My latest two suppressors arrived, and the one for .22LR and other rimfire cartridges is tiny. It’s just 3.25 inches long and 1 inch in diameter, about the size of a flashlight that uses just one CR123 battery. Being made of titanium makes it very light, just 2.6 ounces, so you don’t notice it on the end of a rifle. It’s rated for a 21.8 decibel noise reduction at the muzzle. It’s not silent, but it’s a noticeable decrease. In our heavily forested mountainous area, I expect the sound doesn’t carry far and doesn’t sound like a gunshot.
The .22 suppressor I am referring to the Banish 22K V2, which I got for “free” when I bought the Banish .223 from Silencer Central this past December. I put “free” in quotes because I still had to pay $200 for the tax stamp from our friends at the BATF. I knew the free silencer was short, but I didn’t realize how tiny it would be . The .223 model is no giant at 7 inches long and 1.5 in diameter. It weighs in at 9 ounces.
Sounds Good!
I don’t have a .22LR pistol with a threaded barrel, but it works pretty well on my Ruger 10/22, especially with subsonic rounds. I think having the suppressor at the end of the barrel reduces the sound signature even more when it reaches my ears behind the gun than it would on a pistol. I’ll have to wait until Karl comes over to know for sure. He has at least one .22 with a threaded barrel. He also loves the .22 magnum, so it will be interesting to see how much of a sound reduction we get with that more robust cartridge. You can also use this on the the .17 HMR.
Needless to say, the .223 model works well on an AR. If you put it on the Ruger 10/22, it’s even quieter than the 22K, but it looks huge. The .223 model is very similar to the 30 Banish I own and use with my .300 blackout. All three of them are similar in design, and once you know how to disassemble and clean one, you can clean them all.
Although I don’t have any full auto weapons, the .223 model is rated for “limited full-auto.” They warn that firing more than 20 rounds in a minute will cause premature wear on the baffles.
I look forward to trying these out in greater depth over the next couple of weeks.
Drones
I have mentioned the potential value of drones for use a force multiplier in a survival situation. You can use them to scout and patrol or to get a bird’s eye view of your area of operations. I have not yet bought one, but I am thinking of buying one for my side business. Because I have a legitimate need for it at work, the cost would then be a tax deductible expense. I can “train” with it at home and if the SHTF, I can use it for survival. At that point, taxes will be a non-issue.
Having a small business is a great way to write off what I will call “dual use” items; things you can use at work and at home, or for work and also while prepping. Now if I could only find a business reason for buying some gold and silver…
Speaking of my side gig, this is the busy time of year for us. You may see the number of posts here decline a bit rather than being every other day, a schedule I have been sticking pretty close to for more than a year. Like they say, you gotta make hay while the sun shines, and I still have to make the final payment on our solar power system. As a result, work is a priority. (At least until Putin nukes Ukraine.)
Electric Cars
While in a not-so-nearby city last week, I saw more electric vehicles than ever before, and this city isn’t known for being especially liberal. In addition to the normal smattering of Tesla’s, I saw the electric Ford Mustang, or Mach E, in bright yellow. I thought it looked peculiar and somewhat bulbous. Then I saw another first for me, a hybrid pickup truck, the Ford Maverick. I had never even heard of this vehicle, but it was so small and low to the ground, my Colorado dwarfed it. I felt like I was suddenly in the larger Silverado.
As a guy who has driven pickup since the 1990s, I’ve never said to myself, “Gee, I wish I had a smaller truck.” Yet there are a few times a year when I say, “I sure wish I had a larger truck,” or “Darn, my truck can’t tow that much.”
I think the Maverick must be an urban truck, meant for city people with small parking spaces who carry loads for their backyard rather than their acreage. Maybe there is a place for it in the suburbs, but not in my driveway. Besides, our county has only one or two public chargers. Sometimes a tourist will use one, but I don’t know anyone who owns an EV out here.
Stocking Up
We visited a salvage grocery store, and they had stacks of Slim Jims on sale ten for $1. Yes, ten cents each. I’m not sure I recall them that cheap back as a kid in the 1970s. Even better, they had a variety of sizes and flavors. Sure, they were just beyond the best-by date, but I still handed over my dollar and walked away with 10. I mean, what red-blooded American male wouldn’t?
While out and about, we also visited our favorite club store and restocked the freezer, buying beef, pork sausage, bacon, beef kielbasa, salmon, smoked salmon, chicken, and lamb. I estimate we have 60 days of food in the freezer. We also replenished some canned chicken and vegetables. They had more dried beans than I recall seeing, both black beans and pintos. They also had plenty of rice. Stock up, folks, stock up.
