Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Whatever Happened to Jim Zumbo

Looks like it worked....

I don't know if JZ spent anytime in the military, but when I had to give up my M14 for a POS M16 in the Marines. I was totally dismayed. Those M16 were the cause of many Marine deaths in Vietnam.
I shot well with the M14 (expert) but when shooting the M16 a man size target at 200 yards was safe. The M16 would lock up, they sounded like they were breaking each time you pulled the trigger. My opinion of AR15's was similar to JZ's. They were trash, total junk.
They made a lot of noise but were useless beyond spraying the undergrowth.
I owned a mini-14 for years and would have nothing to do with AR-15's.

40 out of my platoon of 80 were killed in the first two weeks in Vietnam. I blamed the worthless POS M16.


But that's my experience.

Lucky You

It's not so bad now. Flat Dark Earth has gotten more popular....

Bugger,

My experience in the Marine Corps regarding the rifles was similar. I, too, hated giving up the M-14 for the M-16. I managed to shoot Expert with both, but the M-16 was definitely more difficult to shoot well with. The distaste for the M-16 stayed with me, and I haven't owned an AR-style rifle to this day.

One of my at-the-ready house guns is an M-1 Carbine. I like it better than an AR. Many of my friends have AR's, and I have shot them a few times. They are generations better than the M-16's that the Marines forced on us, but I still have no compelling desire to own one.

Thank you, Bugger, for your service, and I am very sorry for the loss of your platoon-mates.

I am not a "combat" veteran. I joined up when the Viet Nam War was still active, but while some of my friends went over, and some didn't come back, I was never sent. Extended training kept me stateside while things wound down. The Veteran's Administration calls me a "Viet Nam Era" Marine, and I got the ribbon for joining when I did.

My cousin got blown up pretty bad in an ambush while he was trying to clear his M-16 to get it shooting. He survived but he gets a disability check to this day. He doesn't have a very high opinion of the early M-16's, either.

Semper Fi.

The problem is people attaching politics to inanimate objects, whether it be guns, cars, food,.... you name it.

I will echo the thought of a comparison of the two. Having been issued the M-14 in the Army and the M-16 in the National Guard, the M-16 reminded me of a tinker toy. In short, I just don't care for them. But, if any law abiding person wants to own one they certainly don't need my approval and shouldn't need approval from anyone else for that matter.

As far as Zumbo is concerned there is no doubt he made a foolish mistake. But I can't imagine Jack O'Connor would have said much of anything different if he had been alive. But, in all fairness, Zumbo has really made a great effort to right the wrong he did. Tom Gresham's remark's when Zumbo was awarded the "POMA/NSSF Grits Gresham Shooting Sports Communicator Award" says a lot.



I'm not advocating that folks should entirely forget what he did nearly eight years ago, but I do think he should get some credit for what he has done since, such as his support for the "modern sporting rifle" and his help to Veterans.

It's interesting so many people here (or at least a few) are down on Jim Zumbo for being a paying-client hunter. Jack O'Connor was exactly the same way and he was never attacked for that, as far as I know. Was Teddy Roosevelt attacked for it, Robert Ruark, Ernest Hemingway? This idea is something new to me.

Anyway, as Mule Deer said, he used to be a DIY hunter. I don't think many of us would pass up the kind of opportunities he was given as the hunting editor of Outdoor Life.

You will always find flies around a cow pie...

And tumble bugs too. (dung beetles)


Jerry

I think a little forgiveness would go a long way in this situation.

It would be different if he had been just another ignorant leftie spouting anti-gun rhetoric but he wasn't, he was one of us. As such the outrage is tinged with betrayal, and that lasts a long time.



P

Yep. Betrayal sticks. Zumbo was hyped up by the usual suspects as a "reasonable" man, the media was full of Dick Metcalf sob stories for a while.
Never mind the punishment for Colt and Smith when they left the pack.....

Zumbo is a typical CONSERVATIVE Yankee, period.

When one writes about guns, hunting, etc one has a duty to know what they are writing. Dumbo did more harm than most seem to realize. He gave the gun control groups credence and he has no place in the industry. NONE!

Jim just forgot or wasn't aware that the Second Amendment boils down to the Right to Life.
The type of tool used to preserve Life and Liberty is irrelevant.

When someone profits off an industry and community for decades, and then sticks a knife in their back, it's pretty tough to forgive. But it goes beyond that as that sort of betrayal is what contributes to the incremental chipping away at the 2nd amendment.

The popularity of AR's has been a huge boon to the shooting and sporting arms industry, those in the industry should all be extremely thankful for that.

What it really reeks of is elitism, which is something I can't stand. You can pick most any sport or pastime and there will be the elitists who look down their nose at anyone who doesn't use the same equipment or techniques they do. Whether it's fly fishermen, stick and string bowyers, blued steel and walnut shooters, etc., etc.,

Too bad more people don't get it!

This well written and I fully agree! Jim Zumbo needs to go.

Yankee or southern redneck the same rule applies.

Stupid Hurts