All Kinds Of Firearms People
I had the very brief opportunity to talk with a guy tonight about firearms. While it seemed like a one-way conversation, one thing stuck out to me. There are all kinds of people who own firearms. Some people own all different kinds, in all different calibers, from a bunch of manufacturers and years, just for collectors sake; while others own more modern firearms for self defense and family protection purposes. The difference between these two groups is quite large, thus making a conversation between these two types of people hand to manage.
People who own firearms for self defense care a great deal about reliability and train with their weapon of choice often, to maintain their mental and physical game. The collectors occasionally fire off a few rounds, but the difference between these two groups is one of life and death. If the economy collapses, the collectors will have a great new currency at their disposal, but not as great of a means to defend it. A good defensive shooter will be better prepared with just a handful of firearms and preparing food and water than a collector who owns 30 antique guns of different calibers.
If your mainly a defensive shooter or a collector, what’s your view of it? Can a meaningful conversation be had between these two groups of people, or are the differences just too much?
Comments (4)
I think the differences can be moderated and discussed pretty well. For example I talk with an older fella pretty often about handguns, and I like to show him some of my modern carry firearms.
Knowing his history, he can identify different bits of my modern firearm and relate it to who originally created it, or who had the first idea on it. Like the modern locked breech semi-auto owes much of it’s functionality to the original Browning designs.
Thats how I also found out that H&K was the original creator of a polymer framed firearm. When he saw my XD was polymer, he started quizzing me about it. I mentioned that Glock had invented the polymer framed firearm, and he gave me a big grin and said, ‘You mean Heckler and Koch’. We argued it for a bit, but sure enough, he was right. H&K built a polymer handgun almost 20 years before Glock did.
We do look at it from 2 different worlds, but we can bring it together if we really want to.
Hey Jeff, thanks for dropping by and commenting. Hope to see you this Saturday at the IDPA match.
I fall into both groups. I got started with collecting WWI and WWII era rifles and pistols and have migrated into the more “tactical” modern firearms…. ok well I wont lie I am sporting a Saiga AK converted and a 1911 for my defense gear, nether one of these weapons are new! But I have modernized them a bit.
William – Congratulations on learning the more practical side of firearms. Using them is just so much more fun than looking at them in a display case. If you’re able to afford to shoot actively and collect, all the more power to you. Thanks for commenting.