Have we became different shooters?

[oldman45]

Are we different shooters now than those of years past?

I notice that the shooters of today have different opinions on guns than we had 40 yrs ago.

Today most shooters coming up are not after guns with quality. They want black guns with magazines that will hold lots of rounds. They want plastic holsters.

Back in the day, we wanted quality built products. We wanted blue finishes if we did not buy the pretty stainless. We wanted accuracy for the 5-8 rounds the guns held. We wanted nicely stitched leather that held its shape after being wet. Sometimes we wanted a lining inside the holster.

Today hunters want shotguns that have plastic stocks and camo barrels. They do not care about how the gun shoots but rather how the gun appears. The new hunters of today cannot fire once and hit their game. I saw a man today shoot five times at a squirrel he had hit the first time.

Back in the day, we idolized those that could afford $650+ for a Browning Auto 5 Belgium shotgun with the reversable ring. It would take three weeks pay to get one but we loved how far out it would reach and the added features on them. If we got a double barrel or an auto loader, we made sure the shots counted because a good box of shells was almost a dollar.

Today when we walk into a gun store, the guns all look pretty much the same and even the cheap ones are priced high. The sales people do not know much about their products and look like they are too young to own a gun. Selling used guns of today will pretty much assure one of losing money. I have yet to see a Glock or one of those plastic guns have any major increase in worth.

Back in the day, we would walk into a gun store and would be called by name from the dealer. He would tell us the good features of the guns as well as the bad. His display cases were filled with various type guns and we could tell the Colts from the S&W and the H&R. Guns had appeal the way cars used to have. When we went to sell a gun, we pretty much got what we paid for it back. Many of those guns today are worth way more than we paid for them.

Where did we lose our love of quality guns that we treasured and passed down to our children? When did teens begin to think more about playing video games on Saturday morning than they did going hunting with dad or their friends?

If we have lost this much in the last 40 years, think what things will be like in 40 more. I am just glad I will not be around to see it. The younger shooters for the most part are not into political concerns about gun rights. They are not worried about Second Amendment Rights.

I feel sorry for the young shooters of today for missing out on what we older shooters enjoyed and loved.

 

[tops]

I agree with you. I will be 70 next week and I don't want to understand the mentality that a lot of people have concerning quality. If I understand I am as dumb as they are. I shoot a M21 Winchester a lot and it is unreal the people that tell me thay have a gun like mine. When I question them I find they have a "B" Model Fox or a 311 Stevens, etc. Not to name brands but I have heard people say a $400 O/U is as good as a $5000. one. I wonder is there are some kind of rays that come from cell phones and young people have cooked what little brain they had. Larry

 

[RIDE-RED 350r]

Well, I'm 33 years old and the ONLY auto loader that interests me is a good 1911. I dont like plastic guns. I only have 3 handguns right now, a pair of .22 wheelguns (1 single action, the other double) and the first handgun I bought brand new is my 686. I wouldnt trade any of mine for a plastic one. Who needs 16 rounds if the first one counts??....I hope this is a little ray of hope for you fellas!

 

[redlevel]

Y'all sound like a couple of old fahts!! I'm glad I ain't like that. Now where's my dern bifocals and walking cane? What did I come in the room for, anyhow?

I'm lucky enough to mainly shop at the same gun store I've been using since 1968. The owner and I are close friends, and I hunted with his main gun salesperson when he "weren't no bigger'n a squirrel." They are both extremely knowledgable about what they are selling. I guess this is pretty unusual nowadays. They keep me broke by calling me every time some whippersnapper trades his daddy's Model 10 for a glop.

These guys know their business.

T

 

[27145]

It isn't just guns it is everything. Everyone has to have the "latest and greatest". Unfortunately growing up in NYC, I never got into the hunting lifestyle. I wish I had.

I do know that I carried a Ruger Police Service Six, for 12 years until I transitioned to a 5946. The 5946 was a great gun, but I regretted going to semi auto, I should have stayed with the revolver. The revolver on a swivel holster worn low down on the thigh was the most comfortable rig. At the time all the perps had semi's, so I felt outgunned, which was totally wrong.

 

[Gran Torino]

Y'all sound like a couple of old fahts!! I'm glad I ain't like that. Now where's my dern bifocals and walking cane? What did I come in the room for, anyhow?

I'm lucky enough to mainly shop at the same gun store I've been using since 1968. The owner and I are close friends, and I hunted with his main gun salesperson when he "weren't no bigger'n a squirrel." They are both extremely knowledgable about what they are selling. I guess this is pretty unusual nowadays. They keep me broke by calling me every time some whippersnapper trades his daddy's Model 10 for a glop.

These guys know their business.

T

I'm with you.....i'm only 62 and just last week bought my first polymer handgun. Don't get me wrong....it's a nice M&P 9MM Pro Series that is a great little shooter.....and a lot of fun. But compared to my 1911's and revolvers it's really just a truck gun. You're a lucky man to have a great relationship with such a fine looking place.

 

[Moonman]

More steel will show as the youngsters inherit it. Too old fashioned with 5 and 6 shots, they're after the Plastic Fantastic 30 round throw away article, the whole generation is. Just keep you're eyes open for the castaways they sell or trade off.

 

[oldman45]

More steel will show as the youngsters inherit it. Too old fashioned with 5 and 6 shots, they're after the Plastic Fantastic 30 round throw away article, the whole generation is. Just keep you're eyes open for the castaways they sell or trade off.

Ok, suppose it does. Where will the appreciation be for the gun? I bought a model 19 about a month ago. It was pristine but the 28 yr old son that inherited it from his father felt it was an old gun that only held six rounds and was a pain to load Granted the punk kid and his dad are relatives but I got the gun for $175 along with a box of shells and two holsters. Within a week, I had sold the gun to a 70 yr old lawyer for $375 (I already own two of them).

These kids today does not know about good guns. They know about tactical weapons, AR, AK and Uzi. They would know quality if they sat next to it. Don't think I am right? Go to a range visited by the younger generation. They come in looking like they are headed for a hostage rescue in Syria. Black clothes, black boots, black guns and sun glasses after dark.

 

[kscardsfan]

I'm 26, and I own "tactical tupperware" carried it when I was on duty as an LEO. Great gun for what it was used for, but it has all the classic appeal of a rusty claw hammer. It is a tool, and I treat as such. My P&R smiths, pre-64 winchesters, and other antique/classic guns are things of beauty. My first gun was a browning BPS in blued steel and that classy high polish walnut stock. I love that gun, but when I head to the duck blind I carry a benelli nova. Its ugly, its dependable, and I don't have any emotional attachement to it. If I put a scratch on it or drop it in the lake I don't loose any sleep or shed any tears over it. Synthetics and ugly have their place, but I'll take pretty and polished every chance I get. And to be fair, when ya'll were younger did you go for the old classics of your dad generation or did you want the latest and greatest of the era?

 

[kscardsfan]

Ok, suppose it does. Where will the appreciation be for the gun? I bought a model 19 about a month ago. It was pristine but the 28 yr old son that inherited it from his father felt it was an old gun that only held six rounds and was a pain to load Granted the punk kid and his dad are relatives but I got the gun for $175 along with a box of shells and two holsters. Within a week, I had sold the gun to a 70 yr old lawyer for $375 (I already own two of them).

These kids today does not know about good guns. They know about tactical weapons, AR, AK and Uzi. They would know quality if they sat next to it. Don't think I am right? Go to a range visited by the younger generation. They come in looking like they are headed for a hostage rescue in Syria. Black clothes, black boots, black guns and sun glasses after dark.

Man I wish you would've called me. I've been looking for a good model 19 for a while now lol.

 

[oldman45]

And to be fair, when ya'll were younger did you go for the old classics of your dad generation or did you want the latest and greatest of the era?

I did and I do. I have an old 10 ga goose gun with a 36 in barrel that my maternal grandfather used. I HAD an old S&W that my maternal great grandfather carried while an elected sheriff and before he went to prison. I would still have his
duty weapon had my uncle not wanted it to remember the man by. I will get it again when the uncles son kicks the bucket. If I die before then, I am not going to be concerned with it.

 

[kscardsfan]

I love my family guns. They'll stay in the family as long we're still roaming this old earth. I like the new stuff, but I also have a sweet spot for the classics. I have lots of classic old shotguns and deer rifles that I love taking to the range to show off with. Seeing a youngster with a classy looking pre-64 model 70 is something that always lights up the old guys at the range. Lets em know I'm not some ignorant kid there to make noise and a pile of empties.

 

[jimmyj]

Another side of the coin:
When quality firearms' prices went though the ceiling and became "Rare/Collectable" gun buyer looked for something they could afford and USE!
I never realize how many Smith and Wesson Revolvers were "Unfired, fired very little, negative cylinder turn ring, hardly ever touched, sat in a drawer/safe owned by a little old lady that only took it out once a year to wipe it off" there were in this Country.
I would guess that most of the firearms that were really used/shot were Colts and Rugers and now GLOCKS!
In the old west I guess the rifles that were used/shot were Marlins/Remingtons.

 

[kscardsfan]

Well, police trade ins were/are always an affordable way to get a good dependable handgun. So it stands to reason that people buy lots of whats affordable. Jimmy is onto something there with his point of being able to actually buy/use it as opposed to set in the safe and stare at it. My guns all get fired at least once just to verify function, I don't own safe queens.

 

[oldman45]

Well, police trade ins were/are always an affordable way to get a good dependable handgun. So it stands to reason that people buy lots of whats affordable. Jimmy is onto something there with his point of being able to actually buy/use it as opposed to set in the safe and stare at it. My guns all get fired at least once just to verify function, I don't own safe queens.

OK, I admit to having a very few safe queens. One of them keeps wanting me to shoot it just to see what it is like. So far I have resisted the call.

Yet I shoot some nice guns simply because that is what they were made for. I let my 30 yr old daughter have a model 66 a while back. It has been shot thousands of times but still looks new. I shoot my guns but I take care of them as well.

I have a few shotguns but they never get shot. The only one I shoot is a Belgium Browning Auto 5 that was made in September, 1953. It would not pass for new but it would draw attention as being in 90% shape. It outshoots any of the modern scatterguns I have.

All of my rifles have real wood stocks and everyone of them has been fired except a 30 yr old Marlin 336. Any of them would pass for new and unfired.

One does not have to abuse a gun to use the gun.

 

[BaldEagle1313]

And to be fair, when ya'll were younger did you go for the old classics of your dad generation or did you want the latest and greatest of the era?

Well, I went for the classics, but I can produce character witness testimony that will state under oath that I was born old. I've never been one to jump headfirst for the "latest and greatest." Let the other guy do the beta testing and get the bugs worked out.

 

[Bat Guano]

Depends. My grown kids aren't particularly into plastic. My daughter got a G19 at age 13, and likes it, but has a number of S&Ws as well. My son has had a M15 Smith since the same age. He recently had a hasty familiarization with the M9. When he turned it back in he observed to the instructor that he was more of a revolver man. The instructor just gave him a funny look.

I gave each of them AR carbines, so I'm probably part of the problem.

 

[27145]

I did and I do. I have an old 10 ga goose gun with a 36 in barrel that my maternal grandfather used. I HAD an old S&W that my maternal great grandfather carried while an elected sheriff and before he went to prison. I would still have his
duty weapon had my uncle not wanted it to remember the man by. I will get it again when the uncles son kicks the bucket. If I die before then, I am not going to be concerned with it.

I would like to hear the grandfather story, if you do not mind sharing.

 

[oldman45]

I would like to hear the grandfather story, if you do not mind sharing.

I would assume you mean the great grandfather story.

I never met the man. He was long dead before I was born. From what I was told, he enjoyed women and booze but was a tough sheriff and not politically correct in any form. Over the years he had fatally shot a few people but was always cleared. One night he was drinking heavily and got into a domestic fight with his wife. He grabbed a shotgun and I was told both that it went off accidentally and that he intended to shoot her. Whatever the case may have been, he ended up shooting her left leg off. She wore a wooden leg for the rest of her life. My mother and grandmother was in the room when it happened. He was relieved of his duty and arrested. At the trial, he was found guilty and got 20 yrs at hard labor. He did around 15 and died shortly after getting out. His son, my grandfather, inherited the love of booze and got into a lot of trouble himself over the years. I knew my grandfather but did not care for him. Due to the effect the booze had on them, my mother died at age 82 without ever having tasted alcoholic beverages.

 

[sjmjax]

I tend to like and collect older firearms, cars and tools.

That said, there is much positive to say about modern guns and other devices.

We have very different expectations and demands of today's cars, computers, telephones, appliances, tools, homes, and such than we did years ago. And, firearms as well.

"New and improved" is not always true. Nor is it always wrong.

Today's modern firearm designs are the same. Some are much improved for their purpose and function. Some changes are... well, not so much.

That is much of what I love about America and progress in general. We can comfortably live in the past or comfortably live in the present. Choice is yours and you don't always have to give up one for the other.