A Hot-Selling Weapon, an Inviting Target (fairly neutral article on AR-15 type rifles from the NYT)

New York Times ^ | 3 June 2007 | Andrew Park

[RKV]

LAST February, Jim Zumbo, a burly, 66-year-old outdoors writer, got a phone call at his home near Cody, Wyo., from the rock star — and outspoken Second Amendment champion — Ted Nugent. “You messed up, man,” Mr. Zumbo says Mr. Nugent told him. “Big time.”

Leland A. Nichols, left, an executive at Smith & Wesson in Springfield, Mass., and John Kapusta, an engineering manager, with an M&P 15 rifle. Such rifles have been crucial to the company’s turnaround plans.

Two days earlier, Mr. Zumbo, a leading hunting journalist, outraged Mr. Nugent and many other gun owners when he suggested in a blog post that increasingly popular semiautomatic guns known as “black rifles” be banned from hunting. Mr. Zumbo, stunned that hunters were using the rifles for sport, also suggested giving the guns, prized for their matte black metal finishes, molded plastic parts and combat-ready looks, a new name: “terrorist rifles.”

Gun enthusiasts’ backlash against Mr. Zumbo was swift. He parted company with his employer, Outdoor Life magazine. Mr. Zumbo says on his Web site that he was “terminated”; the magazine says that it and Mr. Zumbo agreed that he would resign.

But a week after hearing from Mr. Nugent, who has a devoted following among gun owners, Mr. Zumbo visited him in Waco, Tex., to make amends. For his part, Mr. Nugent was prepared to give Mr. Zumbo a lesson on the utility and ubiquity of black rifles.

...

“It’s highly unlikely that any legislation to move an assault weapons ban is going to happen,” says Kristen Rand, legislative director at the Violence Policy Center, a gun-control lobbying group. “That’s the sad reality on the Hill right now.”

ONLY IF WE KEEP THE POLITICIANS FEET TO THE FIRE BOYS

[MileHi]

A good rule to keep in mind. QD scope mounts might be in order in that case.

Man, the laptop crashed last night so I couldn’t respond.

HH, I will get to those SKS peeps soon and report back.

[tcostell]

Twice the stopping power. One-fifth the price.

You just have to hope that nothing you want to shoot is ever more than 200 yards away.

(No offense intended... I own an AK ... it's just a question of the right tool for the right job...)

[Hardastarboard]

Thanks for the clarification. I was dumb enough to think the media knows what they’re talking about when reporting on the military.

[ctdonath2]

People keep trying pistons, and keep going back to gas impingement. Much as people keep bashing the AR design, it's going on 60 years and is among the most popular weapons ever.

Every design has problems. You just have to choose which ones you're willing to live with.

[SJSAMPLE]

I agree.
Unfortunately, one particular manufacturer has a rather large marketing department and is pushing this quite heavily.

I like some of the incremental changes that have come along, such as a new bolt with enhanced extractors and lugs, but a whole re-design is better left to a completely new generation of weapons.

[hiredhand]

SKS peeps?! That’s right! You were gonna do that! Yes..please let me know. If they’re worth their salt, we will probably follow suit.

[from occupied ga]

“terrorist rifles.” How about "SWAT Team rifles"?

What's the difference?

[from occupied ga]

Municipal lobbies and chiefs' associations should be opposing firearms bans instead of supporting them

Think payoff. When the city and the police department's official police benefits criminals to the detriment of the honest citizens you have to see who's getting the money. Makes you wonder about crackhead Marion Berry and the other "city leaders" in drug ridden DC doesn't it?

[LTCJ]

Please bump me with any information you post on SKS peeps.

[LTCJ]

Er, ping, bump. You know what I mean...

[Charles Martel]

Twice the stopping power. One-fifth the price.

The Simonov is a rugged carbine in a proven caliber, but it's crippled by a truly horrible trigger design. IMO, China's exporting its surplus SKS rifles was a devious attempt to destroy American marksmanship! ;-)

[hiredhand]

Milhi - can you forward that URL for those peeps? I’ve misplaced it...all I remember is that depending on your report, we were almost certainly going ot acquire some for ours. Thanks!

[magslinger]

Are you a fellow Michigan boy?

Lived here all my life, except for four years I went to work for my Uncle Sam. Both sides of my family have roots here going back a hundred years. Not sure how much longer I'll be able to hold out this time, though. My wife and I have discussed emigrating to the US. Perhaps Indiana, My Grandmother came from there and Mrs Mag has relatives there.

Michigan’s gonna come to its senses one day.

Not as long as New Fallujah continues to vote the way the Democrats think it should.

[magslinger]

Thanks for the kind offer, and I may take you up on it soon.

Let me know when you are ready. Also let me know if there is any fauxtography you'd like perpetrated. I'm not the best on FR by any stretch of the imagination, but I've done a thing or two I'm kind of proud of.

The one thing you should have before we start is an image hosting site if you don't already have one. I use http://www.photobucket.com they have suited my purposes and you'll love their price for a basic account, but there are other sites that are free.

[magslinger]

I remember one EOD guy showing us a nice BAR one day.

I think Toby Kieth did a song about it: "I Love This B.A.R." ;)

[ctdonath2]

Nice to see Zumbo have a successful hunt with an AK.
Gotta chuckle that he just had to use something with brown furniture.

the stuff he said was so hateful and ill informed I still have my doubts.

If his screwup and repentance is enough to get the NYT to print a neutral piece on the subject, my doubts are pretty much satisfied. The New Testament has some comment about approving of those who get the right message out, even if their heart isn't entirely in it.

it is problematical, and that’s aside from the question of having exhaust gas blowing straight back into bolt carrier parts.

The AR design is quite suitable (albeit not ideal) for a broad range of applications involving 2-legged vermin. Maybe optimal for sub-50m combat, it will do very nicely to 300m in normal combat, 600m if needed, and 1000m with prep & tweaking. Most combat is at close range; at longer ranges, other tools are available.

As for the persistent "craps where it eats" criticism, the design does function nicely with reasonable care. This reflects a philosophy of Western military equipment: precision & performance, at the accepted cost of non-trivial maintenance & price . This in contrast to Eastern-bloc mentality: low/no-maintenance & reliable & cheap, at the accepted cost of reduced accuracy & lower performance.

Loosely speaking... The AR is for skilled/trained professionals who take meticulous care of their equipment. The AK is for, er, the less capable. Each is more suited to their intended audience, and the results show.

So he wrote his idiot article before researching the subject

Zumbo's outrage wasn't an article, it was a blog. Articles are (supposed to be) well-researched and crafted for wide distribution to paid readership. Blogs are someone just pontificating casually to an unpaying audience. There's a difference: it was his opinion, not necessarily researched.

The 6.8 will probably be the future of the black rifle.

Doubt it. While certainly a respectable round, and would make for a fine starting point, it doesn't provide a big enough improvement over .223 or .308 to overhaul the entire mainstream logistics. It's more of a compromise between the two where having an optimized version of each may ultimately be better.

If low-order gangsters were drawn to scoped hunting rifles,

The goals & related logistics are much different. Low-order gangsters want to identify the target fast, hit 'em fast, take stuff fast, and get away fast - that's best done up-close and in-person. Scoped rifles provide great accuracy and distance, but it's much harder to locate the right target, takes practice to make the long-range hit, distance to valuables makes robbing/looting implausible, and escape is complicated when the weapon is a meter or more long. If they had the personal discipline and intelligence (in both senses), they would be personally successful and a serious threat, but ... they don't.

[MileHi]

http://www.tech-sights.com/

I have these for the SKS. Seem to be very good quality sights. Have not had a chance to try them yet as I am just getting back from shoulder surgery. Hope to soon.

The sight has info on how they mount and function.

[Lurker]

Post of the month.

No doubt.

L

[hiredhand]

Yes! That’s the one! I hope your shoulder is 100% SOON!

[magslinger]

You do know that is a bit of fauxtography, don’t you? Trust me, I’m the one who did it. At the time I did it, “black rifles” weren’t being mentioned.