I had something strange that happened to me elsewhere tonight that really drove home the tactical/practical shooters vs. the tactical/practical collectors thing.
Collectors seem to live for authenticity, whether it's something in an unissued state, or something that looks like the salt in spilt blood has corroded it almost beyond use. They fret over not having correct bayonets and secretly fear that they may have had a reproduction oiler foisted upon them rather than the real thing. I'm not sure how often they actually fire their weapons, which seem to be more by way of props than tools for applied marksmanship. They gather the bits and pieces of uniform flotsam from days gone by and deck themselves out like living tin soldiers, and I don't get it. But, then again, I don't get cowboy action shooting, either.
I like to make rapid/intentional/accurate holes in a target from whatever the designated distance is, and I like to do it with stuff that works, be it pretty, pretty ugly, or pretty much unissued. I'm not GI Joe, I don't find it necessary to get more covered in MARPAT (or whatever it is that they issue today) than a jalopy rolling through Earl Scheib, and if whatever I've cobbled together by way of gear wouldn't pass a collector's inspection I really couldn't give a hang.
Sorry, just had to rant. There's something about it that just makes me kind of <span style="font-style: italic">oogie,</span> and when I told the missus about it, she understood too just exactly what it was that bugged me. To each his own, but I am a shooter.
Collectors seem to live for authenticity, whether it's something in an unissued state, or something that looks like the salt in spilt blood has corroded it almost beyond use. They fret over not having correct bayonets and secretly fear that they may have had a reproduction oiler foisted upon them rather than the real thing. I'm not sure how often they actually fire their weapons, which seem to be more by way of props than tools for applied marksmanship. They gather the bits and pieces of uniform flotsam from days gone by and deck themselves out like living tin soldiers, and I don't get it. But, then again, I don't get cowboy action shooting, either.
I like to make rapid/intentional/accurate holes in a target from whatever the designated distance is, and I like to do it with stuff that works, be it pretty, pretty ugly, or pretty much unissued. I'm not GI Joe, I don't find it necessary to get more covered in MARPAT (or whatever it is that they issue today) than a jalopy rolling through Earl Scheib, and if whatever I've cobbled together by way of gear wouldn't pass a collector's inspection I really couldn't give a hang.
Sorry, just had to rant. There's something about it that just makes me kind of <span style="font-style: italic">oogie,</span> and when I told the missus about it, she understood too just exactly what it was that bugged me. To each his own, but I am a shooter.
