Simplicity and Old School designs.

I hope I never have the O.P.'s attitude.

To resummarize SAM1911 comment we are living in the golden age of firearms. If you can't find a firearm, old or new, to fit your taste you just are not trying hard enough.

Yup... plastic just doesn't do it for me. I just recently purchased a couple of 32 ACP pistols - a Savage Model 1907 and a Colt Model 1903 - just for the fun of it.

Guess my name give it away. My "youngest" gun is a Dan Wesson revolver I purchased new in 1980. Have a number of 60's & 70's vintage S&W, a 1911A1 built in 27, 1903 pocket hammerless front early 20's. Still looking for one of those "new" S&W model 59's.lol

Sol said:

Preach it!

Plastic..err "advanced polymers" haven't been around long enough to prove longevity.

AAAANND....most modern pistols use the same JMB concepts to work.

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Plastics have been around for 150 years and the material science explaining their physical properties is well established and proven.

There's a reason Colt's grossly overpriced CQBP 1911 developed cracked frames after just 20k rounds of standard ball. You won't see with a properly engineered polymer frame, because it is far more flexible.

I like what technology has brought us and I also like the old stuff. Case in point, a stainless 1911 and a stainless N frame S&W are in my safe. Old tech with new metals. I also wouldn't mind a new HK 45. I've gone as far back as 1928 with a hand engraved British shotgun I've used for many years. The old guns are beautiful and works of art, the new ones are machines. I know who Joseph Manton is (the maker of the flintlock pistol in the previous post) and have seen some of his beautiful shotguns. I may have actually shot one but I can't be sure. All of them have their place.

Yep I like the oldies too!

Yep I am on the wrong side of 70 too and my tastes run to a beautiful Wood stock and a deep shiny blue such as Colt and S&W used to turn out. I still drool when I spot an older revolver and not too long ago I came across a Dan Wesson 15-2. The bluing was in great shape and those huge Walnut grips were in nice condition too. I was stunned that the LGS had it priced low and after a good checkout, I finally pulled the billfold out and took it home. The next day I was at the range early in the morning and was I ever pleased! The trigger pull was smooooth and the first shots from 25 yards offhand went in to the black. It looks just fine in the collection too Its a really pretty gun and fits right in with my J and K SWs and a couple colts. Yes real wood and blued steel has a beauty that cannot be beat.
The only other new additions to my collection have been a couple Blackhawks, The bluing isn't that great and the black plastic grips aren't really pretty but they do shoot well. The 45ACP/45 Colt Blackhawk is a great shooter and stays in my collection for just that reason, its a shooter, its isn't in the collection for its aesthetics!
I don't own any plastic firearms and the only one I ever had was a Nylon 66 Remington, oops that was back in the early 70s It shot OK but was it ever ugly, it looked like a toy! It was sold within a coupe years!
Each to his own I guess, some of us love the original look, some like the Starwars look of the plastic and Parkerized finish. If that's what pulls your bobber that's great.
As I said, each to his own. Me? I am staying with the real stuff!

Pinnacle of development:


TCB

I guess I'm an odd ball....
I have more AR's than bolt and lever guns combined, but I have more revolvers than semi autos and I have more 1911's than polymer pistols. My favorite rifle is a Marlin 1895 LTD III in 45-70. Not a whole lot of consistency.
I guess I like'em all.....

Yes, I hear you loud and clear. I have hunted the last 10 years with custom Ruger #1 with a 26 inch octagonal barrel and open sights in 45-70. 1911 is the sidearm for me.
Yet having said that, this year, I'm going back to my Ruger M77 in 7mag with a scope because my eyes and physique are not what they used to be.

It all comes around.

For me, I got all the "black guns" I thought I would ever need like an M1A, S&W sportster, SKS, sr40, m&p 40, and an fn45. THEN, I started thinking about the guns I really WANTED. turns out they are mostly "fudd" guns like savage 99, blackhawks, wood-stocked shotguns, lever guns, bolt guns, snubs, etc. If I had to start selling guns off, the black guns would probably be the first to go. Would LOVE to own a brace of schofield reproductions, preferrbly in 38 cal. I am 43.

I realized that Colt and Smith and Wesson made the only revolvers worth a hoot, Colt made a 1911, which was the pinacle of auto pistol design. Winchester made many fine rifles, the Model 54 and Model 70 coming to mind, never mind the 19th century icons of 1873, 1892, 1894, etc...

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Not so much - many of them aren't in production. If you can't afford one at todays prices, what good are they? A lot of those old guns weren't simple - in terms of how much labor it takes to make them.

Revolvers? Dan Wesson made some nice ones.
1911? Browning and his successor didn't just quit working on firearms after the 1911 - they invented the HiPower, which was double stack double action. And the S&W 39 - designed to replace the 1911? It started the adoption of auto pistols in LEO use. That resulted in the Glock, and auto loader that uses a revolvers manual of arms. And they don't cost twice the tax dollars the way a fully machined steel lower does, either.

Remington made some fine rifles too, like the 700 and Nylon 66 - the first all plastic stocked rifle, which is now a coveted collectors item.

AR and "simple" is a discussion best left in another thread - it deleted the pistol rod, and simplified the need for a separate trunnion/receiver to lock the lugs and chamber together. The barrel extension does it all. All the succeeding battle rifle designs world wide use the barrel extension because its the simplest way to do it, likely stronger, and weighs less.

Old guns are nice, but the new guns from 1954 are not only nice, they are superior in many ways. It's all about perspective - and if nothing good at all can be seen in the later guns, that's a shame. Many of the designs we now covet - like the HK P7 - would have never existed without seeing that guns could be improved and made better.

But, what do I know, I'm just a young kid of 62.

I'm beginning to get 'up' in years. But living my adult life in the tech industry has enabled me to focus on looking ahead rather than behind.
By analogy, there is a lot of emotion and qualitative value in a 1960's Corvette split window coupe. But they are not great to drive, not very dependable and the performance is very bad relative to a modest level car made today.
It's not as extreme in the firearms business, principally due to one guy who may have been a space alien for all I know. JMB seemed to have descended from the heavens as he was so far ahead of everyone else in innovation and productivity. He was the DaVinci, Edison, Musk, Gates of his time and delivered a variety of designs that are both brilliant and timeless.
But even with his genius, a simple Glock, a PS90, a Benelli M4, a S&W V-Comp, an AR, an H&K P7M13 and on and on are all modern, forward-looking, ground breaking designs. I'd throw a Tavor, S&W 460 and a KSG in there as well, but they would likely start a lot of thread bashing.
The classics will remain classics. Sound designs, timeless beauty, colorful history, possessions to be handed down for generations. But for shooting, I'd prefer the latest in metallurgy, polymers, chemistry, ballistic/hypersonic modeling and computer aided design and 5-axis machining for most of mine.
B

The last couple posts were good.

It doesnt have to be either or. I truly like and appreciate guns from the Hawken rifles, and the Colt percussion period forward, and I also truly appreciate many new designs. They all have merit in various ways. I try to be more open minded now than I was in the past.

I'm 41, a relative curmudgeon-in-training compared to some of you. But I like older stuff because I'm a sucker for a neglected gun.

With two exceptions (a duck gun and a truck gun) none of my guns were made after 1952. I like many plastic guns-am in the equal opportunity camp as some of you are, and wouldn't kick too many of them out of my bed. Buuuuuuutttt...

Older guns can mean that someone can add to a collection at bargain prices, especially if they aren't afraid to do a little work on their guns. Mine aren't museum pieces. They aren't perfect, but they are respectable. And I find they often do a pretty good job compared some of the newer stuff on the market-they are still fine, useable tools. Yes, there are some inconveniences that go along with fixed chokes, long recoil actions, older scopes, etc., but in the end they still send lead downrange very well.

quite the opposite

i love the new 'plastic' guns, they're dang near unbreakable. case in point; dented the handle of my old 1911 dropping it one day from the top shelf of my safe ~5 feet down to the tile floor. i could throw my glock full bore into that tile and the only thing that might get damaged is the slide finish.

I'm 51. I like guns. I like new guns and I like old guns. I have no pretty guns that always stay at home. Because all of my guns get to go on adventures with me, I don't gravitate toward old, fragile stuff or highly finished wood that might get damaged. Mostly when I'm in the woods these days it's with either a synthetic or laminated stock.

I admire and appreciate old and beautiful guns, but I don't have room in my life for eye candy. Every gun in my safe earns its keep.

Elkins45 said:

... I don't have room in my life for eye candy. Every gun in my safe earns its keep.

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Well, I certainly see your point, but "eye candy" will never go out of style hopefully. And that applies to many things: guns, cars, wives ... you name it. Frankly, I've got both "eye candy" and strictly utilitarian when it comes to guns: shotguns with oil treated stocks, rabbit ear hammers and Damascus twist steel barrels right up to black guns with modular construction. Many of my handguns are all steel; some are not. But the thing is, my life has room for both "old school" and "modern" guns and I see a certain type of beauty in both as well as plain old pride of ownership. I don't arbitrarily limit myself. I mean, when you come right down to it I only shoot one gun at a time and I pick the one that fits the situation.

Picking a gun is sort of akin to deciding whether to take the bike or the truck. Rainy weather and otherwise chancy road conditions I take the truck. Beautiful days like we're having this time of year is just perfect for riding and taking the long way home.

Simplicity

I'm 51. I like guns. I like new guns and I like old guns. I have no pretty guns that always stay at home. Because all of my guns get to go on adventures with me, I don't gravitate toward old, fragile stuff or highly finished wood that might get damaged. Mostly when I'm in the woods these days it's with either a synthetic or laminated stock.

I admire and appreciate old and beautiful guns, but I don't have room in my life for eye candy. Every gun in my safe earns its keep.

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Wait, old guns are fragile?

We arent allowed to take nice looking guns out?

Wood is always highly finished?

Only new and ugly guns "earn their keep"?

So, does all this mean that if I can finally one day afford an engraved Colt Single Action, I wont be allowed to stick it in a holster and try to wear the finish off it like my other old fragile guns?

Malamute said:

Wait, old guns are fragile?

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You missed the comma.

But some old guns are indeed more fragile simply because of the more prevalent use of leaf springs in the past.

I'm 71, I shoot traditional side hammer and under lever muzzleloaders, cartridge revolvers, 1911 semi autos, older semi autos, Sharps single shots, lever action center fire. .22's of all persuasions.

I have even found a renewed interest in air guns.

We truly are living in the "Golden Age".

But then we have no idea what the future Golden Age may bring.

Can never understand those who draw some line and say anything "post" is just too trendy, high tech, or just beneath them because it is popular with the younger generation.
I enjoy firearms designs going back 2 centuries and archery well beyond that.
Of course I still occasionally cook over wood, use gas lighting and some of my vehicles still have carburetors while I enjoy the convenience of microwave ovens, air conditioning and radial tires.
A real hand fit revolver is a marvel of the craftsmanship that is the American Century but there's no way I'd pick my Registered Model or a Gen I Colt SA over a modern 686 or Glock for that gun that I need to keep running in a crisis or emergency.

I'm with you on the appreciation of old firearms. They have class and are still functional and fun to shoot.

As far as "old school" designs, keep in mind that those 1950's revolvers were the peak of technology at the time. They were the best only because what we have in 2015 didn't exist back then.

I love old firearms and most of my collection consists of old classics. However, I carry a gun for work, and even though those old classics are still deadly, I wouldn't trade my Glock for a classic Smith, or my AR for a Winchester lever gun.

I love old firearms as much as I love new ones. I hate to sound like a hippy, but they're all good man!

Variety is the spice of life, after all.