Firearms shortages, Appleseed training, Marlin 795 magazines finally back in stock!

As many of you I am sure know... Getting your hands on tools, equipment, and essential pieces of equipment can sometimes be a real challenge.  One of the big challenges for the last 5-6 years or more has been the ability to get your hands on firearms, ammunition, reloading supplies, and misc other related items.  It has been nearly impossible for quite some time to get the things you need.  At first it was a panic run on guns as the newly elected gun control administration had been elected, but not yet taken office.  Then after about a year things quieted down and we started to see firearms we were looking for appear again.  Ammunition had dried up also when the guns were in short supply.  Even after the guns were coming back to stores the ammunition situation was still spotty. 

Well fast forward and things have gone through several waves of panic buying and full court presses across the country to ban or regulate firearms.  Government massive ammunition buying programs has completely dried up the ammuntion market.  Most common calibers of ammo you just cannot buy right now.  If you can find it your paying double or more than what you were not that long ago.  So if you own firearms you have to keep your eyes and ear open for a chance to get anything gun related you can when it is in stock.

Just the other day I was over at Walmart and of course I make a straight line for the sporting goods department in the hopes that today they would have some ammo.  No dice as usual, but what they did have surprised me.  In the gun case they actually had some really nice guns.  They had a couple of Colt LE6920's, one of them with the Magpul conversions already done on them.  Very nice!  If someone hasn't bought their guns or is looking to add more to their collection now is possibly a good time to do that.  When it comes to guns one thing is for sure, don't assume that anything you see available today will be available tomorrow... Or ever again for that matter with the lunatics we have to political leadership in this country. 

Which brings me to the point of my post today.  I am a strong proponent of training and skills.  I always am striving to learn something new that will help on this journey of prepping, sustainable living, or figuring out ways to do things that will help others.  I checked out a great organization a few years back and went to their training called "The Appleseed Project".  It is sponsored by the Revolutionary War Veterans Association.  They put on a first class marksmanship firearms training program.  Better yet kids, women, active duty military, and police get to shoot for free!  First class operation, great training.  And for us guys the cost is $75 for a weekend of solid training that you would pay hundreds of dollars more for.  Great program.  One of the things about the Appleseed program is your going to be doing A LOT of shooting.  It is highly recommended you get your hands on a good quality .22lr rifle for this type of training... Unless your independently wealthy and don't mind spending 50 cents to a $1 a shot and are willing to blow $500 in ammo over the weekend.  Yes, your gonna shoot that much!  So get yourself a good .22lr for Appleseed Training.  You can find out more about Appleseed training and events near you by checking out their website www.appleseedinfo.org.

Now one of the things that has been in short short short supply has been magazines for our guns.  I managed to find some Marlin 795 rifles for my family so we can start training and heading to Appleseed events.  Well that was the good news, the bad news is that I couldn't find any more magazines for the guns.  The were sold out everywhere.  Honestly that just makes no sense since all talks of magazine bans are for magazines over 10rds or 15rds.  So these factory mags for the 795 wouldn't have been affected by the bans one way or another.  The other issue is that .22lr ammo was also so out everywhere and still is at this time as I am writing this.  Well I have keep my eyes open for more magazines because you will need 2 or 3 magazines minumum for an Appleseed event.  You do have to practice magazine changes during some courses of fire.  So until I could locate the mags for the new Marlin rifles I was stuck and unable to get out for some training.  Well there is some good news.  I just did a search this morning and noted that both Midwayusa.com and Cheaperthandirt.com both have them in stock once again.  So if you have been looking for Marlin 795 magazines now is your time to snag some while you can.

So now I should have some magazines coming for our Marlin rifles.  We already did our upgrades to the rifles.  We replaced the trigger springs, installed Tech sights, and purchased a USGI cotton sling.  These are all recommended items for using the Marlin at an Appleseed.  Actually the trigger springs are optional, but it does seem to make a nice difference in the pull of the trigger.  Drops the trigger pull down to around 4lbs.  So I think it is worth doing it.

So if your interested in some first class marksmanship training, a good educational experience, and just a lot of fun check out the Appleseed events.  I highly recommend the Marlin rifles.  I have Ruger 10/22 that I tricked out a few years back for the Appleseed event and frankly I think I actually like the Marlin better so far.  I will get it out on the range in the next few weeks and see how things go with it before I can say it is as good or better than the Ruger for my own use and preferences.  Maybe we can do a range report.   I am hoping that now we have some magazines we can schedule an Appleseed event.  I see one last one coming up in Oct near Kansas City which is about 3 hours from here.  So I am thinking we may try to do that one and see if we cannot get them to organize one of these events down here closer to the Springfield and Branson areas next year.  We will have to see how that goes.

Anyway folks if your looking for firearms get out and start looking.  I was shocked to see nice guns at Walmart.  The bad news is that ammo is still nonexistent, and magazines are hard to come by.  If your in the market for Marlin 795 magazines check out the two web sites I mentioned.  Midwayusa has a limit of two magazines, but Cheaper Than Dirt didn't have a limit, but the shipping was more expensive at CTD.

Remember, stay focused, try to do something every day for your prepping!

God Bless,
Longsnowsm