Post by HRFunk on Oct 17, 2017 11:04:15 GMT -5
It’s odd the things we begin to recognize about ourselves after a sufficient number of trips around the sun. In my younger years, for instance, I was not greatly interested in any firearm that was not the most recent “High-Tech” incarnation of a given genre. My first duty pistol was a then new third generation Smith& Wesson 9mm. To have even considered anything along the lines of a second generation (or older) version of the same pistol would have seemed absurd. Something like Browning Hi Power was, of course, an antique; and, even the venerable 1911 I had carried in the Marine Corps seemed a little too long in the tooth for “modern” applications.
Then, as the years went by, a funny thing happened. I discovered something called a “Revolver”. Latent icon of antiquity the revolver certainly was, BUT, the whirling gizmos were actually fun, and I could use the large caliber models for hunting deer here in Ohio (at that time, handgun hunting for deer was a relatively recent legislative allowance, and legal hunting with any kind of rifle other than muzzle loaders was many years into the future). Looking back, I think my interest in, and use of, revolvers was the first chink in my “nothing but ultra-modern firearm” armor.
By the time the late 1990’s rolled around, I had discovered another geriatric category of firearms called “lever action rifles.” I’m not at all sure what lead to my interest in those clickety-clackety has-beens, but it might have had something to do with a childhood spent watching Sunday morning westerns and movies like “True Grit”. In any case, I soon added several examples of that type to my collection.
The next significant deviation from my “newest is best” way of thinking came along in 2007 when I finally achieved enough seniority in my department to take time off, more or less, when I desired. At that point, I began to pursue a life-long desire to compete in High Power rifle matches. It goes without saying that for my initial foray into the realm of service rifle competition, I selected a modern AR15 variant with all the (legal) bells and whistles. I found that I dearly loved service rifle competition, but again an unexpected occurrence impacted my zeal for rifles smothered in modernity. That occurrence was the siren song of a 70 year old relic to a bygone era. That relic is known to different generations of shooters by varying names, such as: Garand, M1, and, US Rifle Caliber 30 M1. Before long I succumbed to the seduction of that aging temptress and acquired a pristine example.
The M1 seemed to pave the way (or maybe I should say “open the floodgate”) for a literal parade elderly smoke-poles with names like M14, 1903, and even Hi Power. Several 1911s sauntered into may safe about this time and promptly began smoking cigarettes and playing cards with the M1 and ’03 Springfield. When my 1903A4 joined the group, it kept a distance from the others as Snipers are want to do.
And so it is that I’ve arrived in 2017 with a waining interest in black plastic and aluminum. Who would have ever expected this turn of events. Hell, I’ve even got some black powder firearms! Am I regressing?
Howard
Then, as the years went by, a funny thing happened. I discovered something called a “Revolver”. Latent icon of antiquity the revolver certainly was, BUT, the whirling gizmos were actually fun, and I could use the large caliber models for hunting deer here in Ohio (at that time, handgun hunting for deer was a relatively recent legislative allowance, and legal hunting with any kind of rifle other than muzzle loaders was many years into the future). Looking back, I think my interest in, and use of, revolvers was the first chink in my “nothing but ultra-modern firearm” armor.
By the time the late 1990’s rolled around, I had discovered another geriatric category of firearms called “lever action rifles.” I’m not at all sure what lead to my interest in those clickety-clackety has-beens, but it might have had something to do with a childhood spent watching Sunday morning westerns and movies like “True Grit”. In any case, I soon added several examples of that type to my collection.
The next significant deviation from my “newest is best” way of thinking came along in 2007 when I finally achieved enough seniority in my department to take time off, more or less, when I desired. At that point, I began to pursue a life-long desire to compete in High Power rifle matches. It goes without saying that for my initial foray into the realm of service rifle competition, I selected a modern AR15 variant with all the (legal) bells and whistles. I found that I dearly loved service rifle competition, but again an unexpected occurrence impacted my zeal for rifles smothered in modernity. That occurrence was the siren song of a 70 year old relic to a bygone era. That relic is known to different generations of shooters by varying names, such as: Garand, M1, and, US Rifle Caliber 30 M1. Before long I succumbed to the seduction of that aging temptress and acquired a pristine example.
The M1 seemed to pave the way (or maybe I should say “open the floodgate”) for a literal parade elderly smoke-poles with names like M14, 1903, and even Hi Power. Several 1911s sauntered into may safe about this time and promptly began smoking cigarettes and playing cards with the M1 and ’03 Springfield. When my 1903A4 joined the group, it kept a distance from the others as Snipers are want to do.
And so it is that I’ve arrived in 2017 with a waining interest in black plastic and aluminum. Who would have ever expected this turn of events. Hell, I’ve even got some black powder firearms! Am I regressing?
Howard
