As usual, my family spent Thanksgiving at my Father's Condo in Destin, FL. The trip was typical where I got to impotently watch my back account get drained as Jenn hit every sale to buy Christmas presents. I particularly LOVE those "Early Bird" sales that result in me being awakened at 4:30 AM.
At any rate, I spent a couple hours in Bass Pro Shop helping my father get ideas on a new cartridge for my mother.
[Don't even think about criticizing two men picking out a cartridge for a woman. We were SENT by my mother with that purpose. She frankly doesnt' care for this task as long as we understand her situation and she trusts our judgement. And she probably has more trigger time than most of the readers here.]
Moving along....
I spoke at length with a sales person about various calibers and platforms. He was a nice guy, and was a former Marine.
Through course of the conversation, I got a few gems of perspective:
I asked about whether they carried any bolt-action rifles in 7.62x39 (I kinda wanted to see one of those CZ bolt action7.62x39's I've read about on here.)
His reponse:
Bass Pro Shop doesn't carry anything in 7.62x39 for "PC" reasons. It is considered an "Assault" caliber. Even he rolled his eyes at this.
My response:
Uhm... and .223 isn't an assault caliber by that definition? I see tons of that here.
His response: (which was correct):
Ahh... but you see, that is .223, not 5.56. Not the same round.
My response:
OK.. true enough...(I'm not a 5.56 "guru" so I let it drop.) I pointed out that many people -- including me-- have used .308 commercial rounds in 7.62x51 champers for decades. And many "assault" rifles are actually marked with both 7.62 NATO AND .308. My Saiga 308 is marked as such.
We got in a debate over the safety of doing so, and he explained that it was just a matter of time before those folks blew up their rifles.
I dunno. Over a 25 year period, I have fired .308 commercial rounds in a HK-91, FAL and Saiga 308 literally thousands of times. I know all about the SAAMI differences and chamber pressures, but I've also seen a great deal of consistent usage. I'm not saying that I'd use hot .308's in Enfields, but even so, a lot have.
While I conceed his point on the differences in .308 and 7.62 NATO as well as .223 and 5.56 NATO, I was more interested in the "PC" attitude of Bass Pro Shop.
I suppose that no one ever considered 30-06 an "assault" caliber? My grandfather did quite a bit of "assaulting" with it on D-Day and in France.
What about 30-40 Krag? I think there was a rifle there in that caliber. They had dozens and dozens of 12 gauges. I suppose I shouldn't tell them about trench guns.... And what about 45. ACP and 9mm? No one seems to have heard about Thompsons and MP5's?
Interestingly enough, they carried both Glocks and Walthers in the handgun case. I thought that both of those were now considered "assault" handguns in the aftermath of VT.
In defense of BPS, they did carry ammunition for one "assault caliber." I saw several different makers of 7.62x39. Oddly enough, there were NO boxes of 5.56 NATO or 7.62 NATO. It seems that those who order ammunition think that .223 and .308 will suffice.
All in all, I enjoyed meeting and talking with the salesperson but the views of Bass Pro Shop as a company has ended any possibility that I would spend money there again. Well... that and the fact that they were sinfully overpriced on EVERY firearm there.
On a positive note, I got to play with the display of a Savage Accutrigger. I was very impressed with it.
But I am SICK of this PC crap. It's time to vote with my dollars.
-- John
At any rate, I spent a couple hours in Bass Pro Shop helping my father get ideas on a new cartridge for my mother.
[Don't even think about criticizing two men picking out a cartridge for a woman. We were SENT by my mother with that purpose. She frankly doesnt' care for this task as long as we understand her situation and she trusts our judgement. And she probably has more trigger time than most of the readers here.]
Moving along....
I spoke at length with a sales person about various calibers and platforms. He was a nice guy, and was a former Marine.
Through course of the conversation, I got a few gems of perspective:
I asked about whether they carried any bolt-action rifles in 7.62x39 (I kinda wanted to see one of those CZ bolt action7.62x39's I've read about on here.)
His reponse:
Bass Pro Shop doesn't carry anything in 7.62x39 for "PC" reasons. It is considered an "Assault" caliber. Even he rolled his eyes at this.
My response:
Uhm... and .223 isn't an assault caliber by that definition? I see tons of that here.
His response: (which was correct):
Ahh... but you see, that is .223, not 5.56. Not the same round.
My response:
OK.. true enough...(I'm not a 5.56 "guru" so I let it drop.) I pointed out that many people -- including me-- have used .308 commercial rounds in 7.62x51 champers for decades. And many "assault" rifles are actually marked with both 7.62 NATO AND .308. My Saiga 308 is marked as such.
We got in a debate over the safety of doing so, and he explained that it was just a matter of time before those folks blew up their rifles.
I dunno. Over a 25 year period, I have fired .308 commercial rounds in a HK-91, FAL and Saiga 308 literally thousands of times. I know all about the SAAMI differences and chamber pressures, but I've also seen a great deal of consistent usage. I'm not saying that I'd use hot .308's in Enfields, but even so, a lot have.
While I conceed his point on the differences in .308 and 7.62 NATO as well as .223 and 5.56 NATO, I was more interested in the "PC" attitude of Bass Pro Shop.
I suppose that no one ever considered 30-06 an "assault" caliber? My grandfather did quite a bit of "assaulting" with it on D-Day and in France.
What about 30-40 Krag? I think there was a rifle there in that caliber. They had dozens and dozens of 12 gauges. I suppose I shouldn't tell them about trench guns.... And what about 45. ACP and 9mm? No one seems to have heard about Thompsons and MP5's?
Interestingly enough, they carried both Glocks and Walthers in the handgun case. I thought that both of those were now considered "assault" handguns in the aftermath of VT.
In defense of BPS, they did carry ammunition for one "assault caliber." I saw several different makers of 7.62x39. Oddly enough, there were NO boxes of 5.56 NATO or 7.62 NATO. It seems that those who order ammunition think that .223 and .308 will suffice.
All in all, I enjoyed meeting and talking with the salesperson but the views of Bass Pro Shop as a company has ended any possibility that I would spend money there again. Well... that and the fact that they were sinfully overpriced on EVERY firearm there.
On a positive note, I got to play with the display of a Savage Accutrigger. I was very impressed with it.
But I am SICK of this PC crap. It's time to vote with my dollars.
-- John
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