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

[Davis]

Want to be urban commandos, fine by me. Wear tack gloves and the like all you want. I'm not condemning the whole affair at all. If I offend, please accept my appologies. My point, of course, is that the VAST majority of service pistols issued to the VAST majority of professional soldiers and the VAST majority of law enforcement officers are issued out of the box. Therefore, in the tactical sense, they are equal to the super-customized extra-featured "tactical" handgun. (But then, ALL handguns are tactical, as none can be used in the strategic sense, so the term "tactical handgun" is pretty redundant.)

Adding the neat gimicks to a pistol can be fun and exciting. It can even make a handgun more reliable and accurate (though a flashlight does neither). Heck, buy only those handguns with accessory rails and the like, with polycoat finishes, polymer frames, and the most high-tech trigger system man puts into a handgun.

I'll join you at the range and we'll poke neat holes in paper with precision and accuracy. You carry yours in your vehicle and use it to defend yours and your family's life, as I will do with mine. We are all one big shooting fraternity with different tastes, our pistols of so many different flavors. I like my RAP 440 and CZ-75, you like your Glock and USP.

If the urban comandos are offended by my observations, don't be so up-tight. Call me an old fogie for liking CZ-52's and Nagant revolvers if it makes you feel better.

 

[Davis]

Or, as I said above,

"The fellow who puts the laser, the flashlight, the ambi-safety, the front serrations, etc. is a pistol enthusiast. I won't blame him for it. But don't tell me you do all those things because it's a tool. It's the Tim Taylor more horsepower for the lawnmower. "

Nothing wrong with it, mind you. Just calling a spade a spade.

 

[dsk]

FWIW, the reason why police units wear masks is so that the bad guys won't readily identify them and later pay a visit with their families at night. Some cops see the same crook get busted over and over again, and eventually become to know them personally.

BTW I was at a gun shop today and asked to see some replacement 1911 sights. The counterlady kept on trying to find tritium sights for me, and I kept repeating "no, I don't want night sights". She eventually asked me why I don't like night sights! Well for one, they are a ridiculous waste of $100 in my opinion. If others think they're great fine, but I took a night shooting course and did better with a stock Series 70, than I did with a tritium-equipped Glock 19. Anyway, it was further proof to me that some folks think the latest in hardware is really necessary.

 

[444]

I was thinking about this thread and a funny thought occured to me. I have a tactical rifle that has seen many, many years of continuous military combat. It isn't a semi auto copy of a military rifle. It isn't some civilian's idea of what a "tactical" rifle should be. It is the real deal. An assult rifle that has been at the forefront of thousands of actual assults. Senarios running from house to house urban fighting to long shots across the steppe. It has been adapted to carbine versions and sniper versions. In fact versions of it are being used today in Israel as a sniper rifle. It has served in combat from the desert of North Africa to the sub zero Russian winters. Dispite the fact that it has been there and done that, it doesn't have a flash hider, doesn't have ambi safties, doesn't have a synthetic stock, doesn't have a large magazine, isn't select fire or even semi-auto. It doesn't have night sights, optical sights, flashlight attachments, accessory rails, spare parts kit in the trapdoor stock. None of that. It does have a bayonet lug from the days when men really fought with bayonets. It has gotten many a man who was faced with death through the ordeal to fight another day. Just like the HK it comes from Germany which appearently makes it better for some odd reason (when was the last time they actually won a war ?). It is inscribed; bnz 43, Mod. 98. Most of this other stuff we are talking about are just wanabes.

 

[NapAttack]

Webster's definition of tactical:
1 : of or relating to combat tactics : as a (1) : of or occurring at the battlefront <tactical defense> <tactical first strike> (2) : using or being weapons or forces employed at the battlefront <tactical missiles> b of an air force : of, relating to, or designed for air attack in close support of friendly ground forces
2 a : of or relating to tactics : as (1) : of or relating to small-scale actions serving a larger purpose (2) : made or carried out with only a limited or immediate end in view b : adroit in planning or maneuvering to accomplish a purpose

I would say based on this definition that the only pistol that is truly "tactical" is the 1911. It has been used in two world wars, Korea, Vietnam and a host of other "battlefronts". I don't think (correct me if I'm wrong) that the HK Mk 23 has ever been used on a "battlefront". Considering 2(2) "limited or immediate end", seems to me that adding all kinds of doodads like lasers and flashlights actually detracts from "tactical" in that you're trying to make it multipurpose.

That being said, I always add a beavertail, slim grips, ambisafety to my 1911s. Tactical, I don't know or care. These mods make it easier to shoot more accurately for me and fit my hand better. Ambisafety to where I can shoot left handed the same way I shoot right handed. They don't detract from the pistol's purpose, ie to throw big heavy slugs down range as fast and accurately as possible.

Plastic is for toys, I want wood and steel in my hand when my life is on the line.

 

[9x19]

"I took a night shooting course and did better with a stock Series 70, than I did with a tritium-equipped Glock 19."

dsk,

I know what you mean. I bit into an apple once and had to spit it out 'cause it didn't taste anything like an orange! How people can stomach the things is beyond me...