Rules For Rebels: Firearms Edition

With any group that forms for the purpose of survival or homesteading, need to protect what they have.  It is important that you are armed and know how to use your weapons.  Here are some simple guidelines to help insure that goal.  I'm sure I will ruffle some feathers but, that shouldn't be anything new.  These are things that need to be discussed.  If not with your group, then with yourself.

Think Practically

Whatever weapon you decide to use as your primary should be something that makes sense.  What I mean by that is, use something that would work well given what you plan on doing with it.  It's the never shoot a large caliber man with a small caliber weapon type of thinking.  I've seen a lot of people get into the pistol caliber carbines lately.  While they are a cool weapon for sure.  Effective body armor becoming far more prevalent make these weapons a liability.  Many, also think that a shotgun or hunting rifle will also be enough.  While there is something to be said for the man with one gun who know how to use it, they are not the end all be all.  Now, that's not to say these weapons don't have their place because they do.  However, you have to be aware of having the right weapon for the job.

Pick One And Stick With It

I'm not gonna get in to the AR v. AK debate again.  They both have their positives and negatives.  Just pick one and stick with it.  Resources are limited for everyone and you don't need to waste your money investing in separate systems that are designed to do pretty much the same thing.  Instead, work towards improving whichever system you currently have.  If you are working within a group, it might be best that everyone is running the same system as well.  Not everyone needs to have the exact same build, but it makes sense that everyone has the same basic platform.  I know that everyone is not big on imposing standardization.  However, in this situation it may make sense.  This will enable you to pull your resources together to acquire ammo, magazines and most importantly, spare parts.  People always overlook that the fact that shit breaks and this becomes less of an issue if you have a large supply of spare parts to make repairs.  For the sake of simplicity and practicality, pick one and stick with it.

Some More On The Whole Standard Thing

It really does make sense that everyone uses the same pistol too.  I don't think I need to repeat the reasons because they're the same.  There are many find options out there.  I'm not gonna bother going into them all because well they're either Glock or not a Glock at this point.  Only thing I would add is whether it's compact or full size models, pick one.  At the minimum, just purchase the magazines to the full size model.  It makes things that much easier while allowing for individual variety.  Just an additional tip. Whatever pistol you chose, make sure it can accept a pistol light.  It just allows for opening up additional tactical options.

Don't Cover Your Weapons In Crap

 People do it all the time and it's very easy to do.  You have to know what you need on your rifle and what you don't.  It is very easy to fuck up your weapon.  The only thing you absolutely need on a rifle are a sling, optic and a high quality light.  If you happen to have access to night vision equipment then it would probably be a good idea to have a high quality infrared laser and illuminator as well.  When it comes to a pistol, you should have a high quality mounted light and a holster of equal quality that is BUILT FOR YOUR MODEL OF PISTOL  Everything else is strictly optional at best and nothing more than dead weight at worst.  This is the easiest part to fuck up since most people of a tendency to get the cheapest lights and optics that they can get a hold of.  This is a bad idea.  Cheap shit usually eats batteries and isn't rugged enough to work long term.  Most likely, the cheap shit you buy will just fall of your gun after normal use.  Like your rifle is rejecting the garbage you put on it.  Take this as a sign to not out dumb shit on your weapons.

You Need Ammo

I really shouldn't have to explain this.  You already have a stockpile of ammunition for all the weapons in your possession.  We have already seen that ammo is a finite resource so you should have as much as you can get a hold of.  Reloading is a viable option too.  Just be aware that supplies like this are also finite and it does take a degree of skill.  Not only will you need this in order to keep your weapons useful beyond being used as a club.  Ammunition can also be used for bartering for supplies you do need.  You don't want to give away the ammo you do need though.  In this case, it might be a good idea to have smaller stockpiles of ammo for other weapons that might be available in the area.  Ammo for weapons like revolvers or the various hunting calibers.  These calibers could be used to barter with locals who might have a weapon that needs that ammo.  Another options is that if you scavenge or acquire one of these weapons, you will have the ammo necessary to make use of the newly acquired weapon.  Just remember, you can never have enough ammo.

Train & Get Trained

It you have weapons then you need to know how to use them.  You need to go out there and get training.  There are a plethora of great firearms instructors out there.  Luckily, most of them have YouTube channels and social media presences so it's not like they are hard to find.  Though these instructors do travel the country, you will most likely have to do some travelling to get to a class.  You will also have to pay a nice chunk of change for their training as well.  However, their skills and knowledge are worth every penny.  However, for every good instructor, there are a dozen shit heads.  Before you take a class, do your research and make sure you are getting a quality instructor.  Remember, gunfighting is a perishable skill.  When you return home from a class, you have to remember to continue training on your own.  These instructors provide you the skills but, it's your job to refine them yourself.

If you want to survive long term, it is most likely that you will have to eventually fight for your survival.  It is important to have the best possible chance of survive a fight that will eventually come.  You need to have the best weapons for the fight.  You need to have all the support needed to keep those weapons in the fight.  Most important, you need to know how to best make use of those weapons.  you have to fight for your survival, fight the best way possible.

Scopes On Rifles

 

I admit this is more of an nuisance for me and I'm sure arguments can be made against my opinion but, I hate when people put scopes on their rifles.  Well, when people put the wrong scope on their rifle or put them on a rifle that is not properly configured for said rifle.   It's probably one of the biggest annoyances that I have seen from my time in the firearms community.  It shows a lack of knowledge of their and a lack of aware of mindset a proper awareness of their weapons capabilities.  I'm sure I'm gonna catch some shit for this but, at this point I really don't fucking care.  I feel the need to get it off my chest and might as well share my thoughts.

One thing I've always tried to figure out with these people would be the reasoning behind putting long range scopes on an AR15 (one that note we should really try to bring back the term CAR15 seeing how most modern rifles on the market are in that configuration) that only has a realistic effective range between 300 and 400 yards.  My immediate assumption when I first started seeing this configuration was an overall lack of knowledge.  What I mean is that all they've known for most of their life were bolt actions and hunting rifles.  This was probably the first AR they've ever purchased.  They at least understood that optics were the future but obviously didn't know where to start.  That most likely lead to them either putting an old hunting scope that they already had on there weapons or buying whatever scope happened to be in the glass case at their local gun shop.  Most build of this variety are off the rack gun shop options so it makes sense that they went an option that was available on the spot.

A different explanation would be poor mentality.  Not poor as in budgetary constraints but poor as in being cheap.  Another way to put it would be a "Just As Good" thought process.  The idea that this hunting scope that they already have would be equally good as more modern optics.  The mentality of "Just As Good" is an issue that goes far beyond something like rifle optics.

Something else that absolutely annoys the fuck out of me are people using variable range scopes on weapons with a front sight post.  This is just something that just makes no sense to me.  I just find it baffling that people would use a scope designed for more precise shooting and willfully obscure their field of view with a permanent front sight.  Now at more increased magnifications, the field is no longer obscured.  However, increased magnification hinders the ability to use your weapon in a close quarters scenario.  This can be overcome with training but we should know by now people who set up rifles like this probably don't train enough with their weapon to overcome this deficiency.

Even when people do use scopes in the right configuration, they often use the shittiest scopes they can find.  I've lost track of how many times I've seen guys use optics on their rifle that they found on Amazon.  These are often some of the most bottom barrel Chinese made garbage you can find.  Even worse, some will place an equally shitty red dot or reflex sight on the top of the scope as some of these pieces of shit even have rail attachment points.  Most of these scopes don't hold zero.  If they have illuminated reticles, the battery life is horrific.  Finally, like most cheap optics, they are not built rugged enough to service serious abuse and will probably fall apart on their own.  If you're gonna put a precision scope on your rifle, at least use something of quality.

I really do know that I'm nitpicking complaining about something so menial.  Then again, I really don't care.  This is something that I've seen way too much from people building tactical rifles.  It shows me that you don't know what you're rifle is capable of.  It shows that you're too cheap to properly build your rifle.  Most of all, it shows that you don't know how to properly employ your rifle.  Please, stop doing this shit.

Then again, some sights are better than no sights I guess.

I Was Wrong

 A while back I wrote in article discussing my thoughts on those who were involved in the Boogaloo movement.  How I thought they were superior to those who subscribed to the 3% ideology and would be better equipped and trained.  Overall, I thought they would be more prepared than others.  The reality however, is that I was wrong.  I was wrong in assuming that the people in the movement were better.  It turns out that you're not that different.  In some cases you may be worse.

One thing that I've warned about and have had concerns about was to fall victim to the cult of personality.  Unfortunately, some of you still desire structure and leadership.  That desire has allowed grifters to insert themselves as a figurehead and hijack the movement and the ideology.  Case in point would be the case of Mike Dunn.  A supposed Marine wash out who was able to market his nonexistent credibility in to organizing several militia groups in Virginia.  The moment Boogaloo memes became popular he started marketing himself as a self professed leader of the movement.  Dunn, would continually talk shit and make an ass of himself in front of anyone who would give him a platform.  He would also continually make an aggressive stance against racism.  While racism is definitely not cash money and your ass will be yeeted, he went about it in such a way that it came off more as an attempted to mask racial beliefs.  As if he were to be so loud about being against racism that no one would think that he himself was a racist.  Though I'm not sure how valid these concerns are, his behavior on the matter comes off as one of those liberal elites trying to mask their hatred.  However, it is not as much of a problem anymore given how he has separated himself from his Boogaloo groups and is currently being accused of being a federal informant.  Which is something I believe I have warned about in the past.

The big appeal of the Boogaloo for most would be it's last of structure and organization.  Yet, there are fucking assholes out there that are trying to create structure and organization.  He comes Magnus Panvidya.  Raised in a cultish environment, Magnus here has become a form of figurehead of the organized and public persona of the Boogaloo movement.  Founding the Unity Coalition, Panvidya has helped or at least influenced the creation of several Boogaloo related social media pages and has been known to tout the existence of state wide Boogaloo chapters.  Personally I left the Patriot movement because of the desire for large, nationwide groups.  This guy appears to be involved in doing that here.  Whether it's a lack of knowledge as to what he's doing, a need for attention or something more nefarious.  Panvidya, seems to be concerned with removing one of the movement's greatest strengths.

I have to admit, this one is just low hanging fruit.  This whole bag a of tools prefers to be called "Soap" just like the Call of Duty character.  I don't know exactly what his level of importance is but he decided to go ahead and talk to 60 Minutes.  The entire segment was cringe inducing as it was obvious that everyone involved was some Gen Z moron who had know intellectual knowledge about what they were talking about and nobody appeared to have any kind of tactical knowledge.  It was more like they were all looking for an excuse to get out of their parents house for the day.  Also if you notice in the photo above he intentionally has the U.S. Constitution prominently displayed.  This makes it relatively obvious that he still subscribes to a statist ideology.  For most people involved here, they subscribe to a more anarchist belief system.  Though I don't believe these things to be mutually exclusive, symbols of authorities and power grabs are usually not considered that important.

I have no idea who this freak is but he's representative of an important point.  That most of you make it incredibly difficult to be taken seriously.  Beyond his Richard Spencer style haircut, he's also wearing one of those cheap plate carriers you get from one of those Facebook ads.  My problem here is that it's painfully obvious that most of the people who promote this ideology, are not taking it seriously, Yes, I know that there is a whole lot of irony involved in the idea of Boogaloo.  However, it feels to me that most people are taking this irony seriously.  Also like many of other movements that propose that they are preparing for a coming civil war or revolution aren't actually prepared to fight in said events.  Nor are they prepared to actually live though such events.  All you see them do is show up to protests where they suck up to the Black Lives Matter movement and poorly defend  themselves against their detractors.  I left the Patriot movement to get away from people like this but apparently they're like fucking cockroaches.

I'm sure this will lead to a great deal of disagreement but, the idea of Boogaloo has become a giant joke.  Maybe that's what it was supposed to be though.  Maybe I myself got it confused to with the goon subculture.  I thought most were disaffected veterans and like minded individuals who had an understand of 4th gen warfare and a realistic stance of prepared resistance.  Instead it's mostly a bunch of zoomers and morons who think they're gonna take on the government with shitty equipment and the most obscure weapons that they'll never be able to properly maintain.  I thought this would be better but I've come to a simple realization.  I was wrong.