I dont see what the big deal is with having a good looking tactical AK/AR that looks aggressive
The "big deal" really isn't one. Of course you may buy whatever gun you want and put on it any thing you want -- it's a free country.
There's a certain aesthetic which may be more prevalent here on THR than other places in the web, of being "past" the tactical fan-boy craze, if you will pardon the expression. You will find here, if you stick around for a while, that folks are very focused on the most practical, effective, reasonable, "professional" way of doing things. And many of the folks here have spent, and continue to spend, a lot of time testing products or systems out to see if they really help the shooter perform a task better/faster, or not. There is also a general trend towards simplicity which goes hand-in-hand with that performance fetish. Basically, if it works and is effective, people here will embrace it. If it is junk, or it is heavy/awkward, or it is neutral but doesn't improve anything but the lightness of your wallet, it is NOT embraced here.
I mentioned the Jeep thing because you've listed a lifted XJ in your sig. (I've had two. Locked both ends, 5" lift, home-made skids and rails, plenty of rock-rash.) I'm sure you've seen how some folks will run to PepBoys and buy a shopping cart full of chromed plastic doo-dads to stick on their car/truck to make it look "more aggressive" or faster, etc. Well, in the gun world, THR is the OPPOSITE of that. See what I mean?
That has a tendency to strip away concerns about how "aggressive" things
look. In fact, few members of this community would actually admit to having considered "looks" in any purchase beyond that of a classic hunting rifle or revolver. Looks don't win matches. Looks don't bring a soldier out of a firefight. Looks don't scare off some bad guy.
So, to say "awesome! That gun looks MEAN!" here is going to be received with a lot of raised eyebrows and eyerolls. The subtle (or not so subtle) reply will be, "does it look MEAN enough to make up for all those misses?" Some folks might go so far as to ask if your Mommy knows you're on the computer again!
Further, if looks are considered at all here, you may see a bit of a tendency in the other direction. We all generally see ourselves as abassadors of responsible firearms ownership to the masses. Many of our guns are inherantly "dangerous" looking to the uneducated, but that "dangerous" look comes not due to some artificial "meanness" aesthetic that we strive for, but due to the orientation of the componants required to make the weapon function as it needs to. In fact, the idea of making a weapon look MORE aggressive than it needs to be flies in the face of our desire to set the nation at ease about guns and our interests and activities with them in general. Some guns are just "scary" looking to some folks. Making them more so -- without a purpose -- does not help us at all.
That was the implied meaning of my little jab about welding on some spikes and adding a sword-bayonet. Why add crap to your gun to make it look "meaner?" If you need an upgrade to accomplish faster hits, so be it. If you're looking to horrorfy it up so you can frighten your neighbors, shame on you. See the difference?
In the end, it's your gun -- do what you wish. And don't abandon THR because we don't get your way of thinking. There's far more to be learned here than you'd believe possible. If any of my little jokes have offended you, I apologize.
-Sam
