Wednesday, March 28, 2018

gun fads 2 of 2


GUN FADS 2

Ah, gun fads.  The needs of the manufacture and the banker placed before your need for a life saving tool.  The needs of your social group, your peers, based on the gun fads of the groups they take their cue from, before that of a life saving tool.  Yesterday I told you a large part of the pimping of AR’s has to do with how cheap they are-relatively speaking-to produce.  And with all that competition, they become cheap to the consumer which reinforced the fad itself.  Fads in the gun business can be fueled by consumer cheapness as well as the frugalness of the manufacture.  Did plastic furniture become popular because it was superior, or because it was cheaper?

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Go back to the 70’s and 80’s.  Remember the gun fads then?  The Cocaine Wars had a lot to do with that.  Remember the Ingram’s?  The Uzi’s?  The shotgun became even cooler.  It was all about high volume short range weapons, and wood furniture for the first time was becoming less de regueur.  The FBI and local LEO’s were getting in on the fad.  They might have thought they were “fighting fire with fire”, but I would say that there was very little tactical consideration and more jumping on the cool boy toy bandwagon. 

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And then there was the backlash to all that, and the HK91 became the de facto survivalist rifle.  Screw those puny AR’s and Mac-10’s, we want a manly rugged full size rifle!  Thirty Cal, baby!  Of course, that was older guys with older views on what constituted a combat weapon, as they upgraded from the old M1 Garands and M14’s and went ultra modern ( with plenty sticking with the old guns, just because ).  They knew a limp wrist pussy gun when they saw it, the 9mm and the M16 for the new feminized military. 

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But what was the Garand, if not a fad in tactics?  Spray and pray is ONE tactic, but it isn’t the BEST one.  The Germans did just fine with turn bolts, because infantry are just support personnel for artillery.  Too many survivalists didn’t get that memo.  They think tactics are more important than logistics, and they seem to confuse which weapons dominate the battlefield in which eras.  Did it ever occur to them that the reason the Garand was used was not because it was a superior weapon or tactical tool, but simply that is utilized mass consumption?  We fought WWII with ONE consideration.  Mass industrialization feeding the maw of cannon fodder. 

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Throw enough men into battle or into aircraft training, and human wave tactics overwhelm any superior training eventually.  Not only were human wave attacks the most effective way for green troops to predominate, the whole point of THAT was to get our economy back on mass production.  The Great Depression was caused ( besides the issues with our central bank ) by overproduction without customers.  War created demand, and we fought the war by overproduction.  From covering the oceans in ships, the air with planes and the immediate space above the battlefield with a wall of lead. 

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But the fad of semi’s lasted long after we were capable of mass production, didn’t it?  Now you have preppers thinking that ONLY semi’s can win their war.  Screw logistics or resources or energy availability.  Changing focus, look at the fad caused by the Clinton gun ban.  Suddenly, the SKS was the newest gun fad.  It was affordable, ammo was a nickel a round, and the poor peasants could still fight with that all important semi-automatic.  Any gun relying on imported ammo is problematic, but that didn’t matter as China-Marts across the land opened for business.  Why, if disposable guns and disposable ammo doesn’t go with disposable everything from big box stores, I don’t know what does.

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It seemed that once the SKS was in, the AK was the next fad following on its heels.  Here is the problem with the AK47.  It is an assault carbine.  Which is nothing more than a submachinegun with a better cartridge.  It eats a LOT of ammunition, being much more resource hungry than its smaller pistol ammunition forebear.  Survivalists usually don’t have those resources.  And if they do, they will burn through them too quickly.  But the bigger problem with the AK was that of its limited supply and its inability to be produced outside of a large industrial concern. 

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Most AK’s came from the deep arsenal stockpiles of the Soviet Union.  They flooded the market, cheap as talk.  Then when every African guerrilla and every Eastern European fighter, every middle eastern new state army and every survivalist was armed, that supply dried up.  Well, as far as affordable ones.  Now they aren’t near as cheap anymore, and that fad has indeed passed.  Why would you pay the same amount for sheet metal receiver assault carbine when you could almost get a battle rifle for the same price?  The fad came without any tactical or logistical consideration, then lost its momentum on financial grounds.

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Another Russian gun fad was the Mosin-Nagant.  I have no problem with the concept of equipping a squad for super cheap.  If the apocalypse or the civil war breaks out tomorrow, it was nice knowing your band could have a rifle and a Spam can of ammo apiece, all for $200 each.  If nothing else the gun could be a “butter knife special”, a crappy weapon designed to liberate a much better one from the enemy.  But the gun had zero appeal as a weapon and only as a financial deal was it enticing. 

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Granted, it is a niche market, but what about the fifty ( and comparable ) caliber sniper rifle?  Total fad.  How many real snipers are out there compared to posers with Gear In The Rear?  I don’t imagine the company survives on military sales alone.  Fat and lonely middle age men flock to the gun store to partake in the fad of patriot sniper, a fantasy burned into everyone’s brain most likely by the book Unintended Consequences.  How many hunting rifles are sold on the fantasy as Manly Mighty Studly Hunter?  How many purchases are fueled by the fad of Big Game Hunter, far too much power for the average ability?

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If you think about it, most survival gun advice out there is fueled by fads rather than sound thinking.  Many fads are founded on a demand, such as frugality, but don’t let that cloud logic of overall and comparable feasability. 

END ( today's related link https://amzn.to/2IMiUGh )
 
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37 comments:

  1. "...most survival gun advice out there is fueled by fads..."
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    You say that as if it's a bad thing. LOL

    Other than food, water, shelter, and minimal garments, isn't all buying fad oriented?

    Who "needs" the latest game console if the old one is working fine? Who "needs" a game console at all? Who "needs" the most recent Air-colored-boy-of-the-week skids? And on and on.

    If a person has all their responsibilities accounted for and the money to burn, hey, spend it as you see fit.

    I've been through spending fads many times in my life and maybe still. But with age comes wisdom based on previous experience and education and my fad spending has decreased considerably over the last 10-20 years. I still see things I'd like to have but I rarely make spontaneous purchases any more, so after pondering for a spell I generally don't buy the object of my most recent affection. Frankly, if I had this attitude 40 years ago my wallet would be more comfortable now. We're only human, and I wasted my youth.

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    1. "You say that as if it's a bad thing. LOL"
      Indeed :) We are tribes of monkey's, I suppose it is all part of the need to be accepted socially.

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  2. True that. Often one has to participate in what is occuring where they are at a nd at that point in time. I bought (invested) in on a few of those mentioned fads over many years of collecting and sport enthusiasm. I now have possession of the kit so the money was put to tangibles the could be useful or reconverted to cash/barter. This being better in hindsight then gambling the money away here in vegas, or worse, letting an ol lady spend it on frilly stuff for a house you lose in divorce or market collapse. As long as minions use self discipline and exercise Lord Bison's admonishments towards frugality,utility,practicality the kids will be alright.

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    1. You mention gambling in Vegas, then move on to the wife. I wonder which one the odds are worse with :)

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  3. The thing with fads is that the first to realize they've been conned are collaborating with the enemy so they don't end up being the fool. "It was not a mistake, it was completely what I wanted..."

    I've read a lot about the Remington 700 rifles series some months ago, and what struck me was that it was manufactured and marketed like an US car, along with design flaws (the trigger that caused the rifle to fire by itself - several people died - , the hyping through movies, the backing by the army -which, it turns out, has completely different barrels and are basically hand-fitted), and the hushing of negative news etc.

    I wonder to what degree the Glock was not the equivalent of the "japanese car in the US car market" (perhaps there are other examples of that, perhaps the H&K stuff is seen as the Audi/Mercedes ? CZ is the Volkswagen Golf ?)

    It's all marketing, you're completely right. At least pre-70's military rifles were built with the intend to last many decades.

    The issue with weapon fads is that what you need is plain and unsexy, just like most wives. You lust for movies superstars but you wouldn't know what to do with such a spoilt princess to start with.

    What are we really going to use ? A bolt-action rifle, or a lever-action. Maybe shotguns to get food (several years after the apocalypse). Some will want a revolver.

    Weapon magazines will be lost. That's a common issue in France with the 22LR's we once could buy at the supermarket. Many lack their mags, and it's just been forty years of peacetime. Never mind the collapse...

    What people need is not spectacular, it is sound investing. Nobody does that anymore, except old people (not a generational thing, but rather an experience thing...)

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    1. I like that! The peace time magazine issue. Re-read that a couple of times people ( that doesn't mean go buy more mags, it means think of the vulnerability issue ).

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    2. LOL - I have a bolt .22 that's missing a magazine.

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  4. Magazines.. Yes I can see a problem with oddball rifles with oddball magazines, but if you buy something with common or garden let's call them "Standard" mags like on an AK or AR platform, there was that many of them made they'll be like AOL CDs down the local tip in centuries to come. My last purchase was a Sabatti STR. It's basically a Remington 700 platform on an ACIS chassis. Great bit of kit, it'll shoot out the box accurately a lot further than I can see. I was looking at buying a Ruger RPR, takes standard mags of several different types, but it was a plasticy piece of crap. The other I looked at was the CZ 750s. Great rifle, accurate, but oddball magazines at about $150 a pop. Well happy with the Sabatti, as we have bolt action only over here in UK. It ain't no deer rifle..

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    1. Even with standard mags, the price to purchase ( as opposed to post apoc plunder ) gets insane. Once I got to several hundred bucks worth of 1911 mags, I knew it was time to sell the guns and switch to a revolver. Also, Lee-Enfield stripper clips are about $5 each right now ( !!! ). So you are right about non-standard/obsolete weapon costs.

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  5. Can't forget the .22 rimfire urban sniper rifle fad. Those Isreali and Russian Spetnatz units that were putting down terrorists and protesters with hardly a peep - Lets get jiggy with it !

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    1. I guess one of the drawbacks of so many gun publications ( paper, blogs, vids ) is that everything is mined for article fodder and more trends are started.

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    2. I believe the Ruskies picked up on the suppressed .22lr in urban environments after being on the receiving end in Chechnya.

      But then I recall a story from the fall of Berlin. A bunch of young teen boys thrust into uniforms and handed a rifle with zero as in "not even how to load it" & expected to hold off the Red Army. They were led by a SGT who was to old in the first world war let alone the close of the second. So yeah, these kids were about to charge against the hardened Russians when the SGT collapses, a rimfire round to the noggin. The kids rightly drop their rifles and run the opposite direction.

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  6. It's horses for courses, in an urban environment a .22 bolt action fired from a 26" barrel and a silencer out to 100yds using hollow point ammo have no report/muzzle flash/smoke and at that distance I can choose which eye to shoot out. Head shot at that distance, they ain't getting up again..

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    1. Horses for courses. New one on me.

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    2. It's an expression meaning I suppose different tools for different jobs. You wouldn't put a horse that wins races over 7 furlongs on the flat in a 2 mile steeple chase or vice versa.

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  7. "Fat and lonely middle age men flock to the gun store to partake in the fad of patriot sniper"

    You really know how to hurt a guys feelings

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    1. I'm here to piss in everyone's Cheerio's :)

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    2. In trying to locate tribe, I've met up with a "Ton" of other preppers...
      The overwhelming majority have been overweight obese folks scared shitless of going hungry lol.

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    3. Now, I don't care who you are, that's funny! That said, isn't it kind of embarrassing these lard lads are smarter than the average bear? We should ALL be scared crapless of going hungry. NOTHING should be giving any one any hope that you will be fed in the future. Got Wheat?

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    4. Oh , no doubt about it. We all should have an instinctive fear of hunger. Though I fear being around those which base their personal lives around food and stuffing themselves to the point of obesity.
      One of the reasons I've spent many an hour hiking around the woods identifying edibles.
      I just find it strange that preppers and militia folks tend to be plump...when in reality , they will go directly into shock without a daily intake of five thousand calories.
      Not that I exclude overweight people from my inner circle either. Rather just that I find it amusing.
      TEOTWAWKI after all is about as real an event as is possible. How many, I wonder...look into that
      mirror ?

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    5. Fat folk might be undisciplined, or they might just be lucky. I wish my metabolism wasn't so high ( although way down from previous ). It is hard to say with today's foods how much is GMO poison and how much is X-Box playing. I say, invite the fat boys in and if they just turn out lazy, eat them :)

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    6. At the core of serious prepping lies a traumatic experience.

      This is why it doesn't surprise me that preppers can be large eaters.
      Serious preppers are very/too excentric and may suffer from forms of social isolation and alientation. Which means they don't give a fuck of what people or society might think fo them. They might also compensate by over eating.

      Also : preppers tend to be older (i.e. over 40) and by that age your physical condition is deteriorating if you're not super serious abotu exercise.

      Finally : preppers may place very high value on food (in quality, quantity of both), meaning that food is an important component of everyday life. This is why as soon as somebody is welathy in poor countires they become obese.

      I have the african singer Pepe Kalle in mind ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J45cHqz38z8 ) , he made a song called "500 Kg d'amour" (500 kilogram of love") https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pErlVu2i7_U . Eventually his obseity killed him.

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    7. And when you are super serious about exercise, you still only make it to about 50 and then you must start conceding to the effects of age anyway.

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    8. Ha ha, it wasn't till I turned sixty and got run over by a car for me...
      Now she's the one who limits me to some degree. But hey , I'm determined to get close to where I was before. Still at the same weight as always. Right at two hundred ! Just a bit slower now but making good progress ( in fact, much better than those damn Doctors said I would ) tho sme days I'll admit I do really feel my age...

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    9. I think I was rode too hard and put up wet too many years.

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  8. I have a love of the newest and bestest guns 12ga dbl barrel 22 bolt and a 30 30 lever action .

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    1. Sometimes I think we hit Peak Productivity in guns 100-110 years ago. If you pick that newest and bestest you aren't too bad off.

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  9. “The shotgun became even cooler.”


    I like my shotgun. I don’t know what it is about it, but I do! It’s just an old Stevens model 9478 single shot 12ga, nothing special. I was also fond of my old Remington .22lr single shot bolt action, that was an antique when I got it as a kid in the early 1970’s.

    The .22 rifle and the shotgun are probably the best versatility that the survivalist can ever hope for. Between the two, you can pretty much do anything out to about a 100 yards. But if you live out on the plains, then you might need something with more range.

    If you feel comfortable with the shotgun, I suppose that’s a good thing, as it’s the one gun that most tyrants will allow their citizens to own. Which if a million plus marching little brain dead millennial pussies get their way, may be in the not too distant future. The same people were rioting in my area this last week over the police shooting an unarmed black dude, so let’s be sure that the only people that are well armed are the increasingly trigger happy, militarized police, and the criminals. That’s the spirit junior Einstein’s club of America! (I’m sure that Joseph and Vladimir, wherever they may be, have tears of joy welling up in their eyes right about now) 😟

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    1. Remember, the idiots of America cannot think clearly-their tribe forbids it. They are retarded, but rule their domains through tribal alliegiance and mindless obiedience ( I can't spell well right now-please ignore! ). We might be smarter, as little good as it does. You probably have an undo attraction to the old guns as they perform yeoman service-unlike a lot of shiny stuff today which are fickle and undeserving of respect.

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  10. One needs to remember that the ATF had declared 2 shotguns as Destructive Devices based on being 12 gauge alone.

    Not much of a step to declaring all 12ga. forbotten, along with the ammo.

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    1. Nobody can say for certain we lazy bastard gun owners won't cave in like Brits where you can't defend yourself in your own home and anything and everything is illegal ( especially harsh words! ). And by lazy, I mean if they threaten our luxuries, we'll cave in ( a firearms violation means you lose your drivers license and get your SUV impounded, for instance. Sorry, but you all are some car dependent sum bitches ).

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    2. Not strictly true, us Limeys are allowed to defend ourselves up to and including the use of lethal force. The magic words are "I was in fear for my life...".

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    3. I imagine it is just like in California, NYC, DC, etc. You MIGHT be able to get away with it, they might screw you. Didn't mean to be unfair-lots of places here have extremely limited freedom. And even in a lot of gun friendly zones the political driven gov can hang you out to dry

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    4. Newest fad you can afford: "child" models of .22lr tray-fed single-shot bolt-action. Conserves ammo, can be accurized to be a tack driver (small light 4x scope), light and small for the inevitable pedestrian adventure. 10-22 Takedown is a heavy beast compared to a Savage Rascal.
      pdxr13

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    5. They seem to want a lot for it. I got my Cricket for less, with a decent scope.

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  11. Yup watched with amusement the striker fired pistol is the future vs hammer fired is old fashion. Yeah trigger reset is too slow with hammer yada,yada,yada. But recently all of em have re-introduced wait for it.... hammer fired versions.

    So between all the major manufactures and models our choice of semi auto pistols is somewhere in the hundreds. But really they all just send a hunk of lead down range.


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