Gun Changes in the Last 50 Years

[avvidclif]

I guess I'm in the minority as the current crop of rifles and handguns just don't do a thing for me. Beautiful dark blue finish, satin smooth finished wood for a stock. Pistols SAA, classic revolver, 1911 etc. The new crop looks like an idiot threw a bunch of scrap metal and plastic together and made it shoot, rifle and pistol both. Don't get me started on all the different finishes. Most of the stuff today looks like it was designed by Star Wars.

Rant off.

 

[jtw2]

And it works a lot better, is lighter and way more reliable with better capacity and cheaper. Yay good old days.

 

[baboon]

I like to use my guns. While I still like old school blueing & pretty wood the new guns take use better.

 

[SQLGeek]

I like all three poll options. It's no fun limiting yourself.

 

[EZ-E]

They all have their places ... im all about my safe queens, but also enjoy a tool i dont have to worry about keeping pretty.

 

[IXLR8]

Beautiful wood skillfully carved, just adds to the experience. Plastic fantastic is for everyday carry.

 

[TheMailMan]

I guess I'm in the minority as the current crop of rifles and handguns just don't do a thing for me. Beautiful dark blue finish, satin smooth finished wood for a stock. Pistols SAA, classic revolver, 1911 etc. The new crop looks like an idiot threw a bunch of scrap metal and plastic together and made it shoot, rifle and pistol both. Don't get me started on all the different finishes. Most of the stuff today looks like it was designed by Star Wars.

Rant off.

Today's stuff is less expensive in real dollars, it's more reliable, it's more durable, and it's more accurate.

As far as 1911 pistols, 50 years ago you bought a Colt. If you wanted it to feed hollow points you took it to a gunsmith, if you wanted better sights, you took it to a gunsmith.

If you wanted a 1 moa hunting rifle you had to put a ton of work into the rifle and then spend a lot of time working up a load.

If you want that dark blue on the metal and satin smooth finished wood it's still available. The best part is that in real dollars it's less expensive than it was 50 years ago. However you're not going to find it for $300 at Walmart.

Take a drive over to Ray's Hardware in Dallas. He's got what you want.

 

[Glenn B]

As for new versus old guns, I like them both. I have a couple of synthetic stock black rifles and like them. Just picked up a Century Arms C39V2 - MOE that has Magpul furniture. I would have preferred the same one with wood but it was out of stock where I bought mine and too expensive anywhere else. Now that I have it, with the Magpul furniture, and just fired it this past weekend, I have to say I like it. It is a very nice gun. In addition I just recently picked up a Stag Arms Stag 15 OCR. It's another nice gun, black synthetic. I also have a couple of bolt action rifles with synthetic stocks - nothing Star Wars about them though. Al good guns.

Yet, when I go to a firearms auction (well, I used to go to the gun auctions held by the Hessney Auction Co. in Geneva, NY several times a year until I moved to TX), the guns I am usually most interested in are ones made of blued steel with wood stocks. Same thing when I am at a gun show - I usually am not looking at new guns but the older ones when perusing the offerings in each aisle. I like the old timers maybe because I am an old timer myself or maybe it has something to do with the fact that for the most part they really do not make them like they used to make them. I prefer the heft of the wood and steel when out and about hunting and often when shooting at the range. They just feel more real to me than the lightweight new stuff and the evoke memories of times gone by. Last Hessney Auction I bid on, I was in AR and had to bid online, and I had the high bids on: a Mossberg 185 K-A bolt action 20 gauge shotgun, a Third Model Iver Johnson Safety Automatic Hammer in 22 caliber, and a Colt Frontier Scout (my favorite of the three) with walnut grips. Yep, I like those old timers.

Anyway, when it comes right down to it, I like them all except maybe for something that looks like a Wookiee would use it as a blaster or looks like something out of a Steam-Punk movie. Then again, a plasma rifle in the 40 watt range might not be too bad either.

 

[grumper]

Star Wars is literally a broom handle Mauser, Sterling Mk 4 and Lewis gun.

 

[Glenn B]

Today's stuff is less expensive in real dollars, it's more reliable, it's more durable, and it's more accurate.

I have to say, I don't necessarily agree or disagree with all of that statement.

Guns today may be more accurate to some good degree but let's face it there have been 50 years gone by to improve not only on the inherent accuracy of any particular firearm but also great improvements in ammunition and ammo components.

As far as I can see though, guns today are not more reliable or more durable than those of 50 years ago. Now, mind you, I am talking relatively speaking as to good guns back then compared to good guns today - I am not comparing a piece of junk from one era to a high quality rifle from the other era. In general, I think they were made to be much more durable back then and often more reliable back then as well. If I am lucky enough to be around in another 50 years (no chance of that really) I'd like to see how many of these plastic furniture aluminum or polymer framed fandangos have survived in good working order without repairs as compared to steel guns of yesteryear that have survived though today.

As for guns being less expensive in real dollars, you may be right but I wonder about that if only because the guns they make today - even when supposedly the same gun they made 50 years ago (for instance a basic Ruger 10/22) - are not made the same now as they were then. Things like the wood used in wood stock model have changed from expensive walnut to cheap hardwood. Some internal parts are now nylon (or so I have been told for this particular model) and so forth. Of course, manufacturing techniques and the sheer numbers of them produced now as opposed o when they first came out lower prices relatively from then as compared to now.

 

[Big Green]

Looks like I’m the first to vote for the Mew Style Rifles.

I appreciate wood and metal and have gotten some cool oddballs over the years from guys selling granddad’s rifles after he died. The feeling of an old bolt gun that just glides is awesome. The old clunk of a solid lever action, love it.

Having said that, the modularity of newer rifles is part of the fun. It’s like grownup LEGO’s. Build and re-build, then start over again.

 

[Geezer]

People that like beautiful wood and blue steel are slowly fading away. The beautifully blued revolvers from Colt and Smith & Wesson of the 1960's-1980's are something to see. Us old guys like the classic and beautiful guns. Today's market is for tactical fantastic plastic guns. Yes, I have plastic guns and like them a lot. I've said it before and it was misunderstood by some but, there is no pride of ownership in these new plastic guns.

A new Corvette is superior in every way to a 1967 Corvette. But the 1967 will bring about 3 times the cost of the new one. Why? Because there are still a few people out there that appreciate the design and workmanship that went into the old and outdated things we used to be able to buy.

 

[baboon]

Star Wars is literally a broom handle Mauser, Sterling Mk 4 and Lewis gun.

Hollyweird has been known to make uzi's out of Mac 10's too.

 

[SQLGeek]

there is no pride of ownership in these new plastic guns.

That's flat out false. It just isn't in a form you appreciate or recognize.

 

[Geezer]

That's flat out false. It just isn't in a form you appreciate or recognize.

I did say that some people just didn't understand.

 

[SQLGeek]

I understand perfectly.

 

[Kar98]

My PPK is a lot prettier than my PPS. But the ugly thing works more reliably, is lighter, and shoots a bigger caliber so that's what I've got in my pocket.

 

[zackmars]

Today's stuff is less expensive in real dollars, it's more reliable, it's more durable, and it's more accurate.

As far as 1911 pistols, 50 years ago you bought a Colt. If you wanted it to feed hollow points you took it to a gunsmith, if you wanted better sights, you took it to a gunsmith.

If you wanted a 1 moa hunting rifle you had to put a ton of work into the rifle and then spend a lot of time working up a load.

If you want that dark blue on the metal and satin smooth finished wood it's still available. The best part is that in real dollars it's less expensive than it was 50 years ago. However you're not going to find it for $300 at Walmart.

Take a drive over to Ray's Hardware in Dallas. He's got what you want.

Damn, guess i don't need to add my opinion, its right here.

For about $500, you can get an extremely reliable pistol that will feed whatever fits in the mag, and is absurdly rust resistant. Sure a deep blue is beautiful, but I'm not going to carry it. Im going to carry something nitrided, nPVD'd, tennifered, etc

50 years ago, you couldn't get that, even for 3 times the price

Guns are lighter, more durable, more capable, and the industry by and large is focused on performance more than ever.

Back then, a good factory 1911 still took tons of work to get it to reliably feed HP's, and even then it wasn't a guarantee. When the AWB hit, companies started to take the custom shop stuff and make it standard.

And to top it off, plenty of companies still make legacy models.

Plenty of companies making high dollar, finely finished custom guns today

 

[Army 1911]

The new guns may be reliable cheaper hold more rounds yada yada yada but just like Democratic hookers on crack they have no soul.

 

[easy rider]

I can't vote, each one seems to limit my tastes.