Not that unusual. Ive been shooting for 20+ years (not long compared to others here) and shot my first one last year. Not everyone's friends and family has one. Some guy's friends and family dont even really shoot.
True enough. However I imagine that a good section of this board has a multitude of friends and family who own AR's though.. Every single one of my male relatives has one.
As far as my co-workers go, the ones that I shoot with tend to be my partner, co-workers on other units or co-workers at the fire department. About half of them were already shooters and they own several guns and they vary from being total gun nuts to they're just sort of into it. Most of these guys have at least one AR since they're so popular and fairly inexpensive.
However even with most of the newbs who don't own a gun period usually they've at least fired a gun at some point in their lives. Most of the time with the long guns that they've fired it tends to be a .22LR rifle (usually ends up being a Ruger 10/22 or a Marlin .22), a pump shotgun of some type (usually ends up being a Mossberg 500 or a Remington 870), a '
deer rifle' of some sort and an AR. They always remember the AR since it's so distinctive looking.
Trying to be a good partner and an ambassador for the shooting sports and wanting a bonding experience (before we're knee deep in bad calls) I usually try to get them into it a little and invite them to go shooting.
At any rate almost every single one of them has shot an AR at some point previously even if they don't own a single gun themselves. Most often it belongs to a male relative of some sort.
Maybe it's just the families that these guys come from (lots of dads and brothers who were or are in the Military or who are Police, Fire or EMS and that's how they ended up in this field to begin with). I don't know.
I just think that AR's are way more popular than they used to be in the 70's, 80's, 90's and early 2000's due to Iraq/Afghanistan, video games, their affordability, their availability (instead of A-B-C / Armalite, Bushmaster and Colt being the only game in town there are literally a couple hundred brands of AR-15's out there now) and the fact that they pretty much America's rifle.
Last year a buddy of mine did pick one up though. Loaded me up with a full mag to shoot a pumpkin. I fired 3 or 4 and gave it back. Good enough. Almost bought one last year due to them being so cheap now. Kinda glad I didnt. Not my kind of gun.
Yeah, but they work and they're
THE most popular military style in the US right now. Parts and mags float around cheap and in abundance.
If I lived in the Czech Republic I'd try to get a VZ-58 or a Bren 805.
If I lived in Finland I'd try to get ahold of a Mosin Nagant or a Valmet.
If I lived in Cambodia I'd try to get an AKM.
Since I live in the US I mostly have AR-15's.
There's something to be said for availability.
