Gun Industry Irritations

As much as I love the Gun Industry, there are some irritations about it that just make me cringe.

1.  Magnum Research names ever dang self loading pistol a “Desert Eagle“.  Freaking stop that. The new 1911 isn’t just a “1911”.  It’s the “Desert Eagle 1911G“.  It’s like they were trying to hide the 1911 in the name… you might miss it.  Well, to make sure that you don’t miss it, they put “DESERT EAGLE 1911G” in huge bold block letters on the slide so large that the whole gun is a billboard for the DESERT EAGLE 1911G.  Come on.  Oh, wait… there is one gun Magnum Research has that isn’t a “Desert Eagle”, it’s the small .380 auto.  That’s the “Micro Eagle”.  Okay, they kept the Eagle theme, fine.  But Desert Eagle 1911G?  Putting the same name on everything, maybe Magnum Research should move their headquarters to West Virginia.
2.  Bond Arms makes great little Derringer.  Probably the best made in the business.  But most of their advertisements isn’t showing the gun… it’s showing a poorly drawn illustration with really weird perspective angles showing a pattern of pellets.  I just hate those cartoons. They offer a bunch of different calibers, but always illustrate the bloody .410. This puts you in competition with the Taurus Judge. You offer more than that, show that.  And not with another cartoon. Come on… Show the GUNS.  They are great looking guns!  If you want to sell me on the gun, show me the gun.  Instead, you are trying to sell comic books… that you don’t sell.  Show me the GUNS!
3.  EAA.  You have this skinny girl with no lips making sexual innuendo in front of a backdrop of fireworks or something.  She’s not that attractive.  At least she’s not hinting about her panties anymore. Drop the Skank stuff.  Look, I love the 10mm Witness.  I gave it a positive review for Concealed Carry Magazine, because it’s a fine handgun.  But I can’t take EAA seriously because your advertising is so bad.  Who’s idea is this advertising?  Jack Black?  Come on.  Change your advertising and you guys would be doing so much better.  I know one of the biggest dealers in Utah who doesn’t stock your guns because the advertising is offensive.  It’s all about the image, and the marketing is putting out a real sorry one.

These are my irritations.  What are yours?

18 thoughts on “Gun Industry Irritations”

  1. Don’t forget the “Mountain Eagle”.

    My biggest irritation? Companies that have no idea what their customers actually want, nor any idea how to get a good product to market, or into distribution.

    Number two?

    Doing the same damn thing, over and over again, with tiny variations.

  2. We could go on to holster makers. From ballistic nylon pieces of shit that “fit everything” fit nothing, to mall ninja kydex ads- there is a lot of suck. And why does Kramer use a Jframe for it’s display gun on every holster.

    1. Agreed on the nylon rigs that’s a pet peve of mine. On the jframe its likely they like the curving lines of the jframe boning for photo ops. I prefer 1911 holsters myself because I like the lines better in my own rigs;)

      Take care!

      Luke

  3. My irritations? The word “Tactical” and manual safeties on DAO or DA/SA pistols. At least make them removable.

    http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tactical
    This says nothing about having a on your black gun.
    I just want stuff that has a functional purpose for non-operators.

    And what does “High Speed, Low Drag” mean anyway?

    And the word “Operator” Isn’t that the chick at the phone company?

    I could go on and on………….

  4. This was supposed to say…
    This says nothing about having a (insert fancy attachment) on your black gun.

  5. I love your honesty. Most people can’t take it. That must be my irritation du jour.

    You put something out there. It gets criticized. The criticism hurts your feelings.

    What you should do: Man up, learn from your mistakes, and put something better out there.

    What most people do: Get offended. Circle the wagons. Call a press conference. Put out a hit piece. Entrench further in the mistake.

    There are whole communities of people who could get ahead if they’d step back upon receiving criticism and say, “I’m going to pull some nugget of wisdom, if there is one, out of that comment.”

    Anyway…Gun Industry Irritations, specifically: it always bugs the shit out of me to walk into a gun store, walk around for 5 or 10 minutes gawking at things on the shelves, on the walls, under the glass…then walk out, having never been greeted or shown any interest in by the cool guy lard asses behind the counter.

    I don’t clamor to be served. Don’t need to. There are plenty of sellers to buy from.

    And, to be honest, if it weren’t for these idiots that don’t know how to sell — don’t know how, or don’t care, to make a person feel good about their choice to drop in that day…I wouldn’t be in business for myself. I say it bugs me, but I actually love testing stores in this way. I go back every so often to see if anything’s changed. I laugh, shaking my head in disbelief/joy as I leave, having spent nothing but a few minutes learning and relearning what dumbasses these guys are.

    Back to work…

  6. I tried to work up some indignation about the WV comment…..but you can’t argue with a fella’ when he’s right. Well, you can….but I won’t…..

    1. Hey now, I live in WV… well… sorta. The Eastern Panhandle. To be fair, we’re really more like Northern VA… nevermind. Haha

  7. My irritations about the gun industry:
    1) At home FFL dealers who are in this business as a hobby. (full disclosure, I am a dealer)
    2) Smith and Wesson reps when you tell them to make revolvers without the bloody lock and they act like it’s the first time they have ever heard this complaint.
    3) Kimber 1911s. They’re overpriced for what you pay and everyone seems to want one of these expensive pieces of mediocrity.
    4) Sig Sauer. WHY are there 30 gajillion finish, sight and trigger options for the 226 and 229? There’s no reason to offer unicorn horns as grip materials or night sights powered by pixie dust. PLEASE cut down on the variants of the guns.

  8. To take a corollary to Chris’s point. Firms that try to me everything to everyone. Identify your market, know your market, and excel in your market. Then try to pick closely related markets to slowly expand into. Exploit your strengths.

    Quality: Having great customer service is great but I would prefer not to have to call you on a warranty issue. While we are on this issue, as a manufacturer you do not get the luxury of saying “…you voided the warranty by using / doing xyz”. Guys, if you make a weapon it needs to work if it needs to be tweaked for an individual’s specific use then you are in the custom business not the production business. Design engineering and manufacturing is not that hard.

    Dealers: If you are going to have a “Manufacturer’s Day” make sure you have the capacity to support your traffic.

    Manufacturers: Please do a better job of segmenting your lines of business. You may make the similar weapons for 3 Gun and Hunting but you are not necessarily marketing and selling the same audience. It’s about having the right tool for the job at hand. Please try to remind us of that.

  9. In the shooting sports, the marketing of add ons to a basic firearm. ( with no offence to any aftermarket products ) To many shooters act as if ones AR-15 does not have aftermarket, sights, barrel, adjustable buttstock, and more , than it is just a hunk of doo doo. This keeps people out of the sport, and shrinks our support. There is NOTHING wrong with grabbing a old Colt SP1 AR 15 with iron sights,no forward assist,and using it as it was built. Anything within 300 meters, with proper sight picture, breath control and trigger squeeze, could be hit consistantly.

  10. How about all of these inexpensive rifle / scope packages where they put a 5 dollar Simmons or some other piece of crap scope on it that is beyond worthless. I know most people reading this board are wise to it but it seems like the companies are really screwing themselves in the long run trying to make a quick buck.

    Also Sig with the P238, why did they they make the sweetest most accurate little pistol ever and not figure out a way to make it reliable. That really irritates me.

  11. slapping “Zombie” on something and charging a premium for it…a “Zombie Slayer’ LCP for $400 and all it has is some yellow paint..please…

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