Nolo
Member
Well, not really absolute zero (after all, we do have the Grendel and the Masada among others), but it sure seems like the firearms industry's biggest shortcoming is that of marketing creativity.
I mean, look at your favorite cartridge, for instance (unless your favorite cartridge happens to be the 6.5 Grendel, .50 Beowulf, .221 Fireball or... See? That's how bad it is! I can only name three creatively named cartridges off the top of my head!).
Does it have a creative name?
If it's mine (.303 Enfield-early round nose, among a couple of other cartridges.) it sure doesn't.
7.62x51 NATO.
7.62x54R.
.45 ACP.
.25 ACP.
10mm Auto.
6.8 SPC.
9mm Parabellum (okay, I gotta give this one some kudos. It's at least a creative motto, even if it is still just a manufacturer's stamp).
7mm-08.
.50 BMG.
See? Endless drivel!
Totally devoid of care for what represents the cartridge: it's name!
(As a sidenote, it seems that Bill Alexander, J.D. Jones and the Magpul team have got the creative gene. They've actually stepped on my toes more than once)
I haven't even gotten into the firearms themselves yet, either!
I don't claim to always develop practical or useful cartridges, but bygum, they have good names!
Let's look at a few:
.338 Banshee.
.216 Tempest.
.276 Orion.
20 Gauge Bullslayer.
.312 Peregrine.
.280 British Revisited (okay, that's a joke. Ha-ha. I haven't given it a name yet, alright?)
5.85 Spitfire.
Get the picture?
Now.
When you get into rifles, it's almost as bad.
I mean, you get guns like the Ruger Frontier. Good name. Solid rifle.
But then you have guns like the M1A. I mean, come on! You've got an awesome rifle right there. Why not name it something cool?
I ran into a similar problem after I finished work at my old job (which was a better job than I'll probably have for a few years. ). They were going to name a new military product.
They asked all the employees to submit names for consideration (I was also included in this, as my father works at the company and the guys at the work liked me enough to remember the lowly but gregarious intern.)
Oh.
Alright, well I thought the product was still confidential, but I guess it ain't anymore (i.e., they released it).
Anyway, it was an EOD robot. Big ole' burly thing, and a real marvel of engineering.
Guess what two names it came down to?
"Warrior" and "Linebacker".
Oh, please! "Warrior"? Like half the things in the military are already named that.
And "Linebacker", not matter how much it fits the mission of the robot (to be behind troop lines, carrying supplies and sheize), still sounds silly.
I forgot what name I submitted (I think it was "Cougar"), but it sure was better than those two!
Anyway. Rifles also have the same problem (though I think ammo has it worse). AK-47. Well, now it's practically got an aura all it's own, but when it was first built, I bet it was pretty boring. So? You named the weapon after the designer and year, like every other country in the world.
Well, except Israel. They know what they're doing.
Admittedly, the Russians tried to make it better when they marketed the AK commercially (I'm talking about the Saiga and Vepr, of course), but the actual animal saiga looks like an overgrown capybara and I have no idea what "vepr" means.
"Saiga" sounds dead cool, though. Even if every time I hear it, I think of a mutant pronghorn-capybara lovechild (thank you, Google Image Search, for ruining a perfectly good name)...
I mean, after the whole "what calibers should be added to the AK's repertoire" thread, I decided to file an idea I'd been having for a line of AK-based rifles in various calibers (including, interestingly, .500 S&W Magnum).
Guess what names I picked out?
Hell, I'll just give you the list. And yes, there is a running theme, for the less perceptive of you:
"Viper"
"Warthog"
"Mako"
"Blackhawk"
"Gyrfalcon"
"Wolverine"
"Timberwolf"
"Rhino"
"Scorpion"
"Black Widow"
"Panther"
"Barracuda"
"Orca"
"Kodiak"
"Jaguar"
"Hyena"
Notice how they're all animal names. Yes it fits a theme, but more importantly, animals immediately evoke an image in your mind.
Panther.
What did you just think of?
Why a big, black, mean cat, of course!
Well, ain't that just a dandy image for a cool, black rifle like the AK?
(Yeah, I know most of the animals there are black. So is the AK. Bite me, as my English teacher would say.)
But it goes even deeper.
While I won't reveal all the calibers they would come in (I actually do intend to make a line of rifles at least roughly based on these someday), I will tell you that each animal fits the caliber the weapon is chambered for.
For instance: Is the caliber devastating at short ranges, but loses steam after 200 yards? Well, then pick one of the stalking animals (like the panther)!
Is the caliber just full of brute force? Well then maybe you should name the rifle the Rhino!
Since everybody already knows I want an AK in .500 S&W desperately, I'll give you the full description (which ain't much, most of it's in my head):
Anyway.
Well, I think I've about run out of steam in this rant.
Now I'm just thoroughly perturbed.
Thanks to all that listen. I look forward to reading your comments later.
Ciao.
I mean, look at your favorite cartridge, for instance (unless your favorite cartridge happens to be the 6.5 Grendel, .50 Beowulf, .221 Fireball or... See? That's how bad it is! I can only name three creatively named cartridges off the top of my head!).
Does it have a creative name?
If it's mine (.303 Enfield-early round nose, among a couple of other cartridges.) it sure doesn't.
7.62x51 NATO.
7.62x54R.
.45 ACP.
.25 ACP.
10mm Auto.
6.8 SPC.
9mm Parabellum (okay, I gotta give this one some kudos. It's at least a creative motto, even if it is still just a manufacturer's stamp).
7mm-08.
.50 BMG.
See? Endless drivel!
Totally devoid of care for what represents the cartridge: it's name!
(As a sidenote, it seems that Bill Alexander, J.D. Jones and the Magpul team have got the creative gene. They've actually stepped on my toes more than once)
I haven't even gotten into the firearms themselves yet, either!
I don't claim to always develop practical or useful cartridges, but bygum, they have good names!
Let's look at a few:
.338 Banshee.
.216 Tempest.
.276 Orion.
20 Gauge Bullslayer.
.312 Peregrine.
.280 British Revisited (okay, that's a joke. Ha-ha. I haven't given it a name yet, alright?)
5.85 Spitfire.
Get the picture?
Now.
When you get into rifles, it's almost as bad.
I mean, you get guns like the Ruger Frontier. Good name. Solid rifle.
But then you have guns like the M1A. I mean, come on! You've got an awesome rifle right there. Why not name it something cool?
I ran into a similar problem after I finished work at my old job (which was a better job than I'll probably have for a few years. ). They were going to name a new military product.
They asked all the employees to submit names for consideration (I was also included in this, as my father works at the company and the guys at the work liked me enough to remember the lowly but gregarious intern.)
Oh.
Alright, well I thought the product was still confidential, but I guess it ain't anymore (i.e., they released it).
Anyway, it was an EOD robot. Big ole' burly thing, and a real marvel of engineering.
Guess what two names it came down to?
"Warrior" and "Linebacker".
Oh, please! "Warrior"? Like half the things in the military are already named that.
And "Linebacker", not matter how much it fits the mission of the robot (to be behind troop lines, carrying supplies and sheize), still sounds silly.
I forgot what name I submitted (I think it was "Cougar"), but it sure was better than those two!
Anyway. Rifles also have the same problem (though I think ammo has it worse). AK-47. Well, now it's practically got an aura all it's own, but when it was first built, I bet it was pretty boring. So? You named the weapon after the designer and year, like every other country in the world.
Well, except Israel. They know what they're doing.
Admittedly, the Russians tried to make it better when they marketed the AK commercially (I'm talking about the Saiga and Vepr, of course), but the actual animal saiga looks like an overgrown capybara and I have no idea what "vepr" means.
"Saiga" sounds dead cool, though. Even if every time I hear it, I think of a mutant pronghorn-capybara lovechild (thank you, Google Image Search, for ruining a perfectly good name)...
I mean, after the whole "what calibers should be added to the AK's repertoire" thread, I decided to file an idea I'd been having for a line of AK-based rifles in various calibers (including, interestingly, .500 S&W Magnum).
Guess what names I picked out?
Hell, I'll just give you the list. And yes, there is a running theme, for the less perceptive of you:
"Viper"
"Warthog"
"Mako"
"Blackhawk"
"Gyrfalcon"
"Wolverine"
"Timberwolf"
"Rhino"
"Scorpion"
"Black Widow"
"Panther"
"Barracuda"
"Orca"
"Kodiak"
"Jaguar"
"Hyena"
Notice how they're all animal names. Yes it fits a theme, but more importantly, animals immediately evoke an image in your mind.
Panther.
What did you just think of?
Why a big, black, mean cat, of course!
Well, ain't that just a dandy image for a cool, black rifle like the AK?
(Yeah, I know most of the animals there are black. So is the AK. Bite me, as my English teacher would say.)
But it goes even deeper.
While I won't reveal all the calibers they would come in (I actually do intend to make a line of rifles at least roughly based on these someday), I will tell you that each animal fits the caliber the weapon is chambered for.
For instance: Is the caliber devastating at short ranges, but loses steam after 200 yards? Well, then pick one of the stalking animals (like the panther)!
Is the caliber just full of brute force? Well then maybe you should name the rifle the Rhino!
Since everybody already knows I want an AK in .500 S&W desperately, I'll give you the full description (which ain't much, most of it's in my head):
Ain't that just a stunningly appropriate name?Warthog - .500 S&W Magnum
Anyway.
Well, I think I've about run out of steam in this rant.
Now I'm just thoroughly perturbed.
Thanks to all that listen. I look forward to reading your comments later.
Ciao.