Tired of the tacticool. What's practicool?

C

checkmyswag

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If you're into 800 attachments hanging off you octagonal rail...cool. Not my thing.

But im not a purist either only respecting wood and blue lever actions, bolt guns and revolvers.

So what is practical...not tactical?

I can see where a light may be helpful on some guns. Same thing with a small rail. I like magazine fed rifles but don't need 100 round drums.

So what are your practicaltuns guns or practical accessories?
 
Question 1: What do you want to do with this theoretical "practicool" rifle?

Example a: practicool for non-tactical reason:
I bought a poly stock for my SKS, cuz I was tired of banging my wood stock against trees. The sliding/folding stock fits me well. That was my goal. I don't use the rails and now I have a hardy stock so I don't have to worry about being a doofus with my original SKS.

Example b: practicool for a tactical reason:
I have an AR that I use for deep woods hunting. I would put consider "practicuooling" it by mounting a red dot for quick short-distance shots.

More details will get you a more focused (and useful) response.

Just trying to help.
 
So what are your practicaltuns guns or practical accessories?
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My biggest practicool accessory is my confidence.

I like bolt action rifles and shotguns. I like revolvers.

I shoot often. I hit what I shoot at.

I have bought none of my guns for self-defense. I have bought everyone of them because I liked the way they looked and/or felt when I held them.

Some of my rifles shoot a little to the left or a little to the right, a little high, or a little low. I know them, so I know where to aim.

Some of my revolvers could not hit a target at 25 yards, some can. All of them can hit pretty near center mass, maybe a little high, at 7 yards.

I wish more people would understand that tactical is a concept, not an accessory.

It is how you use something that determines the effectiveness of it. I do agree that better equipment usually gives better results.

I do not like synthetic stocks. Something about them just does not appeal to me. It does not mean they are not any good, but if I do not like the equipment, I probally will not use it to its full potential.

On one of my semi-autos I have a laser. No light. I was always taught to shoot the light out. (I probably need to check the batteries in that thing, I have not used the laser in over a year. Guess that also brings up maintence issues.)
 
So what is practical...not tactical?
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For what? Guns, like most other tools, work best when they are designed and built for a specific purpose. A Saiga shotgun is not the best choice for a round of sporting clays while a Beretta O/U is not the best choice for home defense or 3-gun competition.

You may not like tactical (wrong word) guns but I'd rather use my automatic pistols in most cases than a revolver - but, there aren't any .41 magnum automatics so the S&W model 57 wins the long range pistol competition. Conversely, the automatics win the action pistol choice.

In rifles it depends upon the usage again. I have two Ruger #1's and two semi-automatic rifles. However, there aren't any semi-automatic rifles chambered in 30-338 so the #1 wins the belted-magnum, wildcat caliber elk gun. Conversely, the AR wins the 3-gun, home defense competition over the #1's.

So, I'm afraid I can't be as indifferent to usage as you seem to be.
 
My practical gun is a synthetic stocked, stainless, browning 338 carrying a leupold 1.5-5. That gun has provided meat for my family for 20 years.

I do confess to straying with a sweet little ruger 25'06 with nice wood once or twice after caribou.


For me, the tactical stuff is just toys to play with, so practical isn't a metric for me with those sorts of firearms.
 
"I wish more people would understand that tactical is a concept, not an accessory."

Absolutely true statement. Prime example is my son's Beretta. It was indeed tactical when he carried in Iraq but not "tactical" when he was home shooting at the local NRA-sanctioned range - no matter the number of rails, lasers, lights, etc. hanging on the pistol.

"Tactical" has become a marketing tool that imparts a certain meaning to firearms and accessories to make them more appealing to buyers. It definitely works based on the amount of material advertised and sold as "Tactical."
 
Uncle Buck is right, tactics is something you do not some crap mounted on your gun.

As far as practicool (I like that) I have a light mounted on my HD pistol and there is a second placed tactically next to the gun. There is also spare ammo in a tactical close to the gun location.

I have a 870 Express that is quite practicool for killing whitetail deer at extreme ranges up to and including 100 yards. It's tactical accessories include scratches in the finish, a heavy coat of varnish on the stock, sniper grade smooth bore barrel with iron sights.

My AR 15s wear tacticool slings that allow me to carry my rifles across my chest in a super cool operator style just like the Navy Seals that killed Napoleon. One of these extreme tactical machines features an EOtech and a Troy industries rail aid my aiming and barrel cooling when I am at the range shooting at practically every steel plate I can see.
 
Im not really looking to do anything w a gun in term of practical mods. Mine are all stock but I was wanting to hear about peoples practical additions or modifications. Ones that add real world improvements. Not to look cool or just buy another cool gun thing.
 
Don't have it yet, but my first practicool accessory will be a reflex sight for my 22/45. Personally I think non-iron sights on pistols look all sorts of goofy, but I sure would like the aid of a reflex sight in practicing my bullseye skills. I swear my eyes are 20 years older than I am :eek:
 
I 100% agree with op on this subject. I thought I might of been the only one that laughed inside when they are at the range and someone's AR thats covered in a bunch of crap jams.
I do like synthetic stocks but only for hunting purposes. If it gets scratched or gouged up, no big deal. I love wood stocks, I'm actually in the middle of refinishing my 10 gauge's stock at the moment. I do own an AK47 pistol, but no stupid crap will be installed. It still has wood on it, just stained it last week. It's gonna get a sling one of these days. The most my other guns get are leather slings and 3 of my rifles have scopes, while my .22 has a red dot (came that way). I'm more of a fan of open sights though. Any hunter who has been in the woods on a rainy and foggy day will understand. And just regular sights are much more fun at the range. I don't know how people can spend $500 on some fancy sight and then spend another $500 on a magnifier. That's just crazy in my book. I'll never own any of that and I don't like lasers or flashlights on a gun. Almost everyone with that stuff just thinks they're cool. And those cheap plastic stocks on copies of military rifles just make me sick. If a gun of mine has a synthetic stock, it's whatever the fsctory put on it and it's normal looking. In my mind, adding a sling to a gun so I can put it on my shoulder while hunting and a cheap ammo holder on the stock is as crazy as that stuff gets for me. And if someone gets in my house or messes around outside, I have a double barrel 12 gauge waiting with 000. And it doesn't have a "tacticool" stock, it's all wood and with blued barrels. I hate reading about or
seeing how someone did a bunch of what they call mods, just to see it's just covered in a bunch of junk. I'd much rather see some real custom work, not some stock that said custom on the box.
 
On APS there was a thread where it was pointed out that Mossberg now offers a lever action with rails all the way around the forend. Now for the life of me I can’t understand why you would make a gun more difficult to hold, to the point that you have to install special covers on the pointy bits so they don’t carve up your hands. So this topic is right up my alley.

That said, my new “want” is the Ruger 357/77. That, with a low power scope, will do about 75% of what I need to do out to just short of 100 yards. Past that, a Kimber bolt action with a middle of the road variable will serve for everything else until I decide to tackle elk or something bigger. That’s Practicool enough for me.

As far as handguns, a rather ordinary 357 revolver is all I actually need, although I will admit to owning a lot more than that.

I can imagine the utility of a light (haven’t tried it yet), use a couple guns with lasers, have played around with Red Dot Sights and a scout scope rifle, so I’m not opposed to a lot of the new stuff, just against the idea of buying gear because it looks cool. Trendy is expensive and can be just something else to go wrong. Practical is important.

By the way, I like the term Practicool, and love the statement “I wish more people would understand that tactical is a concept, not an accessory.”
 
Im not really looking to do anything w a gun in term of practical mods.
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Not sure if it counts as a mod, but I make extensive use of the brownell's quick-set latigo sling. I need different sling lengths for carrying with my pack and for use as a shooting aid. With that sling, I can give it two tugs from my "carry" setting and be ready to use it as a hasty sling.

I also use electrical tape on the muzzle to keep junk out of the bore in the field.
 
New buffers and 21# recoil springs for my Camp Carbines are practical, as I have heard that they have a tendency to crack the stocks. I may put a red dot sight on one of them but I still like iron sights. They are pretty much 100% reliable and no batteries hence they are quite practical also. Cool? Not so much...
 
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what its all functional.
 
I may offend Bill Jordan's ghost, but I think a long slide Glock in .40 is pretty practicool.

Furthermore, after doing the appropiate paper work, said wepon in with a .357Sig barrel and a stock kit with foward pistol grip is pretty dadgum handy.
 
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to alot of people a dedicated target gun isnt practical since it doesnt fit many roles. personally i dont care what role a firearm serves as long as the person buying it likes it.
 
I can't have a bayonet on my version of that gun. And one is just silly anyway -- it would have to be much longer like a sword-bayonet.
 
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