Military service turn you off of military style rifles?

I think I better understand it now. Didn't and don't have any issues w the weapons. But I have no desire to shoot to make noise, did the tactical training while in service and don't feel a need to "play Army" and finally...the AR fans that live and breathe black rifle put me off.

That is all. As you were!
 
I would say that having absolutely no need for a military style rifle keeps me from owning one more than having served in the Army.
 
Well, I'm assuming the question would normally apply to those who carried a military rifle in combat.

However, some were in a branch of the service that didn't issue small arms to very many (Navy).

So, I had a week of exposure to the M1 Garand, and a few days with the 1911 during basic training. I carried a 1911 a few times when I stood guard duty, but that was the extent of it.

Many years later, out of nostalgia, I got a M1 Garand. In the original caliber, not the NATO version with a .308 barrel.

I enjoy shooting it very much. Probably because I didn't to hump one over half of europe like my uncle did... :)
 
I was there during the transition from M1 to M14 to M16 and now I have 2 M1's. I cannot afford a M1A but would grab one if I could. No interest in the M16 for a lot of reasons. Namely the powers that be took a perfectly good concept and improved all the good qualities right out of it. I have not forgiven them.
 
Old Grump sir, I am with you 100%. I never had to lug an M1 or an M14 around all day but I have shot many and they are truly fine rifles.
 
A few related observations....

1) I have no desire to own any weapon that is now or ever was standard issue for the US Armed forces.

2) I have an absolute fetish, however, for weapons that were standard issue for OTHER Armed Forces.

3) Independence Day used to be my favorite holiday. Then I landed my current job where I'm known to make 40 tons of 1.1 disappear in a morning's work. The 4th is now just a big yawn. I miss my old enthusiasm but try as I might, I can't seem to get it back.
 
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I left the army 6yrs ago. I have had little to no interest in buying an AR or 92fs. But to be fair, I carry both at work as a civillian.
 
I liked guns pre-military, and I like them even now post-military. I was issued a Galil, M-16A1, and a Mag-58. Don't have either of the former, and no need or practical use (not to mention $) for the latter. I have lots of military guns, but no desire for what I had in-service; they were good tools, but not sex appeal.
 
I definately learned to dislike the M16.

It's the rifle that eats where is craps.

I just could never beleive how dirty the thing got. I also competed with it, and I grew to hate how unreliable it was. I never got through 1 tournament with out at least one failure.

When I would encounter non-service people who thought it was the coolest, I just couldn't beleive it. I thought "if they had to try to use and then had to clean it - they'd change their tune."

But there are some military personell who actually like the M16 - so - hey more power to em.

I got kinda fond of the M60. I just never had any trouble with them. But it's not like I'm dying to rent one or anything.

I miss the M203. That was probably the most fun I had with any weapon.

I saw some surplus M1911A1s going for $1,000 at a gun show. You'd hafta really be nostaligic and love those clunky old 45s to pay 1000 bucks for one.
 
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Found the M14 ,M16 to be good weapons for their intended use. But have no desire to own either, or anything even close.Bough my first single shot the year I got out of Army, 73, and have a few more today.
 
Someone complains that the M16 gets dirty and you have to clean it? Don't you have to clean the M14?

It was said of the Boers, who wore no uniforms (although their rifles were issued), generally looked very unsoldierly but their rifles were always spotless.
 
I didn't serve, but am thankful for those who have....

My dad wasn't turned on by any gun after he came home in '45. Didn't toss them out, but they were all pretty much neglected until we were old enough to start shooting them.
 
Jeepers... I love them all... not just military arms, but pretty much everything. I have 2 AR's (and this is after the whole basic training 100:1 ratio of cleaning the piece to actually firing the thing.... :D ) I think it's a fine firearm, not necessarily something remembered from the Army. Levers, pumps, bolts... semi-autos and revolvers.... I have them.

As far as military pattern rifles, I guess I prefer them over most... they make sense to me, are fun to shoot and easy to reload for and find relatively inexpensive ammo. In addition to my 2 AR's, I have an M1a and an M1 (and would have a Springfield, a Thompson, and an M1 Carbine if I could afford one.) I also like lever-actions, the 2nd most prolific arm in my safe. I've never been into Commie-block arms... at all, nor into the earlier foreign bolt-action military stuff (Mosin, K98, Krag, SMLE, etc) I guess part of that is I don't hunt, I consider myself a 'pratical' shooter. I like to shoot just to shoot, sometimes... sort of like a Sunday motorcycle drive, riding just to ride.

I feel for you guys that now abhor things you experienced in the military, the only thing I can relate to that is NBC... I absolutely HATED anything related to NBC (all the time understanding that it was necessary.) We had stupid non-coms and officers, it is just like that in civilian life, too (just work in any office,) so I don't think that was exclusive to the military.
 
I never had a desire to get an M16/AR after I got out for a long time. Until I saw a guy at the range shooting 2 of them (not at the same time). Then I remembered how well I shot them and could hit anything out to 300 meters. I never really thought cleaning them was that big a deal. I would pick another caliber other than 5.56/.223. Any other caliber actually.

I have a Model 1898 30/40 Krag, a M1 carbine from WWII and a Yugo SKS made in '68. So I guess those count at military firearms.
 
I understand completely

A lot of posts here describe the authors' disdain with a particular military weapon due to faults or deficiencies. But that's not what you are talking about, are you? My experience has been similar to yours, I think. My M4 worked just fine overseas. It was accurate and reasonably reliable (I say "reasonably", because I always had to use the forward assist when locking and loading that first round on the way out of the wire, but it cycled just fine when shooting it). But becoming so intimately familiar with it and the M9 pistol (I was a tanker) did something to the allure, I suppose.

I acquired an M9 pistol and an "M-forgery" shortly after coming home just so I would have representative examples of what I carried over there. But although I remain a firearms enthusiast--particularly of historically significant military firearms--, that M9 and the "M-forgery" were used as trading fodder within a year or two after acquiring them. I have friends who never served in the military who remain enamored with the black rifle, and they seem to have every attachment and accessory known to man mounted on theirs. I never was much of a "tacticool" guy anyway. I kept my Eotech mounted overseas, but the forward pistol grip and other crap were soon removed after briefly flirting with them. They seemed to take away from the biggest strong point of the M4 platform--that of a light, easy to handle, carbine.

I can't adequately explain it either, but like you, I'm no longer "in to" the modern military firearms either.
 
It took me 41 years to finally buy an AR type rifle. I bought it 6 months ago and it still sits in its case unfired. I guess one of these days I'll give it a range trip. Conversely - I bought an M14A about 10 years ago. That one gets shot - but I never carried one in combat - only training. Memories are different.
 
when you do something or use a particular item almost daily for a job, you never want to touch it once your outside of work. For example, i love working on cars and for a couple years i worked a garage and when i was not at work, i refused and did not want anything to do with a car. Doing it everything, just took all the fun out of it. Now that i no longer work in a garage anymore, i enjoy doing it again
 
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