Guns from 50 years ago.....

[Tarn_Helm]

No phasers yet in my arsenal . . .

Today we have AR's , Clocks, Benelli state of the art shotguns, Red dot sights,lasers , etc.

How would one feel today with the stuff that was available 50+ years ago ?

How would a person feel with a basic 4 inch 38/357 revolver, a 1911, 5 shot two inch 38, 12 gauge pump and Marlin 30-30 in a closet?

You might want to do a little history homework before posting this type of question.

The M16 (precursor to AR15) has existed pretty much unchanged since 1959--except for addition of assist and changes to cycling mechanism--direct impingement gas operation, etc.

Glocks are not totally revolutionary--and they came around in 1982. A plastic handgun came out in 1972 from H&K.

Automatic shotguns have been around since 1898--been for sale commercially since 1900.

You are going to have to go back more than 50 years (or even 150) if you want talk about weapons which are really substandard for self-defense.

No offense, but you used pretty inept examples.

(Though a laser is a fairly recent innovation for use with a handheld self-defense weapon--I'll grant you that.)

But it is not even clear to me exactly what you mean.

Are you referring to guns that are 50+ years old?

Or are you referring to gun designs which are 50+ years old?

None of the guns you have mentioned are what I would call "new."

Know what I mean?

But I tend to read more history than most people, so my notions of "time" and "change" are probably a bit different from yours.

To my mind, not much has happened in the last 50 to 100 years that is revolutionary in gun design.

When we start discussing "Star Trek" style phasers--that will be the dawn of a new day in handheld self-defense weapons.

[dadoody]

Today we have AR's , Clocks, Benelli state of the art shotguns, Red dot sights,lasers , etc.

How would one feel today with the stuff that was available 50+ years ago ?

How would a person feel with a basic 4 inch 38/357 revolver, a 1911, 5 shot two inch 38, 12 gauge pump and Marlin 30-30 in a closet?

More than adequate.

"50 year old" technology still in use today with deadly effective results:

m14/m1a:


1911:


Pump Shotgun:



Even the .38 and .357 revolvers are fine for home and business defense.

[dadoody]

What's a "Clock"?

[mag360]

1961, they had AR-15's back then! So i'd take one of those, a pump shotgun, an M1A with a long barrel, a 1911 and a browning hi-power. oh and a snub nose .357 for concealed carry.

[Norsemen308]

if i had 5 seconds to grab guns and go... you can bet a 1911, m1a, and an 870 would be all i need... by far the "toyota's" of guns LOL

[joepamjohn]

I would have no problem with the older stuff, in fact you just don't see much of it at shops these days. It's a generation thing. Most shooters under 40ish prefer the polymer black tacticool stuff since that is what they see in movies, games, etc. The over 45 gang can better relate to lever guns, revolvers, shotguns (with actual wood) since they grew up with them.

Since I am over 50, I think you can guess which I prefer.

[Merc1138]

You might want to do a little history homework before posting this type of question.

The M16 (precursor to AR15) has existed pretty much unchanged since 1959--except for addition of assist and changes to cycling mechanism--direct impingement gas operation, etc.

Glocks are not totally revolutionary--and they came around in 1982. A plastic handgun came out in 1972 from H&K.

Automatic shotguns have been around since 1898--been for sale commercially since 1900.

You are going to have to go back more than 50 years (or even 150) if you want talk about weapons which are really substandard for self-defense.

No offense, but you used pretty inept examples.

(Though a laser is a fairly recent innovation for use with a handheld self-defense weapon--I'll grant you that.)

But it is not even clear to me exactly what you mean.

Are you referring to guns that are 50+ years old?

Or are you referring to gun designs which are 50+ years old?

None of the guns you have mentioned are what I would call "new."

I was going to make a similar post, but you nailed it. The AR is pretty much 52 years old, polymer pistols have been around for 43 years(the hk vp70 is from 1970), and autoloading shotguns definitely aren't even as recent as either of those.

Even if you look at the SCAR, ACR, ARX, etc. they're still all re-hashes of the AR or AK(64 year old design) with some ambi controls thrown in, big deal. You aren't going to be doing anything better with a SCAR or ACR than you would an m4, and that's why our military still hasn't bothered to change yet. It would cost billions and make no noticeable difference.

Regarding the handguns, yeah the polymer frames save some weight, but that's not revolutionary, it's just a moderate savings in weight. Polymer frame handguns have nothing to do with accessory rails on guns, nor has it made the handgun itself really any more effective. We're still primarily shooting 9mm, .40, and .45 out of the things.

The technology we use in the firearms commonly available is already 40-50 years old(or older). Anyone that claims otherwise is a marketing shill for whatever company they say has a new "revolutionary" product, because none of it is.

A 1911, marlin 30-30, pump shotguns, and revolvers... that's 100 year old technology.

[dadoody]

I would have no problem with the older stuff, in fact you just don't see much of it at shops these days. It's a generation thing. Most shooters under 40ish prefer the polymer black tacticool stuff since that is what they see in movies, games, etc. The over 45 gang can better relate to lever guns, revolvers, shotguns (with actual wood) since they grew up with them.

Since I am over 50, I think you can guess which I prefer.

Got a 1911, m1a scout, mossberg 590, sks, snub 38, large 357, glock.

All in all, if it was SHTF and I could only grab 1 long gun, it'd be a coin toss between the sks and m1a. handgun, it'd be the 357mag revolver.

If it was home defense, I'd choose the mossberg and 1911.

For regular concealed carry, the glock 30.

[Levetti]

My newest firearms are a 1956 Garand and a 1960s Colt .357 revolver. I haven't purchased a more "modern" gun because I haven't shot any "modern" guns I like better than my Garand or .357; ARs don't do it for me and even M1As aren't the same as a Garand. I might have to get a 1911 soon though.

[Shellshocker66]

I would love to regain some of the 50 plus year old weapons I had to sell due to financial problems. The one that stands out the most is the WW2 Winchester trench shotgun I had to sell which was just a beauty and got the job done just as well as anything today on the market.

[Eddy's Shooting Sports]

My G Series FAL is just about 50 years old. I'd grab that at a moment's notice if I needed to reach out and touch something.

As for handguns, 1911's and Hi-Powers pretty much established the modern benchmark for handguns in 1911 & 1935 respectively.

[Iskra]

I've knocked down more ducks with my A5 (from my grandfather, he was born in 1911) than with any of my other shotguns.

I've taken more game with my 1958 Model 70 than any other rifle.

I've put more rounds downrange into the black circle with my 1918 m1911 than any other pistol.

The gun under my side of the bed is a 5-shot revolver in .357.

What was your question again?

[nick]

Today we have AR's , Clocks, Benelli state of the art shotguns, Red dot sights,lasers , etc.

How would one feel today with the stuff that was available 50+ years ago ?

How would a person feel with a basic 4 inch 38/357 revolver, a 1911, 5 shot two inch 38, 12 gauge pump and Marlin 30-30 in a closet?

I would imagine a person would feel just fine. That set you listed looks good to me, and it's probably no different from what a lot of people have.

[nick]

Well, you've just listed my GTGs except I have 3 pre '64 Winchester '94s in 30-30 an the only Marlin lever gun I have is a .22lr.

Hell, I fell comfortable enough with a .45 Kentucky FL pistol, a .54 cap lock rifle and my SxS 12g frontloader. When I need to feel tacticool, I can grab a C&B revolver and my .54 cal swivel gun (two barrels).

Of course, if 50 years old (or a copy thereof) is the only requirement, Why not include the +64 year old AK47? BARs, Thompsons, Grease guns, etc. have been around even longer than that. How about the FA broomhandle pistols?

Wish I could get most of those now

[Cali-Shooter]

50 years ago, the M1 carbine was the M4 carbine of the day.

50 years ago, police sidearms were .38 or .357 magnum revolvers.

50 years ago, 1911's were still in fashion (and still are).

50 years ago, guns were sold in Hardware stores and at Sears.