Life before 1994

[Boldent2012]

Cleaver title eh? Question for some of the older, wiser members.
My friends and I were discussing the probable Biden administration and we all agreed that it's highly unlikely we will ever see an assult weapons ban similar to 1994. The problem is, we were all born in 1991-1994 and our famies only owned milsurp/hunting rifles and pistols. We never even seen a MSR (Modern sporting rifle AR, AK, SCAR etc..) until high school. We have zero clue as to what life was like before the ban.

My question is:
Were MSRs as prolific before the ban? Were they seen as a "normal" firearm that people own like they are today? Were they as easily available (COVID notwithstanding)?

And the biggest question.....Did you guys ever think/believe that there would be a ban like 1994?
I'm worried that we are just too confident in our belief that in today's environment it would.never happen.

[TX_Kevin]

I personally didn’t have any MSRs before 94, though I am plenty old. Ammo was plentiful as were guns. In the 80s and 90s money was the issue, not availability of devices. My money.

[HOOKNBULLET2]

Before 94 MSR’s to me and my friends were viewed as inaccurate ammo wasters. I was on a lease with 16 members back then and not a single MSR ever made it onto the ranch. No one even talked about them. There were a couple Vietnam combat vets on that lease too.

[PondPopper]

No they were basically nonexistent in the hunting world in the 60's, 70's, 80's, and early 90's.. To be honest I'm not sure exactly why they are so popular today... I have 0 issue with a person owning one or 100 of them but I have never found any of them appealing or comfortable AT ALL.. Butt azz ugly to be honest and not practical at all for hunting, but that is just my opinion.. I would much rather hunt with a older Model 700, older M77 or an older Model 70.. Something classy with wood on it.. Just my opinion.

[bowhuntntxn]

After Reagan and before 94 the only msr people ever saw was on the news about gang violence in inner cities like L A and Chicago. Afterthe fall of the Soviet Union, imported military rifles were everywhere and cheap.
I literally bought a barrel of Czech sks rifles for $89 each and flipped them for $100 in a week.
And you could buy ammo in 10k round lots anywhere. The world has changed a lot since then. Some good, some not so...

[Kossetx]

No they were basically nonexistent in the hunting world in the 60's, 70's, 80's, and early 90's.. To be honest I'm not sure exactly why they are so popular today... I have 0 issue with a person owning one or 100 of them but I have never found any of them appealing or comfortable AT ALL.. Butt azz ugly to be honest and not practical at all for hunting, but that is just my opinion.. I would much rather hunt with a older Model 700, older M77 or an older Model 70.. Something classy with wood on it.. Just my opinion.

I thought this way until I watched the treatment of our president this last term. There is definitely an agenda going on and a lot of us are not just not included, but also in the way.

[SRK14]

No they were basically nonexistent in the hunting world in the 60's, 70's, 80's, and early 90's.. To be honest I'm not sure exactly why they are so popular today... I have 0 issue with a person owning one or 100 of them but I have never found any of them appealing or comfortable AT ALL.. Butt azz ugly to be honest and not practical at all for hunting, but that is just my opinion.. I would much rather hunt with a older Model 700, older M77 or an older Model 70.. Something classy with wood on it.. Just my opinion.

I feel the same way. I don’t have an issue with anyone having one, I just never had a practical use for one

[Codie]

Never considered owning one, and don’t have any intentions to own one. I don’t recall them ever being spoken of, much less owned, by anyone I know, in the 90’s. I am all for folks being able to own all of them they want, but have no understanding of why they are so Desired.

[OldRiverRat]

I agree with the general 70/80/90s history above but The msr today is very accurate and ergonomic. They are great for kids and women because everything is easily adjustable. If you suppress one it’s an incredible platform. Small, lite and little to no recoil. Secondly it’s a great gun to grab if shtf!


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[Quackerbox]

The first ar I saw in person was about that time. Cousin of mine ex husband brought it to our place and was throwing 223 into the woods like candy. It was loud and obnoxious.

The first AR I bought was a pre ban green box colt around 2000. I bought the rifle, 4 mags and a 1000 round case of fmj fir 600 bucks. Shot it once and sold the rifle and mags for 1200 to a collector and the ammo to a buddy for 300

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[mikebyrge]

I knew a few folks that owned one in the 80’s - didn’t hunt with them just shot them. Pretty much every family I know though had milsurp .30 carbines and we shot the heck out of those guns. Same for the SKS rifles when they became available in the early 90’s.

I think the original Armalite patents started expiring in the late 80’s and you started seeing more affordable AR type rifles.

I don’t care much for them myself but they are flexible and certainly a good option as a sporting rifle.

[jmeghunts]

I graduated high school in 93 and had a Ruger 10/22. The only thing I really remember about that legislation was the magazine capacity ban. I had a 30rd mag for that Ruger and had to make it last a long long time because I couldnt replace it. As far as military rifles go, most of the people that I knew of owning them were collectors. I bought an SKS in 1995 but it was just a toy really. I do think we will see more bans and more strict NFA rules in the coming years but a lot of stuff will probably be grandfathered in too.

[Radar]

Junk SKS rifles were showing up about 1985 or so and were 80 bucks with a can of ammo. I never was interested in them, always thought they were garbage and I still feel that way. Colt green box AR15 pre ban rifles were bringing good money back then, and bring more now. I bought one brand new in 1984 and I think it was 400.00. I remember going to the gun shows and one could buy a little bag with select fire components for an AR.

[RedBear78]

No they were basically nonexistent in the hunting world in the 60's, 70's, 80's, and early 90's.. To be honest I'm not sure exactly why they are so popular today... I have 0 issue with a person owning one or 100 of them but I have never found any of them appealing or comfortable AT ALL.. Butt azz ugly to be honest and not practical at all for hunting, but that is just my opinion.. I would much rather hunt with a older Model 700, older M77 or an older Model 70.. Something classy with wood on it.. Just my opinion.

Yea this,I was born in 78 so not really old but can concur with this.It seemed that a lot of folks sought after what Grandpa was using.A few folks had Mini 14s or an sks any thing more than that was kinda viewed as kinda militant and kinda liberal at least in the very conservative small town I grew up in.You could see what people had looking at the gun racks in the back window of there truck,usually an old 12 gauge lever or bolt rifle.Those of course were different times and as mentioned money was harder to come by.But ammo was abundant you could buy it at almost any mom and pop store.

[Txtourist]

A classmate had one at range we used to frequent while in school in the late 90’s. I took a few shots with it and dropped the pre-ban magazine on the concrete looking for the safety. It seemed like such an exotic gun, but it shot unlike any of the guns I’d used to that point. It was also the first gun that felt like they’d put some real effort into making it fit a person, versus a person having fit the gun.
I bought an AR during the ban for prairie dogs, after being amazed at how it performed.
I brought it to the range when we were sighting in and got an earful from my dad about wasting my money on “military junk.” Mind you this was a long heavy stainless barrel with no sight. I even got some comments from strangers. It was the first gun I ever owned that the holes in the target consistently touched. I lit off a few rounds in quick succession and was told to leave for having a machine gun. I showed up to deer camp in probably ‘04 with it and got a lot of friction over it. It didn’t help my cause that I was a cocky kid who proceeded to wound and lose a deer with the .223.