Tactical vs. "Classic"

[mahduk45044]

I wasn't 100% sure where to put this so I thought I'd go with the highest traffic area of the RMNF.

I completely understand the utilitarian aspect of modern military firearms. I get that they're more ergonomic and designed for minimal fiddling when on the battlefield or in some other major conflict. However, I have no desire to own one.

To me, those older military rifles and more commercial firearms just seem to convey so much more character and beauty than the modern tactical weapons. They're like older cars to me. I get much more enthusiastic when I see an old Bel Air than a 2013 Sonata. I imagine the number of owners the car has been through, what they did. Maybe they went to the drive-in as a family to watch Christopher Lee in some Hammer horror film, or Bruce Lee in Enter The Dragon. I feel the same way about older guns. I imagine that a grandfather and grandson went out pheasant hunting with the single shot Stevens 20 Ga. I have. Or a father and daughter spent their first day on the range together with my Marlin Model 25 bolt action .22. like my daughter and I did.

At the same time, I am the first owner of my Heritage .22/.22 MAG single action revolver (which looks like a cowboy gun) and I know that my daughter will end up with it when my days on this planet end. Maybe 30 years from now some other family will take that gun out and enjoy plinking (or fending of zombies, the government, etc.).

Anyway, the point is, Am I the only one that doesn't give 2 craps about owning a tactical rifle or shotgun? It's not that I have anything against them, they just don't appeal to me. Just curious about other people's thoughts.

[Miller Tyme]

Nope, kind of depends on the rifle to me, old BA rifles I like just as they left the arsenal, AK's, like with some very minor mods, AR's, well I don't like them to look like a christmas tree, but forward grips, EO Tech's, scopes, flip up sights, laser sights, ect....... well AR's where made for toys

[BuckeyeSgt]

Picking a firearm now is like opening up the toolbox and deciding what tool will be best to fix the problem. Now back when cars where simpler you had fewer tools. Now that they are more complicated there are more tools to choose from. I like them all but the fewer accessories the better. SHTF I want my AR. If I want to run off and live in the woods a good M39 and revolver will do. First what is the goal, then choose the tool.

[matt167]

Plastic stocks of any kind do nothing for me. I have a Remington 597 .22LR and all that was available was the plastic stock. I have been preoccupied by Mosins and the thought of an M1 Garand, but eventually I will find a good traditional wood stock..

[soylentblue]

With a classic, you have to learn the fundamentals of marksmanship. I've seen many guys that never learn to shoot their ARs - they just add on a laser or a red dot scope. And they take 3+ shots to get the hit they should have gotten in one.
Also, for me, nothing beats a real wood stock

[Junk Yard Dog]

I never was into all that Mall Ninja crap, I like milsurps as they were issued.

[desdem12]

I don't even have a mattel special or an ak. I wouldn't mind an ak but have no use for an ar.

[Longcolt44]

Yup. just what Des said.

[kamakazi339]

As ive said numerous time I love the history behind old war girls. Its the main reason I got into mosins. Now im not saying I don't like new weapons like the AR-15 because I have 2 of them one of which I built myself. The thing that gets me about newer rifles though is all people want to do is add 50 bajillion accessories. They don't realize that making your rifle look like megatron is only cool until you have to carry it for hours on end. (the vets here know what I mean when I say gear queers).

So overall I prefer the older weapons but I like them both if they are kept simple and to a point. Deadly simplicity is beauty to me.

[ponycarman]

I agree older stuff has more character. They also tend to be more fun and make me feel closer to past times. New stuff has its uses. I have fun with my ar's and ak's. Modding them is fun too. What can I say, I like em all

[rice paddy daddy]

Maybe it's a function of my age (65) but of all the handguns, shotguns and rifles that I own only one has a synthetic stock. A New England Firearms Handi Rifle 22 Hornet single shot.
My Ruger single actions do have aluminum grip frames, and my Walther P-1 has an alloy frame, but I own no Glocks or anything like it. I did have a pot metal and plastic Walther P22 once but I was not impressed and got rid of it.
All my rifles, military or civilian, and my shotguns are just like the way they left the factory.
I have absolutely no desire to own an AR. I had an M16A1 long ago and far away but they made me give it back. I would much rather fire a 91/30 or a K98k any day of the week.
The only add-ons to my military rifles are issue slings and issue bayonets. Some of my civilian rifles are scoped - with traditional hunting scopes.

If you were to pick up a Websters Dictionary and turn to "old school" you would find my picture.

Maybe that's why I fully support The Boss and his traditionalism. Of course, his taste in Big Band Swing music helps too.

[polymerase2]

I like wood (preferably walnut, baltic birch can be nice) and metal. One look at an M1 (Garand or Carbine) and you have connected with a lot of history. That is what is great about the milsurps. They have an invisible patina of history.

[Cosmoline guy]

The AR's look cool, but I have no desire to have one. Plastic does nothing for me.
Give me a high gloss walnut stock like my Remington 700 BDL or 870 Wingmaster.
I'll never have a Glock. I prefer my all metal Sig Sauer. I love the Mosins for the history.
I have all of my Dad's guns and have done the research to figure out when they were
all manufactured, at least as close as I can get on some of them.

[raydogg30]

I find it amusing that probably 98% of "tactical guns/shooters", will never engage anything other than paper. I mean, by all means, be ready for whatever you need to be ready for, but don't be surprised that after going to a paid SWAT school, and waiting for your 6 month background check for your can/SBR...you never shoot anything but paper targets.
The world is so full of Hollywood films and false senses of badassness. Life is nothing like Hollywood portrays it, so why would combat be?
I know what you're thinking, "but Marky Mark looks so awesome running through yards chopping off rounds, and building homemade IEDs..." Life is not a movie, people freeze, panic and make UN-tactical decisions when their body and mind are stressed.
So forgive the rant, but in any given situation, a Cheaper Than Dirt warlord armed with a decked out Colt AR-15, could lose a battle, with a derrenger carrying grandma with bifocals. It's all about staying calm and committing things to muscle memory, not muscle shirts. Rant over.

[raydogg30]

I guess I should also note that I do own plenty of AKs/ARs. But in no way do I feel they make me "tactical".
Honestly, I probably only have them from my years of carrying them elsewhere. Who knows.

[bunkysdad]

I like em all, from black powder single action revolvers, muzzle loaders, shotguns, Springfield Armory's plastic Xd40 with the guiderod lasermax, to the Ruger Vaquero in 45lc, to every 22 I can get my hands on. I love my milsurps, but some of the best of times shooting were at the bank of the Trinity River outside of Dallas shooting AR's, including a very plastic and very awesome AR10 in. 308. I own a Walther P22 plastic pistol and must have obviously got a better one than Rice Paddy because it's a great little rimfire pistol. I don't care if it's a single shot Contender in 35 Remington with a 14" barrel, or A bull barrel Remington Sendero in. 308, or a Yugoslavian K98 Mauser. I like it. Some people say the Hi Point is ugly, but the folks ho own them swear by them. Others knock Taurus because the lifetime warranty isn't good enough when you shouldn't have a problem in the first place. I love em. I'm trying to think of a firearm that I would turn down because it "does nothing for me". Let me get back to you on that one. I'm drawing a blank.

[Junk Yard Dog]

James Butler ( Wild Bill) Hickok was one of the most feared gunmen in the old west. He was a survivor of numerous gun battles and had his share of kills. In the age were the Winchester 1873 rifle, the Colt 1873 " peacemaker" , and numerous other cartridge firearms existed he carried a set of Colt Model 1851 Navy .36 cap 'n' ball revolvers. Despite what some would perceive as the handicap of having the older slow to reload small caliber revolvers few people dared to face off with Wild Bill, and none who did had a chance to do it twice. In the end he was shot dead by a man who sneaked up behind him as he sat playing poker and shot him without challenge. The point here is it's not the weapon, it's never the weapon, it's the skill of the user that counts, until he gets careless and fails to sit with his back to the wall.

All the "tactical" shit in the world will not make a Wild Bill out of a mall ninja wannabee.

[Cwcoolcow]

JYD
Here is your next gun :-) :-) :-)

"At the time of his death Hickok was wearing a Smith & Wesson Model 2 Army Revolver. Bonhams auction company is offering this very pistol on November 18, 2013, at its San Francisco, California auction,[65] described as Hickok's Smith & Wesson No. 2, Serial No. 29963, a .32 rimfire with a 6 inch barrel, blued finish and varnished rosewood grips." (Wikipedia)

[Junk Yard Dog]

It didn't do him any good, by the time of his death he was a wreck, years of alcoholism had taken it's toll, he made a stupid error when he sat with his back to the door in a town like Deadwood.

[wingspar]

If it goes bang and slings lead downrange, I like it. I have an appreciation of all of it, but I don’t hang accessories off of any of my firearms, except I do have one rifle with a scope and am in the process of researching a long range .308 I will put a scope on.

I think if most of the so called “tactical” people out there have no idea of the actual definition of the word “tactical” and what it means.