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Crimean Ovens

“Starting in 1861, the wintertime Union field tent hospitals of the U.S. Civil War often used subterranean heating systems known as Crimean Ovens. The system under discussion was basically a firebox, or oven, on the outside of the tent, with a shallow, brick-lined, sheet-metal-covered trough running down the center of the tent’s interior, and ending in a chimney on the opposite exterior side of the tent. The tents were placed on ground with slight inclines, allowing the hot air to naturally rise and escape out the flue.”

crimean oven

“Dr. Charles Tripler, Surgeon and Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac, writes in a letter of November 1861 the following description of “a modification of the Crimean Oven”, devised and put into operation by Surgeon McRuer, the surgeon of General Sedgewick’s Eighth Brigade:

A trench 1 foot wide and 20 inches deep to be dug through the center and length of each tent, to be continued for 3 or 4 feet farther, terminating at one end in a covered oven fire-place and at the other in a chimney. By this arrangement the fire-place and chimney are both on the outside of the tent; the fire-place is made about 2 feet wide and arching; its area gradually lessening until it terminates in a throat at the commencement of the straight trench. This part is covered with brick or stone, laid in mortar or cement; the long trench to be covered with sheet-iron in the same manner. The opposite end to the fire-place terminates in a chimney 6 or 8 feet high; the front of the fire-place to be fitted with a tight movable sheet-iron cover, in which an opening is to be made, with a sliding cover to act as a blower.

crimean oven 2By this contrivance a perfect draught may be obtained, and use more cold air admitted within the furnace than just sufficient to consume the wood and generate the amount of heat required, which not only radiates from the exposed surface of the iron plates, but is conducted throughout the ground floor of the tent so as to keep it both warm and dry, making a board floor entirely unnecessary, thereby avoiding the dampness and filth, which unavoidably accumulates in such places.

All noise, smoke, and dust, attendant upon building the fires within the tent are avoided; there are no currents of cold air, and the heat is so equally diffused, that no difference can be perceived between the temperature of each end or side of the tent.”

 

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All About Guns Fieldcraft

HUNTING WITH SIXGUNS THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF IT WRITTEN BY JOHN TAFFIN

 

October was made for hunting and the day was perfect. The oppressive heat of summer had given way to frozen mornings and warm afternoons, while the green was rapidly being replaced with gold and red splashes of color. Heavy flannel shirts and down vests
were once again the dress of the day.

Yes, it was a perfect day for hunting and the ram was standing almost defiantly broadside at 225 yards. A long shot? Definitely. Could I make it? Maybe. I assumed the steadiest position possible, sighted down the 101⁄2″- barrel of the .44 Magnum Super Blackhawk and squeezed the trigger sending a 265-grain hard cast bullet on its way.

Surprise!

The shot was as perfect as the day. It seemed like an eternity as the flat-nosed bullet made its way to the target and I waited to hear the satisfying whomp as the bullet hit. Instead I heard clang!, for this critter was a steel ram and I was shooting long-range silhouettes. While I was active in silhouettes in the 1980s this happened hundreds of times as I, and thousands of others, successfully took on chickens, pigs, turkeys and rams. Silhouetting taught us a lot about long-range shooting, however most of what we did did not transfer positively to the hunting field unless we were really paying attention.

It’s one thing to shoot a steel animal at a measured distance, standing still, allowing time for the shooter to assume the Creedmore position, with a known gun and load. Silhouetting was and is a wonderful, satisfying sport for handgunners. However it
would be more realistic for the handgun hunter if the targets actually had a kill zone.

In the game fields bullet placement is critical; on steel critters a hit is a hit. I took many rams with perfect shoulder shots, however I also took them with horn shots, ham shots, gut shots, leg shots and even shots which, had they been ewes, would have
been complete misses. It didn’t matter. As long as the ram went down, the shot counted. We don’t have this forgiving situation in the game fields. Bad shots remain bad shots, often allowing animals to escape to die a painful, lingering death. The two equal first rules of hunting are: (1) Use enough gun, and (1A) Respect the animal being hunted.

Reality Sets In

Like most hunters I started my adventures afield with a scope-sighted, bolt action rifle in what was then the most popular
chambering, the .30-06. When I decided to become a handgun hunter I did not strap on the sixgun as a backup but instead left the 06 at home. My 10″ .44 Magnum Ruger Flat-Top in a Goerg shoulder holster carried so much easier than the old sporterized 1917 Enfield. As I made my way up the mountain I appreciated the Ruger more and more.

I reached the top, sat down to rest, looked across the canyon and there he was, the biggest mule deer I had ever seen. He was a long way off, however if I had the Enfield I might have been able to move behind the log I was leaning against, roll up my down vest, use it as a rest and take the shot. Instead, I just sat there and enjoyed the view.

He was much too far for an open sighted sixgun even with the relatively flat-shooting .44 Magnum. Perhaps I could have gone down into the canyon and back up to him, however I was definitely too tired and it would be dark before I ever reached him. When you decide to become a handgun hunter, situations like this are to be expected.

Three-hundred-yard shots may be possible with the accomplished riflemen, however they are totally out of the question for the sixgunner. I may have been able to hit 225-yard rams most of the time, however I was realistic enough to know my range with an open-sighted sixgun was about one-third this distance — and 50 yards is even better.

Toughest hunt — Cougar taken with the .44 Magnum.

Do It Up Close

Handgun hunters need to take a reality check and realize the normal front sight on a sixgun covers 3″ at 25 yards; carried out
to 100 yards the sight covers a lot of area, certainly greater than the kill zone on most animals. Factor in excitement and being out of breath and it becomes very apparent shots should be at close range. Two hundred yards? Three hundred yards? Forget it! Shooting at live targets at such distances, especially with an iron-sighted sixgun is totally irresponsible. We can laugh with our friends when missing a steel ram or a distant rock, however there is nothing funny about wounding an animal.

My latest hunting trip after a Catalina goat is a perfect illustration of hunting with a sixgun and the choices to be made. Each
year my two hunting buddies and I make a trek to Clover Creek Ranch above Madras, Oregon. Lately I have gone back to my roots doing most of my hunting with the .44 Special using the classic Keith load. I have a thing for red Catalina goats and had been
hunting all day before I found any goats.

We finally spotted a herd and tried to get close enough for a shot. For the next two hours I waited. I waited while a wild pig came by and moved them out; I watched as a small herd of buffalo turned them back toward me. The goats finally settled down and I put the Bushnell Laser Rangefinder on “my” pale red goat. He was 123 yards away and I never got any closer. It would be easy to say it was just a Catalina goat and try the shot, however, I cannot operate this way. Fifty yards closer, a steady rest, standing broadside shot, maybe; a 50-yard shot would have been even better.

A 600+ pound feral hog is no match for a 270-pound hunter
with a .44 Special; range 25-35 yards.

Bigger = Closer

The previous year at Clover Creek I had taken two huge feral boars with the same .44 Special. A reverse situation exists when hunting. It would be natural to assume the larger the critter the farther away we can shoot; actually the opposite is true. You rarely, if ever, hear of anyone shooting long-range on elephants or Cape buffalo. Shots are up close where a mistake is less likely to be made.

I’ve shot pigs in many parts of the country as well as wart hog in South Africa, and javelina in Texas. My longest shot has been well under 50 yards. The two feral boars, a little one at 500 pounds, and his big buddy topping the scale at over 650 pounds, were both taken at 25-35 yards. Pigs are big and tough and can be dangerous; up close is the only way to take
them with a sixgun.

I’ve taken two bison with a revolver A meat cow was taken in a Kansas snowstorm at 50 yards using a heavily-loaded .45 Colt. My trophy bull was taken even closer, about 35 yards, using a Freedom Arms 43⁄4″ Model 83 and Buffalo Bore’s .480 Ruger load. Both are exceptionally big targets, however up close minimizes the chance of a mistake. As I type this, a cougar looks down at me from his log perch above my desk. He was taken out of a tree at 50 feet with a .44 Magnum.

That was probably the hardest hunt I have ever been on, making my way up the side of the mountain in waist-deep snow. I would’ve been happy if he had been even closer. Cougars are relatively easy to kill, however a mistake can get the dogs killed. This one was dead before he hit the ground.

Taffin took this large bull bison at about 35 yards using Buffalo Bore’s
.480 Ruger load in a 43⁄4″ Freedom Arms Model 83.

Memories

As I look around my office/trophy room I see a large aoudad taken at 40 yards with a .44 Magnum, a wart hog shot at about 25 yards with a .454 Casull, and several whitetail deer of the dozens I have taken with the .44 Magnum, all one-shot kills. Only one of those whitetails was taken at a distance more than 50 yards. That one exception was a large, old management buck on the YO Ranch.

On this occasion I had my 71⁄2″ Freedom Arms .44 Magnum with a 2X Leupold scope in place. The distance was 125 yards, he was standing broadside and perfectly still, I knew my sixgun well, and I had a solid rest. Even so I felt I was stretching my distance to the maximum; fortunately it worked out perfectly.

Long shots are for the accomplished riflemen or the handgun hunter using a scope-sighted Thompson/Center Contender or Encore, which is often more accurate than a rifle. But for the sixgun hunter, the closer the better. Big bore sixguns are my passion. I enjoy shooting them long-range and when hunting. However, the two do not go together. It’s most enjoyable shooting an iron-sighted sixgun at rocks at distances of 500-800 yards, but when it comes to hunting I drop off that last “0”. Respect for the animal and pride in making one-shot kills are extremely important to me. It’s called sportsmanship.

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Darwin would of approved of this! Fieldcraft Gear & Stuff

Popping off at prairie dogs

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Some hopefully useful info

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Fieldcraft War

Why did Russian Soldiers Install Paper Tubes and Pink Stripes on AK

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Huh!

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All About Guns Fieldcraft

Gunfight Myth: Pocket Full of Brass

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All About Guns Cops Fieldcraft

Massad Ayoob “Shoot to Live” Gunfight Survival

https://youtu.be/sXuBRxPYIoE

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Fieldcraft Well I thought it was funny!

Some very solid advice for the younger guys out there!

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Fieldcraft

HOW NOT TO KILL A SNAKE PRO TIP: IT AIN’T SUPPOSED TO BE A FAIR FIGHT WRITTEN BY JEREMY CLOUGH

Jeremy will leave it to Dr. Dabbs to tease out the finer points of copperhead bites.
Suffice it to say, they’re venomous, aggressive and you do not want to tangle with them.

 

“It” was about 2′ long or so, big for its breed, and facing away from me where I couldn’t see the sinister smile concealing its fangs. I’d seen plenty of copperheads before and knew one this close to the house had pretty much signed its own death warrant. I’d seen him — though not until I was waaay too close, but I might not the next time.

 

This Cold Steel Recon Tanto split Jeremy’s kindling for five years without
being sharpened. It also eased a couple serpents into their slithery afterlife,
something we can’t in good conscience recommend.

Multitasking Geometry

 

Still carrying on my business call, I pondered my options. To this point, I had only ever killed copperheads with a knife. A dangerous business, but geometrically logical: Intersecting a line (the snake) with another line (the blade of my Cold Steel Tanto) was easier than intersecting a line (the snake) with a point (read: bullet). To be fair, I hadn’t actually graphed all this out the first time I did it.

 

This titanium Commander Jeremy built on a long trip to Novak’s was state
of the art for the time with its matching .22 conversion, G10 grips and Answer
one-piece backstrap. Unfortunately, he didn’t drive it well going mano a mano
with a pit viper while on the phone.

Slither At Me, Bro

 

I was walking back to the car one night in the national forest after showing off my camp cooking skills to a girl when a particularly aggressive copperhead showed up in the halo of my Coleman lantern and headed my way. I snatched the Cold Steel out of its scabbard and decapitated the serpent with a swipe before I realized I had just gotten into a knife fight with a venomous snake. I won, but was a bit shaky about it. Then I justified it by the angles, and the feeling turned to “slither at me, bro.”

I’d done it again, also in the dark, when my friend I was following down a trail nearly stepped on one. This snake took two hits to kill, but kill him I did.

This time, though, with a hand holding the phone to my ear, I knew I didn’t have the range of motion to make it work with a blade, and trying meant I would almost certainly get bitten. Inexplicably, I completely ignored the shed in front of me, with its hoes, rakes and shovels, as well as an entire barn next to me filled with all the implements previously used to work the land. Instead, I fixated on something entirely new: My .22 suppressor.

 

I’d seen him — though not until I was waaay too close, but I might not the next time.

There’s more than one wrong way to kill a snake, and using a knife
is one of them. Don’t let the two copperheads this one killed fool you;
it’s a bad idea with anything. Try it with a rattler and you’re likely to
attain immortality in the Darwin Awards.

SBD

 

The paperwork had just cleared for my first silencer. Even better, I had a new titanium-framed 1911 freshly built on a recent trip to Novak’s, along with its matching .22 conversion. My plan was simple: Walk into the house, carrying on the conversation with el presidente, assemble the conversion onto my new pistol, screw on the can, walk outside — doing my best 007 impression — and pop, Bond’s your uncle. With the low report of the suppressed shot, it wouldn’t be heard through the phone and there would be no interruption to the call, which was important. As I said, I didn’t really know this man, and I wanted to impress him.

All went well until first contact; I walked up behind the snake, lined him up over those Novak LoMounts and pressed the trigger. The pistol made a gentle “pop,” and the earth exploded beneath the copperhead as the bullet nicked him. He warped around at the speed of heat, immediately striking and striking again while I desperately crab-walked backward, one-handing shots at him while he, equally fervent, continued trying to kill me. Pop. Pop. PopPopPop. Pop.

 

The photo Jeremy sent that night. This whole thing really wasn’t the best idea.

End Times

 

The end of the mag was near, and my options with it, when I finally anchored him with a solid head shot. By now, the president had long since gone silent.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m sure you’re wondering what that was.”

“It sounded like a .22 rifle,” he responded drily.

“Close. It was a suppressed pistol. I, uh, had to kill a pit viper.”

I’ll never really know whether he believed me in that moment or not; I only know he asked for a photo of me, the snake and the gun.
Which I sent. He and I are friends to this day, and I like to think that near-lethal phone call cemented the relationship. Of course, I may just like to think that.