Is Tactical the JDM/Type-R/Euro for the gun world?

A lot of JDM/Euro spec parts are more performance oriented than their American market counterparts (higher output engines, stiffer suspension tuning, etc.). Similarly, many so-called "tactical" products are higher performance varients of traditional equipment.

A lot of it is just marketing hype though. Many "tactical" products make just about as much sense as a JDM spec Type-R badge on an '89 Civic DX...

R

Nostalgia

I remember when "tactical" just meant black. Now, tactical can be black, "coyote" (nothing is khaki, anymore), or "dig-cam."

Real-Tree camo, by contrast, is completely non-tactical, and operators (like me) simply won't touch it.

Loosedhorse said:

Real-Tree camo, by contrast, is completely non-tactical, and operators (like me) simply won't touch it.

Click to expand...

I know you're joking, but this kind of thinking extends into the .mil community as well (where they are, unfortunately, not joking in the slightest). See also: Multicam, which out-tested the competition back in '04, but ultimately lost out to ACU and ABU patterns. It just didn't look as cool as those new "digital" patterns, don't ya' know.

And yeah, depending on what part of the country you live in, Realtree & Mossy Oak pretty much kill every "tactical" pattern (including Multicam, though it does better than the others) for the kinds of terrain that are actually found in North America. But don't try telling that to the mall ninja crowd.

R

And yeah, depending on what part of the country you live in, Realtree & Mossy Oak pretty much kill every "tactical" pattern (including Multicam, though it does better than the others) for the kinds of terrain that are actually found in North America. But don't try telling that to the mall ninja crowd.

Click to expand...

Not to mention looking much better. Around where I'm at, "dress camo" isn't an unheard of concept , and just for going out and about the hunting patterns just look a lot better. Being that most of my hunting is waterfowl, the majority of my camo are marsh patterns (Advantage Wetlands or Mossy Oak Shadowgrass) which I really like the look of . Neither is very "tactical" though.

Didn't you get the memo? Tactical is out. Zombie is the new tactical.

All kidding aside, companies need to sell products. This bleedover into the civilian market is just a trend to drum up sales. They're just catchy words. Let the product do the talking, not how flashy the full-page glossies are.

Tactical is the premium made up version of a product. Think of an AR-15 as a Porsche. The base model is the Boxster. The upmarket version is the Caiman. The tactical is the 911.

mortablunt said:

Tactical is the premium made up version of a product. Think of an AR-15 as a Porsche. The base model is the Boxster. The upmarket version is the Caiman. The tactical is the 911.

Click to expand...

Remember, even the lowly Boxster is still more car than most drivers need.

R

And just like a Porsche, most shooters are not skilled to get all the performance out of an AR-15.

Hold on, the Cayman is just the hardtop version of the Boxster.

Darn you and your screen cap hso. I started double clicking stuff to try to get a decent rifle.

I am old enough to remember when everything had to be a "Magnum" in the wake of the Dirty Harry movies.

Seems like a good anology to me.

Just as the tuner is looking to make the car unique, better handling, braking, acceleration, etc., the tactical crowd is (hopefully) trying to make their gun shoot better, more accurate, more ergonomic and more adaptive to whatever their needs.