Impractical but cool guns
A meme. Tam has posted hers. As did Mulliga.
Me? I say hands down the Desert Eagle 50. Big, awkward, grips like an apple, and flings brass onto your forehead that sometimes causes bleeding. Ask this guy. But who doesn’t like a 50 caliber?
And the Taurus Judge. A shotgun in a revolver package. What’s not to like. It’s cool. But I wouldn’t carry it. Or use it as a house gun.
Oh and that funky shotgun/5.56 carbine whose name escapes me. Totally impractical in every way. But it makes Sarah Brady, Paul Helmke, and Diane Feinstein cry. Twice. Once for each barrel. ETA: It is the Crossfire.
May 14th, 2009 at 9:34 am
I will go in the opposite direction of most selections in the links above, and say that my coolest but most impractical firearm is either my Chinese Type 54 (a copy of a Mosin 44) or my Colt 1903 in the spectacularly low powered 32ACP.
Both are definitely cool, both are definitely not for realistic use.
May 14th, 2009 at 10:03 am
“…both are definitely not for realistic use.”
Both have seen more “realistic use” than every SPAS-12 and Desert Eagle .50 ever made, combined.
May 14th, 2009 at 10:29 am
The Sterling Mark 7. Sort of like a STEN pistol with its curved, side mounted magazine, it’s a 9mm that weighs 6 1/2 pounds with the 34-round magazine loaded. Don’t carry it in your back pocket, or you’ll surely be arrested for sagging pants.
May 14th, 2009 at 11:08 am
“Totally impractical in every way. But it makes Sarah Brady, Paul Helmke, and Diane Feinstein cry. Twice. Once for each barrel.”
Worth owning just for that.
May 14th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
While not the Judge, I just happen to be carring this today..
http://www.taurususa.com/products/product-details.cfm?id=228&category=Revolver.
It’s not the most practical handgun I own but sitting with me at my desk sure feels nice. Looking at the business end with those 220 grain silvertips staring at you sure make a statement too.
May 14th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Tam you are correct, oh great one! Please forgive my unseemly use of words to mean something other than what I wrote.
Both the Chinese Mosin copy and the early design by JMB (pbuh) were in their days heavily used, and very useful. They would be useful today, if I did not have a scoped 308 and a high cap Glock and a Ruger MkII or three.
I would be happy with either older gun for Zombie eradication patrols, or for a day at the range. I would prefer my Ruger MkII and my 308 scoped rifle, though. because I can hit with them better than the older guns. (Sights better on newer guns, less of an eruption from a 308 than a 762×54, my old eyes and tender shoulder, etc.).
Today they are impractical because they have been surpassed by more modern, but not necessarily more cool or useful, weapons.
May 14th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Oh, please. We’re pals; you can call me by my nickname: “Ma’am”. :p
I was merely pointing out that just because a practical design has been superseded by designs even more practical, that doesn’t render it impractical. Unlike the SPAS, USAS, or “Deagle”, which never have been and never will be practical for anything much.
May 15th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
By the way, unless you have prehensile arms or are over 6′ tall, the Crossfire is almost impossible to rack if left in the shooting position. I had to take the thing down to waist level, rack, and then assume the position again to shoot. Not an optimal solution.
The only cure might be to shorten the buttstock, but that’s problematic because of the plastic. Better still: replace the buttstock with an AR-15 style telescoping stock.
May 15th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
My favorite impractical guns:
1.) C-96 Broomhandle Mauser. That round grip turns in your hand, especially if shooting the .30 Mauser. Also, unless you have a custom holster, forget about carrying it. (I’d still own one in a heartbeat, however.)
2.) CZ-85 (?) pistol with a bayonet attachment. Good for LOLz and PSH Potential, but not much else.
3.) The Striker shotgun, with its circular mag. Once again, good for PSH Potential, but that sucker is HEAVY. I’d hate to have to carry that around in the field.
4.) Galil/R4 rifle. Heavy as hell (see Striker), only this rifle shoots the prairie-dog .223 cartridge. At least the Striker shoots the manly 12ga. If I’m going to lug around a heavy assault rifle, let it be the Stg-44 instead — at least it fires a genuine stopper.
5.) SPAS-12 shotgun. ‘Nuff said. Most impractical POS ever made. A stupid response to a non-existent need. Just about everyone I know who owns one tends to leave the thing in their preferred format (semi- or pump action), and seldom switches. Another heavy bastard, with no redeeming features except PSH Potential.
I’ve ignored early models like the five-barreled “duck’s foot”, because those were made in a time of primitive technology. The modern ones (above) have no such excuse.