“It is worth planning for.”
CNN has an interactive U.S. population map based on 2010 census results. You can view populations in several ways including by county, which I find useful. I consider this sort of information when looking for jobs and planning bug out routes. As a general rule, less people in bad times is way better.
If you want to mount a traditional 1” or 30mm scope to your Ruger Mini-14 and leave it there, life is simple – the Mini-14 comes with 1” rings, and 30mm are readily available if you need them. Easy, done.
If you want a quick detach option with a return-to-zero capability, Warne and a few others make the product you want. It’s all good.
If you want a scout mount setup using Weaver or picatinny rail for long-eye relief scopes (most often pistol scopes) or for red-dot optics, you’re in luck with two great options, the UltiMAK Scout Mount (left) and the Amega mount (right). Choate (follow link, scroll down) also makes a front end option. Rock-n-roll.
However, if you’re particular like me and want to mount modern red-dot sights easily, and easily interchange them with a variety of more traditional optics using standard picatinny/Weaver rail, and be able to clean the weapon without having to re-zero everything, there are a lot of probably not-so-great options (I haven’t tested them all, so that assessment can change). It’s my only real complaint about the Mini-14, especially since Ruger could easily correct the issue.
There are a few side mounting options that also allow use of the iron sights, something I value. The primary one on the market seems to be the B-Square, which is what I own and have used (pictured below). I like it, but the rifle finish will be scratched and I don’t trust it to withstand getting knocked around, and it must be removed to clean the carbine (at least Tactical versions).
Eagle make a similar QD mount (if you can find it for sale), as does UTG. There are some cheap Barska and NCStar copies not worth buying, according to most reviews. Armson makes a side mount that appears to be a drill/tap job.
The next type of mount is a Ruger-to-Weaver/picatinny rail that mounts over the bolt. Some are advertised as see-through while others don’t attempt to leave the irons free. B-Square makes of these (pic below) and has mixed reviews; solid, but difficult to use the iron sights.
This would be ideal – if with clear irons and cleaning could take place without removing it. I might try one and dremel the channel deeper if needed.
Others that offer a similar rail (though not see-through) are GG&G, Weigand, Mounting Solutions, and NCStar (not recommended).
IMO, there is a gaping whole in the market for someone to create a Weaver/picatinny rail that will sit high enough to allow use of iron sights and cleaning of without removal (or QD with return-to-zero).
Standard & Poor’s announced Friday night that it has downgraded the United States credit rating for the first time, dealing a huge symbolic blow to the world’s economic superpower in what was a sharply worded critique of the American political system.
Lowering the nation’s rating one-notch below AAA, the credit rating company said “political brinkmanship” in the debate over the debt had made the U.S. government’s ability to manage its finances “less stable, less effective and less predictable.”
This probably should have happened years ago, realistically. The credit agencies likely have had good reasons for delaying this, and I imagine there was some livley debate at the S&P before this decision was made. Jim Rawles of Survival Blog earlier this week (check the link for possible consequences) predicted other credit agencies would immediately follow any downgrades. However it they will delay;
Other credit rating agencies — Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings — have decided not to downgrade the United States credit rating. But they’ve warned that, if the economy deteriorates significantly or the government does not take additional steps to tame the debt, they could move to downgrade too.
Some of the possible consequences (more)?
U.S. Treasury securities, once undisputedly the safest investment in the world, are now rated lower than bonds issued by countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France or Canada.
The move is likely to raise borrowing costs eventually for the American government, companies and consumers.
Seems clear we’re on the downward slope with no realistic hope for actual recovery. There may be upticks, but nothing that has a chance to halt the slow collapse we’re in. As the son of Arsenius so aptly put it recently, we’re “circling the drain.”
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