Rocky Mountain Bushcraft: 2018

Sunday, March 4, 2018

Reader Email: Pistol Scope on a Chiappa Double Badger 410/.22LR Survival Rifle, Great Versatility

(This email was recently sent to us from Gene in Wisconsin. Gene wanted to share his experience with his Chiappa Double Badger 410/.22LR folding survival gun and how he mounted a scope on it):

Dear Rocky Mountain Bushcraft,

This is my set up. 22LR/410.

I bought one of the first ones and found Savage mounts at Walmart that were a perfect fit. I have a Simmons pistol scope mounted on see-through mounts and this setup is awesome.

I own a hundred guns, and if I could only own one, it would be this one. Here in Wisconsin, this is the gun I use for everything except deer hunting. If it was legal to use the .410, I would use it for that as well. In a survival situation, I definitely would.

I can get 1 inch groups at 50 yards with the pistol scope if I do my part. I have found that using .22 Shorts are very accurate and for small game hunting, they are great because they are so quiet.

With this setup, it is still under 6 lbs. Out of all the combo guns I’ve had, this is the lightest. My Savage Model 24 .17 HMR over 20 gauge was over 9 lbs, and I had a Baikal .22 Mag over 410 and that was 7.5 lbs. For me, the double triggers makes this the best set up over all the other combo guns. No switches to fumble with, with just pull and shoot.

FYI - 1/2 of the Ruger 10/22 scope mounts are a perfect fit, so I went to Walmart with that half and matched them up with a pair of Savage mounts that worked perfectly.

I also took the rear peep off and replaced it with a notched Williams Fire Sight. I’m just not a fan of peeps.

Very versatile gun with .22 Shorts, Longs, Long Rifle, and CB’s. In the .410, Birdshot, Buckshot, Slugs. Pretty much a gun that will take any game in the USA.

Love reading your web page.

Gene

EDITOR'S NOTE- Great information- thanks Gene!

If you would like to check out RMB's original review of the Chiappa Double Badger 410/.22LR Survival Rifle, click HERE.

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

The Italian Army Wool Officer's Blanket vs Regular Italian Army Wool Blanket

Bushcrafters LOVE wool blankets for their versatility in the field. One of the blankets they particularly like for this role are the surplus Italian Army Wool Blankets.

The Italian Army Blankets were available for many years from surplus stores for dirt cheap prices ($10 a piece in some cases). Weighing in at roughly 5 to 5 1/2 lbs, constructed of 100% wool, tightly woven, and built like a tank, they work great as a general purpose field blanket.

The Italian Army Standard Wool Blankets in use circa 1985:

Photo Credit: http://nikemissile.forumfree.it/?t=39822680&st=720

Unfortunately, the supply of these blankets, like most quality military wool blankets, has dried up over the years and have become more difficult to find. The Italian Army blankets in particular have become highly sought after, fetching upwards of $100 to $200 per blanket on eBay and online forums.

As rare as the Italian Army Wool Blankets are, the Officer's version of the Italian Army Wool Blanket is even more more difficult to find.

The Officer's Blanket has a distinctive star on it (see main photo above), is generally lighter in color, is longer than the standard army blanket by 10" to 15", and noticeably heavier. Dimensionally, my one Officer's blanket is 96" X 67", and the other is 98" X 66". How much heavier are these blankets? One weighs 7lbs 12oz, and the other is 7lbs 14oz. That's nearly 8lbs of pure wool!

By way of comparison, a large 4 point Hudson Bay Wool Blanket generally weighs 6 to 6 1/2 lbs:

So the Italian Officer's Wool Blanket, at 1 1/2 to almost 2lbs heavier, is one serious field blanket!

Despite its weight, the Officer's blanket actually packs down much smaller than a Hudson Bay because of its dense, tightly woven construction. To give you an idea of just how small it will pack down, here is one of my Officer's Blankets next to a smallish 100% Wool USGI Army Blanket:

Left: Italian Army Officer's Wool Blanket. Right: USGI 100% Wool Blanket

That's a seriously small package for nearly 8lbs of wool! My rolled up Hudson Bay blanket is twice this size.

As cool as these Officer's blankets are, they are extremely rare unfortunately. In fact, they are so rare that I could hardly find any information about them, even on bushcrafting forums.

To add to the confusion, it seems that a lot of people think that the regular Italian Army Wool Blanket is actually the Officer's model. As you can see from the main photo and from the differences in their size and weight, they are actually quite different.

Hopefully, this post will help clarify these differences in case someone should run into one of them at a yard sale, estate sale, online, etc.

If you happen to own one and can add to this information, please leave a comment below.

Cheers,

Jason

Sunday, January 28, 2018

Review coming soon...... Barco-Kelly "Perfect" Felling Axe

EDITOR'S NOTE- Hey friends, sadly, it has come to my attention that Barco-Kelly went bankrupt recently and was not sold to another company to continue their legacy. This is unfortunate because their Kelly "Perfect" Axe was actually a great axe after I did some profile work on the bit. I still plan to post a review of it for historical purposes, but sadly, they are no longer available to buy except on the secondary market. So if you own one of these fine tools, hold on to it! It's now a collectors item:)

Regards,

Jason

Rocky Mountain Bushcraft now has 4.7 Million Pageviews- pretty cool!

Cool photos from RMB reader in British Columbia, Canada

Hey friends, hope you are well.

Check out these cool photos from RMB reader Joe SB Smith from British Columbia, Canada!

Joe was one of the winners of the Rocky Mountain Bushcraft Liberty Bottle Giveaway recently. He took these cool photos and wanted to share them.

Thanks Joe!

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you'd like to grab one of these cool bottles, I've listed them for sale at the Rocky Mountain Bushcraft eBay store.

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