Ruger 10-22, the Survivalist's Necessary Rifle

Anonymous has left a new comment on our previous post titled "Urban Survival Tool – Survival Rifle":   "I just bought a Ruger 10-22 "Take Down" instead of the AR-7. It was a few more dollars but well worth it. It's a very well made rifle, breaks into 2 parts right in front of the receiver, very reliable, and you can get 30 round clips for it. It comes with a very nice soft backback case that will fit in most back packs and bug out bags. Nothing against the AR-7 but the 10-22 has a lot of pluses. "

UrbanMan's comments: I too have a Ruger 10-22. I also have two other .22 LR rifles and one handgun, another Ruger product - the Mark II. There are many after market accessories made for the Ruger 10-22,...from extra capacity magazines, to stocks both full length and folding, to scopes, bases and mounts, trigger kits, muzzle breaks (as if you needed one), and many others. The Ruger 10-22 cas it comes out of the box is as good as factory original gets. I would suggest adding some extra capacity magazines and none are better for the Ruger 10-22 than those that comes from the factory.

This means the Ruger BX-25 magazine (shown at right) which is a 25 round curved box magazine if you couldn't figure out the round count from the name. Pro-Mag makes a 50 round drum magazine which is worth looking at. I have tried many of the plastic magazines even the ones with steel feed lips but I would hesitate to recommend them.






Pro-Mag, 50 round drum magazine, shown at left, is another option.  I don't have one and I think I'll be sticking with my factory 10 round magazines and the 25 round box magazine. 




Double K makes essentially a speed loader pouch, advertised on Cabela's that shows two Ruger factory 10-22 magazines fitting into where you would normally carry the speed loaders for revolvers.  I didn't even think about this, nor do I have any other pouches to keep my 10-22 factory rotary magazines, so I tried them in an old speed loader pouch - it's a tight fit but they'll work. 

While many will take exception to my calling either a .22 LR rifle or specifically a Ruger 10-22 a necessary component of the Survivalist's firearms battery, I'll stick to my guns (no pun intended) and say that one is absolutely necessary.

From training to hunting small game there are many uses. Ammunition is cheap and a lot of it is easily stored in small spaces. While I also have an AR-7. It is a true survivalist's rifle as it stays inside it's butt stock and inside one of my Bug Out bags.

More Comments: Survive the Collapse by Bugging In

Lot's of debate on whether to Bug In or Bug Out.  I don't think anyone can cast a blanket solution for either.  Way too many factors depending on the situation.  Here is an Anonymous comment regarding a previous post that analyzed the question: "Bugging In - Not the Answer?":

”There will be hundreds of thousands of people with the same idea as you. Hunting, fishing, foraging...etc. I live in a small city next to Lake Erie, and I know that thousands of people will be using the lake and the rivers for their survival. I will not go anywhere near there in a real survival situation. The wooded areas will be teeming with "wanna-be" hunters trying to bag dinner for their family when the food runs out. I have very few places I can bug out to, and I have a feeling that there will be a mass exodus from this area if we lose utilities, and trucked in food anyway. That is unless the National Guard, police, and other agencies do not shut down or restrict travel. My job, and skills will keep me local anyway, as I will be part of the emergency response personnel working. So bugging in is my only viable route. Plus, I have aged parents living locally, who can't travel to well. My father can barely walk. I have built a family plan that has turned into a neighborhood plan. We will all stick together, or die separately. That's my two cents. “

UrbanMan replies:: Thanks for your comment, it is worth much more than two cents. You evidently saw the reader comment “get a field guide, learn edible plants and go live in the woods” and the responding comment that “get a field guide for edible plants?,… yeah and they will find you dead in the woods,…..with your field guide open laying besides you.”

Both are true comments.  I am prepping for a Bug In at my suburban location. You are helping my point about people make the conscious decision to Bug In, despite additional disadvantages or risks. Has to be a conscious decision weighting all the threat factors and your resources. In your case, it sounds like the major risks of trying to survive by yourself or in a real small group are mitigated with the development of a neighborhood plan.

The major disadvantage of a larger survival group, prepping and living separately, is that some will prep harder than others, and some will hold a grudge on people would did not prepare as well as they should have. Basically, your plan is like mine, aside from my core group of now, eight families consolidated at my house. The neighbors I have been talking to will be offered support, more on the advice side than the giving them supplies side.  But every decision will be weighed based on the security and safety of the group.

If a person plans well, given geographic variables such as anticipated refugee routes, and areas that will be a target of looter gangs such as warehouse areas, shopping malls, even smaller strip malls and individual retail stores, then I think it is possible to be reasonable safe if an adequate survival team is developed,  precautions and procedures instituted, supplies stocked and contingency plans developed.

You know that probably a large extent of your procedures, be it security procedures, individual or team responsibilities, additional training requirements, communications plans, will most likely be decided after the need or threat already exists,…meaning after the initiation of the collapse. Most people will simply not get it until the need is starring them right in the face. Let’s hope it is not too late. I think the bigger survival team you have within your neighbor will make it easier to rally non-team families and members into your group for the greater good.

Computer Security for Pre and Post Collapse

With the significant amount of preppers that believe in the probability that the coming collapse will be either generated by the Government or will result in a heavy handed Government exerting martial law across the land, I offer this article on computer security.

While the Government has phenomenal capabilities when it comes to electronic tracking and eavesdropping, this capability is spread across many different agencies, so it is not a central location manned by 25,000 intelligence analysts per shift. It is really a bunch of diverse agencies and even separate offices within these agencies who don’t like to share information because it degrades the other’s power and status. So when people try to convince me of large government conspiracies, I always think and sometimes speak out and say,…”Really? This is the same government that is bankrupting social security?...the same government that purchases $3,200 office chairs and $5,000 hammers?.......the same government that wear clown suits to work, shoots funny videos and posts them to You Tube? “

Some of this article came from a Yahoo! article on computer security when shopping, but the same principles apply. See bottom of article on the Poor Man's e-mail communications.

Browsing the web anonymously? Think your online activities are private? Think again. Not only are your surfing sessions tracked by websites, search engines and social networks, but often your Internet service provider (ISP), web browser, government and potentially hundreds of online tracking companies. Whether it's to collect valuable marketing data or prevent terrorist activity, movie piracy or kiddie porn, everything you think you're doing privately in the comfort of your home is anything but private.

But just because you want to spend time online anonymously doesn't mean you're a cybercriminal or have something to hide. Not only do regular folks want privacy, but remaining anonymous can also protect yourself from malicious types out to steal your identity for financial gain — from spammers and scammers alike. And so there are a few things you can do to reduce the odds every click is tracked, archived and shared. The following are a few suggestions on where to start.

Software
How does Facebook know to show you ads for your local gym, supermarket or college? This is because your computer's unique Internet Protocol (IP) address, assigned by your ISP, reveals your geographical whereabouts. Even if your computer generates a different IP address every time you boot up or log online, this number (e.g. 220.165.119.12) can still tell of your general location.

And so there are many different solutions that can hide your Internet connection, allowing you to remain anonymous while online. Some are websites, such as free "online proxy servers" that conceal your identity — simply point the web address (URL) to the proxy server and surf right from their website (check out proxy.org for a list of great options).

Others prefer Virtual Private Network (VPN) software that encrypts your online sessions. The browser-independent Hotspot Shield from AnchorFree, for example — available for Windows, Macs, iPhone and Android — channels all web activities through a personal VPN and secures all Internet communications by turning all HTTP traffic into the safer HTTPS (which is what your bank uses for a safe connection).

Free to use but with more features packed into the "elite" version ($29.95), Hotspot Shield is ideal for email and instant messaging, too, and reduces the likelihood of identity theft because you're not leaving a digital footprint -- including cyber-snoopers and rogue connections at Wi-Fi hotspots, hotels, airports, and so on.

Similarly, Tor is free software that defends you against Internet surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy. Short for "The Onion Router" — which gets its name for its "layered" approach to the encryption process -- Tor provides online anonymity as the software routes Internet traffic through a worldwide volunteer network of servers to conceal your location or online usage patterns.

Use USB sticks.  
In some cases, software to encrypt your connection is kept on a USB drive — therefore you can remain safe and secure even when using a public PC.

SurfEasy ($59.99) is a tiny USB key that fits into a credit card-shaped case to be kept in your wallet. When you plug it into a PC or Mac -- be it your own computer or a communal one -- it instantly launches its own password-protected browser and you're good to go -- no proxy or network settings to configure. Your browsing session is handled through SurfEasy's fast and secure private proxy network.

Your IP address will be masked throughout the session. A fr

ee alternative is called Tails, which can be downloaded and installed onto a USB stick to run independently of the computer's original operating system. Like SurfEasy, it lets you browse the web anonymously -- on virtually any computer — as all connections are channelled through the aforementioned Tor network.

Browser tweaks Anonymous proxy software is a great way to mask your IP address online, but there is still plenty of information about your web surfing habits stored on your computer — which could also be viewed over a network, say, at the office, by your IT department. At least it's somewhat easy to control your privacy settings directly in your web browser — unless your business forbids non-administrators from making changes to your browser settings, that is.

You can disable cookies — tiny text files stored on your computer with information about where you've been online, passwords and other info — and you should also delete your browser history to cover your tracks. All major web browsers — such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome or Safari -- allow you to delete your surfing history: simply go to the Options or Settings in your favorite browser and you'll see how to do this.

You might want to turn off auto-complete or someone on your computer could type in a few letters in a search engine or web address (URL) bar and any recent places you visited could fill in automatically. And don't click to allow sites to "remember my password" or someone could gain access to your private or financial information.

The easiest thing to do, however, is to see if your web browser has settings for surfing incognito — most of the major browsers do today. By enabling these privacy settings, your browser won't save any history (and download history), search queries, cookies or passwords. On a related note, Twitter recently announced a "Do Not Track" feature that prohibits the service from collecting info about its millions of users. Nice.

And Microsoft, in June 2012, said its upcoming Internet Explorer 10 browser -- expected to launch alongside Windows 8 later this year -- will not collect data about the online activity of its users by default. 'Do not track' tools and plug-ins Google raised a few eyebrows earlier in 2012 with its revamped privacy policy, which was updated to allow for the sharing of information between its various services such as Google Search, Gmail and YouTube. Therefore, if you search for recipes in Google Search you might be presented with cooking-related videos on YouTube. Handy? Sure. Invasion of privacy? Debatable. You could choose not to log into your Google account when using these services (er, or not use them at all) or you might want to install one of the free browser plug-ins that tell Google and other advertisers to back off.

One called Do Not Track Plus from Abine blocks marketers, search providers and social networks from tracking your online activity — and it's compatible with all major web browsers. After it's installed, a small icon will appear to the right of the browser's address bar to tell you if a website wants to send data from your visit to other companies. Speaking of requiring a login name and password on a variety of sites, some web-based services like Anonymizer can automatically generate temporary email addresses with unique usernames and passwords for any site you wish to access (excluding your bank or shopping sites, of course, or you can't access your account).

Similarly, another solution called BugMeNot lets users post free usernames and passwords for shared access to popular websites like video sharing sites and newspapers.

Poor Man’s secure E-mail
One of the easiest things to protect communications from two or more different people or groups that are geographically separated is to use the same e-mail account. This would require giving the account e-mail and password either face to face or through hard copy correspondence,….yes, the U.S. postal service is good for something.

Each party can access the e-mail account and left a message for the other saved in the drafts folder so the message does not have to be sent out over the internet. The subject line and to address should be benign and fake respectively. Using simple encryption, such as a book code, for the text of the e-mail text can enhance message security from all but the most sophisticated agencies.

Survival Weapons Training

Harold wrote me via e-mail and asked: "I am now totally focused on prepping. I think that within the next six years we will be without cars and electricity and that means without cell phones and computers. There will not be anyone to protect us except ourselves. My old friend is a local Deputy Sheriff and believes the same thing. We have stocked up an old hunting cabin that we use here in Kentucky. Both of us are in our late 50's. I have hunted all my life and can easily live in the woods, real comfortable there. I have a Browning BAR in .30-06 and am no stranger to taking deer but I am knowing that my rifle skills for defending my home or my cabin can be much improved. What are your recommendations for using a rifle for defending? God Bless. "

UrbanMan's comments: Harold, you are on track preparing a Bug Out location and having perhaps the beginnings of a survival team with your Deputy Sheriff friend. I find it interesting that you have a six year time frame for what is commonly called the collapse, the economic collapse, The End Of The World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI) or simply SHTF. ...take your pick of monikers,...end result the same - our survival at risk.  The larger the collapse, the higher the threat to our culture surviving.

The BAR is a great rifle. I like the detachable magazine capability of it and hope you have several extra magazines. However ammunition is expensive for routine battle rifle training. Even a semi-auto .22 rifle like the Ruger 10-22 would allow you to train consistantly and not going broke.

Some of the skills you need to have to employ a firearm sufficiently for any purpose including defensive purposes include:

Accuracy. Being able to hit what you aim at.

Train on multiple targets. Most people go out and shoot one target. Taking a page from the practical pistol, rifle and shotgun community, some of they drills they incorporate includes multiple targets.

Speed. Shooting multiple targets,....... accurately!

Magazines changes or re-loading. This is a muscle memory drill that the more you do it the better and faster you will become. If you do not have a magazine fed gun, then you will rapidly appreciate one.

Clearing Malfunctions is another task. You may rarely get them so you will have to intentional make up the scenarios and it helps to have a training partner so you can do to for each other.

Positional shooting - shooting from all different positions.

Weak hand and strong hand only shooting, in case you are wounded or injured you can still operate the gun.

Stress situations. When you are being shot at your stress level goes up (duh!). What this causes is increased heart rate; rapid, shallow breathing; sometimes tunnel vision; increase in gross motor skills; decrease in complex motor skills. It's hard to replicate in training, but physical exertion followed by conducting your shooting drills will give you a small idea of what stress does to your skills sets.

Tactics. Learn how to use cover and concealment. If you have a survival buddy or team learn how to fire and manuever as a team.

Prepare for the Defense.  Look over your properties where you think you may have to defend yourself.  Consider what the natural and concealed routes are that attackers would use.  Consider clearing areas you need to clear to give our fields of observation and fire.  Consider early warning devices to alert you, and emplacement of  obstacles to force attackers into areas to your advantage.

Bug Out route.  What if you are in danger of losing your position?  Consider a Bug Out route or method of safely as can be withdrawing from your home or cabin.  Establish a rally point if you have a team so in case separated, you can link up.  

A cache of supplies would be a good idea in case you are forced to Bug Out without much gear, equipment or supplies.

Consider going to a shooting school. Kyle Lamb of Viking Tactics hosts many such course mostly for military and law enforcement types. People and agencies I have worked with have contracted Kyle Lamb to run training for their personnel and tactical teams. You may not be able to attend any training but as luck would have it Kyle Lamb hosts training videos on You Tube, just enter "Kyle Lamb Viking Tactics" and see a slew of videos on shooting drills he recommends. Here is the video on a drill he calls the "396". Good luck to you Harold. .....Oh yeah, consider getting a magazine fed rifle.