Do Particular Guns Attract A "Certain" Type Of Person?

I admit it, I tend to pigeonhole folks on some firearms. If you made me play word-association, I'd answer "old guys" to revolvers, "boy scouts" to .22s, and "middle class 18-30 yr. old male mall ninjas" to AR15.

I also admit, Joe Pike, I am an SKS owner, and I do have an attitude, so perhaps I live up to the stereotype. When I see someone selling a $900 Yugo SKS on armslist or GB, I just can't refrain from poking them in the bum with a snarky message. But I'll also do the same for the $500 10/22s, $300 Mosin Nagant 91/30s, and $75 bricks of 22. I also just got kicked out of a gun shop because I told a potential customer that the Universal M1 Carbine marked "USGI, WWII relic" was definitely neither USGI or a WW weapon. The owner took exception.

I also get called a communist, in person, at least once a month at the range...so don't feel bad about that one.

So I have to ask.. what kind of SKS were you catching grief about? What were you asking for it?
 
There are people out there that are flat out bigots when it comes to guns. There is a guy in my area that owns a gun shop. He talks about how he hates foreign guns a lot. He will just about bite your head off for mentioning an AK style rifle, while trying to sell you one, but he is also one of those guys that states "A Glock will go off no matter what" often. See what I mean? Certain guns are just evil therefore anyone who owns one is evil. You may be suffering at the hands of gun racists. I think you may have grounds for a racial discrimination case.

I am obviously making light of this, but the story is 100% true. Also I think you may be over generalizing just a wee bit, I think the above does a good job at pointing out the holes in the logic you are using. However a study on such a thing could probably reveal a lot in regards to personality types and firearms preferences. It is scary how accurate psychology has gotten in terms of personality types. Sluff it off and try not to over generalize. It is the internet after all, and here there be trolls. Might just be as simple as that. There is just something about the interwebz that brings out the worst in people.
 
yes they do.

cowboy enthusiasts have more preference to SAA and lever guns. and other period correct stuff.

civil war reenactors get week knees for percussion muskets.

for some reason whenever i get to talking to someone buying a semi auto version of a military weapon, its like talking to the narrator from Halo 2. or call of duty.

duh shiny,,,,shoot fast. can i make it go full auto?
 
Unspoken, it is a Norinco in exceptionally good condition and even has the bayonet. I was asking $315 for the gun (what I have in it) and $5.47 a box for the Wolf ammo. I did have it listed as a package and broke it down for them in the ad. You see, I am a communist price gouger.

And, generally, I don't think anything about what people buy and don't care. I just thought it odd that this particular gun has been the only problem on a regular basis.
 
I don't think you can pigeon-hole. I never owned an AR-15 until Obama was elected. I bought a couple because I could. Once I had them, I found that I really like them and now I want a lot more. I was not 18-30; I was 54 when I bought them.

In the early 90's I bought a couple of Tec-9's. I'm not a thug but Clinton said I couldn't buy them any more so I bought them while I could. I regret that I sold them several years later.

I like 1911's because of, I suppose, using them in the service. I like guns made of steel but I also have several plastic guns. I counted the days until Taraus' 24/7 OSS was released so I could get my hands on a desert sand colored one. I like revolvers, cowboy guns, lever guns, rifles with awesome stocks. I love my .22 rifles and own them in tube fed, magazine fed, and even an S&W 1522 black .22

I think the reason that thugs buy gold-plated guns is that gold-plated guns were the mark of very wealthy people - at least in movies. It's a status symbol and they're trying to buy that status of being wealthy and successful. I'd bet that more such guns are sold to honest successful or wealthy folks than to thugs.

People buy what they want and there's no accounting for folks' tastes.
 
I going with the relatively low price being the problem. When business gets slow I buy cars with mechanical problems, fix 'em up then sell them. I get the biggest jerks, nit pickers, and otherwise nasty people when I'm selling a $1500 toyota corolla, but not a single person like that when I'm selling something like, a $7000 acura.
 
Unspoken, it is a Norinco in exceptionally good condition and even has the bayonet. I was asking $315 for the gun (what I have in it) and $5.47 a box for the Wolf ammo. I did have it listed as a package and broke it down for them in the ad. You see, I am a communist price gouger.
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Is it stamped with a /26\ on the side of it? Way back Norinco imported many of these but did not build them, they are made just like the Russian SKS, I'm leaning toward these people are harassing you because your price is a lot lower than theirs and they don't want their price undercut. I've seen SKS prices from $600 - $800 lately.
 
Hmmm... Interesting theory... Actually the most repugnant gun-jerk I've ever encountered DID, in fact, respond to my ad when I was selling an SKS many years ago... Maybe there's something to it...
 
If this thread proves one thing, it's the fact that we can be our own worst enemies sometimes. We don't just let ourselves get factionalized: we actively do it to each other.

Case in point: back during the panic, I was at the shop and a young guy mentioned that I must have "tons of AR's." I responded that I had one, but I wasn't really a fan of the rifle.

He blew up. "You're just a Fudd who thinks everything but deer rifles should be banned! You don't support us. Imma go tell the internets!"

Well, if he'd stuck around to listen, he'd have learned something. I don't like that the iron sights are so far above the bore, I don't like the fact that the rifle is front-heavy, and I don't trust the gas system. It's not for me.

Does that mean it's not for him? No. Does that mean I think they should be restricted? Heck no. In fact, I've probably done way more to support his right to own Stoner's little varmint gun than he ever will.

I'm an old fuddy-duddy because I shoot revolvers better than automatics. I'm not a combat shooter because I shoot slower (but better) than Rapid Fire Timmy. If I do shoot at the same speed as Timmy, I'm not wearing the right brand of shooting vest. Heaven help me if I show up at a skeet shoot in blue jeans.

It's all so tiresome and divisive.
 
I really don't consider myself anyone's own worst enemy. As I've said before, I don't care what kind of gun or how many guns anyone owns. I believe that should be a decision a person makes for themselves and I'll do what I can to help you retain the right to do so. I was just curious if anyone thought certain types of guns were a draw to certain types of people. I guess it's because I worked around a certain criminal element for 20 years and kind of got used to what was liked and disliked amongst them.

I've got a friend that had to have a Desert Eagle .50 some time back. That purchase for him didn't surprise me. What would surprise me is if he would pick up an old model 10 revolver. He is a guy that was always right on the edge. For him it was always go big or go home. Sometimes that left him right on the edge of the law in certain ways without ever crossing over to the dark side. I'm the opposite of that and would probably never own a DE (and I'm not saying that DEs only draw people that are like that). I always thought the draw of that gun to him was the outrageous-ness of it. It didn't make me not want to be his friend, though.

It's just after a half a dozen times of listing this gun with the same results has me puzzled. It's not overpriced, nor is the ammo, so, it just had me wondering what the deal was. No big conspiracy.

I sold a S&W 442 today that I listed on Armslist. Great experience. No hateful emails and no name calling.
 
What would surprise me is if he would pick up an old model 10 revolver.
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I'm something of a staunch traditionalist, but I bought my first Glock this week. Everyone was shocked. I think, subconsciously, that I might have been trolling my friends a bit with that one ;)
 
Perhaps there is something to be said for the attraction one has to a particular gun, or group of guns, when they are new to the hobby, but I don't think there is much of a stereotype to be had for people that have been well established in shooting for a while. They may have made an uninformed first purchase, but after a while people figure out what they like.

For instance, I never thought I'd like the AR platform after using the m16/m4 as my service rifle for so long, but I decided to get one because they are extremely customizeable, and relatively easy to build. I love tinkering around with guns, so building it was almost as fun as shooting it for me.

I'm not sure about this whole "mall ninja" thing. Maybe I live in a cave, but I've not seen too many people like that. It also may be safe to say that certain people are drawn to a certain group of weapons, but that doesn't mean that other people who also have those weapons should be judged in the same manner.
 
I would think that if you are selling an SKS you would attract a high proportion of people on very modest budgets and who might just be starting in the hobby. That itself would not excuse the lapse of ordinary etiquette you note.

Tom Servo said:
If this thread proves one thing, it's the fact that we can be our own worst enemies sometimes. We don't just let ourselves get factionalized: we actively do it to each other.
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I think it is substantially divisive if skeet shooters support semiautomatic rifle restrictions because "if you want to shoot a machine gun, you can join the Army". It seems substantially divisive if rifle shooters characterize concealed handgun carriers as criminals or unbalanced people living a fantasy.

I do not believe it is particularly divisive to note that some peoples' consumer preferences are tied very closely to self image. You find this with cars, shoes, suits and firearms. I prefer .22lr, but have run into quite a few shooters who see the "tactical inferiority" of my preference as evidence of my own cognitive deficit.

I would not think of those people as my worst enemy. Maybe that means my enemies are worse than average.
 
I think it is substantially divisive if skeet shooters support semiautomatic rifle restrictions because "if you want to shoot a machine gun, you can join the Army"
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You know, I have seen very little of that, and I deal with hundreds of gun people in a week. I've heard a few folks say, "why would someone want an AR-15?" The response is, "it's a low-recoil rifle with affordable ammo that makes a good home-defense and varmint gun." They nod their heads and say "OK, but it's not for me." I've only heard five or six of those guys in twenty years say they felt such things should be banned.

There's a big difference between "I don't see the point" and "I don't think they should be legal." It seems some gun folks are so oversensitive that they get the two utterances confused.

The idea of the gun-ban supporting Fudd is needlessly stereotypical and based on a much smaller subset of the gun culture than many seem to assume.
 
Tom Servo said:
There's a big difference between "I don't see the point" and "I don't think they should be legal."
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Indeed.

Tom Servo said:
I've only heard five or six of those guys in twenty years say they felt such things should be banned.
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A sentiment I have heard more frequently from clays, bullseye, long range rifle, IDPA or hunting enthusiast is that the 2d Am. clearly protects the specific object of his enthusiasm, but not necessarily other shooting genres. Politically, that kind of balkanization is a problem for 2d Am advocates.

On the other hand, just making fun of people as people gets a laugh from people because we have all come across one type or another. A few years ago, I saw a list of the types one sees at the range. Descriptions included the fellow who shows up in camouflage with an AK with a bunch of things screwed to it, fires a thousand rounds in 20 minutes and leaves just after retrieving his perfectly unused target, and the elderly benchrest shooting who shoots once every ten minutes so his barrel doesn't overheat. People and their behaviors are funny, even at the range.
 
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Tom Servo said:
I'm something of a staunch traditionalist, but I bought my first Glock this week. Everyone was shocked. I think, subconsciously, that I might have been trolling my friends a bit with that one
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What? Say it ain't so Joe....:D

I go away and play Boy Scout for a little while and this happens.

Actually, I get a lot of the reverse stereotyping when I tell people that I shoot skeet competively more than anything or go to my LGS after a round of sporting clays.

"You dress fancy and shoot a Beretta over and under. You must not like my AR-"

Actually, I don't much care for the AR-15 because I get to use one enough in my other job, and I sorta agree with Colonel Cooper and think the thing is a poodle shooter, however, that doesn't stop me from actively supporting the NRA-ILA.

We, as gun owners, are our own worst enemies. And sadly, the animosity flows every which away, not just Fudds disliking the three-gun military style shooters.
 
SKS' and other surplus firearms are popular among a younger crowd because they're cheap, easy to feed, and recommended highly on the internet. Younger people may generally be more hotheaded.

Or it could be just coincidence
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M1 carbines are no longer cheap to buy or feed, and they tend to be purchased by the older crowd who are no less hotheaded.

You want to see a bunch of M1 carbine collectors get in a lather, post a question about which is better to refinish a stock; boiled lindseed oil or raw lindseed oil. It's downright amusing to watch.
 
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