Anyone else tired of the "tactical" garbage?

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Different strokes for different folks.

I was a car freak in my youth, I had a 66 chevelle and a 67 mustang. While lots of guys worried about wheel and paint and all kinds of things for looks I spent more time on other things. I re-built my Mustang from the ground up and since I like going around corners fast I spent more time on things like suspension, shocks, heavier sway bars, and specific tires to do that. I had friends that would say to me "where are your traction bars, and 50 series tires, and cherry bomb mufflers, and spoilers?" Well, that wasn't my thing. I could look at their cars and appreciate what they had done, but it wasn't what I wanted. Again, different strokes.

As for tacticool toys for firearms...Who cares what else someone wants to hang on their weapon? My son bought me a light and a bracket to mount a flashlight on my shotgun because he knows I have taken care of some oppossums and raccoons rampaging in my yard at night and he didn't like the "uber tacti-cool" LED flashlight I had rubber banded to the barrel for that task. I personally dislike the fore ends on rifles with rails all the way around. I don't find them comfortable to hold while shooting, but you having that set-up on your gun does not cause me any grief at all.

I like my fire-arms to look pretty normal, including the EBR I have. But again, to each their own.

Life is too short fellow firearms owners to worry about such trivial stuff. Just enjoy your time shooting and rock on!
 
I'm sorry but on one hand the OP is telling us what we should have and not have and I can guarantee you he and all the other supporters on this thread are also pro 2A and believes the government has no business telling us what guns and accessories we are allowed to own, talk about hypocrisy.
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He isn't telling anyone what they should or should not have. He's simply sharing his opinion that many of the ways people go about "dressing up" their modern firearms seems to be wasteful, or even counter-productive.


For example, the other day, I came across a "tactical" AR-15, where the top rails, alone, are a perfect example of waste and counter-productivity.
From back to front, you had a flip up rear sight, 45-degree backup rear sight, fixed rear sight, red dot scope, a holographic sight, a flip up front sight, 45-degree backup front sight, and a fixed front sight.

So, you're co-witnessing iron sights, a red dot, and a holographic sight ... with flip up sights and 45-degree sights in reserve - AND each set of sights had a radically different sight radius. What is the point of all that crap?
How many sighting system malfunctions do you anticipate having on a given day, and what good will it do to have to switch between such dramatically different sighting systems?...

The kid was exceedingly happy with his 'toy', and that's great - he can mount a floor jack and a crock pot to the thing if he wants. But, in my opinion, his setup is just a massively wasteful exercise in stupidity.


Still....
There's a difference between not liking something, and thinking something shouldn't exist.
A lot of this tactical stuff may be garbage, in my opinion (and that of the OP), but that doesn't mean we think it should all be 'banned'.


In my opinion, the Dodge Challenger is one of the most over-priced, over-hyped lumps of garbage on the road today. But, that doesn't mean I think it should go away. In fact, I'm happy to see people waste their money on such stupid cars (or tactical accessories). It means there's lower demand for the useful, quality items that I want, and the price remains reasonable.
 
Life is too short fellow firearms owners to worry about such trivial stuff. Just enjoy your time shooting and rock on!
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True that. I'll admit it only really bugs me when I see a guy in some camo BDU's of some sort when he's clearly not police/military, or when the gun mags advertise up all the "tactical" stuff.

And for the record, not for "banning" any of it.
 
1.make sure its painted olive drab, khaki, or black (or the current camo scheme).
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Actually, olive drab and khaki are so 20th century.

The cool kids deck out their tactical operator ordnance in either Flat Dark Earth or Foliage Green.

...and they still can't hit a 2" bullseye at 25 yards.
 
Count me in with the "who cares what they put on their rifle" crowd, though I do sometimes chuckle a bit at some of the stuff I've seen. If it helps bring more people into the world of shooting, I'm all for it.

I own a couple of ARs -- one has an optic and one just has iron sights. I also own an M1 Garand, a 1903 Springfield, a Model 94 and other "old school rifles." But if someone wants to add lasers, magnifiers, night vision, a reflex sight on top an Aimpoint, bipod, flashlight, and whatever else they want, so what? It's their money.
 
Everyone at the gym wants to lift weights like Arnold Swartzenegger, even though most of them would benefit more by dieting and doing pilates like Martha Stuart. Same thing with shooters.

I don't really hunt, mostly I like to target shoot and plink. The little training I've had is military, police, and self defense shooting that I received from my dad, who's had a lot of professional training.

If my first exposure to shooting had been from a father who was a competition target shooter I'd likely be into the same thing. If dad was a hunter, well, you get the idea.

I wonder what percentage of people who have given shooters their initial exposure recently are combat vets and former police officers vs other generations.

Before you start talking about the WWII generation, I'd like to point out that the percentage of our armed forces with realistic combat training today is higher than at any other time in history.
 
I wonder what percentage of people who have given shooters their initial exposure recently are combat vets and former police officers vs other generations.
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My dad wasn't into shooting. I learned to shoot a rifle as a kid at camp; an air rifle and air pistol as a young teen, and learned to shoot a handgun/revolver from an uncle.

I had to find my own way when it comes to guns, my likes and dislikes. Perhaps that's why my firearms tastes are a little eclectic. I have liked guns since I was about 8 years old. Even though my parents never had any guns. Go figure.:confused:
 
Hopefully, like the fart can Hondas,
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The reason the American car industry is in such decline is because makers like Honda make a superior product. I am sure Americans are not buying them for the fun of it.
 
zincwarrior wrote:
To play devil's advocate why to you need the BUIS? Either the red dot works or it doesn't. Fidling around with it in a home invasion situation seems counterintuitive.
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The BUIS are not tacti-cool. The serve pretty much the same purpose as a spare tire. If your red dot stops working in the middle of something important, the BUIS allow you to continue on.
 
Hondas (at least accords) have a higher domestic content then the Big Three and are classed as domestically made vehicles. They are made in Tennessee.
When I bought mine (now my boy's) decade ago, it had a higher content then ANY FORD.
 
Pops, who introduced to the mechanics of shooting, probably logged more "tactical trigger time" in Vietnam over the course of five years than most.

And I didn't really have any experience with black plastic rifles until I was issued an M-16A2 at OSUT.

Furthermore, I wouldn't mind building a reproduction of the M-4A1 I carried, to include the ACOG so as to have something to bore the hell out of my grandkids with one day, whereas Dad doesn't want to have anything to do with the CAR-15. However, he does display a fondness for the S&W Model 15, Ithaca 37 riot gun, and various M-1911 models.

Different strokes for different folks.

And if you want to talk tactical, think to WWI and the Springfield '03. Use that thing as a club in a trench raid, so tactical is doesn't even need bullets
 
In my experience at the local plinking range, it's usually the younger crowd (20-somethings) that festoon their AR's and AK's with all of the overpriced tacti-cool geewgaws, and subscribe to the zombie nonsense.. Whatever.. Welcome to basic Marketing 101, Supply and Demand.

The last time we were at the local plinking range, the fellow next to us had a Rock River AR festooned with all of the popular geegaws, including an EOTech Zombie, and couldn't hit the coffee cans we had set up about 75yds out. LoL. I was shooting my M38 Mosin with a shot-out barrel and took careful aim at his cans, and blew them skyward. He was amazed at how powerful the 7.62x54 was and wanted to have a go with it. Love at first sight. I converted him.
:cool:
 
Sorry, but I have a Colt 6721. Even if I wanted to slap a plain jane stock and a triangular forend on it, it will still have the words "Tactical Carbine" printed on it.
 
JMHO, I think disposable income has a lot to do with it.
I am surprised at the amount of kids (30s), college educated who don't think they need to start saving for retirement until their 40s??
 
In my experience at the local plinking range, it's usually the younger crowd (20-somethings) that festoon their AR's and AK's with all of the overpriced tacti-cool geewgaws, and subscribe to the zombie nonsense.. Whatever.. Welcome to basic Marketing 101, Supply and Demand.

The last time we were at the local plinking range, the fellow next to us had a Rock River AR festooned with all of the popular geegaws, including an EOTech Zombie, and couldn't hit the coffee cans we had set up about 75yds out. LoL. I was shooting my M38 Mosin with a shot-out barrel and took careful aim at his cans, and blew them skyward. He was amazed at how powerful the 7.62x54 was and wanted to have a go with it. Love at first sight. I converted him.
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Did you show him how switching and shooting the Mosin on the left side will knock your shoulder BACK into alignment? :D
 
20 years or so ago I was competing in uspsa and I only shot limited, primarily because I wanted to become efficient and continue to develop my skills with iron sights. I saw no real advantage other then gamesmanship to shooting open class. I also saw no practical application for holographic sights and red dots. At the time the were early development, temperamental, large and somewhat fragile. Look how far they have come, small enough to mount on a pistol, strong enough for our military. While not everything will flush out, it's good to have a development process beyond the military where tools can be enhanced and flushed out. Some guys are over the top, camies wannabes, etc but I don't let it bother me, I just stay away from them. You can tell those who are trained and served.
 
And if you want to talk tactical, think to WWI and the Springfield '03. Use that thing as a club in a trench raid, so tactical is doesn't even need bullets
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OK, I just snarfed coffee out my nose at that one. :)

You've got a point, though. I'm pretty sure the Garand was pretty darned tactical when we showed up in Casablanca with it. Heck, so were Spencers and Gatling guns in their own time.
 
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