sons of guns new episode

[Mohawk]

I've personally known Will and family for many years. Long before Son's of Guns was even an Idea. There are no finer, honest, top line people in the gun community. Don't you think that if there were any customers of his that were ever unhappy for any reason with his products, they would surely pipe up now with their complaints? But there are none. Many gun owners don't like his show but almost to a man like his products and are willing to pay and wait for them.

Will didn't make this show for all you internet gun owners. If he wanted to make something that would appeal to you purists he would have put out a Cd that you could buy mail order on a subject you care about like resetting the bolt gap on a 1919A-4. Or calculating the harmonic vibration and torque of a 1mm AK receiver in full auto mode. He made this show to appeal to the general public who never get to play with the type of stuff he shows. A lot of it is “firearm fantasies.” "Boy, how cool would it be to mount one of them-thar belt fed machine guns on the handle bars of a custom Harley?" "Yeah! paint it up all custom!" This stuff has a very wide audience appreciation outside the professional gun community.

In the end, it's all about results. You want results? First off, the advertising is all very high end stuff. There are no "Sham-Wows" being sold during his shows or Ronco salad choppers. It's 45,000.00 Dodge dually, 50 thousand Lexus, etc. Also he has his TV shop, a second production shop, strictly for fulfilling his catalog of Red Jacket products and just recently he has added a third shop which is larger than the other two combined to handle the increased production needs of his catalog orders. Going from 3 smiths to hiring 30 smiths full time in a year, just to keep up with increased demand is not a very bad thing and a sure sign of a successful business.

Someone mentioned Dignity. Dignity don't pay the mortgage, nor secure the future for Will and his family. Son's of Guns does. I'm sure that once he's got the time and the inclination he'll put together a video showcasing the many variations of Mauser oiler bottles for all you aficionados that will provide great appeal and hours of informative entertainment.

 

[Niftus]

I grew up in a very gun un-friedly house, and later in life as I grew up I never really got the draw of recreational shooting -pardon the pun...



But that's me... since this March, I got the bug from these shows. I've gone from having a shotgun around the house from when I lived on the other side of the tracks, that was last shot sometime late"ish" last century (a day or two after it was purchased); to acquiring and shooting... and reloading ...and bullet casting for, several firearms that've been kicking around my wife's family for ages collecting dust, to adding a few more new and new to me guns to the budding arsenal along the way. Now I'm a full-on dyed in the wool NRA member, range officer, wheel weight scrounger -Oh yes friends that bug bit hard.

It's fair to say that my tastes in firearms television have become more "refined" in the last six months (for those of you at home keeping score) - less Discovery channel - more Outdoor channel, but I don't think I've jumped on the bandwagon without the nudge from Mr. Hayden and company and the others.

It's definitely good PR.

My 14-year old son says, "Dad, you have to come watch this show with me!". When the kid invites me to join him in something, I am all over it. To a young teen, Dad ain't as cool as he once was.

Having not grown up in a gun family, this show definitely sparked our interest. The show was a conversation starter and lo and behold, we found friends who were into the sport who graciously invited us to hunt with them. After watching SoG for 5 minutes it becomes obvious that it's not a documentary or YouTube instructional video. The show is geared toward entertainment, and the funny thing is, around here we enjoy being entertained! And I guarantee you this: that show drew my son and I into the hobby. Did we run out and get matching AK's so we could run to the mall and tell our friends? No, but in the space of 18 months we do now have shotguns for dove, a lever gun for deer (we each got our 1st deer, and they were the 1st deer killed in at least 3 generations of our family) and most used, 22 rifles & pistol for plinking.

This is my first post @ THR. I also belong to a car club. My hobby car was made in the '50's and most of the members are all about having fun with their wheels, enjoy using them, love to maintain and improve them, etc. But there is a contingent who when they look under the hood of another's car, shake their heads sadly, noting that the firewall was painted the wrong color shade, or that the oil filter is not "correct". Nobody really hangs out with these guys. Nobody fun, anyway. Does anyone see the parable in this paragraph?

 

[Ole Humpback]

As for the show.. Most of what you learn is in job setups, the mounting fixtures and tools you see in passing on the benches. You can learn a lot, its just not spoon fed to you.

EXACTLY!!! I worked in a machine shop for the last 3yrs to have some money while I was going through college and what I've found out is that firearms, minus some of the moving parts, aren't complex at all. They really aren't complex when you've had to program a 4-axis CNC operation for a CV joint or TIG weld a titanium muffler outside of an Argon chamber. Other than maybe some OTJ learning, I'd say I have enough machining & assembly experience to be a decent entry level gunsmith. But that's not what I went to college for, but it sure was fun work to say the least.

We are talking about a show that misleads or gives faulty information, like shooting 223 at a bus and having pyros blow it up with some remote off camera,

As low on gun & explosives know how as I am, I can still tell when someone is using Tannerite or some form of impact sensitive explosive for a target. The point of the show isn't to supply a user guide to building guns, rather to hit the high points of making a firearm and selling it to the end user all the while being entertaining. In fact, they've more than once told the camera they can't film what they are doing. The Thompson build was one where they refused to show how they were machining the receiver to allow for full auto fire and with good cause because anyone who saw the machining steps and has a Dremel could take a semi-auto replica Thompson and grind it into a FA Tommy gun in his basement.

So while they aren't filling in all the blanks for you, they are getting the gun-uneducated interested firearms in a good way and that is more than any of us on here can do in an hour without TV & Google. It took me and my BIL almost a year to get my sister to safely go to the clays range with us and she was pretty much on the anti-gun side of things when we started on her. Shes now quite the gunslinger on clay pigeons. That has been my only success in getting someone interested in guns. Most people I have taken to the range out of there curiosity either find shooting boring, difficult, too painful/loud, the guns getting dirty & needing cleaning, the people at the range scare them, ect. Its an uphill battle to change views on firearms, and SoG is providing a great way to do it. Sure, some bits are cheesy, but then again I've had the exact same conversations on the show with people where ever I've worked before.

 

[RalphS]

When they blow something up and you see white smoke, it's Tannerite. You can definitely blow up a car with that stuff. It's not remote controlled. You just shoot it with a high power rifle.

You can buy it over the internet. Nothing special about it.

When they blow something up with lots of flames and black smoke, that's a gasoline bomb. That's probably a remote controlled trick.

Most of the "special effects" I've seen on the show have been Tannerite.

 

[nosmr2]

Every man has his price.

 

[TCB in TN]

Every man has his price.

You know you are right. But I have done some seriously stupid stuff in my life because my boss told me too, even when making minimum wage. Now I make better money, but I work with kids and will often act like a fool to make my point or to get their attention. Some people talk about dignity, well I haven't seen anything on SoG that I thought was degrading, in fact most of what they do shows them working, having fun, and getting paid well (far better than most of us). If that is a drag down to Will or the others dignity, then hey sign me up for some of that. I will take some undignified full auto goodness in a higher tax bracket!

 

[browneu]

There is no dignity in passing one's work as if they invented the solution when it's been done prior.

There are numerous discussions on how Will claims to be first in a market when there are previous work out there.

Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk

 

[USAF_Vet]

this thread has really gone Low Road.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

Personally, I'd like to see them make an affordable double rifle (ca. 2K) that can shoot 2 MOA in 30-06 or 308 for hunting in North America. That has a rear ghost ring sight. I'm sure they could start with some sort of Stoger sxs shotgun platform.

Also, I'd like to see some lever action and bolt action work. How about a lever action Marlin 336 that's been adapted to take magazines.

How about taking a Ruger Scout rifle and getting it to weight under 6.5 lbs with scope and sling attached? Also be cool to see if said Ruger Scout could be modified to feed via stripper clips.

How about making a lever action that can work with the 458 Lott cartridge?

Just some ideas for some things that woudl interest me.

I will watch the show no matter what.

 

[X-JaVeN-X]

The analogy is not really comparable. We are talking about a show that misleads or gives faulty information, like shooting 223 at a bus and having pyros blow it up with some remote off camera, your car not being original and someone not like it is not comparable to a show that is fake and giving false ideas. It would be more accurate if there was a show had car like yours and had it doing 0to 70 in 3.2 when you know it does not do that. If you like it fine but you can also watch scooby doo with your kid, but don't pass it off as a reality show. You have made the word reality not stand for its definition.

funny...I read his post and noted that he said the show was for entertainment and not an instructional video.

After watching SoG for 5 minutes it becomes obvious that it's not a documentary or YouTube instructional video. The show is geared toward entertainment, and the funny thing is, around here we enjoy being entertained!

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the show isn't for educating. Do you watch an action movie and get pissed when the "gansta" holds his pistol sideways? Do you scream "That's not how you shoot a gun! This movie is false and confusing the public!" If so, then maybe you need a vacation and a little therapy cause you're wound a bit too tight. The show is what it is.

I did mobile electronics for years and wish I had a dollar for every time I saw a car "hot wired" in a hollywood movie and how incorrectly it's done or portrayed...but I know it's just a movie and don't think twice about it or tell people they shouldn't watch it because it's not true. "DUH" is the only thing coming to mind when I read your posts in this thread.

 

[timhernandez]

this thread has really gone Low Road.

+1 to that...

It is a sad day when people cant figure out Entertainment from Education and feel the need to cut down someone for making a living doing something he obviously loves....

 

[hso]

While edwood/blowfeld and wolflager have pushed the thread over the edge with their intentional violations of the civility/vulgarity/profanity rules the thread was helped towards the edge by others.

My appreciation and apologies to those of you that remained civil while being critical of the show and to those of you that supported it with the same spirit. You stayed on the high road while others chose to crawl along the gutter.

Be on the lookout for the misanthropes that finished the thread off and don't hesitate to hit the

button when they crawl out from under their rocks in a new guise.