"Tactical"

[double8]

I know I'm old and a curmudgeon, but would someone please explain the love affair with anything "tactical"? Seems like folks like to think they are snipers or paramilitary. A 10/22 made to look like a long range killing machine gives me wonder.
Just sayin'.....

[Outpost75]

This whole tactical thing is nothing but shrewd marketing to appeal to the hordes of Walter Mitty wannabes among the uneducated masses. Those who have never been shot at would like in their dreams to be Rambo, because they have never smelled the odor of their own fouled battledress as they have stooped, vomiting, to wipe the splattered brain matter off their face which used to be their best friend's head. For those who don't know who Walter Mitty is, he could be described as John Galt's alter-ego....

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Mitty

Walter Mitty is a fictional character in James Thurber's short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", first published in The New Yorker on March 18, 1939, and in book form in My World and Welcome to It in 1942. Thurber loosely based the character on his friend, Walter Mithoff.[1] It was made into a film in 1947, with a remake directed by and starring Ben Stiller scheduled for release in 2013.

Mitty is a meek, mild man with a vivid fantasy life: in a few dozen paragraphs he imagines himself a wartime pilot, an emergency-room surgeon, and a devil-may-care killer. The character's name has come into more general use to refer to an ineffectual dreamer, appearing in several dictionaries.[2] The American Heritage Dictionary defines a Walter Mitty as "an ordinary, often ineffectual person who indulges in fantastic daydreams of personal triumphs".[3] The most famous of Thurber's inept male protagonists, the character is considered "the archetype for dreamy, hapless, Thurber Man".[4]

Although the story has humorous elements, there is a darker and more significant message underlying the text, leading to a more tragic interpretation of the Mitty character. Even in his heroic daydreams, Mitty does not triumph, several fantasies being interrupted before the final one sees Mitty dying bravely in front of a firing squad. In the brief snatches of reality that punctuate Mitty's fantasies the audience meets well-meaning but insensitive strangers who inadvertently rob Mitty of some of his remaining dignity.

[USAFrox]

What? You mean if I dress up my 10/22, that doesn't actually make me into Rambo? Dagnabbit, i bet the next thing you tell me is that Santa Claus isn't real...

[starmac]

I am not interested in black guns at all, or even old wood military guns, but I see the tactical craze as comparable to older generations with their garands, springfields and mozins. Each to his own.

[clownbear69]

I think a lot has to do with part of 3 gun and like competitions. But more recently I think a lot has to deal with distrust in the government, police and other LEA. IF you cant trust them who are you able to trust?

[sparky45]

Well here's my take on "tactical". It seems to be a status symbol for ALL local police/sheriff departments so they can dress up and act like the Military. I fear these wannabe's more than the Military because these jerk-off's are WILLING to stick a black rifle in your face and have no fear of touching it off once or twice just to show you how much power and authority they have. Tactical, indeed!

[waynem34]

I like the tacticool accessories.I think at 10-22 is a 10-22 no matter.Stainless steel and polymer stocks are more weather resistant.To each his own like stated above.Also they look bad **** and some wouldbe bad guys will run if they see things that look like they are out of the military.I doubt they will rush you at your front door no matter if you had a plain jane or decked out 22.My two.

[Outpost75]

What would John Galt do?

My take is that John Galt would discreetly carry a sawed-off double barrel 12-ga. of the type found commonly in Sicily and Southern Italy, and would skip the polite, incrimental BS and juzt kill you!
In boca al lupo!

[MtGun44]

Military gear and tactics are "cool" - and have the presumption of being superior as far
as functionality and durability are concerned. So, folks want to be cool and have the "good
stuff".

Nothing surprising there. Whether or not a piece of gear that is ideal for a sniper or assault team
in the sandbox is useful for a hunter or shooter is a whole different question. Not much different
than SASS stuff where the "cool" is cowboys, same concept, different object of affection.

Bill

[Dale in Louisiana]

What? You mean if I dress up my 10/22, that doesn't actually make me into Rambo? Dagnabbit, i bet the next thing you tell me is that Santa Claus isn't real...

I guess I have to ditch my do-rag now...

dale in Louisiana

[Bad Water Bill]

Well cool or not I will stick with my Gov issue Carbine. I can shoot them BOOLITS all day at the 50-100 yard range and not break my bank acct or have a dislocated shoulder.

Just have to find all of that sneaky brass that likes to hide somewhere in the grass and weeds.

[pipehand]

tapocketa, tapocketa. I liked the Danny Kaye version.

"tactical" has come to mean spending another 30 to 50 dollars for the application of $1 of flat black paint.

[Swamp Man]

Tactical uh do you mean those Toys-R-Us guns? I hate walking into a shop and all you see are those plastic guns. What happened to using wood,trees still make wood don't they?

[oldred]

Personally I REALLY dislike the whole "taticool" thing but having said that I have to admit that this is just my opinion and I would be the last person here to tell anyone else how they should enjoy their firearms, and I would certainly NEVER support regulations that would in any way hinder a shooters choice! I occasionally wander back to the magazine rack while my wife is shopping and almost every single firearms publication is filled with the latest Captain Billy Whizbang guns and gear but I just fail to understand the attraction of it all, I am obviously in the minority however since if that's what's selling then that's what people want and I'm of the firm belief they should be able to have it. Nice hunting rifles and target rifles/handguns and gear seem to have fallen out of favor and now it seems a firearm has to look futuristic and be loaded down with all kinds of mostly useless gadgets for whatever purpose I just can't imagine, whatever rocks your boat I guess but the Walter Mitty analogy comes to mind every time I see one of those "tacticool" gadgets.

[xacex]

The kids like the tacticool 10/22, so I do not mind having one for them to plink with.It gets them out with me, and it is cheep to shoot (was). Personally, I don't like the quad rails on my free float hand guards on the AR's I own. They feel like I am holding a cheese grater, but they were cheep, and allow me to free float the barrel. My hunting AR just has a free float tube and scope. The quad rails were something I didn't want in the woods to catch on branches, and brush. Accessorizing a rifle is a personal thing. Some things are for function, but many are cosmetic. Personalizing a gun is fun, and can add functionality for the type of shooting I like to do. To each his own, but this type of feeling towards how a gun looks is a dangerous thing when it becomes political. I wouldn't worry about how someone makes their gun look until they show up at the range wearing all black, with the tactical vest, and cargo pants.

[clownbear69]

Tactical uh do you mean those Toys-R-Us guns? I hate walking into a shop and all you see are those plastic guns. What happened to using wood,trees still make wood don't they?

All I have to say look up Remington's Wood Tech

[waynem34]

Carry an ar m4 out of my house and I've got one neighbor who was so sheltered and is scared of everything. He will call 911. I'd like to be friends with the guy but its a no go. Even a fire cracker gets the law called.So tactical is sometime a pain in the butt. He dosnt realize how loud he talks and I hear every word.His wife is more of a man than he is. I know he is stressed with a new baby and not long married. Works everyday sunup to sundown. Dude couldn't be that ignorant. Protecting his family no doubt. I have to hide the tactical stuff from the neighbors lol. so tactical causes problems for me.

[starmac]

Neighbor that calls the law, just might need a little man to man talk.

[Bad Water Bill]

ALL of my STUFF goes into or out of my vehicle in the dark of night.

Yes I have a neighbor that has 911 on every button on her cell phone.

What she doesn't know won't hurt ME.

[nodda duma]

The Tacticool craze set off when the Assault Weapons Ban expired in 2004. Images from the war on terror helped increase the popularity of the newly legal rifle configurations. People went out in droves and bought stuff which had previously been taboo. Sort of the gun owner version of going off to college and drinking. That new legal access carried the craze through to about '07 or so.

Out in California (where there are more gun owners than any other state but Texas), newly found ways around the ban on AR-15's continued the tactical interest through '06-'08. In fact, supplies of AR-15 lowers dried up across the country because they were being bought out in California in this time frame. As they say, "as goes California, so goes the rest of the country" and I think that's valid for this as well.

Since Obama came into office, with the underlying threat of a ban renewal, Tacticool-ness has continued along, coupled with ever-increasing sales of the very configurable AR-15 platform. You'll notice that all the tactical stuff is meant to mimic features of The American Rifle.

But the craze started with the lifting of the AWB in '04.

That's my observation. I'm more of a milsurp collector myself like my grandfather was. I don't think it's a bad thing because it gets more people interested in gun ownership...it's just another aspect of America's long-standing relationship with firearms.