Zombies are invading... our shooting culture!?

[Loosedhorse]

I guess there are a few shooters out there who take this zombie thing seriously ("Gotta be PREPARED!"), either because they fear "the real thing" or because they take it as a good metaphor for disaster preparedness in general.

But most (as I did) would just look at the gun and smile. And that's fine with me.

I agree with the idea that this is like cowboy shooters. Maybe someday there will be a ZASS.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Personaly I hate the zombie BS. It puts a stupid, childish spin on a serious skill and sport. It's the darn mall ninga's who play some stupid video game, and then get it in their head that that kind of stuff would be cool in real life. It does nothing but make as all look like unrealistic, reckless fools to the gun fearing portion of our country.

I love the Hornady company and buy a lot of their ammunition, but am angry with them for using the zombie craze as a marketing ploy. If they did a very limited run for Holloween each year, that would be one thing, but to keep it in their regular lineup is lame to say the least. JMO

They should change their slogan to "Accurate, Deadly, Rediculous."

Should we shun the zombie lovers? No. The ones that can be brought around to the serious and yet super fun aspects of gun ownership and shooting should be welcomed. I'll admit that a lot of my own interest in guns came from Hollywood and video games. But I never told anyone that. The first gun I bought was an AR15 ment for very long range work. I thought it would be cool to engage in some sniper like fantasies. I shortly realised I didn't care for long range shooting, and enjoyed CQB and pistol shooting. I sold that gun and found the aspect of shooting that I really did enjoy. I also learned in a short amount of time that shooting is a very serious and passionate hobby for me. It is not some fantasy land exercise that has no practical purpose. I arrived at this position on my own and through a lot of reading, not with anyone telling me otherwise.

So don't give up on the zombie lovers. As they age and mature, they can be brought around. If you have the patience to work with them..... all the better.

 

[USAF_Vet]

Guns are serious, but people take them way too seriously. Personally, I find punching paper to be a tad boring. So I print off fun targets, including zombies. If you aren't having fun, then what is the point? Statistically, very few of us will ever fire a gun at another persion for any reason. Training like we're all getting deployed to Afghanistan has its place and purpose, but guess what, very few of us are getting deployed to Afghanistan.

Tactical training is training for an event that most of us will never encounter, yet we train regardless. Is CASS training to go quell rebellious indian tribes? No. It's shooting for fun for the sake of shooting for fun, and building some skills along the way. Zombie shooting, be it a ZASS or zombie targets is really no difference. Zombie shooters aren't training to fight hordes of the undead, but it's fun and does have some practical skills.

I do not look forward to the day when I become so stuck up, stuffy, and serious that I can no longer inject a bit of fun into a hobby. As long as people are safe, who cares?

Some people really need to grow a sense of humor.

It's the darn mall ninga's who play some stupid video game, and then get it in their head that that kind of stuff would be cool in real life.

the same can be said of the Fudds who spend their time on Front Site (et al) training.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Quote:
It's the darn mall ninga's who play some stupid video game, and then get it in their head that that kind of stuff would be cool in real life.

the same can be said of the Fudds who spend their time on Front Site (et al) training.

True enough. There are some people who take things way to seriously. I know I do when I'm researching a gun I want to buy. I research for months and months. It has to be "the most durable, and the most accurate, and the most powerful, and the most....."

I don't do any formal "accademy or speed drill training." I just practice seriously when I decide it's time to practice a self defense draw and fire. I do love to plink and just go to the woods and blast away sometimes. I get a bit worried about people who take it so seriously that you hear them talk about how they carry 15 rounds in the gun, and two 14 round spare magazines as their every day ccw. Personally, if I lived in that bad of a place, thay I felt the need to carry that much ammo..... I'd find some way to move. To each his own though. I mean no offense to those people who do that. Just be content that you are more prepared than I for a bad situation.

I guess I just feel that the zombie craze gives gun fearing folk a bad perception of us gun lovers, as unrealistic, rediculously paranoid people. I think it is damaging to the cause overall, though it is propbably not that serious. That's why I say work with the zombie lovers to bring them around to reality.

 

[USAF_Vet]

I get a bit worried about people who take it so seriously that you hear them talk about how they carry 15 rounds in the gun, and two 14 round spare magazines as their every day ccw. Personally, if I lived in that bad of a place, thay I felt the need to carry that much ammo..... I'd find some way to move. To each his own though.

Agreed. I raise an eyebrow when people talk about multiple mags, New York reloads, back-up guns, and the sixteen knives in their EDC. I mean, I'm all about preparedness, but you gotta draw the line somewhere, right? I guess each persons view of where that line is varies. The way I see it, punching paper with zombies printed on it isn't any different than punching papaer with vaguely humanoid silhouette, or pop bottles or tin cans. Target shooting is target shooting, prepping is prepping, and there ain't much else to it.

We're not all going to agree on everything everytime, some like 9mm, others .45 acp. Some like plastic and aerospace aluminum, others like wood and steel. There is enough for us all, and we're all on the same side. Leave the bickering and nonsense to the anti's. They need something to do that we can ignore.

I guess I just feel that the zombie craze gives gun fearing folk a bad perception of us gun lovers, as unrealistic, rediculously paranoid people. I think it is damaging to the cause overall, though it is propbably not that serious. That's why I say work with the zombie lovers to bring them around to reality.

this is where I respectfully disagree. I've not met a Zombie shooting enthusiast who really believe that zombies are real and are out to eat his brains. It's people having fun, with a fun target. nothing more. Now, if someone shows up to the range with a full complement of guns, axes, machetes, body armor looking like he either just came from an African brush war, or right out of a zombie movie, I'm done for the day. However, I've never seen that guy. I see a lot more people dressed to the 9's in 5.11 gear, Molon Labe hats, and $4k worth of junk dangling from an AR they can't shoot worth a damn. Or the guy that dusted off his deer gun three days before season to sight it in, fires three rounds and goes home.

Diff'rent strokes. I don't see the need to bring anyone back to reality. If that day comes, those sad fools are too far gone as it is, and I'm calling for the pros to deal with.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

If that day comes, those sad fools are too far gone as it is, and I'm calling for the pros to deal with.

Agreed. Good shooting to all.

 

[JustinJ]

Personaly I hate the zombie BS. It puts a stupid, childish spin on a serious skill and sport. It's the darn mall ninga's who play some stupid video game, and then get it in their head that that kind of stuff would be cool in real life. It does nothing but make as all look like unrealistic, reckless fools to the gun fearing portion of our country.

Yeah, those damn mall ninjas in Iraq and Afghanistan with their gosh darn Xboxes.

The more people into guns, however they get there, the better our chances of maintaining 2nd amendment rights.

 

[mgmorden]

I guess I just feel that the zombie craze gives gun fearing folk a bad perception of us gun lovers, as unrealistic, rediculously paranoid people. I think it is damaging to the cause overall, though it is propbably not that serious. That's why I say work with the zombie lovers to bring them around to reality.

USAF Vet pretty much nailed it on his response: these people aren't paranoid or detached from reality, because they're not realistically preparing for zombies. They're just having fun.

I think too many people take their own "training regimen" and assume that everyone who shoots must also be "training". Not everyone is. Some people are just out shooting to have fun. Don't assume because a guy has a zombie target up that he thinks he's literally preparing for the zombie apocalypse.

I can completely understand if you're not into the zombie thing, but I can't imagine going through life so stuffy and serious as to berate others for daring to crack a smile while shooting.

PS As to "mall ninjas" creating the zombie craze - it's not always the case. The girl in the cubical right next to me has a husband in the Army Reserve who is a field medic deployed in Afghanistan right now. The have laptops so they can watch DVDs, and so by request as new episodes of "The Walking Dead" (hint: a zombie show) come out, I make DVD's out of them and she sends them over to him. Apparently his whole unit passes them around to watch and almost all of them LOVE the show.

 

[kanook]

Next thing you know, people will be dessing up like cowboys/cowgirls and pretending its the od west. Shooting from a wooden horse and all

 

[USAF_Vet]

The more people into guns, however they get there, the better our chances of surviving the zombie apocalypse.

Fixed it.

 

[timhernandez]

Some people like chocolate, some like vanilla but, we all like Ice Cream.

That is what is important. Telling someone that chocolate is dumb, etc. is the same as telling a CASS person what they are doing is stupid.

If it isnt your flavor, dont knock it, be glad that there is a flavor that you like and move on.

 

[Dueling1911s]

spike's tactical all ready makes a ar-15 zombie hunter stripped lower

http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.a...ical+Multi.+Cal.+Zombie+AR+Receiver&groupid=6

 

[Nushif]

Let’s leave fantasy shooting to video gamers and not bring the fantasy into the world of real shooting…

You may be in for a very, very, very lonely existenece on your empty range with an attitude like that. I would be hard pressed right now, to find *anyone* sub 30 that does not play those dreaded videogames and to whom shooting is a fun hobby that just so happens to work well for self defense.
Remember. Shooting is a great sport, hobby and everything, but in 95%+ of all people who do it, any kind of serious "training" is for an event that will never happen.

To me there is zero, zero! difference between a CASS shooter, someone who owns a .50 cal rifle, someone who shoots milkjugs all day and someone who needs to slap on his 5.11 pants to go shooting.
None of them are ever going to shoot one o' dem rascally outlaws, incapacitate an armored vehicle or be attacked by milkjugs with water and food coloring in them, or even probably ever get into a real shootout.

Every single one of them puts their pants on one at a time, have layers, much like onions and ogres and it is far from my right to make some stupid snap judgement of their person or character based on what kind of targets they like to poke holes in. Seriously folks, treat others with a little bit of human dignity and maybe we can like you know ... Make a dent not only in the US but also in the world when it comes to shooters not looking the way some of us are acting now.
In any case case, I have to drag my wife from her dangerously make believe viking world now, fill some practice soda bottles with some water and food coloring, and prepare for the inevitable attack of the reactive targets.
Or do I need to run my lifestyle by the "serious enough" council again?

 

[Justin]

Is this a new sport like 3gun or something?

With the exception of the occasional zombie-themed 3-gun match, no.

Personaly I hate the zombie BS. It puts a stupid, childish spin on a serious skill and sport. It's the darn mall ninga's who play some stupid video game, and then get it in their head that that kind of stuff would be cool in real life. It does nothing but make as all look like unrealistic, reckless fools to the gun fearing portion of our country.

Once upon a time, I used to get fearful about what anti-gun activists would think of various things coming out of the gun culture. Then I came to a couple of realizations:

1.) In all honesty, they don't pay much attention to us, nor what is popular among shooters. The dumbest crazes among shooters tend to fly right under their radar.

2.) Anti-gun activists would rather just simply make things up about us, rather than spend any actual time doing research. If you read any of the two or three blogs run by honest-to-god anti-gun agitators, it doesn't take long to realize that they spend most of their time railing against the gun owners that occupy their head, rather than all of us in the real world.

3.) Even if the anti-gun set spent the time to do the research, it wouldn't matter all that much. They no longer have the money, positive public image, political power, web presence, or media cache to get their message out on a massive scale.

Essentially, anti-gun groups are cultural relics from the by-gone times of the 1960s and 1970s. They've had their time, but it's pretty well past.

 

[Hossfly68]

Pretty common thinking in the prepper community is that if you prepare for the imagined zombie apocalypse, then you're pretty much prepared for everything that could happen. Not quite as dumb as it may seem. Besides, it's a way to shoot a "person" (our intended self defense targets in all truth) without offending the anti's. Who cares if you shoot a zombie? Nobody! But folks get mighty ticked off when you shoot Uncle Louie in the face.

 

[Noah]

:banghead:

 

[Hossfly68]

The best thing about the zombie craze though, is that it makes people do this:
:banghead:


Sorry, I couldn't resist.

 

[wannabeagunsmith]

That kinda makes guns seem like toys, and to some (in mature) people, that could be a very dangerous thing. Imagine the news report "man with decorated assault rifle shoots into crowds at shopping center, said he thought vics were zombies" that wouldn't play off very well, now would it?

 

[mgmorden]

That kinda makes guns seem like toys, and to some (in mature) people, that could be a very dangerous thing.

Many guns ARE toys. They're dangerous, adult toys that you have to obey many safety rules with in order to avoid injury/death, but it is nonetheless, an adult toy.

My boat is a toy. My ATV is a toy. My $1700 telescope is a toy. Basically, anything that you use to have fun with little expectation of doing work with them is a toy - and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Of the 35-ish guns that I own, 2 are used for carry, 1 for duck hunting, 1 for deer hunting, and 1 for competition (which is debatable as to being a non-entertainment use). The rest are just for fun on the range, and are for all intents and purposes, adult toys.

 

[Nushif]

No amount of "seriousface" is going to make people who can't operate within reality do so.
The same path of logic says we should only make cars that drive less than 40, have to be brown and need whitewalls, because how bad would it look if some guy in a nice car ran over a bunch of kids on a crosswalk, right?

 

[Justin]

That kinda makes guns seem like toys, and to some (in mature) people, that could be a very dangerous thing. Imagine the news report "man with decorated assault rifle shoots into crowds at shopping center, said he thought vics were zombies" that wouldn't play off very well, now would it?

Would you care to exactly explain how you get from "Hey, man, spend a couple hundred bucks on a zombie-themed paint job for your rifle" to "dude with zombie-themed rifle shoots up mall!"?

 

[Zaydok Allen]

That kinda makes guns seem like toys, and to some (in mature) people, that could be a very dangerous thing. Imagine the news report "man with decorated assault rifle shoots into crowds at shopping center, said he thought vics were zombies" that wouldn't play off very well, now would it?

Yeah, that seems rather far fetched to me too.

 

[USAF_Vet]

That kinda makes guns seem like toys, and to some (in mature) people, that could be a very dangerous thing.

Fer real? Walk through the toy section of any box store and count the number of toy guns. Should we outlaw Nerf guns because someone could get hurt by a foam rubber projectile? Should we ban cap guns because it kinda sorta sounds like a real gun shot? These are, afterall, extremely dangerous toys. You're parroting the arguments of the anti's, anthropomorphizing the tool, and not the tool behind the trigger. Be it a Nerf or a Glock, the person manipulating the weapon is the one who bears the responsiblity.

Imagine the news report "man with decorated assault rifle shoots into crowds at shopping center, said he thought vics were zombies" that wouldn't play off very well, now would it?

In the extremely unlikely event something like this happens, it'll be another case of someone with serious mental issues slipping through the cracks. Are people in Liege, Belgium blaming the guns and grenades for the mayhem there? Those with half a brain know the greandes didn't pull their own pins and lob themselves into the crowd. The guns didn't reach back and pull their own triggers.

Maturity comes in the form of responsible handling of the weapon, and how they act with it, not the choice of subject matter of the targets they shoot.

 

[Roverboy]

I bought the Zombie Max in 9mm because 1. It is a funny promotion. 2. It is the same as their Critical Defense ammo only it has a green expander in the hollow point. 3.It was cheaper than the Critical Defense ammo.

 

[red-demon652]

Well i tell ya guys and gals theres not realy much out there that hasnt invaded our shooting culture. Women have ivaded theculture to the extent guns are turning pink,and all other colors, childeren,guns are geting shorter,bullets,tye color of the bulet or casing varries alot,the names of calibers,swift,ppc,wilcats,ect Even in reloading we have leverevalution,titewad,varget,ect. In scopes the new simons preditor scope, tasco world class no better than any other scope,ect. All the things i mentioned were and are for market stradegy. Our targets paper,plastic,clay tar,to bio degradable,all colors shapes and sizes. Targets of animals,round targets,sguare,all shapes, even human picture targets. Hmm human pic. Targets! Just like variants of human pic targets. Race,creed,ugly,pretty,fat and skinny, goghst and zombie. Monsters and demans. The antis havnt bashed us over a targef. Or weather the shell was red green,purple,or blue. on the youth gun issue thats like me saying,(you make smaller guns and it only puts or alows them to be handled by irresponsible persons) but we know thats not true. I could say(human like targets are bad because it would teach a person its ok to shoot ppl. We know thats not true. So tell me really is shooting or buying zombie shells gonna teach ppl to shoot zombies? Everything i just talked about was desined and engineered for the shooters pleasure. If we only had one type of gun, ammo,target, it might get a bit boring. Nobody bashes you shooting at a Oboma target or a osoma bin loden target. So i see were the zmax bashers have made no point to there gisgruntleness what so ever. Other than the fact they are ppl that are the kind they think its cool but to make arguement and attention they say negetive remarks, and bash the subject with ideas that dont even come close to the real prospective and what its all about.