My guess is that the real professionals, ex serviceman who used them in warfare have little interest in them as civilians.
I would like to hear from( more) ex military types and how they feel about this trend. Curious, folks.
I'll be your huckleberry. After a career in the Army, and serving in Iraq, I was adamantly anti "black-gun." I felt like an M16 was my work rifle used for killing man, whereas wood and blued rifles were "hunting rifles."
My sons, however, were all about ARs and wanted to build a couple. I resisted, but eventually let them have their way. Finally, after some time, I joined them at the range and shot their ARs.
Maybe it was nostalgia, maybe trying to regain my youth, but I really enjoyed it - it felt like an old friend and I had instant familiarity, ease and comfort with the AR rifle.
Since then, I've done a complete 180' - I've sold off most of my wood and blue guns and have gone in full-bore with ARs. It's an extremely enjoyable hobby to me and easy to work on and make changes versus a bolt rifle.
No, I don't wear tacti-cool clothing or buy "combat" gear to shoot at the range. More often than not, you'll see me shooting my ARs wearing Levis and a Stetson.
The AR has brought in new shooters and to a large degree re-energized the shooting sports with the younger generation.
