Ragnar Benson - Ragnar's Urban Survival - A Hard-Times Guide to Staying Alive in the City

Securing a proper military/tactical stock correctly fitted to a Sako barreled action is not particularly quick, easy, cheap, or convenient. Figure on another 6 to 10 months' wait. Off-the-shelf stocks either fit poorly, are too difficult to finish-fit, are too wimpy, or lack necessary features characteristic of genuine tactical stocks.

Only two places I know of currently manufacture and fit genuine military-style/grade stocks to Sako barreled actions. Both claim to supply the U.S. Army and the Marines, but be prepared for sticker shock. Both are named McMillan and are both are located in Phoenix, Arizona. (Probably the result of a family disagreement or something.)

But not to worry. They both do excellent work, in my experience. Prices are so similar they may someday face anti-trust action from the government.

McMillan Fiberglass Stocks, Inc., 21421 N. 14th Avenue, Suite B, Phoenix, AZ 85027 and McMillan Gunworks, Inc., 302 W Melinda Lane, Phoenix, AZ 85027, both have extremely nice, fullcolor brochures listing their various styles of stocks and options available with each model. In my opinion, builders are not in the ballpark unless they order an adjustable buttplate, cheekpiece, and custom laser bedding. This will cost around $500.

It is by now close to 2 years since we embarked on this project. Expenses are up around $950 to $1,300, depending on options, and not including dozens of long-distance calls. Purchasing a suitable scope and mount is the next and last big hit. Mounting the scope has traditionally been tougher and more expensive than it should be. On my last tactical rifle completed 3 or 4 months ago, I had to go back and spend an extra $250 for more suitable, workable mounts. Even after acquiring great amounts of experience, opportunities to do it wrong are still great.

Part of the difficulty involves the fact that true tactical scopes are virtually always made up on 30mm tubes. Differences in field of vision, clarity, and utility between 25mm hunting scopes (1 inch) and 30;mm ones are dramatic. Very few people understand the nuances of a 30mm tube versus a 25mm tube until they start to practice with them.

Mounting a nontactical hunting-type scope on a first-class sniper rifle is almost always an error. Hunting scopes are not suffi ciently rugged and they lack easy rear read-and-adjust dials that make use of previously prepared "come-up" or trajectory cards possible. These cards are used to preprogram the rifle to shoot accurately from 350 to 1,000 yards by simply setting the dials to predetermined readings. My cl,.oice of scope is the same one used by the U.S. Marines, many police SWAT teams, and Navy SEAL teams. It is a 16-power Leupold Mark 4 MI. These scopes are tremendously popular and often sold out. Because of their great expense ($810 each at press time), they are carried by relatively few dealers. Contact Leupold & Stevens, Inc., PO box 688, Beaverton, OR 97075-0688, to find out which dealers currently have these scopes in inventory

Attaching 30mm scopes to a rattail Sako action has become incrementally easier and a bit more certain with advent of 30mm Leupold rings made especially for Sako actions. Medium-or more often high-mounts must be used to clear the tactical scope's huge objective lens.

Like country survivors, city types will quickly discover that sighting in a tactical rifle is a chore. City or country, there just ain't very many 1,000-yard rages. To make matters worse, it is necessary to be able to drive between the shooting bench and the target. Using spotting scopes at 1,000 yards on relatively small, .30-caliber bullet holes, is a complete nonstarter.

After the rifle is sighted in, come-up cards can be developed listing exact scope settings for 350, 450, 600, 800, and 1,000-yard shots. Windage deflection is 4 inches per knot at 1,000 yards. Three-knot winds are common, which effectively put rounds outside most targets.

Practice-shooting these big, heavy rifles is enjoyable, but keep in mind that gilt-edge barrel life is only from 5,000 to 10,000 rounds!

Although vast experience and common sense suggest that shrewd city survivors looking for the best chance of survival should not get involved in combat actions around them, they should own at least one military-type semiauto assault rifle per family. Virtually any rifle will work in a pinch, but military designs are sturdier in long service, easier to repair, and, of course, use universal ammunition. Military .45-.70 rounds developed around 1872, for instance, are still popular in the United States!

Targets are so distant they cannot be seen without glasses. This range is 800 yards. Note the ribbon attached to the car's radio antenna indicating wind direction.

Implementing this assault rifle acquisition philosophy is dramatically easier than it was 20 years ago. Currently dozens of firms manufacture all manner of parts sets, barrels, stocks, receiver types, and accessories for AR-15 type rifles. Personally I still prefer longer ranged, more powerful FN assault rifles in .308 NATO, but as a practical matter it's got to be an AR-15-type weapon, because FNs are pretty much unavailable.

In my lifetime I have encountered scores of guns-mostly pistols- that were about worthless because no magazine or too few magazines were available for them. Stock up on magazines and, of course, ammo. Ten high-capacity magazines per rifle plus 1,000 rounds of ammo is a figure experts frequently cite. At this level you will at least be "in the game" with sufficient firepower to appropriate additional weapons and ammunition, should this become expedient. With 10 extra mags, loss of one or even two will not be catastrophic.

THE RELIABLE .22

Successfully surviving in built-up areas is about deep hiding. City survivors must always keep their presence secret, which is often a difficult task when there are wild edibles to be taken or intruders to be quietly dealt with. As mentioned, this will require a good, familiar .22 rimfire rifle or a near equivalent and a silencer or a near equivalent.

Again, my dinosaurism may be showing, but I prefer a good old rugged .22 caliber bolt-action rifle to any other kind. Autos use too much ammo and seem more subject to malfunction. Levers and pumps are far too complicated in dirty, desperate circumstances. Keep in mind that .22s are for surreptitious duty, not primarily for defense, although there is that element as well. Slow reliable, long-lived bolts or even single-shots are OK.

SUBCALIBER DEVICES

Rifles set aside for duty around the retreat should be very quiet. Quietness can be accomplished with a silencer, low-velocity ammunition, subcaliber devices, or a combination of all of these. I prefer subcaliber devices, which currently are legal and can be just as quiet as illegal silencers. Many work well in existing rifles or shotguns without modification. My .308/.32 ACP subcaliber device in a Remington Number Seven rifle will drill a phone book at 200 yards without changing the scope's setting!

Quiet subcaliber devices are ideal when defending a city retreat area. Shown here are .300 Winchester Magnum, .308, and .32 ACP models.

Twelve-gauge shotgun inserts, having their own stubby barrels, accurately fire 9mm pistol and .223 rounds.