The Gun Thread

Hmm...good point. I keep thinking that the noise will bring predators to you. XP

Well, they depicted the dinos as if they had no sense of fear whatsoever, which was a major error on the part of the movie people. Self-preservation is the strongest of all instincts, and the fight-or-flight response will override the predator's instinct to stalk prey.

Well you could make a case for the raptors being conditioned with loud sounds in Jurassic Park and World, but in JPI the raptors were pretty much hunting the humans out of sadism.

It's not an error at all. I have many beefs with the movie, believe you me, but that is not one of them. They make it very clear in the movie, several times in fact, that they are not exact copies of the original animal. Rather, they are a Frankenstein's monster, patched together with dinosaur DNA, frogs, lizards, and whatever else you have there. They exhibit physical features that weren't found in the original dinosaurs as a result, and I would expect that they likewise have alterations to their brain chemistry (intentional or not) that cause the dinosaurs on the island to behave differently than a typical animal might.

As such, I wouldn't rely on conventional wisdom about hunting to always apply to dinosaurs either.

Also, I agree that the .375 would be pretty good. However, if I could only take one weapon onto the island, then personally I would pick a gun chambered in .308. Why, you may ask? Well, it's because they have those giant miniguns mounted on the helicopters. Which means that somewhere on the island you can find tens, if not hundreds of thousands of 7.62 NATO rounds.

A .375 or a 50-cal round weapon would be awesome to have, but I wouldn't know how reliably I could find ammo if when things eventually went to hell on the island.

In 2016 toddlers killed more people than Muslim terrorists on US Soil.

Edited for clarity.

edited 3rd May '16 1:50:37 PM by TheHandle

Thats a bit missleading, I feel IS has killed WAY more then 23 people.

US/Domestic soil should be clarified.

edited 3rd May '16 12:11:51 PM by Imca

Yeah, that's borderline criminal level of misleading.

x4 — A .50 BMG rifle would be way too heavy. They weigh 20 to 30 pounds unloaded, and I wouldn't want to lug that around. The old-time Great White Hunters would hire natives as porters and gun bearers to carry their elephant guns and other equipment for them, but you wouldn't have that luxury on dino island.

edited 3rd May '16 1:45:35 PM by pwiegle

Hence why I'd prefer a 308.

Although, if you had something chambered for BMG, ideally you wouldn't be going to the dinosaurs. You'd make the dinosaurs come to you. Just find one of those nice enclosures made out of steel and concrete, mount things up high, and then just shoot down the walls as if you were a Medieval knight dumping oil on invaders.

Random question.

Are bear spray and pepper spray relevant to this thread?

There are a number of lighter options then a .50 BMG chambered rifle of any variety. You wouldn't be amiss with using rounds good for dropping say Elk or Mule Deer.

dRoy: In what context?

edited 3rd May '16 4:33:42 PM by TuefelHundenIV

[Sorry, new accounts cannot post external links.]

I just got my Springfield Armory 1911. Beautiful!

My first handgun was a Springfield 1911. Of course, that was 25 years ago...

Solid choice. My first handgun was also a Springfield 1911.

Wonder what my first handgun will be.

.....If I ever get to get my hand on one. XP

I mean, I know I will definitely be shooting some rifles, but handgun...hmm...

Speaking of Springfield 1911s:

There is now a Chris Kyle Limited Edition Springfield Armory TRP.

1000 units, comes with some extras* and part of the proceeds go to the Chris Kyle FROG foundation (is that an acronym?).

*Not a replica of the baby prop from the American Sniper movie

If I get a handgun, my first will most likely be a 1911, some style of six-shooter (I was rather impressed with an old Ruger Security Six that I saw for sale once, but it was right before I went overseas), or a Beretta 92 (spit). The last one because the wife likes them.

Edit: For the wife's first handgun, we've joked that I should get her a pretty pink .357 Magnum. I've added that I would get some kind of Cutie Mark engraved on the grip of the gun.

edited 5th May '16 4:50:07 AM by AFP

I love my 1911, and the former-Ranger who runs my local gun store really doesn't like the Beretta 92's.

As for .357s, I love the GP 100. The newer ones have a synthetic grip, so I'm not too sure about those, but the ones from the 80's that have a wooden grip look and feel great.

I've always been fond of Smith & Wesson revolvers — until they made all those engineering changes sometime in the 1990s. It was done to reduce manufacturing costs and remain competitive, but it just makes the guns look and feel cheap and shoddy to me. Much like Colt did with their Series 80 1911s and their various double-action revolvers, prices stayed the same while quality took a nosedive.

That's one thing I like about Ruger: their guns are consistently good. Other gunmakers will turn out fantastic guns during a financial boom, and crap when the economy goes sour. But Ruger's policy of always reinvesting their profits means they've never gone bankrupt, and probably never will.

edited 7th May '16 11:46:39 AM by pwiegle

If I were going to buy any American-made firearm, it'd be a Ruger. I'm frankly not impressed with most of the others and pwiegle's post neatly encapsulates why not.

Ruger's quality and reliability are legendary and they make some damn-fine-looking firearms.

My preference for guns tends to be German (predominently Walther, though H&K have some good-uns and there's Anschutz and other fine manufacturers; would get a Mauser 98K in a heartbeat), Czech (CZ, of course), Russian (AKs, SKSes and 91/30s) and Brazilian (because Taurus makes a "92" better than Beretta can). Ruger's the only company that puts the USA on my "would buy" list.

I've owned a few nice British guns (BSA target rifle and SMLE, LSA SMLE, my old hammerlock S/S shotgun) and I've fired a rather nice old Winchester, but my brand preferences tend to be as above.

edited 7th May '16 1:37:59 PM by Wolf1066

Go Eastern Bloc or go home. Buy more Mosins.

I wouldn't mind owning a few of FN's guns. I would love a Ruger .22 Cal Target Pistol. They look nice and they are pretty good guns. Not all of the US made guns are bad. Most of the AR's are alright. A lot of the break actions are good even then I like the Benelli shotguns in general. After finding out what Remington did the Marlin Lever Guns I am rather disappointed as it really narrows the field down to just one or two makers of lever action rifles.

In a guest editorial in my local newspaper, someone was again pushing for "smartgun technology." It seems to me that the entire premise behind this (non-existent) technology is inherently flawed, because:

• The people who want guns to be fitted with some sort of User-ID lockout device do not themselves own guns, and...
• The people who do own guns don't want these "safety" devices on their guns.

Ergo, those who promote this, don't want it for themselves. They want it applied to the other side of the debate, to "stop them from doing that, for their own good." In other words, the "Mother knows best, dear" condescending attitude of a self-appointed moral guardian.

edited 7th May '16 3:59:51 PM by pwiegle

I dunno, I could see it being a big help.

Most illegal weapons in America were bought legally at some point and then handed off or stolen. You wanna cut down on gun crime you gotta keep better track of who owns what and who's buying where and when.