I knew this whole thing was spinning out of hand when I saw the first M4gery at the range with an airsoft dummy AN/PEQ-4 laser clamped to the crappy plastic Fobus railed handguards. Why someone would bolt a non-functioning fake infrared laser for spotting targets for imaginary airstrikes to their real carbine is beyond me, but there you go.Other bleedover from the airsoft/Counterstrike kiddies that bugs the snot out of me:
- Any MIL-STD-1913 rail farm gets referred to as a "RAS/RIS". Calling a Yankee Hill forearm a "RIS" or "RAS" is like tatooing "airsoft geek" on your forehead.
- Anything with a can on it gets called "whatevergun-SD". The MP5SD is the suppressed variant of the famous Jerry subgun from the "You Suck And We Hate You" company, so now you hear kids standing in front of the showcase at the local Class 3 SOT and blurting "Awesome, dude! Look! A Ruger Mk.III 22/45SD!"
- Hanging crap on a firearm that makes no fricking sense. If I had a dollar for every 16" M4gery I'd seen with the stepped barrel and collapsible stock, plus a bipod and a $79 Chicom ripoff of the Hubble fricken' Telescope on ultra-tall rings (and no cheek rest!), I'd go buy a new Colt LE6920...
- Airsoft accessories on real guns. Dude, if you've shelled out the big union dollars for a PTR-91, live a little and put a real claw mount on it, not a cast zinc copy that will lose zero if you breathe on it too hard.
But, hey, ain't the free market grand? :)
Heh... Haven't seen any of that yet, really hope I don't. sigh...
ReplyDelete*Sigh* It's things like this that drive me nuts. I'm still firmly in the learning/new side of guns and all of this gunk just makes it harder for me to figure out what is actually useful and not just wank trappings.
ReplyDeleteGeoffrey
Fenris, that is the easy part:
ReplyDelete1. Aimpoint RDS
2. Surefire Scout Light
3. Troy BUIS rrear iron sight (standard front sight post assumed)
Fancy whizbang free float rail system not needed, get a handguard replacement set like the Surefire M73 or equivilent.
All my ARs have aquarium bubblers on them, because air is important to fishes, too...
ReplyDeleteMichael Bane
Tam, I do have a PTR-91, and, yes, it does have its own claw mount. And if you've ever been to the shows in Houston, you'd weep for our future.
ReplyDeleteFenris,
ReplyDeleteOne common rule is as follows: One should be able to point to each gizmo on the gun, explain what it does and why it's needed on this particular weapon. If it's just because it "looks cool", then it's probably bogus.
Harshing on my stepped barrel... ouch. What did I ever do to you?
ReplyDeleteHey, I have one too, although the chances of me ever fitting a '203 to it are between slim and none.
ReplyDeleteThankfully, with my MGI QCB upper, I can put a sensible pencil-barrel 16"-er on there any time I feel the need. ;)
"RAS/RIS"? Nobody calls 'em "Picatinny Rails" anymore?
ReplyDeleteNot airsofters/Counterstrike kiddies.
ReplyDeleteKid you not...
a $79 Chicom ripoff of the Hubble fricken' Telescope
ReplyDeleteThe temptation to get one of those cheapo Chinese scopes and whip up a to-scale HST housing out of plasticard and some aluminum spraypaint is strong.
Instances of legumonasal interfacing, is what these are. :)
ReplyDeleteIf it's "tactical" it probably ain't practical.
ReplyDeletesimple and minimalist is best.
I have a friend that has been verbally mangling pik-a-ninny, errr pit-a-kinny, ahh pict-a-deli, uhmm picatinny rails for so many years I wish he'd start calling them RIS.
ReplyDeleteI'm guess I'm now officially OLD. Less is better for me because I like less weight over more.
ReplyDeleteLet these clowns actually do something with these things for eight hours or ten hours and they will quickly figure out why.
All The Best,
Frank W. James
It's not just airsoft kids.. after the "Call of Duty" video game series, everyone and his little brother are stumbling over how to say PPSh. Overheard one at a reenactment booth telling a friend that the Garand is 'good for when you don't want to use a lot of ammo'...
ReplyDeleteIt's sad to read that, actually. I play airsoft (cheaper than paintball and I like the people I meet much better)and we don't take ourselves too seriously. We keep a very clear distinction between airsoft and real steel. Most of the people I play with are current or former military and law enforcement and none of us would ever think of using airsoft equipment on real steel. Ever. And I (unfortunately) live in California (the Bay area, even!) where one would expect to see such idiocy.
ReplyDeleteI'm sooo boring. I selected a G3A4 with the collapsible stock and added...
ReplyDelete...nothing. Uh. Is something wrong with me?
Not really T.Stahl.
ReplyDeleteThough I must confess I played around with it a bit, ended up with a G3A3 with a different color stock(black), some rails to mount a scope, a scope, a longer, thicker barrel, larger flash hider(though what I'd really want is a muzzle brake) and a bipod.
What can I say... long range plinking is fun.
Shoter--
ReplyDeleteI generally hit the Pasadena show, but once in a great while I stagger down to the Brown. What are you seeing at the Houston gun shows that I am missing?
Edjumicate me, please?
Old Squid.
Ol' Squid, I used to work one of the big tables for a while. I saw it all. The kid fondling the FN P90 because it 'killz' on Counter Strike to the moron and his counterpart carrying matching AR and SKS with every imaginable accessory attached and asking exorbitant amounts for each because they are so easily converted to full auto, but the .gov don't want you to know it. My favorite is the husband slapping a .38 snubbie in his wife's hands saying that's all she'll ever need to shoot and said wife picking up a 1911 like she was JMB's long lost kin saying, "But I'm buying this one!"
ReplyDeleteI could go on, but I don't think there's enough space...
Shooter:
ReplyDeleteThanx. Now I understand. I agree--we're doomed. :(
Old Squid
Airsoft accessories? Jeez... my first thought was "She's gotta be kidding!" But Tam don't kid. Not about shooty stuff.
ReplyDeleteAll of the gun shows I have attended were oriented towards outdoorsmen (Western WA). I guess I could seek out those likely to draw the tacticool crowd...
But no. Just as knowing furries exist is more than enough, I'm not going to go where they congregate. Same here. I'll stick around people who don't think firearms are toys.
At some point, if you feel like it, I'd like to hear what you have against YHM forearms. I've been looking for a long time at their Customizable Free Float Forearm System, because it seems like a good thing to me to be able to stick on only as much rail as I'll actually use, which won't be a lot.
ReplyDelete"At some point, if you feel like it, I'd like to hear what you have against YHM forearms."
ReplyDeleteNothing, why?
And modular rail farms like that one from YHM or Vltor's CASV-EL are the way to roll, IMO.
Okay, misinterpretation on my part. Just seems like you've mentioned them a few times in a deprecating context. But I'm okay with that -- I mean my errant inferencing. So now I can go back to wishing I had the spare cash to buy one or two, which is better than lacking the funds for a more expensive option.
ReplyDeleteThx.
What's really funny, is that toy isn't even a replica of a PEQ-4. Because there's no such thing as a PEQ-4. It's a replica of a PAQ-4B.
ReplyDeleteThere is a PEQ-2 (available with various letters after the -2) which does a lot more than the PAQ-4B (such as act as in IR spotlight).
The current state of the art is the PEQ-15, which does all the -2 stuff, but is smaller.
Heartless Libertarian
Former Infantry Guy
Kabul, Afghanistan
Well, in honesty I have an airsoft M16-A2 that's carrying a ramp and scope that cost about three times as much as the toy itself, but that was for a filming prop, and these things are important. The script called for "An M-16 with a Body Kit". That I wrote the script is neither here nor there.
ReplyDelete