Aesthetics

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lizziedog1

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When you decide to purchase a firearm, how important are the looks of the gun in your decision making? In other words, are there guns that you think are too ugly to buy even if they were usefull in other ways?

I have to admit that I am shallow when it comes to gun purchases. If I think a gun is ugly, I won't own it. Rifles with thumbhole stocks are an example. I realize that those stocks might make a rifle easier to shoot and more accurate. But I find those stocks hideous. Square shaped handguns also don't appeal to me. Yes, some of them are great guns and I might be missing out on something good. But I don't like guns shaped like bricks.

On the other hand, I am a sucker for single action revolvers. I love the way they look. I like the looks of straight stock, lever action carbines. There are other guns I lkie the looks of. I have an old Remington bolt action .22 rifle. It looks like a scaled down big game rifle. It is a sleek looking thing.

How important are a guns looks to you? Does it factor into your purchase decisions or not? Are there guns that you think are too ugly to own? Or do you base your guns on utility no matter the looks?
 
I've rented guns I didn't like as well as others in appearance. For some reason

I don't shoot them as well as guns I like, which should be less accurate.

It may be psychosomatic, I don't like the gun, therefore I don't try as hard.
 
As soon as a gun proves to be accurate, it becomes beautiful.

Pete
 
For me the answer to this question changes based on the purchase being made - the purpose of the purchase. If the goal is CCW - it doesn't matter whether it's pink, ugly, whatever - because carry comfort and reliability are the real concerns. It doesn't matter to me for this scenario what the heck it looks like. Neither the perp nor me are going to be spending much time looking at the piece if it needs to be used.

In other purchase scenarios aesthetics are extremely high, almost the only thing, on my list. I recently wanted a 9mm and as I looked around the Hi Power "grabbed my soul". I just fell in love with it - for both aesthetic as well as historical reasons. As I looked and learned about it I had to have it. I bought it primarily (not exclusively) because I think it's a beautiful gun.

OR
 
For me its all about having the convertible, CCW to full size defense in a CLIP!
DSC00764.gif

I have to say the s&w 637 chiefs special makes me want to cheat on my girlfriend........

2368512950099935022S600x600Q85.jpg
 
Pete D. said:
As soon as a gun proves to be accurate, it becomes beautiful.

Pete
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So very true. I don't like boxy guns either. I won't touch a Glock, but for as much as I didn't like the looks of the XDMs at first, after shooting one I got permanent beer goggles.

However, I can't deny that aesthetics do play a role in my decision making. Like the whole Kel-tec/Ruger debate going on elsewhere. Even if the guns were the same in every other way, the fact that Kel-tecs look like something out of a box of Cracker Jacks would prevent me from ever owning one.
 
then why the hell do glocks, and to lesser extent sigs sell like hot cakes?
Click to expand...

I can't speak to Sig's business, but Glock's LEO pricing is hard to beat. They both also have a few decades of exposure and following. That must help.
 
For me the looks of a gun do play a part in whether I would purchase it or not.I've never liked the looks of a bull pup and even though the one time I was at a gun store and was able to handle a Steyr AUG and it felt better than I expected....still won't buy a bull pup.

Luckily there are lots of guns so I don't think taking aesthetics into account when purchasing a gun is limiting yourself.I like most revolvers and AR's and FAL's and bolt actions and lever actions and the 1911 is the **** so not liking the looks of Glocks or bull pups or M&P or the HK USP is not really an issue.
 
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Looks do matter to me, but there is a certain aesthetic in Glocks. Lots of people think everything aesthetic has to be good looking, which isn't necessarily true.

So a Glock is in a sense aesthetic. Just not "pretty."

That being said I buy guns on two criteria: How they feel and whether the look appeals to me.
 
I could care less. Maybe if I were torn about a purchase and all other elements (The important ones... cost, accuracy, reliability and ergonomics) were equal I would look at aesthetics.... but I have not had that problem yet.
 
I prefer to judge a gun by how it feels
and how it shoots.

Sorry, I might have to carry my gun a paper bag aesthetically, but, I'm fine with that as long as it shoots well.
 
Glocks sell because they are efficient. If you need a gun to defend your life, or the lives of others, you want, above all, a weapon that is efficient in doing that. Glocks and Sigs fill that need better than most other guns.
 
Only 1,500 you can't go wrong and i think it looks pretty

pix145523120.gif

If you want to step it up this guy has sold some because i saw when the first hit the market like a year plus ago. Seems like people who wanted them got them but now he just can't get rid of these others.

8,000 bucks!

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pix633547275.gif
 
I think it is a good thing to like your guns. Aesthetics is a factor in that, so it has some value. Maybe not as much as other factors, but it's not of zero importance either.

I have a Contender Carbine that for all other reasons I should really like (it's just my kind of thing). Yet I find it so ugly (early stainless frame with cartoon cat on the side) that it significantly reduces my enjoyment of it. I may sell it and get the blank-sided one if I get irritated enough.
 
I admit to being a looks snob about guns. If I think a gun is ugly, I just can't own it.
That said, there are plenty of good looking guns, I don't think I'm depriving myself.;)
 
I think in all the time firearms have been made, there is no reason to trade off looks for reliability. There are too many to chose from to sell myself short on one or the other. If a gun is ugly and utterly reliable I won't own it. If it is stunning and doesn't work... Well I may still buy it and fix it.
 
good looking guns catch my attention in the store but if i handle them and dont like them then its a deal breaker.

i like the aesthetics of the 1911 and they just happen to fit my hand really well...lucky me
 
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