Simple things gun makers can do to improve their guns

[leadcounsel]

Just thinking of simple inexpensive things that gun makers can do to improve their guns. I'll start -

I fail to see the cost savings on using plastic guts and important parts that make the gun feel 'cheap.' I'm not talking about tough polymer, but the cheap flimsy plastic like on the trigger guard.

Another thing, for instance, that Ruger could do is to make it's Mini .223 compatible with the widely available AR15 magazines rather than a proprietary magazine.

For newcomers to the pistol/rifle arena, make your guns compatible with standard magazines from another company - like Keltec did with the carbine and is doing with the .308 bullpup (if it ever gets to production). No need for reinventing the wheel; just use mags that are easy to find and already in production.

Springfield XD needs to get rid of the cheap holster and mag carrier. I'd rather have $20 off the price of the gun OR an extra magazine. I'll buy my own holster or mag carrier thank you...

 

[kanook]

Ruger profit when they sell Ruger mags. They would have to redsign the Mini to take the AR style mag, so a simple fix it isn't. How about copyrights laws when the Mini came out. And not that it matters, I've never had a problem with a Ruger mag.

 

[JohnBT]

I think you'd be lucky to get half that. I finally bought an FN Shooter's Pack for my FNP-45 USG; not for $75, not for $65 and not for even $45.

I lucked out and CDNN put them on sale recently for $18.99 plus $5 shipping. That's a cheap BladeTech holster, double mag carrier and a training barrel. And it comes with a paddle as well as loops. (CDNN threw in a Colt and an S&W flat screwdriver and a pack of ShootNSee targets.)

If CDNN is selling them for $18.99 they must be worth about $9.00 give or take a buck.

John

 

[berettaprofessor]

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong but I think Ruger did just come out with a Mini-14 that takes AR mags.....

 

[chevyforlife21]

make a hi point carbine work with glock magazines or something

 

[alohachris]

Make weapons fully ambidextrous. I don't buy guns that aren't lefty friendly. Would it kill them to add a slide stop on the left side?

 

[rcmodel]

Test fire them enough times to see if they really work or not before selling them?

I get the feeling anymore we have become Beta Testers for new guns.

It's cheaper for them to get some return lemons & repair them, then it is to make them all work right in the first place.
(like they did in the good old days.)

rc

 

[MachIVshooter]

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong but I think Ruger did just come out with a Mini-14 that takes AR mags.....

Corrected. Ruger just brought out their SR556, which is a gas piston AR. Mini's still use proprietary mags.

 

[Straight Shooter]

Springfield XD needs to get rid of the cheap holster and mag carrier. I'd rather have $20 off the price of the gun OR an extra magazine. I'll buy my own holster or mag carrier thank you...

leadcounsel,

Springfield put out what's called the "Essentials" package. You get the gun, 2 mags and a case. If I remember correctly it is $20 less.

 

[Kurt_D]

I fail to see the cost savings on using plastic guts and important parts that make the gun feel 'cheap.' I'm not talking about tough polymer, but the cheap flimsy plastic like on the trigger guard.

Makes a whole lot of sense. It takes time and money to machine something like Ruger's 10/22 FCG housing out of aluminium. Even if it's cast into an almost finished form. The plastic FCG housing can be cast into finial form the first time and the plastic is cheaper than aluminium. New shooters won't know the difference and neither will most others. It's a non-stressed area and the only people gripping are the "back in the day" types. Basically this allows Ruger to continue to produce the 10/22 at it's current price point rather than raise the price, sell less, make less money and still have people wining.

Another thing, for instance, that Ruger could do is to make it's Mini .223 compatible with the widely available AR15 magazines rather than a proprietary magazine.

This is an expensive overhaul and not worth it. The Mini is already extremely over priced as is. It's MSRP is in AR country and it does nothing better, and a lot of things worse. The AKs blow the Mini-30 out of the water.

For newcomers to the pistol/rifle arena, make your guns compatible with standard magazines from another company - like Keltec did with the carbine and is doing with the .308 bullpup (if it ever gets to production). No need for reinventing the wheel; just use mags that are easy to find and already in production.

You know techonlogy has a way of improving things. Mags are no exception. While it's nice to use G3 mags there's no bolt hold open, FAL mags don't work well with rotating bolt (see BAR-10), etc. Truth is there are improvements and different designs will usually work better with a mag designed around them than vice versa. If you're new what does it matter? You'll be buying mags anyway. If you have a certain mag in inventory I can see this (like MSAR's E4 vs STG) but even in this case many prefer the AUG mag over AR.

Springfield XD needs to get rid of the cheap holster and mag carrier. I'd rather have $20 off the price of the gun OR an extra magazine. I'll buy my own holster or mag carrier thank you..

Agian a brand new shooter will appreciate this and may even buy based on this. You and me don't care because we'll buy what fits our needs but that's not what the package is aimed at. It's aimed at the newbie. I'll admit though I have use the holster nd mag loader in the XD package.

 

[EddieNFL]

A certain major player in the 1911 market could establish a quality control program.

 

[plainsbilly]

clean up the damn mold lines on synthetic stocks. Nothing irritates me more than having that damn little sliver of plastic drag on my hand when I got to handle a rifle off the rack.

 

[Shadow Man]

How about some more innovation? I'd like a lighter, stronger firearm without years of waiting and ridiculously high prices. How about a company that asks for feedback from their end users and then acts upon that feedback? Would that be so terrible?

 

[huntsman]

Make weapons fully ambidextrous. I don't buy guns that aren't lefty friendly. Would it kill them to add a slide stop on the left side?

+1000

 

[Superlite27]

How about more coated bull barrels?

99% of the bull barrels made are nice and shiny stainless.

Goes real well with the camoflauge.

 

[semperfi63]

offer a lefthanded version of every bolt rifle model they produce. Come on Savage what if I want to shoot F -TR

 

[earlthegoat2]

Despite all the great ideas being thrown around here, I am positive that all the major manufacturers have already considered them and circular filed them because of profit issues.

It would be nice to make all or most guns fully ambidextrious but then you are upping the price on all your products to appease 10% of the market. If all the other manufacturers are not going to implement the same thing at the same time then only one manufacturer is not going to do it either. One manufacturer is not going to up the prices on their entire product line if everyone else doesnt too. Business suicide. Same thing with lefty bolt actions. I can see someone implementing this and adding a "lefty tax" of 150 dollars or more. Would you buy it then. Maybe, but I wouldnt when there are perfectly good right handed rifles around. I am a lefty and I will never own a lefty gun. Hard to sell later and it is easier to buy better rifles that are right handed.

I know the overwhelming sentiment is wishing that manufacturers did NOT implement scientific management but rather made one of everything that everyone wanted. I would like to live in that world too. Hell might as well throw in 50 grand a year for doing nothing too.

 

[MikePGS]

I'd like to see Ruger offer revolvers in 10mm and .45 a.c.p. In general I would like to see S&W bring back their "metal" guns. I like the M&P just fine, but I like the lines and heft of the all steel/aluminum guns much more. Additionally I would like to see a wider variety of 10mm's, enough to make them so popular that the ammo isn't as expensive as it is right now. I know that's probably never going to happen, but that doesn't mean I don't want it to.

 

[Echo9]

Stop making guns with no external slide stop. I don't know if there's a reason for it, but it's annoying. Walther PPK and PK380 are like that.

Make HKs cheaper. Seriously. C'mon now. One P30 costs $900 where I work, before taxes and fees. Springfield XDs go from upper four hundreds to lower six hundreds. I sell one HK for every ten or fifteen XDs. The higher cost of an HK, in my limited experience, seems to hurt their civilian sales more than it helps their profits.

Make fewer DAO pocket guns. IMO the Sig P238 is leading the way in that market.

Stop using heel mounted magazine releases. Sig P232 and 230.

Also, stop copying each other and innovate. Kel-Tec P3AT, Ruger LCP, Taurus TCP.

 

[Hatterasguy]

I wish more rifle manufactures offered flip to the side trigger guards. They are fantastic when your shooting with gloves.

I'm surprised they never caught on more, maybe because of safety concerns.

 

[chevyforlife21]

kurt in my area at least the 10-22 is 100 dollars more then 2 years ago and its made of plastic now so its a double loss.

 

[Dokkalfar]

Innovation is always nice, but something to bring the prices down is even better (NOT cheap plastic though).

 

[MachIVshooter]

Make weapons fully ambidextrous. I don't buy guns that aren't lefty friendly. Would it kill them to add a slide stop on the left side?

Last time I checked...........

 

[Rubber_Duck]

AR mags require a deep magwell due to the location of the magazine catch notch (whatever it is called). This would require a redesign of the Mini-14.

 

[Shear_stress]

Just thinking of simple inexpensive things that gun makers can do to improve their guns. I'll start -

I fail to see the cost savings on using plastic guts and important parts that make the gun feel 'cheap.' I'm not talking about tough polymer, but the cheap flimsy plastic like on the trigger guard.

Funny that "plastic" is "cheap" but "polymer" is "tough".

As for the overall decline in quality, I blame the gun buyer. Bear in mind that the average consumer has been conditioned to value price above all else and will not pay a dime extra for features they cannot immediately see, feel, or brag about to their friends. Guns have become like consumer electronics: "feature rich" and festooned with trendy junk shot out of molds for pennies on the dollar whose main selling point is shear newness.

S&W, for example, could revert to making handfitted revolvers with forged lock work . . .and then promptly go out of business when the vast majority of consumers reject such old fashioned "fudd guns" at outrageous prices--prices, of course, that would be exactly what these guns were selling for in the 1950s, only adjusted for inflation.

Yeah, I'm a little grumpy this morning.