Why does everything have to be so.....tactical?

D

dsk

New member
I'm curious. Is there anybody else here who sometimes doesn't give a hoot about just how "tactically ideal" their guns are? A major case in point is the new Colt Series 70 reproduction pistol. For years folks have been moaning about how they missed the polished blue, the simple design, and the elegance of the old guns. So Colt brings one back and suddenly people start saying "well geez, for the same price I can get a XXXXX with beavertail, tritium sights, and matte black acid-proof finish". So what?!? How about those of us who don't actually intend to shoot anybody with said firearm? You know, having a gun with no searchlight rails, ski-jump sights, funky serrations, plastic parts, and 10 square inches of checkering. Instead, a nicely polished hi-luster blue that you can literally see into, glass-smooth fit and finish, classy-looking markings, and a mystique that comes from being reminded of the way things were?

The reason why I asked is because, in another forum the argument came up yet again about how the same XXX dollars will buy you a gun better suited for combat. I have enough combat weapons, thank you. If World War Three started tomorrow I would be perfectly good to go, as would half the rest of my residential block! I think it's nice to finally be able to find new guns that are simply enjoyable to own. I sure wish I could have bought one of those nicely-polished Browning Hi-Powers with the tangent sight as well, that were still being offered as late as five years ago. I didn't get one at the time because I couldn't afford $700 or so for one back then. Unfortunately they're no longer made, simply because everybody only wants what their favorite blow-em-up movie star uses. :(
 
What people are complaining about is the unrealistic high price for a gun that does not give the same level of performance the price demands. If your into collecting guns thats fine but it seems most 1911's users have thier guns for more serious uses.
PAT
 
I personally don't own any "made by Mattel" guns.

I know, I know, Glocks are "the most indestructable......" Suppose that's OK, but I don't treat my guns like that. If I were LEO I'd probably feel different. To me, Glocks feel like a plastic brick. I think I'll choke the next idiot that starts raving about his 9mm hi-cap with 37 extra clips.

I do shoot everything I have. I appreciate my Colt SAA 44-40, my Weatherby, and Brownings.

Guess I'm kinda in the middle. We have guns at the store that will never be shot 'cause they're too purty. Just saw a 1st Generation Colt SAA 38-40. Highly engraved and 24 kt gold plated. It can be yours for $20,000.

Guess it boils down to "right tool for the job". I'm bowing to practicality on my next purchase. Springfield 45 acp but stainless. It'll be my carry gun. I love the blue too, but wears too quick in a holster. Yes, it has the "combat extras", but that's what I got it for.

Glad everyone likes something different. They'd buy the good ones and leave the plastic for us.
 
I like alot of guns too. I separate them into two groups. One if for work and serious needs the other is for gun. My glocks are for work and I trust my life to them. My Colt Cowboy is for fun. My Car 15 is for work. The sharps I would like to buy is going to be for fun. The list goes on and on.
PAT
 
I think you make a good point.

The "tactical" type guns certainly look more Rambo than a series 70 Colt with a blue finished, but the difference in performance is minimal.

Front slide serrations have killed very few people, you know.
 
Most the stuff you listed isnt really tactical at all. Just desireable add ons for some who want something more than stock in thier collection to identify them as more than an average shooter?

To me tactical is having the least amount of whistles and bells needed to get the job done. For my 'tactical' .45, this meant ramped-throat-polish-lowered port-extended ejector-and better sights...

For my 'tactical' G21, it meant nite sites and extra mags. OK, I bought a laser for it too in a weak moment a few years back. Its sooo tactical that I took it off and it lays in the drawer. Anybody wanna buy a 'tactical laser'? Fits G20 & G21 (Laser Devices mdl BA2)
 
If it costs about the same to make a thing in two styles.

We can get a lot more for the one with the cosmetic flavor.

Then we charge the same for the same thing in plain version.

But some people notice.

Sam
 
I have my fair share of black plastic toys. There is a side of me that likes the evil looking para-military stuff. But I also love the classy looking lines of the old "plain" guns. I have always thought that accessory rails, flat mainspring housings and front serations are the worst thing that could happen to the looks of a 1911. I also have a hard time understanding why we just HAVE to have ambi. safetys when so few folks that buy them are, well..ambidextrious. When I buy a guns, its for the enjoyment, pride of ownership and fun at the range. Sure, many of the guns I own can and will be used for defence or hunting, but thats not my motivation. I have never bought a gun that didnt strike my fancy, just becasue it was a good CCW piece with lots of Tactical parts. I am one of those odd-ball folks who dosnt see guns as just tools. To me they are cherished items, toys, sources or enjoyment at the range, etc...and they just so happen to make good weapons also. Most gun people are kinda shocked when they open my safe and see Glocks, Carbon fiber AR-15's and Kel-tacs sitting next to Belgum Hi-Powers, PPK's SSA's and WWII era 1911's. Neither tribe wanted me..so
 
I reccomend ignoring the word tactical when used to describe equipment. It's just marketing hype. Tactical should be used to describe actions/procedures and situations, not inanimate objects. A polished nickel plated revolver could give you a tactical advantage in a room full of mirrors.:)
 
I'm convinced that a lot of it is simply marketing.

Tactical sells.

Just as things labeled "Euro" were selling like hotcakes a couple of years ago.

And tail fins on cars in the 1950s. Introduce a car sans tailfins in the middle 1950s, and you weren't going to be selling very many.
 
Don't Shoot has hit it humorously on the head. The escalation of the anti gun movement has been almost matched by our "in your face" tactical arms that bear no semblance to the guns for sale when the antis were a minority.

Like it or not, we share SOME of the blame for public perception. And WE know it is not accurate in most cases and many many new "tactical" features are actually improvements.

But it ain't an ideal world and some reflection may be warranted.
 
Well, I have to admit to owning something "tactical"... the thumb safety on my Delta Elite is a Wilson Combat "Tactical" model. I like it. It flips up and down. :)
 
The word "tactical" is used so many times in the new Wilson Combat catalog that it makes me sick. Even all of the knives they are selling are called "tactical". :rolleyes:

Maybe they should change IDPA to ITPA, replacing the "Defensive" with "Tactical".:eek:
 
I'd wind up: Lowering and flaring the ejection port, going to a beavertail grip safety, installing an aftermarket trigger, putting a different set of sights on it so I wouldn't need a scanning electron microscope to see them, and those are just the visible changes. None of these have anything to do with "tactical" and everything to do with enhancing the gun's performance at the range.

Of course, this all assume it was my only 1911. Since I have a few for shooting, one for collecting is not out of the question.

If I was getting one for my collection to leave stock, why buy a new faux Series 70 when there's actual, you know, real Series 70's to be had, and for less money?
 
PS...

It's the same thing with that "USGI" WW II-style that Colt just came out with.

I know someone who bought an actual Colt M1911A1 U.S. Gov't Property-stamped, RIA-refinished, actually made in Nineteen-by-God-forty-five pistol for a third of the price they were asking for the new Colts.

May I direct your attention to the fact that anyone trying to sell a fiberglass replica Shelby Cobra for three times the cost of the real thing would be considered somewhat daft? No wonder Colt's on shaky fiscal ground.
 
Dang!

Tamara keeps stealing my thunder! :D

IF you want one made the "old" way, buy an old one, from the prices I've seen, it wont cost any more, and quite often... less! (Same goes for S&W's "Heritage" series, BTW)

As for me: If shooter comfort, operating the controls without shifting your grip, and easy sight acquisition are "tactical".... then so am I! :p
 
If you like the new Colt, buy it. It's your money after all.

I'm with Tamara on this one, however. Even if I just use it on the range, I want many of those features. Those tiny sights are useless for my tired eyes. I like a beavertail safety, because I've had the web of my hand bloodied before by the old-style grip safety. I don't like bleeding on the range -- it affects my accuracy. I like a slightly extended thumb safety, because it is easier for me to use. I want a nice, crisp trigger pull, because that gives me better accuracy. I want those things whether I'm target shooting or carrying. And I can get them from Kimber for less than that new Colt (or, at least, I could, if I didn't live in MA :barf: ).

I certainly understand nostalgia. After all, I've got a Colt SAA. Not exactly what I'd call tactical. But if you really want an USGI style Colt, why don't you get the real thing? You can hold it in your hand, and wonder what tales it could tell if it could talk. Did some GI carry it through Europe in WWII? Was it in an MP's holster at Checkpoint Charlie? Did some terrified 19-year-old crawl through a tunnel with it in Vietnam?

But, whatever. It's your money; buy what you want.

M1911
 
Good points Tamara, except that some folks would rather buy a new gun than an old one that may have been monkeyed with by a prior owner. In addition, the old ones can't always be found in agreeable condition. I searched for an older Lwt. Commander at gun shows for years before finally giving up (this before discovering online auctions). Also, the prices you mentioned vary by region. Here in the NW folks are selling original Series 70's for the same price as this new piece, but of course without the warranty. As for the WW2 gun, a RIA rework does indeed cost a fraction of the WW2 repro, however it has little collector's value so that's why. Try something close to $1400 for a minty original, IF one can be found!

Anyway, my argument doesn't lie with what one is a better value. To each his/her own in that regard. I was just complaining how few folks buy guns for fun these days, and they get ridiculed for wanting something that simply looks nice.
 
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