An important round table discussion, that I think we need to have more of.
How do we attract men to the shooting sports? How do we retain their interest?
What is the best handgun for the man in your life? Mossberg Shockwave? S&W 500? Desert Eagle? Beretta 93R?
(Satire.)
A Steyr GB.
Dont ask me why. I have rescue fantasies where I am tied up to a chair and this big, tall dark, black muscular Teal’c looking dude with a Steyr GB saves me and leads me to safety by my wrists with a firm grip that is powerful but shows he is in control.
Yeeeeeep
You’re gonna laugh… but in my nightmares about the GF being abducted and needing an extraction… right after the red tie goes on and my head finishes getting shaved… well, “47 Newman” grabs a pair of nickeled longslides.
I so wanted one of those. In the 80s my cash was spent on my badass Z28 and lots of dates. Minimal funds went to firearms. One of my fellow Rangers was a barracks rat with no car, no dates, and all food from the chow hall. He had every cool gun then. Including a GB. The 16 inch city MP5, HK93, 91, etc. I wonder what his collection is like now.
But I bet he never woke up in a bed full of naked, disinhibted stoner SCAD chicks.
How to attract anyone to the gun industry?
Is by making the culture more attractive. Noveske did that a few years ago. While every other manufacture was featuring LEO’s, SWAT and military in there advertisements, Noveske used young men and women dressed in Patagonia jackets/vest sitting by a camp fire roasting marshmallows with a North Face tent in the back ground. SilencerCO followed similarly by advertising using people who were fly fishing and riding horses in the mountains and backpacking. Manufactures need to diversify their audience. Selling a product as a tactical product used in a life or death scenario is fine but might turn people away. Selling a product as a recreational- lifestyle product might have a larger audience.
The best handgun for men? Depends on what kind of man you are. If you still carry around a brick phone, than I think a 1911 would be perfect for you. Having said that, if your a fan of wearing leather jackets and folding your shirt collar over said jacket, than I think a Smith & Wesson 5906 would suit you just fine. If your a simple man with simple taste, a Glock will do you just right. If you have no friends and wear Crocs, than I would recommend a Hi-Point 9, If your into luxury and have expensive taste, I would recommend a Heckler & Koch P30, if you have to have something that resembles what the military might have, I would recommend a Berretta 92 or Sig Sauer P226, if you grew up watching Miami Vice, love 80’s music and wear Ray Ban’s, i would sugest a Bren Ten or Detonics.
Guns like watches or cufflinks, are… in an essence, accessories. Your gun and you should look good together. If john Wick pulled out a Taurus- the movie would suck. If Neil and Chris from the movie HEAT were using Kel-Tec Sub 2000’s during the bank heist shootout, that scene would have really sucked. Likewise also, if Tom Cruise in the movie Collateral was going around L.A. killing people with a Hi-Point 9, it would have sucked really balls!! The gun you own should fit your personality as well as fit your lifestyle.
Um, 1911. Not sure how there’s even a debate.
Hardballers, I presume?
SCAD chicks??? You must have been at HAAF.
A S&W 4506. I nice, big hunk of steel throwing a real man 's round.
No doubt- and it’s gotta be in .45 ACP.
-Made in America by Smith and Wesson, not Europe by rich perverts
-Looks like the .45 Longslide from Terminator 1
-Holds 8 rounds because you know you can handle business under 6
-Heavy and large so as to exclude women and males of weak blood
-Stainless Steel, not black or polymer, so when you bust in on a full up dope house eveeybody knows you are gonna shoot dat ass if they dont STFU and STFD.
-Scientificially optimal geometry for pistol whipping
-Was on Miami Vice and was carried by Don Johnson
-Was dual wielded by Alonzo Harris
-Gets women pregnant if they stand next to one too long.
-Beats the Beretta Glock and Sig. As in you could literally beat the aforementioned pistols into scrap with the 4506.
-Ever heard of the guy who took shit off people while carrying a 4506? Me neither.
Firefly has the 4506 right. My memories of the approx four pound gun is it was only carried by generic toilet paper guys - the ones who took no shit off anyone. The one time I was on the wrong end is burned into my memory with the “oh my God, that is a huge hole”.
To Elephant’s point, gun marketing skewed dramatically to self protection over the last 25 years, following the CCW trend. The 80’s and before marketing and industry image seemed more outdoorsy focused, so going to the traditional roots is smart money. Hell, I have been in Patagonia for 35 years. When the trendy tween posers are buying self-driving minivans in 15 years, I will still be wearing my then 35 year old Patagonia Dimension jacket.
To the upscale outdoors audience, I have a cousin who is a CEO of considerable regional corporation. He can buy an upscale truck on plastic and pay it off next month. Closet full of Arcteryx for the weekend. He is a SIG guy for life. He also is not going to respond to the Camo face 1980’s HK advertising. Capturing the demographic young pays off for the boutique audience.
Anything with an arm brace.
HaHaHa That right there is funny…and true.:haha:
EXACTLY.
As much as we might deride the hipster/lumbersexual/urban types, they’re a budding market for firearms. Noveske and SilencerCo, like you mentioned, get it. I think SilencerCo in particular, as their adverts are heavily geared towards recreational shooters for whom sound suppression is value-added to their outdoor experience, vs an operational necessity. Vortex also does this well, by speaking to the hunting market.
I can’t believe this in even being discussed. Inspector Callahan told us many years ago. David
Yes. And in that era only had about 1500-2500 students, mostly women, and I don’t think it was accredited yet. So it was fully of daddy issue, borderline personality, rich art chicks hell bent on shocking their parents. A young taller, ruggeder Tom Cruisey looking type warrior poet guy could score like a rockstar all weekend.
While I have never had a 4506,
I have a 1006 and 1086.
And a 5906 and 6906.
I love them.
I can’t believe revolvers got no mention at all. Why can’t there be a Magnum Research BFR in .475 Linebaugh in woodland camo with an integral rail?
Dangit. I know I brought up the 4506 but ^^^^^ this right here makes me want to run out and buy one. Now.