Gun accessories and evolutionary dead ends

[USAF_Vet]

The forearms accessories market is always coming out with the latest and greatest gadget, gizmo and doodad to alter or accessorize your gun.

Some of them are met with great success, such as the SB-15.

What are some that met either with little fanfare and sputtered out, or we're met with such harsh criticism and disdain and were run out on the rails?

Which accessories died off that you think should not have?


I'll start off with a couple. The AR chin stock. A poorly designed gadget that mounted to the receiver extension of an AR pistol, which the shooter made a third point of contact with their chin, rather than their shoulder. I'm glad that never took off.

One I think died an unnecessarily early death was the Knoxx Sidewinder conversion for popular 12 gauge shotguns.

 

[DeepSouth]

Which accessories died off that you think should not have?

Old school leather slings on rifles, you can still find them but their not prevalent anymore.

 

[JeeperCreeper]

The pistol bayonet.... kidding

For me, I am an avid fan of iron sights on my bolt guns, and it is so hard to find rifles with them anymore except for a few rare models here and there.

Or stripper clip rifles. They've been taken over by mag fed rifles, which isn't always the best option.

I also think folding stocks have gone by the wayside to collapsible stocks... for better or for worse

 

[guyfromohio]

Does Browning still put BOSS on production A-Bolts. I remember 10 years ago, they pretty much put them on everything. Haven't seen one since (although I believe they are still available).

 

[ID-shooting]

Wood, as in nicely finished, deep grain, warm, walnut stocks on even basic rifles. You can still get nice wood on higher-end even some mid-level stuff. But I seem to remember 20 years or so ago that there was some rather attractive stocks on the "budget" guns.

Synthetics have a place, just not as pretty or as individual.

 

[ku4hx]

The pistol bayonet.... kidding

Not as unheard of as you might think. https://www.google.com/search?q=pis...LVPGbLcugNoW4hOgN&sqi=2&ved=0CCsQsAQ#imgdii=_

 

[ku4hx]

Iron sights on all hunting rifles.

 

[<*(((><]

I'll start off with a couple. The AR chin stock. A poorly designed gadget that mounted to the receiver extension of an AR pistol, which the shooter made a third point of contact with their chin, rather than their shoulder. I'm glad that never took off.

I've never seen the AR Chin Stock before but I have got to say that is the most ridiculous accessory I've seen. I would like to see the developer of the chin stock try that out with a .50 beowulf to prove it's use.

 

[Panzerschwein]

I can't think of many, most things that die out die out for a reason but I guess one thing I always thought was cool that never caught on are the "guttersnipe" sights found on the ASP pistol. I think they make sense for close range defensive pistol shooting.

 

[J-Bar]

Cartridges are a passing fad. Percussion rifles and revolvers are the only way to go!!

 

[Averageman]

Should Not have Died Out.
Leather Slings, even the great older nylon slings you used to find on M1A's and Garands. Of course the resulting need to educate people on how to use them would be necessary.
I also have to agree with iron sights on rifles. The idea of your scope taking a dump on a hunt and not having irons to back you up is silly.

 

[jlr1962]

Traditional bluing was much more attractive than today's matte versions. I don't know why they even call it bluing. My childhood 22's from the late 60's and early 70's that I still have today look like the finishes on high dollar guns of today. +1 on the wood stocks as well. Same story.

 

[Plan2Live]

I have a Kolpin suede leather gun rug lined with lambs wool circa 1986. I recently realized how much I like this combination over today's synthetics so I went searching. No luck, faded into obscurity. I asked a few vendors if they would a custom order, no go.

 

[Warp]

Should Not have Died Out.
Leather Slings, even the great older nylon slings you used to find on M1A's and Garands. Of course the resulting need to educate people on how to use them would be necessary.

www.appleseedinfo.org

http://www.appleseedinfo.org/search-states-map.php

 

[bearcreek]

Or stripper clip rifles. They've been taken over by mag fed rifles, which isn't always the best option.

When is a stripper clip fed gun better than mag fed?

 

[wally]

Quad rails seem to be dying.

Their weight and "cheese grater" effect without rail covers rather quickly succumbed to simple but superior idea of a slim, light weight hand guard with mounting holes so you can put appropriately sized rail sections only where needed. This in turn is in the process of being replaced eventually by the even better idea of "keymod" once the accessory makers change their rail mounts to keymod and lose the premium prices for it, will happen fairly quickly.

 

[LockedBreech]

One of the first posts in this thread mentioned iron sights on bolt rifles, and I didn't realize how much I wanted that until now. Why can't we get modern actions like the R700 or Model 70 in shorter lengths with combat-style irons like a K98? I would buy that in a heartbeat!

 

[USAF_Vet]

When is a stripper clip fed gun better than mag fed?

When it's an SKS

Or a VZ-58/ VZ-2008 doing a top off reload.

Or a Broomhandle Mauser.

 

[JeeperCreeper]

When is a stripper clip fed gun better than mag fed?

-It is arguably faster on bolt rifles to use stripper clips than mini box mags.

-Using stripper clips, especially on an SKS with a 10 round mag, it is easier to shoot prone or on a rest, making the rifle more compact. It is also arguably not much slower than using 30 round mags and having to change out the mags, instead of just dumping in fresh rounds. This also lends to the rifle being less bulky than the same rifle with 30 round "banana clips" jutting out the bottom.

-Notice I say "arguably" as these are all debatable and I left the original statement vague for such a reason

 

[ojh]

When is a stripper clip fed gun better than mag fed?

When the mag has fallen off and gotten lost. I was in a live auction yesterday where 100+ rifles were on sale, of which several missed their detachable mags. But every Mauser, Mosin and Arisaka had their fixed mags firmly in place

 

[Warp]

-It is arguably faster on bolt rifles to use stripper clips than mini box mags.

-Using stripper clips, especially on an SKS with a 10 round mag, it is easier to shoot prone or on a rest, making the rifle more compact. It is also arguably not much slower than using 30 round mags and having to change out the mags, instead of just dumping in fresh rounds. This also lends to the rifle being less bulky than the same rifle with 30 round "banana clips" jutting out the bottom.

-Notice I say "arguably" as these are all debatable and I left the original statement vague for such a reason

The prone thing depends on how you shoot and the specific rifle in question I suppose. A magazine can help prone shooting by acting like a monopod, which works quite well on an AR.

I would say stripper clips are only superior when the rifle was designed that way and the larger removable magazines are less reliable, which seems to be how it is with the SKS.

 

[happygeek]

Yeah, I like old school rifles as much as the next 03 FFL holder, but I have to say that IMHO the whole clip fed fixed mag thing is completely obsolete for any number of reasons. Chief among the nice things about detachable mags is they allow you to have rails on top of the receiver, upper & lower receivers to aid disassembly, and allow you to quickly unload the gun while retaining the rounds in something that can be immediately re-inserted if need be. They also allow you to easily keep the gun with a loaded mag, empty chamber.

 

[bearcreek]

the whole clip fed fixed mag thing is completely obsolete for any number of reasons.

I agree. Magazine fed rifles are by far faster to reload, particularly ones that use a straight in motion to insert the mag like an AR.

 

[Sam1911]

I don't know if obsolete is the right word, but I'd think the bipod shooting stick system might be on the list of great idea in theory, BUT...





That recoil-transfer strut just strikes me the wrong way!

 

[Cee Zee]

When it's an SKS

Hey I was gonna say that! Actually duckbill mags can work very well. They just don't generally. I have several from the 1990's that have never once failed to feed through thousands of rounds. They're all "USA" brand mags. Not many other brands work from what people say. A few work fairly well I guess but not well enough to count on in a bad situation and that's pretty much the only use for an SKS other than plinking. These have come to a dead end because there were so many failures. That's too bad really because some were spectacular successes. But the thing is that stripper clips are actually a better choice anyway. You can carry a lot more ammo with you on stripper clips. With detachable mags you have to carry the weight of the mag and the ammo. And the mags can get pretty heavy if you start carrying a few of them. I have one of those breast pouches that carry 200 rounds on stripper clips. With practice you load a gun with them every bit as fast as you can swap out a mag. The only problem with that is they don't hold 30 rounds at a time like a mag does.

BTW I also miss iron sights. I can't imagine why gun makers thought no one would want iron sights on a .22 especially. They aren't used to shoot things hundreds of yards away. Sure you can shoot more accurately with a scope but you can't hit a moving target with a scope and you certainly can with iron sights. I suppose some people can hit a moving target with a scope but it has to be the right kind of scope. And those are not really much different than iron sights.