The Guns & Ammo Network

Are Pistols Just Boring Now?

by Robert W. Hunnicutt • October 17, 2011 • 88 comments

Today Payton Miller at Guns & Ammo got an e-mail from a disgruntled reader that read as follows:

“I no longer enjoy reading “G&A”. It’s boring to see one article after another about some plastic schmoe-gun.”

“Schmoe-gun” is a new one on me, though it reminds me of the obscure Danish Schobue pistol.

But leaving aside the terminology, have pistols just become boring these days; an endless procession of plastic-framed double-actions? There’s no question whatever that you are better-armed with something like a Glock or Springfield XD than you are with a Steyr-Hahn or a Luger. But are they fun, either to use or read about? Do we need more guns with personality, or is a pistol just a tool like a crowbar?

What’s your opinion?

1. Modern guns are a snooze: bring back the Borchardt!
2. I feel strongly both ways: both old and new are fine with me.
3. Wood and steel are for museums: the newer the better!

In Culture & Politics, Handguns, Uncategorized • Tagged
  • Jesse

    I've got both a Luger and a Walther P99 in my collection… I'm going with #2

    • Michael

      I have a bunch of old S&W's in my collection, but I also have a new M&P .45… Some of the new is nice too! I really don't like the "Lock" guns of the Clinton era, those have gotta go.

    • Josie

      That's fine, ya gotta know some new ones. But the oldies just are way more interesting and fun. I'll tell you what I'd like to see on the market, even if it had to be copied by the Italians or the Chinese: a Marble's Gamegetter. Granted that even the Savage 24's are not the best guns in the world, there's something about those combo guns that's inherently cool. And a folding stock, ultralight gun like the old Gamegetter would be both retro and modern cool. Consider that the originals – with a legal length barrel – go for about $1500 these days. Somebody buy one and send it to Norinco, for gosh sakes. Sell like hotcakes!

  • Rich Keagy

    With all the choices in brand, model, caliber and type,

    why buy anything ugly?

  • Rob

    Modern pistols are just ugly albeit efficient tools without beauty or romance.

  • Rusty Shackleford

    #1 for me. I really like old weapons, and I would like to see some humanity styled art in modern pistols. That's why I bought a Ruger MK3. What a beautiful pistol ! :3))

  • Al

    I think the real problem is how much the same each magazine issue is. If you have a subscription for two years you'll get the same stories. How many times can you read about a comparison of 9mm vs. 40mm vs.45 ACP, "is the revolver dead" or "pistol round up – best for concealed carry". The same stories are recycled endlessly with only the model number changing. I digress, to stay on topic, I'll say 1.75. That is to say, both new and old are good. New guns more comfortable. They should be more reliable though I've some surplus that will function better than new guns under adverse conditions. However, I feel the same about guns as I do about cars both were beautiful works of art till about 1970 and now they are nondescript functional things. New is not bad in function but new mass produced gave up character somewhere down the line.

    • Chris

      I'm with Al here. I have subscriptions to two magazines, and if one covers the new Ruger what's it this month, guess what I will read in the sister magazine the next month? I keep getting offers to get more magazines at a discount price, and I think, I'll just re-read lasts months issue of G & A next month and save myself the money for a little ammo. I've yet to see a review that said that this new gun needs to go back to the design board. It would be great to see some head to head comparisons as well. This year I've seen a ton of AR15s and a ton of 1911s. I love them both, but if all the reviews are great, what would the best choice be (depending on needs of couse). Another nice thing to read about is aftermarket parts. I wanted a new stock for my AR and looked and collapseable stocks. Magpul had a few as did other companies, but I couldn't find out how they stacked up against each other. I like surplus weapons, they are fairly inexpensive and fun to shoot. How about doing some reviews on these so I can know which is a better choice and which will just be a waste of money. Guess that's all.

  • Roy

    Al has a lot of right even if digressing. It seems the reviewers writing today are way more ad copy producers than reviewers pronouncing the latest from whomever gun corp (read big advertiser) as the greatest and most inovative firearm ever. Most of the reviews are about some huge corporation's latest copy of some smaller corps year old design.

    • Rusty Shackleford

      Yep, I can say that some of the articles are getting recycled. I would love to see articles on the British/UK weaponry, and also reviews about tactical classes around the US.

  • Terry

    I would go for #2 as I tend to lean to the older guns for fun and the newer ones as a tool.

  • John

    #2 for me, I like new and old. I like the lighter weight of some of the newer guns. My stainless steel Smith & Wesson Chief Special Model 60 was considered small and easy to carry years ago, but it seems heavy now compared with newer lighter guns that are available. I like well made classic guns that are steel and wood, such as Marlin 39A, Winchester 94 pre-1964, Springfield M1A, Ruger MK1. But my AR's are lighter to carry than M1A. My "plastic" baby Glock is great….small & light weight, and gives the option to use high capacity clips , but some day I will also find a Luger at my price. An old Luger will mostly stay home in the collection and will have a little range time, but the newer "plastic" Glock is a work horse that does everything well. Pocket pistols like Ruger LCP and S&W Bodyguard 380 are impressive for how much firepower they have in such a small light size by using plastic; for an equivalent steel & wood pocket gun, you would probably need to settle for a less powerful caliber like .25. The best old guns will stay around, sharing time with the newer lighter guns with lots of firepower.

  • Jesse

    My uncle is missing a finger because of a piece of s#*t glock came apart at about 67 rounds. #1 is the only choice.

    • Rusty Shackleford

      You mean he shot a hand grenade ! Man, I would never trust my life with a Glock (hand grenade), no matter how well built it was.

  • Jim

    I have to go with the second choice. Our collection is heave on old steel, but we have modern weapons as well. The old guns are marvels of innovation for their time, speak to the history buff in me, and are fun to shoot. Modern guns tend to be more reliable and are often more accurate. However, my always carry gun is a Walther PPK.

  • Chief 2747

    I prefer old guns, newer ones have more capacity so for defense they are better. I have two P38's a Nagant, and a ROM TOK. They are all fun to shoot at the range, probably not best in a fight.

  • http://writerbobshell.com Bob Shell

    I agree that modern guns are more efficient but they don't hold a candle to the oldies as far as interest goes. Nothing like a Broomhandle or a Bodero for a fun shoot. When you take a 9.4 Dutch to the range it generates a lot more interest then a newbie.

  • Mike M.

    I'm with Roy and Al. All you see are the same guns over and over. Forget anything unusual or exotic.

    And please get some gunwriters who can shoot.

  • William Cignoni

    hey guys, if you want a fun gun, get your hands on an american derringer cal 30-30, you wont have time to write nasty letters,,, ha ha bc

  • Ashby

    I'd love to see a repro Borchardt.

  • James

    #2 about covers it for me. Terry's post comes close to my own thinking. There is nearly an endless variety of Glocks and Glock clones today. Perhaps, 50% of the tables at most gun shows are covered with new "plastic" guns. They work great and are very efficient tools – I even own some! They can be fun to shoot but I do understand the "Ho-Hum" factor. Now an old S&W Hand Ejector or a vintage Colt SAA ….. AAHHHH!

    • Edd

      and here I thought I was the only one left who likes the old hand ejectors!! I have some of the newer stuff, they dont rust and are easy to maintain and are for the most part very reliable BUT I sure do love my old smith's and for just plain fun to shoot I have a high standard supermatic 1st model that is a dream. It seems to me that alot of folks get caught up in my guns bigger and forget the pure joy of shooting in general. thats my 2 cents worth

  • Ron

    If Glocks were beautiful, it would be the end for all other pistols.

    • Sean

      But Glocks are beautiful

  • 2WarAbnVet

    “Schmoe-gun” is a new expression to me also. I've always referred to plastic weapons as POS-guns. The POS is, of course, short for "Piece of (excrement)"

    • Sean

      Check out some Glock torture tests, and who uses them, let me know if you feel the same way.

  • http://www.cmrfirearms.com Charles

    Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder. Nothing beats a Classic Curio & Relic Firearm wonderfully designed, engineered and historically a true piece of history.

  • Sean MN

    I will take my Glock!

  • Sam

    I feel about pistols the same way I feel about rifles. If I were defending the homestead I would reach for my DPMS M-4 clone, but I dearly love to take guns my collection of old bolt action and semi-auto battle rifles out to the range for a day of shooting.

  • Lance McCarty

    Beauty is in the eye of the individual. As long as it's safe to shoot I am willing to use it.

  • Mark Reising

    I appreciate both old & new. Some older designs really make you appreciate the advances in materials & design that we take for granted. On better crafted, older designs the wood to metal fit is something that I believe looks way better than synthetic to metal, but that's all a matter of your personal taste. I say like them all!

  • B. Redding

    If you are buying handguns to admire and shoot at the range, then I agree the aesthetics are important. If you are buying a handgun to bet your life on, aesthetics be damned. A lot of the new firearms are simply tools, and excellent tools for defending yourself. As the saying goes, some handguns are for showing your friends and some handguns are for showing your enemies.

  • John

    I own a Glock 19 only because it was cheap at the time I bought it. Like the stock Colt I had to add Novack sights and do trigger tuning. I then have a pistol with a record of a 100 years + still in service. Also, you can repair steel, try and adjust the rails on any plastic gun. My vote is for #1

  • Jason

    As an engineer, I'm probably biased in my desire for function over decoration, but I see beauty in the efficiency and reliability of newer firearms, and not in the outdated clunky firearms of past eras. I vote #3, although an occasional review of an old firearm that represents a significant change in technological design is welcomed for nostalgia.

    I understand that the reviews appear somewhat redundant when it's one "plastic gun" after another, however I find this useful when deciding on the next firearm I want to purchase, or if it's time to trade in my "old" carry piece for a better model.

  • http://Scopesdotsandlasers.com John Casey

    All of the foregoing have a case in point. For me I find a thre pronged argument in using surplus weapons. For many dollars one may purchase a very reliable self defense weapon wioth all of the attributes of a high ticket commercial.

    For one a Polish p-64 9X18 is dependable, accurate, and its ammo is not only more powerful than a .380 but about half the price. A Pi-1 model P-38 can be had for less than 400 dollars and its 9 MM Para chamber will handle very potent pills. We could go on but I think you get the drift.

  • DaveP326

    If you shoot as a hobby or pastime then old guns like the Luger or the Colt "Peacemaker" are fun and true works of art. If you depend on guns to stay alive, then I would prefer a high powered, efficient "killing machine" such as the Glock, M1911 (which I prefer), the Sig-Sauer,and guns of that type

  • Ben

    "

    Rob

    Modern pistols are just ugly albeit efficient tools without beauty or romance."

    I think this says it about as well as can be said

  • Lloyd Hawthorne

    As an old guy I see it as a matter of value and regard for the present and the past. There are some historical pieces that are in modern context amazing for their fit, function, amd even mystique. However, one of the most accurate and shootable hand guns I own is a 357 sig XP. Everyone in the family shoots better with it. As for my favorite it is a black Browning Hi Power in 40 SW. One of about 5 we have. And they are all "prettier" than my favorite. But, just to be clear, I have some Colt SA revolvers that I will take to the grave, and can't pass up a well written article about them.

  • charlie tango

    While it is certainly true that the recent 'modern' crop of handguns tends toward plastic functionality, they lack soul. But most folks would rather have a reliable piece than not, and they have that going for them.

    Personally, I like steel. Weight, and mass, and character. I guess that last of the steel warriors was about the CZ75 vintage.

    Wheel guns are a different topic though…

  • Rick Cratty

    I carry, with a permit of course, and when I do I want the most reliable pistol using the best caliber that I can reasonably expect to do the job if I do mine and hit what I'm aiming at. However, I too am tied of what appears to be blatant commercialization and pandering. Perhaps a comparison for fun of new pistols vs old?

  • James E. Taylor

    Give me old style guns every time !! I like guns made of steel & wood . Nothing wrong with the new stuff , just my preferance.

  • English Bob

    I love steel and wood in my handguns as well as my rifles.

    That being said, I do have a Glock and some modern plastic and steel rifles because they do the job. But I Love the wood and steel.

  • Marshrat

    I too agree with Al and Roy. Own both new and old but theres nothing like holdling and polishing my Python (sure… I shoot it a little!).

  • Russ Hale

    I would go for #2, but I wonder how long these new guns will last. You can buy a WW2 gun & it will most likely work today. Modern guns with loads of "plastic" parts I feel won't hold up as long.

  • Gunner

    If I want plastic, I'll buy tupperware. Still lots of fine handguns made of wood and metal. Nice photo of the Lugar, too bad it's reversed.

  • Orlando

    You can have your "Tupperware" guns, I'll take wood and steel anytime.

  • wildromanian

    Lets face cold hard facts. Modern pistols are made of the cheapest materials available. Junk plastic, junk stamped sheet metal and junk brittle rust-able castings. They are crudely made working tools. They will never be collectors items nor will they sky rocket in value like the old fashioned hand made forged steel masterpiece works of art of long ago.

    If I went to Africa would I want my picture taken with a cheap looking plastic rifle. No way.

  • Greg Berg

    I go with #2 also. The top priorities of coarse are function & reliability; comfort; compellability and if I want good looking I take out my Springfield 1911 A1 stainless fully loaded. It would be fun to have more choice in replica's of some of the old classic war handguns such as the Tommy Gun now available. I want to carry the most modern handgun when my life depends on it though.

  • Erik

    #2 …. FAR prefer the older weapons, frankly, but the versatility of the new ones simply cant be beat

  • Dennis

    There is little doubt that if I were in a combat situation an HK usp or XDM would be very comforting, however there is nothing like a 1911 for enjoyable shooting. Steel and wood feel good in the hand.

  • http://Dancindydanjr@verizon.net Dan

    I would have to say that #1 would be my choice but not because I don't appreciate the innovations that modern gun makers have made in producing the most reliable guns ever but because I miss the pride in craftsmanship that went into building some of the older guns. The manufacturers still charge the price of a handmade gun but spit out plastic ugly blocks. I wonder just how much it costs to make a glock vs msrp.

  • jerry poparad

    The finely polished surfaces and hand fitting of many of the classics have made them escalate wildly in value. On the other had the modern made plasticy pistols are only roughly made working tools and not to be compared to the works of art of the past.

  • Rigel

    New guns are great for shooting and as tools. If they get screwed up somehow who cares. They are soul less and tell no stories. I don't buy many new guns. I like wood and steel. But I carry a Kel Tec p3at because it is reliable and convenient to carry. I collect old guns.

  • http://www.taphilo.com Tom Philo

    One of the problems is that you have to read a LOT of reviews and learn about the functioning (and even when I read that, I seldom can follow since I have NO idea what all the terms they throw out since without a diagram to SEE what they are talking about, they are just words about the internal workings of them) in order to even begin to understand what the reviewer is talking about.

    I expect, after reading 50 to 90 reviews, I may actually start to understand what they mean when referring to all the techncial parts of a pistol.

    Course if you tie all that together with a NPN and a zener diode, with a 5% tolerance 2 meg resistor and add in a PNP to a 5 volt source onto the drain of the PNP you can see what I mean.

    And that is how I follow the explainations of most of the pistol reviews.

  • http://www.taphilo.com Tom Philo

    #2

    Part of the probelm is that in order to understand what most reviewers are writing, especially on the internals, you need a diagram to go along with it and there is NEVER one provided – nor any reference page to VIEW what each part named is.

    Thus, once you read 50 or more you can understand the words but STILl have no meaning as to what they are talking about.

    Its like saying put in an NPN transitor along with a zener diode tied to a 2 Meg resistor followed by an NPN connected by the drain the the NPN and then you can provide a feed back loop after putting 5 V onto the source.

    Its gibberish unless you KNOW every part and term. And no reviewer diagrams or within SGN is there a diagram to show it.

  • http://sbc Charles Santos

    Give me a soviet stetchkin with a shoulder stock.For pocket pistol?A walter pp .380

  • Henry Travis

    You asked if all the new plastic framed guns are clones? My question is,how in the heck can you tell them apart? Glock,Taurus,S&W throw them on a table and you can't tell them apart. Think I will stay with my old Colt .45 government model.

  • Matt Bear

    I'll go with #2, because I appreciate new things as well as the old standbys. I will say, however, that NO modern pistol has the sheer grace and beauty of the old Luger pistol, not to mention the romance inherent in its history. Complicated mechanically? Yes. Expensive to manufacture? Undoubtedly. Beautiful? You bet!

  • Jay

    Love them all, New Plastic , Blued Steel with Walnut, Stainless and Ivory !

  • frank

    when i was a teenager i read guns and ammo from cover to cover, and every add for the latest and greatest. now i tend to glance and go. yeah same old new. maybe i am just getting older and tend to respect and enjoy all the memories the old guns have given me. although when i go to the range, my sig p220 goes in the bag first.

  • http://nortonpilot@aol.com Joe Galone

    I love my navy colt .44 and I love my M9. Both to me are equally romantic. A pistol from a historic time and a modern beauty with lines and style. The romance is the M9 was my last stand weapon for the last 6 years of military service and you will always form a bond with your tools of your trade. I Totaly see his point but not all moderns are boring.

  • JPKirkpatrick

    My vote in a compromise, #2.

    I prefer my old and proven CZ82 that is a work of art, and there is just something about Walnut Grips and elegantly deep-blued steel. I do have a Glock and a Taurus .40 that are nice, but plastic. I guess I am just a dinosaur that likes the 'heft' of a good steel weapon.

    Al, you may digress, but you are right!

  • everett tipton

    I buy older military guns because they are good investments and you can make money on them. And I love the look of steel and wood. New guns are like new cars. Once you drive them off the lot or carry them out the door new guns deprecate about 2/3rds. But I do like modern guns the new type of frames and improvements like the Springfield XDMS’. So, I guess I am also a No. 2.

  • Lee

    Hey! I go both ways… I love the early guns because of their uniqueness, craftmanship or intrinsic beauty.

    Modern guns are mostly utilitarian and with the rare exception, have little or no 'cool' factor.

    That said, I admit that I have both in my collection. The older ones are to 'love', while the newer variety are what I carry.

  • gilles aubertin

    i have a broomhandle mauser and an old p38, would take them over a new wonder plastic gun!

  • David

    The truth is that gun magazines are just platforms to advertise products for gun makers. You rarely get an honest review. Also, there are very few truly new orducts intriduced. Most are tweaks/slight upgrades of existing products.

  • Billy

    While I do like them, the Glock (a model 23 is on my nightstand) really began the trend of reliable, utilitarian but soulless handguns. We are entering a chaotic and socially soulless time in which reliability necessarily trumps aesthetics and the defense of all we value becomes the greatest concern. My Colt and S&W revolvers stir my soul when I pick them up and handle them and I also like them better for reloading because they are more versatile and don't chew up the brass so bad. But, when the sh_t hits the fan, I'll go for my soulless looking black plastic and steel guns every time.

  • SGT Tango

    HAH! I'm a NUMBER TWO! A geat big one. I'd never consider usin my P1 or my Tokarev as a day to day gun.

    That is the Glock's job. (The 1911 is too expensive to rust & rot in the evidence locker, should I ever be unfortunate enough to need to defend my life with it.)

  • puz

    But nothing's sexier than my Walther PPK/S

  • Lee

    I prefer my M1911A1 or S&W .357 Mag over the plastic weapons; however, many of the composite pistols offer a lot of firepower (caliber and capacity) in a very narrow package — a major consideration for deep concealment.

    At first glance, the plastic pistols look like something cobbled together in a high school shop class — no eye appeal at all. Closer examination and some serious range time often reveal these homely weapons have superior operating systems, above average accuracy, and reliablity.

    Bottom line is a pistol/revolver is designed to convince the elements of evil to rethink their intentions by inserting high-velocity projectiles into them until they understand your perspective of the situation.

    So, I suppose aesthetics are important until you actually use your weapon in a confrontation — at that point, I wouldn't care if the gun looked like a stuffed poodle as long as the bad persons enter the afterlife and I get to see another sunrise.

    Just my $0.02 worth.

  • Anishinabi

    I like steel guns, especially the beautiful old designs but for carry I like my newer lightweight handgun. I would rather trust my life to my SIG than a luger. That being said, I would not carry an ugly handgun regardless of cost. The most beautiful gun I own in my opinion is my Colt Government Model.

  • Wookie

    I am a collector of curios and relics, so I obviously like the character and history behind older guns. The main thing that I enjoy is learning about the engineers and the iterative development of the mechanisms in each design. These highly-creative people and their creations are fascinating. I think many modern designs also have great stories and amazing minds behind their conception. I can see how looking at a new released version of a pistol, especially one that has been on the market for a long time, can be 'boring' to someone. Many times only small or cosmetic changes are made and there is very little little 'new' to talk about. The magazine articles do, in these cases, re-hash a lot of old stuff. Also, many new pistols are basically a copy or rip-off of other designs and have little to offer in the way of break-thru tech. Yet they get written up in full, causing further repetition. Over time, though, I think certain modern designs will develop into the great stories of arms history that we have now when we look back at these older guns. So, I like to study and shoot both old and new. But I do find that I sometimes have to wade thru the mundane repetition, to find the bits of real genius that are still out there in the industry. Its just part of this great hobby!

  • Robert Miller

    I have a Colt clone of a 1873 peacemaker (Uberti Smokewagon Deluxe) which is more fun than my Son's Glock 21. The glock is faster firing,loading and takes the same amount of time to clean, but the Six-gun is more fun to shoot, and has that feel of an old gun even though it is almost brand new. Same with the 1851 cap and ball revolver clone I have. just more fun to shoot, not trying to empty a magizine as quick as possible.

  • Ed

    I have a Hi-Standard and a Beretta Neos in.22LR. Guess what?? They have the same characteristics: grip attachment (long bolt from the bottom) even similar grip angles , barrel mounting nuts and/or bolt, firing pin as seen from the rear. Looks of one is of the future; the other of the last century. But when the bullets fly, each shoots true. That's what counts!! I also have a Hi-point 9 that does well also.

  • http://twitter.com/3henry21 @3henry21

    I'm firmly in the #2 category, but with a bias towards the older stuff. I see a lot of comments to the effect of when something is needed to save your bacon that you can depend on, one of the modern Tupperware pistols is the "go to" decision. Jeez, how did people manage to survive for all of these decades before the Glock appeared, using the antiquated, unreliable S&W & Colt handguns that are now held in such seemingly low regard? I must have been under a rock when it happened,… when did my S&W M27 .357 magnum revolver or M4506 pistol become something so "obsolete" that it isn't considered dependable enough or well suited for self defense? With a revolver, I'll never have the problem of it being rendered inoperable by having a magazine drop that wasn't fully seated or a feed jam because the last outing at the range damaged a feed lip without being noticed… and the 4506? It's built like a freaking tank and performs like one with that big 'ol fat .45acp slug. But don't get me wrong… I do have my Glocks too and I prefer using them whenever I'm operating in conditions that's hostile to metal framed firearms… but I'll never be putting them in any beauty contest.

  • BringBackThe60s

    Modern pistols are as boring as modern cars. Can you tell them apart?

  • keith Bayne

    i agree with Al too. the new guns are reliable for the most part but UUUGGLY !
    thats why i like both.but i want both in one gun. for me,i use a PARA black watch companion 45 for carry.beautiful gun with state of the art internal parts in a cool 1911 look but modern reliability.

  • A.D. Hopkins

    Make new friends, but keep the old.
    One is silver, the other gold.

  • exexpat11

    The only ugly gun is one that does not feel good in your hand or does not shoot. Glocks don't feel good in my hand. __My FHN 9mm and HK45c are plastic guns that feels good in my hand, has the options I want, and shoots everytime. __My CZ 9mm and 1911 feel good in my hand, has the features I want, and shoot everytime. I customized the last 2 to my liking with night sights, grips, and ceramic polycoatings. __I just blued a $36 Real Nepal Khukri and it looks sweet. I just bought another cheap $20 Indian Khukri which I am going to do some extreme mods on. Basically I bought the knife just for the blade as a starter.__Modern pistols can have a "soul" too. Some modern pistols are kind of bland also if they are just squared off plastic and metal.

  • Robert Usrey

    Steel and wood. My collection does not have any tupperware tactikools. Would the HK P7 be the same if it were made from glass filled nylon? How about the Smith and Wesson Model 19??
    Case in point.. Whitney Wolverine. You can get a brand new one made by Olympic, but its just a dead lump of polymer.

  • timbo 1955

    Been reading G/A since mid 60's, it is the same old thing over and over and over, I cant afford a $1000 SA operator, but I can afford a 400 dollar hand gun, almost, the. magazine has lost sight of its root core purpose of being, tell the truth, no matter how bad it is about the product, i,e GUN TEST KImber shipped with out fireing pin. Glock fireing pin breaks, barrel falls off TAURUS revolver after 3 rounds, Taurus PT92 has bad crown, etc. Go back to the roots with comments by all editors, of all ages, weapons of all prices with in that model. Interview vets who used that type, its time to get creative again, like LARRY VICKERS on TAC TV, Im not buying any more shotgun news, g/a, or any other magazines, except SURPLUS RIFLE in the future, period

  • T. Oxley

    Personally, I find the older firearms to be attractive, appealing in some handsome sort of way. Could anyone dispute the beauty of a minty mid to late 19th century Smith & Wesson revolver, or even an accurate reproduction of same?
    Moving forward a couple/three decades at a time, there have always been firearms of particular note and appeal. There were technological merits, function/application, and some even built to give a particular "then new" cartridge a breech from which to be fired from.
    But it is only with our hindsight can we recognize and appreciate aesthetic appeal. It is doubtful that (and truthfully what would have been the need?) there was any attention paid to the overall appearance of the popular handguns from the era of the earliest metallic cartridge firing handheld firearm…and please understand that I do purposely refer to rim-fire and center-fire cartridges only.
    My point is that each shooter who has an interest in antique firearms has his or her own favorites. I am partial to the lever-guns and those break top Smiths. But they are what they are: "here is a reproduction of one featured here, or an original, a real cherry up for auction over there and is likely to go for several thousand dollars…". The fact is that historic items represent finite quantity…a likely unknown quantity but certainly finite.
    Thus there is interest in the life-story, degree of rarity, any unique technological merits (for the day) represented by the original antique firearm, AS WELL AS today's modern duplicates. These items are representative of a bygone though romantic era. Although it is understood that these reproductions are manufactured using today's machining practices and metallurgic technology.
    Whereas the current breed of handgun represents the summation of all that has been learned since the days of the first metallic cartridge firing handheld firearm, reflection upon various items of note from our past is nostalgic, curious even, and interesting. With technology moving ever forward, as are the hands of time, one must eventually surrender to the idea that the goals of ergonomics, function, features, application specialization, size and weight, and cost of manufacture will combine and tend to minimize the individuality of physical appearance, forcing most all companies to "stamp out" what seems to be an awfully familiar design in at least one category of their product catalog.
    I mean just look at the automobile industry, particularly in the economy minded line of product which even at times seem to all be painted the same color!
    2

  • Mauser98NAW

    You think pistols are boring, rifles are getting to be twice as dull! AR-15 all the time! How can anyone write about what is the same rifle. Like oh, adding a M1913 rail, BUIS, or a grip pod makes it such a different rifle? Even the new piston rifles are already old. And the 6.8SPC? Couldn't make it as an military round, out gunned by the 6.5s both new and old. Now it is being pushed as the all new hog slayer round in AR platform.
    Boring!

  • James

    My dream gun would have to be a Webley-Fosberry just for the novelty of it, but my Ruger MK-2 is my choice when it comes to defence.

  • Heretic

    Take a good hard look at that Luger in the picture. No Glock compares.

  • Alberto_Knox

    No more plastic pistols for me. Today I carried a PPK. Tomorrow, being a Friday, I think I'll wear a 100 year old nickle plated Colt 1908. Some people wear an expensive watch. I prefer something more personal.

  • Mike

    #1 for me When I first started buying hand guns I went for the latest and greatest, they got boring real quick. They all worked fine but as soon as I got a peacemaker and a 1911 I looked back and thought I had wasted all that money. The 1911 was a dream to shoot and eight rounds was plenty, I didnt need 15 or 17 rounds anymore. Plus old guns are just more of a work of art then these new plastic hand guns. Think of the Luger, the colt 1903, 1911, p38, the highpower, ppk, all fine autos and dont get me started on revolvers! I was ten time more pleased when I got my 1911 then my hk usp or glock. Lifes too short to buy an ugly gun.

  • Dan

    I own many guns, luger, S&W 29, 66, colt 1911 etc. I carry a Glock as a sidearm in my work as an Sergeant in Swedish Army and have used it in Afghanistan but for self defence back home I like my old ones. A luger with 8 rounds and a spare mag is going to do the job against an armed intruder, its 16 rounds..if thats not enough I probably wouldnt make it anyway..