sense (my wife) would be quick to point out that it is actually a dark navy blue color when closely inspected. This color comes from a controlled corrosion called “blueing” in order to treat the metal so that bad corrosion doesn’t happen.  Alternative treatments such as parkerizing or Tenifer exist, but are more expensive. Also many people will opt for other metals and alloys such as stainless steel for increased protection.

This works due to the difference between normal corrosion (Rust) and this controlled corrosion. Normal oxidization (as seen here) comes from the chemical recipe of Fe₂O₃, which produces the familiar flaky, red remains of iron. Alternatively people discovered that you can create a very thin black oxide of iron that turns out to a similar, but different enough Fe₃O₄. The purpose to this is to create a layer of something between the oxygen and water that can bond with iron to create rust. This alternative oxide does just that.

Obviously the process works sufficiently in that it is the most common way to get a firearm, but it is definitely not perfect. Several methods of blueing exist nowadays, and can be performed inexpensively. But it is not perfect, no matter what method of application.

The thin layer of oxidization will over time wear off leaving bare metal open to attack. Beyond just allowing rust to happen, do you really want something you’ve invested so much money in looking worn? Thankfully the process is easy enough that it is something you can, and should attempt at home.

For my purposes, I currently had two firearms that I needed to take care of. One is from World War II, an old Russian Mosin. It saw use long before even my dad was born and thusly need to be cleaned up a lot. In order to practice though, I decided to start with another gun, a Hawken Rifle built from a kit (oh yeah, I need to post about that adventure). This was a clean(ugh, it already had some rust spots), new barrel that had never been treated. Of course, if your firearm bears any resemblance to the pistol pictured above, do not attempt to reblue and shoot. If you have that deep of damage your metal is probably brittle, and unsafe.  Reblueing is for restoring surface damage and wear, it is not a magic fix-all.

Now, before continuing I will say that if I wanted to be truly historically correct I would attempt to “brown” the Hawken rifle. Browning (not the brand) is a process of heat oxidizing that was more commonly used in the mountain man era the gun is from. However this kit rifle isn’t going to be perfectly accurate, and blueing is a slightly better, and much easier process.

To begin with, I needed a way to treat.  The first blueing on your firearm was probably done by some nice machine, and if a bit nicer might even have used a heat, or acid bath treatment to create a deeper, more even coat on your gun. This would be a bit difficult process to do at home of course, especially if you were simply trying to maintain a firearm in a less than optimal situation. Alternatively you can get very simple kits that include the basic chemicals you will need, and they can be applied with cotton swabs. This of course is the solution I was looking for.

After taking the time to read a few howto’s online, and then actually going over the simple instructions, I set out to blue my first gun. I did this knowing full well that my first attempt might not turn out very nicely, and I might be setting myself up for a lot of work undoing what I’d done, so I can retry. The steps though, are really quite easy. Before you begin remember that you will be working with caustic chemicals, so wear old clothes that you don’t care about, use gloves, and eye protection.

1. Take your gun all the way apart. If you dont’ know how, take the time to learn. You should know that already if you have any interest in blueing a gun.
2. Clean! Get the metal as clean as possible with normal cleaning materials.
3. Strip it clean – You need a blue/rust remover. Wear gloves, and scrub deeply
• If the gun is already blued, get rid of what’s already there. Anything left will cause spots or uneven colors
• If you are doing spot treatment make sure the area around the scuffs or rust are also stripped.
• Remove the rust. You are just wasting time if you leave any rust on the metal. If some is under your blueing, it’ll just grow like cancer. Or more aptly like the rust in any old car after dealing with Utah winters.
4. Clean Again! This time, your kit should have come with a deeper cleaning solvent, and probably some steel wool. You want shiny metal and nothing else (yes fingerprints matter)
5. If there is *anything* besides shiny metal, repeat the previous steps
6. Blue. Yeah, this step is actually quite easy. My kit had a tube of gel and a swab, and I’d just apply to the metal for 60-90 seconds, then rinse.
• Don’t do too much at once. You have to rinse with soapy water, and you don’t want it on too long so just do a small chunk at a time.
• Try to have clean cutoffs between sections. You are striving for even colors so make it easy to not double cover areas
• Coat evenly, try to keep it smooth.  The gel doesn’t always like to go smoothly, so use the swab so spread it.
7. Let Dry
8. Polish with finishing grade steel wool
9. Polish with a gun oil

Following those steps gives you one “protected” piece of metal. Depending on how closely you look at my picture there you might note that I do have some uneven bits in the color.  After a few minutes it actually became hard to tell unless you were looking closely.  It’s a job I’m satisfied with for my first time, but I know I can do better later.  I’m glad I played around a little, and I know that it’s much easier than I had originally thought. I’m looking forward to cleaning up the mosin now. I’m thoroughly convinced that blueing is an easy skill to learn, and a necessary part of any prepper’s skillset if they wants to keep their firearms in the best condition possible.

Birchwood Casey Perma Blue Liquid Gun Blue Kit Md: 13801.

New Birchwood Laboratories Inc Bc Barricade 6oz Aerosol Contains Fpr Wipe Off Corrosive Fingerprints

During my hiatus from blogging regularly (which has come to an end by the way, expect to see a lot more from me) I spent a lot of time in training.  I learned lots of new skills and got certified in several things.  One of those was becoming certified to teach the Utah Concealed Carry License course. 

Next week I’ll be teaching 3 classes that are meant to help me get familiar and comfortable with presenting the material.  Since I won’t be 100% up to par as an instructor (but I’ll still be good!) and since I need actual students to teach I’m offering these three classes at a 40% discount.  You’ll still get to get a real license and all that – I just might stumble over my words a time or two.  Here’s the details:

Normally $50/class – these 3 classes will be $30.00 each.

• Wed, Jan 26th from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm
• Fri, Jan 28th from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm
• Sat, Jan 29th from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm

To Register for any of these classes, go to my website, Command Tactical and sign up!

All classes will be taught in Highland, Utah.  You will be sent the exact address and directions within 24 hours of you payment being received.  The cost of the class covers ONLY the instruction.  You will still need to pay the fee for your license (I’ve got no control over that) and you will need to get a passport photo taken.  The class will cover the instruction and fingerprinting.

If you haven’t been waiting/wanting to get a Utah Concealed Carry License and you don’t already have one – and you’re a gun enthusiast, let’s talk about the benefits of being licensed.

Having a Utah CCW permit allows you to open carry and to conceal carry on your person or in your vehicle with a loaded firearm (you can open carry and conceal carry in your vehicle without a license but it has to be statutorily unloaded).  The benefit to being able to carry a concealed firearm is that if you ever feel uncomfortable going somewhere or in a particular situation, you can legally carry (and use if needed) a firearm into that situation/location.  This can be a huge stress reliever and comfort if the situation is right.  Furthermore, concealed carrying every day (which is what I do) allows you to fully exercise your 2nd Amendment rights and allows you to be a proper sheepdog – always able and ready to defend yourself and others.  If you’re of a mind to be able to do this, getting licensed is the way to go!

Finally, the Utah Concealed Carry Permit is one of the most recognized permits in the country.  With it, you can legally carry in over 38 states without having to get a license in that particular state.  This can be a HUGE benefit if you are traveling cross-country and like to carry a firearm with you when traveling.  If you are pro-gun and pro-carry, then a Utah CCW is the way to go!  If you live outside of Utah and have an interest in acquiring a Utah Concealed Carry Permit, contact me.  As long as you’re legally allowed to own a firearm, you can get your Utah Concealed License – we can set something up to get you certified.

Today I found an unprecedented offer from Front Site. For a limited time they are offering their $2,000 4 day tactical handgun course for $69.

It appears that the certificate that you will receive is good for any Monday through Thursday handgun course and is fully transferable to someone else which makes this an even better deal. Remember though, in addition to the $69 for the course, you will need to pay for a $50 background check as well as bring 600 rounds of ammo. For more information, please see this link. Hopefully we’ll see you there!

Now, I can’t wait to go back, this time with some firearms! Some of the Utah Preppers authors are heading up again on October 24th to watch some Cowboy Action Shooting and to do some shooting of our own. Read on to learn about this shooting sports venue, see some pictures and find out when some of us will be heading out.

The North Springs Shooting Range was created by and is entirely owned and operated by Carbon County. It’s construction was financed by the gas, oil and mineral rights of the area where the range resides. I have been to a number of shooting ranges throughout the western United States and this in my opinion is one of the nicest ranges I have ever had the pleasure of visiting.

Ranges

The range accommodates several different types of shooting sports.
Range Layout Map
This map is a little out dated, but shows the primary areas and their relation to each other.

High Power Rifle Range

This range has long line of well made concrete shooting benches under a roofed area. A section of this range even includes propane heaters in the ceiling for shooting on colder days or during the Winter.
The rifle range is divided into three sections from left to right as you face the range.
Section 1 has metal targets beginning at 600 yards at 100 yard intervals out to 1000 yards.
Section 2 has targets starting at 100 yards and going out to 600 yards.
Section 3 has some targets at varying distances up to 100 yards.
My only complaint about the rifle ranges is a lack of trenches at 600 and 1000 yards for raising and scoring targets. If the range had these, sanctioned competitions could be held there. A section of the rifle range is 3/4 enclosed for colder days. Use of the rifle range is included in your $5 user fee.

Shotgun area

The shotgun area is fairly basic right now. It consists of a picnic table, a few concrete pads to shoot from and an electric trap/skeet thrower. Using this facility costs an extra $2.50. You can purchase clay pigeons at the main cabin or bring your own from Wally World. Plans are in the works to expand this area by adding a few more throwers and some concrete lanes as you see in competitive trap and skeet. My wife loves shooting clays so I imagine I’ll be spending a decent amount of time in this area.

Archery Range

I didn’t get a good look at this area. I only saw a few archery targets from my vantage point on the road. I admit to not being much of an archer, but I should have paid more attention to this area. I watched a video online (sorry, I can’t seem to find it again) that showed a number of neat 3D targets like deer and even the Utah Raptor dinosaur. 3D archery is an extra $10 a day.

Law Enforcement Range

This is a mostly covered and heated area for law enforcement and tactical training. There are computer controlled reactive steel targets that are used in training law enforcement personnel. Due to limited numbers of range officers, this area is not open every day as an employee must operate the computer. The use of this facility is an extra $5 a day.

Castle Gate Cowboy Action Shooting Town

Cowboy Action Shooting is a very fast growing shooting sport. The Single Action Shooting Society is the group that organizes this sport. It involves dressing up in period clothes, adopting a period persona and shooting period weapons at steel targets.

I’ve been to a few of these events and they are always a lot of fun. Although some might discount this kind of shooting as impractical, I would beg to differ. If you can shoot a single action revolver quickly and accurately at ‘tactical engagement range’ you can do the same with a semi-auto. Maybe cowboy action shooting will become the new tactical training regimen du jour :)

The Caste Gate town also has a club house that is available for rent. It includes a kitchen, bathrooms and conference area. The club house is open during Cowboy shooting events and is available for 1/2 day and full day rental as well.

Basic use of the Castle Gate Town area in included in the basic $5 admission price.

Other features

The range also has 115 camp sites for those looking to camp in the area. Camping is $5 for Day camping and $8 for over night camping.

There are a number of 3/4 enclosed shooting areas with Propane heaters. The heaters cost $2 an hour to operate.

Utah Preppers Meetup

Since a couple of this site’s authors will be heading up to this range we thought we would invite our readers to come as well. Firearms are an important part of a well rounded preparedness strategy. So is knowing how to use the tools that you have. This will be a great opportunity to meet some fellow preppers from your state and have some fun.

The Castle Gate Posse will be holding their Cowboy Action Shoot on October 24th. Those who are interested in watching or learning more about this sport will be able to head up to the Castle Gate town to check it out. We also plan on shooting some rifles on the 1000 yard range. There may even be a .50 BMG or two in attendance. If you ask very nicely you will probably be able to shoot one as well.

Where

North Springs Shooting Range
MAP

When

Saturday, October 24th – 10 am
The range opens at 9 am but it is a 2 or more hour drive for many of us.

Below are some pictures we took last Saturday. In rough order, the pictures show the Rifle range, the Shotgun range, one of an archery target, the Law Enforcement range, the Castle Gate town and the camping areas.

I look forward to meeting more of our readers. Hope you can make it!

Mossberg 500 JIC

I have to admit that I have been a little obsessed with finding a decent option for burying, sinking or otherwise hiding a firearm and other preps since I first saw Mossberg’s Just In Case line of products a number of years ago.

In case you aren’t familiar with it, the line includes a Mossberg 500 shotgun in a pistol grip configuration, a highly durable waterproof tube and depending on the version a survival kit, multi-tool, etc. For some reason I just fell in love with the idea of being able to tie a concrete block to a tube and toss it into a pond to hide it, or bury it somewhere up in the woods.

I can add my own survival kit and tools instead of relying on what I am sure is cheap Chinese made junk and I already own a number of shotguns and have never been a fan of the 500′s so I was more interested in the tube itself. Unfortunately, Mossberg doesn’t sell the tube by itself nor have I been able to discern the manufacturer.

In the few years since the JIC was introduced I’ve read a fair number of articles, reviews and opinion pieces on the Interwebs concerned with burying firearms or other supplies. People seem to have very differing opinions on all aspects of the subject, ranging from whether it will ever be necessary or even prudent to whether there is any way to successfully store a firearm in the ground for any period of time.

In my mind, the question was answered in January 2008 when an author for Backwoods Home magazine wrote an article describing his 15 year experiment burying and finding a Ruger Mini-14 The author used grease, mylar bags and PVC pipe to successfully bury, store and retrieve a rifle, ammunition and some tools in a wooded area for 15 years.

Some take-aways from this article

• Preparation is key. Be sure to properly prep and seal the contents and container against the elements.
• Find at least three immovable landmarks and measure from them to your burial location.
• Landscapes change over time and memories become distorted. Take non-descript pictures if possible before you dig
• Scout out your location before hand. Be familiar with the area you are planning to use. Know when people are there and when

In addition to PVC piping there are now a number of companies providing burial tubes and other products of a similar nature to preppers. The folk at PolyFarm of Idaho were kind enough to provide us with a sample of one of their products which we will review and test in a follow up post.

Our plan is to review the products offered by PolyFarm; then in a subsequent post start a one month side by side burial test to compare the PolyFarm MonoVault to the cheaper PVC alternative. We will also plan to discuss the methods we used to triangulate the location and some methods to help disguise the location from metal detectors or other detection techniques.

Stay tuned!

Given the following:

In the 2005 Castle Rock v. Gonzales case, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that Jessica Gonzales did not have a constitutional right to police protection, even in the presence of a restraining order.

it would seem that YOU are the only one who can or should be depended on to defend you and yours in a dangerous situation. Law enforcement is often minutes away when a life or death situation is over and done with (for better or worse) within seconds.

That being said, carrying a concealed pistol is a very personal choice. The decision to do so means taken on a heavy stewardship. And in reality, personal protection is only one of several reasons to carry a weapon. I for one truly believe that a decision to not exercise a right greatly increases the chance that said right will be somehow legislated out of existence.

Today, I was introduced to www.utahconcealedcarry.com a forum dedicated to carrying concealed weapons in Utah. I haven’t spent much time on it yet, but I expect to be spending quite a bit of free time in the future attempting to understand the numerous laws concerning when and where I can carry a pistol concealed or otherwise.

In the past, I would use the now defunct www.packing.org for concealed carry information, but that is no longer an option as the site is gone. Are any of our readers aware of any other good/reliable sources of information on the subject Utah or otherwise?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Listening to these people talk about the incremental way that their rights were first infringed upon, then completely taken away reminds me of a famous quote by Martin Niemöller:

“First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist, so I said nothing. Then they came for the Social Democrats, but I was not a Social Democrat, so I did nothing. Then came the trade unionists, but I was not a trade unionist. And then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew, so I did little. Then when they came for me, there was no one left to stand up for me.”

As liberty loving Americans we need to stand up for not only our Rights but the Rights of others.

When I lived in Southern California, I began to get into long range target shooting. Through this hobby I met Tom Miller and Don Anderson, two of the nicest people you will ever meet. Tom is a retired ATF agent and FFL dealer. I bought my EDM Arms Windrunner through Tom as well as both of the Nightforce scopes that I own. His prices and most of all his friendly service are second to none.

Don was his right hand man, helping out at gun shows, but more than this, he was a regular at the monthly .50 cal shoot at Angeles Ranges. He allowed anyone interested to shoot his .50 cal, .408 CheyTac or .338 Lapua for free, just to promote interest in the sport. He invested in all the best equipment to reload .50 cal ammunition and would sell it to anyone at his cost to shoot in their own rifles. This of course represented a considerable amount of time he was giving away, just to help promote the sport.

Picture from ShootingTimes.com

About 2 years ago, a while after I left California, I found out that Don’s house had been raided by SWAT teams, the ATF and LA County Sheriffs. All his semi-automatic firearms were taken away. This was followed by two years of silence. Don had done nothing illegal and we all assumed that the DA and others were hoping they would be able to let it die without admitting they were wrong.

Turns out we were the ones who were wrong. The DA is apparently trumping up charges and charging him ex post facto with 5 felonies when not a single law was broken.

Don is a personal friend of mine and I will be contributing to his defense fund. I am posting this to make others aware of the situation, not to solicit donations. However, if you think this can’t happen to you, think again. I built AR15′s to the letter of the law while I lived in California. This sets a precedent that all guns not built by a major manufacturer can be considered a ‘Zip Gun’.

Don’t live in California? If this goes through, believe it or not, it will make its way to wherever you may be living. All gun owners need to stand up as one and come to our mutual defense. Don’t let this be the case that breaks us! California’s budget is 16 Billion in the RED, they leave the borders open but go after law abiding working class citizens.

Please take the time to read the original post on BiggerHammer.net below. This has also been posted by mutual friends (Don has many many friends because of the wonderful person that he is) on calguns.net, ar15.com and other forums, so if you see this elsewhere, please be sure to leave comments of support there as well.
Read the original post by Tom here
calguns.net post

Tom Miller’s original post

When I retired in 2000, I was in a battle for my life against lymphoma cancer. I had been fighting it for three years when I met Don Anderson. He was always there for me like no other friend I had. Only God helped me more than Don. I was very sick. Many times I couldn’t walk or eat, but Donnie was always there for me.
Ever since those days, Don Anderson and I have remained good friends representing EDM Arms as field reps, shooting together, working gun-shows together and organizing .50 caliber matches in Southern California. He is an upstanding person like no other perspn I know. Many of you know and love him like I do.

Donnie is now in for the fight of his life with a corrupt system in Los Angeles. I am very much aware of the facts in the LAPD’s “Gun Squad” criminal investigation of Don Anderson. It began in 2006 when an incomppetent, over zealous detective of the “gun squad” embellished, stated untrue information and provided “stale” information in his affidavit for a state search warrant for Don’s residence in Harbor City, an area with-in Los Angeles. This detective even used California’s DOJ’s .50 BMG registration information on Don Anderson to support his probable cause requirement in the affidavit.

The search warrant was executed on September 19, 2006 early in the morning by the LAPD “SWAT” team and “gun squad”. They entered Don’s residence with full force pointing MP-5′s and shotguns at Don and his wife. The “gun squad” led by the rogue case detective seized every semi-auto firearm on the premises. These firearms included a home built semi-autto M2 .50 BMG, a home built semi-auto M3 .50 BMG and a homebuilt 1919A4 semi-auto caliber and some other items. Don had properly registered the M2 and M3 with DOJ as required by the 2004 .50 BMG ban in California.

Don was not arrested or charged with any crime at that time. Don retained NRA recommended attorney Chuck Michel of Trutanich Michel LLP law firm. Two years passed by without hearing anything from the LAPD “gun squad”. Then, on the early morning of December 4, 2008 the LAPD “Fugitive Squad” arrested Anderson at his residence in front of his wife. They transported him to the 77th Division jail. His bail had been set by the case detective and DA at $125,000 which required giving the bail/bond company $9500 non-refundable dollars to get Don out of custody. This wasn’t possible, so Don spent the night in jail.

On December 5, 2008 late in the afternoon, the attorneys were able to get the bail reduced to $37,000 requiring about $3000 tothe bail/bond company.

When the bail was reduced, Don was informed by the court that he was being charged with five felonies. Even though the “gun squad” case detective and DA’s office had agreed with Chuck Michel back around the time after the search warrant was exeuted, that Don would be able to just turn himself in in the event he was charged with any criminal acts resulting from he warrant. This certainly didn’t happen, as Don was arrested by the “Fugitive squad” on December 4th.

Regarding the five felonies that Don faces. Two or three of them relate to the registered M2 and M3, and the 1919A4 semi-auto rifles. These guns were all “home built” by Don as semi-autos in strict compliance with state and federal law. The M2 and M3 were registered with DOJ as I previously stated. They were legally built and possessed by Don, but in all their wisdom the case detective and DA are charging the guns as, get this, “ZIP GUNS” under the Californa penal code.

Don is also being charged with having large capacity feeding devices as there were several linked belts of more than ten rounds of .308 ammo in his garage. I am aware that Don had these links prior to the end of 2000 which makes it completely legal for Don to link more than ten rounds together. At this point these linked belts are being charged as a felony. Anothe felony being charged is relating to a Walther P22 .22LR semi-auto pistol that I as a FFL dealer had legally sold to Don. Some time thereafter, DOJ determined that the Walther P22 pistols were manufactured with a threaded barrel, therefore making them an “Assault Pistol”, and were required to be sent back to the manufactuer for a barrel change. It looks like I’m out of room to finish this, so I’ll do it with a second posting to follow.

Donnie did not receive any notification from DOJ mandating the return of the P22 pistol to the factory for a barrel change. Therefore, it never got sent back and now he is being charged with the “felony possession of an unregistered assault pistol under California penal code”. Finally, he had a .50 BMG shark bang stick device that divers would use in the event of a shark attack. Don was using this thing as a paper weight. It did not have a stick so the DA is charging felony possession of an “Exotic Weapon”.
My take on all this is that the case is the worst I have ever seen. It should be dismissed for a number of reasons. But, it won’t be. In this state any chance they have to prosecute a gun case they go after it 100%. It is going to be very costly to defend. The attorneys have informed Don that it could cost $20,000-$50,000 to finish the case with no guarantee about the outcome. Don is in big troule here and we need to help him. John Burtt of the FCSA is going to run a nation wide raffle in the name of the “Don Aderson Defense fund”. I am giving him a new .50 cal EDM Arms “Windrunner” for the raffle. The raffle won’t be up and running for at least a month. And, it still needs to be approved by the FCSA Board of Directors.

In the mean time and right now, I am asking for every one’s help in sending me a check made out to the attorneys Trutanich Michel LLP for whatever you can afford to help with the attorney fees for Don. Please do this for Don. My address is Tom S. Miller, 3938 Stanford Drive, Oceanside, CA 92056 tel 760-757-6823. Also, please help me get this around on the appropriate boards and web-sites or whatever else the inter-net offers. Thanks so much. God Bless. Tom

Click here to view the embedded video.