Basic Special Forces doctrine dictates that there are three simple questions to ask when recruiting a "Guerrilla Chief."
I know. That's a pretty hefty opening line, so let's break it down. The mission of the US Army's Special Forces is to act as a force multiplier by recruiting, training, and deploying local or indigenous peoples to fight as allies in a specific theater. Because locals are most often fighting as guerrilla units, their leaders are referred to as "Guerrilla Chiefs," since it is often social leaders or tribal chieftains who take command positions within the newly formed guerrilla units. It is those same leaders that SF teams must recruit first to gain the alliance of the clan, tribe, or community group. SF teams must assimilate to local culture to gain trust, while guiding the locals towards their goal.
What's the point of this article if you aren't recruiting for a rebel guerrilla force? You can apply these same concepts and the 3 questions in your daily life when negotiating deals and partnerships. Keep in mind that you want an affirmative answer to all three questions.

Question #3:
Are you willing to kill someone?
     Whether referring to the SF team or your personal and professional dealings, an affirmative answer to this question will let you know that your ally is fully committed to achieving the goal. The obvious difference is that this question may be a literal one for the SF team, but is a figurative one for you. Either way, you're looking for an affirmative commitment to success, despite potential hardships or personal conflicts. You need to know that your ally is willing to do what it takes, so be certain that they are sincere in their commitment. Expect some hesitation, because it might not be (and in some cases should not be) an easy decision to make. But, if their answer is negative, end the partnership immediately. By not committing to success, they are committing to failure, or at least not investing in success. If your ally isn't invested, they will have nothing to lose from your failure, so there may be little motivation to succeed. Think of it as the carrot and the stick- the carrot represents the benefits success, and the stick represents the personal investments lost in failure.
Get them invested. Get them committed. Succeed.

BBR Keychain
$6.00
BBR logo on one side and the insanely popular Problem Solver art on the other side. Measures 1 7/8" x 2 1/2". Key to my truck not included.

ORDER HERE!

BBR Mouse Pad
$10.00
BBR mouse pads for your electronic warfare command center! Your choice of either the BBR shop or the Problem Solver art. Measures 7 3/4" x 9 1/4" x 1/8" thick.

ORDER HERE!

I did a few brief videos showing size and fit of a few Condor brand Plate Carriers for a Law Enforcement customer. She's putting together an "Active Shooter" rig, and wanted a little more information than she was getting from the manufacturer- some of those elements you only discover when handling a product. She's looking for a balance of protection and speed in putting the rig on. It will mostly ride in her trunk, unless the situation arises where she needs the added Level III protection offered by the AR500 Armor plates she purchased from Black Bag Resources a few weeks ago. In short, she needs a quick rig for one of the worst SHTF scenarios an officer might face. It's my job to help her build the rig she needs, so this was a great way to get her the info she wanted even though she's a few hours away.
I'm sharing them publicly just in case there's a nugget of info that helps someone else. Keep in mind, we're discussing these items for a specific purpose for a specific customer. Some of the issues I point out in the videos won't be issues for other people or other applications.
Grab some popcorn, and enjoy the show!

    Well wait, what about training? You have to get educated before you can get your drivers license. Shouldn't we do the same for firearms? Brace yourselves. I agree. Yes. You should get training. Before you freak out thinking I've traded my flat top for a hippy headband, let me explain. In this circumstance, I want exactly what you get for cars: a full semester of education in every high school in the US. That's right. Drop the "gun free zone" BS and really get on board with safety and education. Every 17 year old gets 3 months of class room education on safe handling, operation, and storage. If they want to go further, hands on instruction will be required, followed by written and applied skills testing. Then you can renew every four years, and everyone else can shut up about it. And since the DMV proved that a government agency will never work as well as a private agency (The new MVC), a nationally recognized firearms training and safety organization will run the training and license renewal for this new system. I'll give you three guesses which organization I'm talking about, and here's a clue: they don't have the words "Moms," "Brady," or "Mayors" in their name!
    Let's take the cars analogy all the way. Every car in the country has a muffler. It cuts down on unnecessary noise pollution. Too much noise damages your hearing, so it's a safety issue. Right? Good. Sound suppressors can go on every firearm for the same reason. No more NFA transfers, no more $200 tax stamp for suppressors. It only makes sense.
    The FBI reports that in the US there are approximately 80-100 million existing firearms owners and 7 million new firearms owners in the last year. That's 7 million people who never owned a firearm before and now are learning the ropes. If you are one of them, I strongly encourage you to get properly educated by a professional instructor in the safe storage and use of your firearm.
    So let's cut the nonsense. I know guns and cars aren't the same. I know the issues aren't the same. But I believe that there is truly one solution: Education!

Ammunition supplies at stores are finally starting to normalize. That's good news, but prices are still inflated.
So what have we learned from the recent shortage?
Conventional knowledge pretty much went out the window as soon as supply started to dry up and shelves went bare. Most of the guys I know had argued in favor of only keeping firearms chambered for NATO calibers. It seems that the 9 mm, 45 ACP, 5.56/2.23, 7.62 x 51/.308, and 12 gauge were the first things to disappear. (This was not my personal philosophy, and I was glad to see .40 S&W, 7.62x54R, and 7.62x39 price and availability fluctuate very little in comparison.) The biggest surprise probably came when the .22 LR vanished from shelves. How many articles were written or conversations had that the .22 would be in limitless supply because it is the most common target, plinking, and recreational round available? Conventional wisdom told us there was no possible way we would ever have a shortage of .22. Boy oh boy, were we wrong! I'm not even going get into prices on some of the other rounds but we saw a $17 box of .22 long rifle go all the way up to $120 in the course of three short months, thanks in no small part to shady dealers like Cheaper Than Dirt and unscrupulous "ammo scalpers" who looked to make a quick buck. (CTD will never see another penny of my money!)
We can get into several theories as to why supply and demand shifted the way it did or why the supply dried up so fast but the bottom line is if you hadn't stocked up on ammo prior to this rush you're feeling the shortage more than anybody else. I'm curious to hear from any new marksman out there who recently started purchasing firearms and ammunition how they've budgeted for not only the price of the firearm but also the over inflated price of the ammunition. Unfortunately, I suspect most new folks coming into the firearms culture have no idea they're being overcharged.
The short lesson is this: The Mosin and SKS continued to eat well, but the AR and Ruger 10/22 ate very lean. Be careful with "Caliber Consolidation", because you might be surprised with what disappears when times get tight. And if you haven't started backing up your ammo supply, maybe you need to rethink some purchases.

Black Bag Resources, LLC is proud to offer AR500 Armor products to our customers. AR500 Armor produces level III steel trauma plates capable of stopping rifle rounds up to 7.62x51/.308 caliber. Unlike ceramic plates, steel plates aren't easily damaged by day to day use and abuse. The best part is AR500 Armor plates are affordable! Ceramic plates start at about $300 each, but you can get a basic AR500 10"x12" Advanced Shooters Cut Plate for as little as $65 (at the time of this writing). AR500 Armor offers plenty of features and options to suit your specific needs, including various sizes and flat or curved plates. Because steel plate armor deflects and breaks incoming rounds and doesn't "catch" the bullet like soft armor or ceramics do, AR500 Armor offers a Line-X base coat build-up to contain spall/fragmentation. This additional coating is offered for an extra fee but is very effective at capturing 100% of spall/frag. Black Bag Resources, LLC strongly recommends this option when ordering your armor. Call Black Bag Resources, LLC  to place your order!

This article is a submission from our friend, Tony Simon, regarding his experience taking NRA First Steps Rifle with Black Bag Resources, LLC.

"Denial" is not just a river in Egypt

            I grew up shooting. I was on my high school's marksmanship team. I was trained to shoot by PMIs ( Primary Marksmanship Instructors) to be the finest basic trained marksman the Marine Corps could produce. My highest range score was sharpshooter, I missed Expert by one point. So when I got back into shooting I couldn't believe I had gotten so bad at putting rounds on target. At 50 yards I was all over a 31 x 19 inch target with my first 10 rounds while shooting off a bench. I ignored the fact the last time I shot at a range was 20 years ago. I also ignored every marksmanship principle. Gunny Hathcock I was not.

            After my embarrassing first time out I was determined to improve. I knew that I had to apply the basic marksmanship principles, and I knew them backwards an forwards. I was a Marine after all, I won't need any help. (Denial) In my subsequent trips to the range my “groups” at 50 yards had shrunken to an entire 5 ½ inch Caldwell Bulls eye target. I knew that a Ruger 10/22 would shoot better than minute of dinner plate groups, but for the life of me I couldn't get the groups smaller. I started to justify my groupings as “good enough” for self defense or the zombie apocalypse. (More Denial!) During this time I was also firing my Finnish 1942 Mosin Nagant and the 50 yard “groups” would not shrink in size from the 12 inchers that I was shooting. Now comes the excuses, "It's a 70 year old rifle with 65 year old surplus ammo."and  "If I installed a Timney trigger and a good optic I would be shooting tight groups." (Drowning in denial here!)

            I have a friend (Sean from Black Bag Resources, LLC) that is a  NRA marksmanship instructor and he put together a NRA First Steps Rifle class. I decided to take the class in July and get back to the basics of marksmanship, because nothing I did on my own was getting good results at the range. I finally had to admit that shooting is a perishable skill, and I needed to get back to the basics. It was time to come ashore and get out of the river of denial.

            The class started with introductions and telling each other about our firearms experience. Then we went over the safety rules, parts of rifles, types of ammo and the five rifle shooting fundamentals.  There was a lot of good information in the class and it covered the fundamentals of shooting safely and accurately. The NRA provides very informative books and handouts for the class.

            Sean insisted on everyone being active in the class, and this class was not the “sit and listen” kind. There were no dumb questions- just missed opportunities to learn. We had hands on rifle manipulation with America's rifle, the Ruger 10/22. After going over shooting positions, we went over the safety rules again and then we headed to the range.

            After completing the course required shooting, we were told we would be shooting from the bench for our NRA/Winchester Basic Practical Qualification.The qualification was to fire 5 three-shot groups into groups no larger than .9 inches from 33 feet. That's a group the size of a quarter! After watching Jill (the only female in class) put 2 rounds through 1 hole with a 10/22 with a Hogue stock and a  BSA Sweet 22 scope, I abandoned my iron sighted stock Ruger 10/22 for the rifle she used. I will spare you the drama- I passed the qualification with the scoped rifle, but I had to know if I would've passed with iron sights. So I shot the qualification again with my stock rifle and passed it with that rifle also. I felt GREAT!

The 50 yard line:

          I went back to the range as soon as possible to test myself and my relearned skill set. The target was a 11x16 inch piece of cardboard nailed to a 2 ¼ x ¼ . My range sells targets stapled to these posts and since my groups were on the large size I was reusing these posts over and over. I placed two 5 ½ Caldwell targets vertically and 3 inch targets on each side.

            I sat my rifle bag on the top of the bench and rested my rifle across the bag. I applied all of the lessons  I learned in class and settled behind my stock, iron sight Ruger 10/22 and shot my first 10 shot group from 50 yards. I shot a 1 ¼ 10 shot group on a 3 inch target at 50 yards!

           This was better than I have shot in recent memory, stock rifle, no shooting vice, no sling. I then proceeded to shoot the rest of my 100 rounds into multiple 10 shot groups. At the end of my time at the range I had cut the 2 ¼ inch post into splinters. Prior to the class, I couldn't do that with my .30 caliber rifle!

Conclusion

            Shooting is a perishable skill. I needed a basic marksmanship class to get me back on track. I was drowning in a river of Denial, thinking that I could teach myself to improve my marksmanship on my own. I shot over 2000 rounds of ammo between my pistol and rifles trying to improve on my own. My money would have been better spent in a formal class that started with the fundamentals. After all, that is how the Marine Corps teaches it to recruits. Please don't be like me. Ammo is expensive and at times hard to come by. Don't let your ego stop you from taking NRA firearms courses. It is a standard course taught by NRA qualified instructors. I took mine from Sean Fisher at BlackBagResources.com. As far as I am concerned he is “The Greatest Firearms Instructor in the World” because I no longer shoot pizza box size groups- they are now a little bigger then a quarter!

        Since taking the class, Tony has continued to improve his skills by applying and developing the fundamentals he learned in class. He spent  weeks studying his manual and practicing his skills. Tony is now shooting competitively, going to the range regularly, and even completed his NRA certification as a Firearms Instructor. Tony currently assists teaching firearms courses with Black Bag Resources, LLC and has a facebook page at www.facebook.com/simonsaystrain dedicated to firearms and related education.

The new 2013 Black Bag Resources Bandanas have arrived!
ORDER HERE
The latest batch are 27" x 27" of 100% pure cotton with the logo printed on one corner.
So what's the big deal? Cotton bandanas are a handy everyday carry and survival item. There's a reason the Boy Scouts include a neckerchief as part of their uniform.
The BBR Bandana can be used as/for:

• Head wrap (generous size fits even BIG heads)
  
• Cold or warm compress
• Sling (for an injured limb or as a rifle sling)
  
• Tourniquet
• Dust mask
• Blind fold
• Hair tie
• Dip net for fishing
• Bandage
• Signal flag (bright colors, obviously!)
• Camouflage (subdued colors, obviously!)
  
• Char cloth (100% cotton)
  
• Wash cloth
• Bindle (click for the link to Wikipedia)
  

The list goes on and on and is only limited by your imagination and skills. You can tie them and twist them, or even sew pockets in them to suit your needs. I carry one everyday, and I'm constantly finding new uses for it.
Some uses are mundane. Some are adventurous. Some are only for the BOLD! >>>

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The new 2013 Black Bag Resources T-shirts have arrived! This year's tee is tan, 100% cotton, tagless, and awesome! The front features the small BBR logo on the left chest. The back features our operator with the quote, "Don't thank me, I did it for the effin' MONEY!" It's a play on the whole "Thank our Military" thing. Do you thanks PMCs, Contactors, Security Personnel, etc.? They go in harm's way for pay- often considerably more than our military- but, in truth, many of them are no less Patriots than our men and women in uniform. This shirt is our tongue-in-cheek salute to them.

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