For the older guys in here, is this true?
>aks we’re cheap but unpopular due to being associated with commies, terrorists and other anti-American shit, criminals
>no one was really into tactical stuff outside of crazies, vets a preppers (I guess they’re also crazies)
>being into AR’s, AK’s and tactical gear would have most gun owners seeing your a some crazy freak unless you were a combat vet or something
Actually sounds nice ngl>>62514668
The price jumped up around '93.Yeah kind of. AKs weren't unpopular, but they weren't something people really took that seriously. Owning gear was very strange though, like kids might have a milsurp jacket or sleeping bag but any kind of LBE was weird, and the tactical scene as we know it today didn't exist at all. Wasnt really until GWOT took off that you had regular people buying SWAT magazine and mail ordering blackhawk vests.>>62514668
>aks were cheap but unpopular due to being associated with commies, terrorists and other anti-American shit, criminals
They were cheap because import restrictions were looser and milsurp was yet to dry up. They were (relatively) unpopular because the perception of cheap things has always been that they must necessarily be shit, as were most Mosins and SKSs available at the time.
>no one was really into tactical stuff outside of crazies, vets and preppers (I guess they’re also crazies)
The "tactical" market was way smaller. Optics, lasers, and NV just weren't developed to the level where they are today, and consequently there were just fewer affordable things civilians could buy that offered any real benefits on the range.
>being into AR’s, AK’s and tactical gear would have most gun owners seeing your a some crazy freak unless you were a combat vet or something
The early 2000s were way before social media, so if you were going around flexing your tactical gear at crowded public ranges so much that people recognized you as the local mall ninja, of course you'd seem "out there". Check out any /gq/ thread and compare how many pictures of peoples' gear is taken at home versus at a rifle class or something. It's like 3% of /k/ that consooms that hard actually goes outside with their stuff.>>62514697
>>62514668
You still get funny looks if you have tacticool gear. I would argue they're even more inflammatory than the guns.>>62514760
I think it's more people thinking you look silly in your larp kit as opposed to thinking you're actually dangerous. Could also be seen as vain to some people.>>62514668
I am 40.
>Mosins were $70-100 at big 5 up until 2012ish
>SKS were 300-500, even for east german
>Bought an SGL21 for $789 in 2011
>Cases of x39 or x54r were around $80-120 all day, opening spam cans was fun
Tactical stuff made a slow comeback because the assault weapon ban expired in 2004 and a lot of people were scared it would be renewed or even made worse.
So not many manufacturers or companies started making stuff and people were apprehensive to stock up on things they might have to turn over like magazines.
Wasn't really until about 2007-8ish that people started relaxing and the industry blew up.

Honestly it was not a better time. Certain things like surplus were better, sure, but overall there were way less options available and the gun culture/community was almost exclusively made up of hunters or hardcore prepper/turner diary types.>>62514668
people all bought AKs and other comblock imports either as novelties or because they were poor and the guns were cheap. nobody refused to buy them because they were commie guns. ARs were unpopular because they were very expensive and people didnt feel a need for large magazines because whites were ~80% of the population instead of ~50%. After the AWB people all wanted to buy ARs before they got banned for good which was another big part of the impetus behind ARs taking over the market.>>62514787
Honestly I feel myself becoming a neo-fudd and disliking most new accessories and heavily disliking modern "influencers". I'd gladly trade most of it for cheap slavshit, but I would miss modern scopes. That is if the picture you paint is accurate anyways.
t. zoomer>>62514801
>ARs were unpopular because they were very expensive
This cant be downplayed. Colt ARs were like 7-800 bucks in the 90s, and the preban stuff with uncucked features were easily over 2k; and that was back when most dual income households were making 50 grand a year. That was how brands like bushmaster could exist, as Colt have always been scalping faggots>>62514831
>I'd gladly trade most of it for cheap slavshit, but I would miss modern scopes.
The Slavic stuff was really just the last of the milsurp nobody wanted before, if I'm being honest.
Mosins especially, as much as /k/ hates to hear it.
/k/ has an obsession with it because it's all most of the younger guys know, but before it was basically just the cheaper and less desirable milsurp stuff. Most people passed the slav stuff over for ~60 years in favor of the mausers, garands, 1903s, enfields, carcanos, FNs, etc. before their stocks finally dried up.
Makarovs were an exception, there used to be a big community of people into trading makarov pistols with complete holsters and lanyards and stuff.>>62514877
you know what, fair enough
Despite fucked up ammo prices. I suppose the bottom end of the market is about as good as it ever has been, at least for new production. Maybe it's just me wishing my Chinese SKS ($300 in 2019) was in slightly better condition bought for a little less money. I do enjoy shooting it a lot, despite my only slightly more expensive PSA AR being an overall much better gun. It's kinda messed up how despite there being hundreds of millions of cold war guns out there right now milsurp is fading away.>>62514786
Even having it lying around as in collecting is sus. Speaking of collecting, it's still not enough even if it's actually an antique from WW2 or whatever war the average retard on the street isn't able to tell when it happened.>>62514668
yeah i remember back in the early 90s when most people associated any m16 or AK style rifle as being part of the militia movement. it wasnt like you were a pariah or anything if you showed up to the range but fudds and boomers definitely were way more suspicious and derogatory towards you. the vast majority of americans were still empathetic and not desensitized to violene since kike media was rather tame back then and little kids werent watching beheading videos on the internet like they do today. so anything overly "war-like" was seen as somewhat weird.>>62514787
>Wasn't really until about 2007-8ish that people started relaxing and the industry blew up.
agree with most of your post except the above. people were not relaxing they were stockpiling and buying like crazy because they saw the marxists take power after the illegal kenyan coup>>62514668
It's somewhat true. Gun culture pre 2002 was about niche shooting shit mostly.. Long range stuff in particular, hyper accuracy shooting sports. Prairie dog hunting with super fast, super high twist barrels throwing cast bullets. I remember occasionally a bullet would fail and turn into a puff of dark powder shortly after leaving the barrel. You did a fouling shot to get lead in the barrel to get to a consistent performance. But cleaned it after like 4 shots. Long range guys still used really long bull barrels. We knew about harmonics, but we just didn't want to lose velocity. The great war on terror changed everything in the gun community. Laid to rest many misconceptions and Fudd lore. Tactical training started making sense. The fumbling was mostly over. Ended a lot of the charm and crazy but fun ideas. Many things just became rote. All of the AR's look the same mostly because what works, works and looks about the same. AK's still carry some of that old charm still. Yeah, boomers hates AK's because "muh commies". But many Vietnam vets liked them. Hell, armor wasn't standard issue even in the early 90's for the Army. Just your BDU's and an LBE. No IFAK either. No ACOG on ye olde M16A2.. No weapon light, no NVG's. Just a 90° green flashlight with a red lens insert. Most Army guys weren't into tacticool, those who were were shunned.