Just color me mildly amused, although, that might not translate well here. Kind had to be there and be of a like mind set- read, not quite certifiably disturbed.
I remember well just after the announcement of the Impact amidst all the excitement generated it also brought out the some of usual FX naysayers and some who legitimately did not care for it’s appearance. Descriptions varied in other forums using terms like "Super-soaker" or it looked like a “Paint Ball gun.” I remember thinking at the time, yes, there is some real validity to that viewpoint, but me, well, I saw what looked like an engineering marvel with virtually unlimited versatility. In short, I came to quickly love how it looked, and after a long wait, acquired the silver and black in the .25. My patience was rewarded with a gun that was everything I had hoped for and more. So far, anyway. Still waiting on other barrels.
So where am going with this? I decided I needed a more substantial grip for my Impact, ordered one from Amazon in what I thought was an AR 15 grip and was sent the wrong one. Back it goes with little fuss. Thanks Amazon Prime. But before ordering another, I decided to give my local gun store a try first. Off I go with my Impact in hand, plopped my gun up on the counter while the attendants were busy with other customers. I proceeded to help myself to grips hanging just behind me holding them up next to the Impact and out of 6 or 7 different models I didn’t find what I was looking for. I was just about to grab the gun and leave when a gentlemen maybe 60 or so walked by and broke out into something between a look of amazement to a wide grin and asked me if that was a paint ball gun. I found myself suddenly beaming and almost wanting to say, “YES.” Why? Because a light suddenly went off in this simpletons head of mine. Confronted with the question, I’m quite sure any sane person having invested so much coin in a gun would have likely been offended and maybe rightly so. Not me, and maybe that was part my the initial attraction to this platform on a "subliminal level." Again “why? ” Because when confronted with the question I realized to the uninitiated it does resemble a paint ball gun and I suddenly interpreted that as “STEALTH!” That’s right more stealth or at least stealthier! And that’s what I am always looking for. Meaning that when I am out the field, or carrying the Impact uncased to or fro, folks, especially nervous antigun anti-hunter folks or even neighbors next door to a permitted hunting ground might well be less alarmed seeing some guy traipsing around with a paint ball gun. Now they might not know the differences per se, but it might well strike them as just NOT looking like a REAL gun. Hense, are less likely to prosecute further inquiry over that of someone who has a conventional looking firearm lurking about. Love or hate it’s appearance, lets face it, the Impact is comparatively small, and with the shroud retracted, it just doesn’t look all that threatening. If the Impact was slight larger it would look more real, but it’s not.
Coming from CA to relatively gun friendly State like Indiana in recent years, I naively thought I could set up a bench, gun rest on a not so well traveled sidewalk in the back of my house. Place a large backstop/target on my outside wall and commenced to sight in a Ruger X-20 gas ram shooting at my house. I checked first and knew I wasn’t breaking any laws. But it wasn’t 10 minutes when a county sheriff rolled up behind me just grinning away. He was totally cool and stated, “ I know what your doing. You’re just getting that sighted in for deer season, but well… we have had a complaint called in and I was obliged to come and check it out is all.” His demeanor was like it was no big deal. Much to his surprise I told him it was a pellet gun and no worries if it’s causing passersby some concerns .I’ll just pack it in. I had the real sense he’d let me stay but why invite more calls since I think it was about time for their shift change anyway.
I’m a licensed master falconer and in CA, you have no idea how many times I had Fish and Game called by the tree huggers there. Lose a my hawk at a rabbit, duck or whatever even out in the sticks, and someone would often call. See your hoodedd charge perched in the back of your car grabbing a coffee at the drive-thru. More calls or highly personal confrontations on the spot. We falconers had to learn to be as stealthy as possible. And that is really my whole point here. The stealthier the better!
If folks think I’m sporting a gun that obviously "to them” is NOT a real gun, I am just not going to be hassled nearly as much! Period. Supersoaker, Paint ball gun! Call it what you will. That’s fine by me and maybe for added measure, I should put some orange removalable tape on the tip of the shroud when going to more populated areas.
One other advantage suddenly came to mind with that little paint ball exchange at the gun store. I recalled I recently I had sought permission to hunt a little rural corner shelterbelt bordered by two fairly well traveled country roads upstate with my Bobcat. Thick and I mean THICK with unmolested squirrels! This jeweled property had one road leading to a paid wildlife park and the other leading into a small town. Took some doing, but I tracked down the owner’s number who wasn’t home when I last drove by. My placed phone call found a very nice thoughtful gal with whom I immediately felt a solid rapport. She was a pure delight and we must have talked for half an hour. Permission or not, I just liked her and I think she felt the same. She said she needed time to think about it, and that she did. I thought she’s forgotten but two or theree weeks later she calls and reluctantly declines my request but for a very good reason I hadn’t even thought about. I could tell she felt bad and wanted to give me the okay, but couldn’t. She felt that given the close quarters of the road leading to the wildlife park, attendees coming and going from there might not realize I was using a pellet gun that could easily be seen from the road and call the police. She just didn’t want to have to field those calls and who could blame her. She was right! My Bobcat fully fitted out with scope, bipod etc. doesn’t exactly look like a toy and I didn’t have my Impact then. But I DO NOW. And maybe, just maybe... calling her back and telling her how my Impact sometimes gets mistaken for a paint ball/ supersoaker, she just might reconsider with an actual offer to show her. The worse that could happen is another "no” but I’d have the privilege of meeting this very fine lady.
One things for sure. From now on, I’m going to show every prospective landowner that Impact when trying to get hunting permissions and introduce it as my little "super soaker wanna be the real thing.” Might just open a few more doors.
I remember well just after the announcement of the Impact amidst all the excitement generated it also brought out the some of usual FX naysayers and some who legitimately did not care for it’s appearance. Descriptions varied in other forums using terms like "Super-soaker" or it looked like a “Paint Ball gun.” I remember thinking at the time, yes, there is some real validity to that viewpoint, but me, well, I saw what looked like an engineering marvel with virtually unlimited versatility. In short, I came to quickly love how it looked, and after a long wait, acquired the silver and black in the .25. My patience was rewarded with a gun that was everything I had hoped for and more. So far, anyway. Still waiting on other barrels.
So where am going with this? I decided I needed a more substantial grip for my Impact, ordered one from Amazon in what I thought was an AR 15 grip and was sent the wrong one. Back it goes with little fuss. Thanks Amazon Prime. But before ordering another, I decided to give my local gun store a try first. Off I go with my Impact in hand, plopped my gun up on the counter while the attendants were busy with other customers. I proceeded to help myself to grips hanging just behind me holding them up next to the Impact and out of 6 or 7 different models I didn’t find what I was looking for. I was just about to grab the gun and leave when a gentlemen maybe 60 or so walked by and broke out into something between a look of amazement to a wide grin and asked me if that was a paint ball gun. I found myself suddenly beaming and almost wanting to say, “YES.” Why? Because a light suddenly went off in this simpletons head of mine. Confronted with the question, I’m quite sure any sane person having invested so much coin in a gun would have likely been offended and maybe rightly so. Not me, and maybe that was part my the initial attraction to this platform on a "subliminal level." Again “why? ” Because when confronted with the question I realized to the uninitiated it does resemble a paint ball gun and I suddenly interpreted that as “STEALTH!” That’s right more stealth or at least stealthier! And that’s what I am always looking for. Meaning that when I am out the field, or carrying the Impact uncased to or fro, folks, especially nervous antigun anti-hunter folks or even neighbors next door to a permitted hunting ground might well be less alarmed seeing some guy traipsing around with a paint ball gun. Now they might not know the differences per se, but it might well strike them as just NOT looking like a REAL gun. Hense, are less likely to prosecute further inquiry over that of someone who has a conventional looking firearm lurking about. Love or hate it’s appearance, lets face it, the Impact is comparatively small, and with the shroud retracted, it just doesn’t look all that threatening. If the Impact was slight larger it would look more real, but it’s not.
Coming from CA to relatively gun friendly State like Indiana in recent years, I naively thought I could set up a bench, gun rest on a not so well traveled sidewalk in the back of my house. Place a large backstop/target on my outside wall and commenced to sight in a Ruger X-20 gas ram shooting at my house. I checked first and knew I wasn’t breaking any laws. But it wasn’t 10 minutes when a county sheriff rolled up behind me just grinning away. He was totally cool and stated, “ I know what your doing. You’re just getting that sighted in for deer season, but well… we have had a complaint called in and I was obliged to come and check it out is all.” His demeanor was like it was no big deal. Much to his surprise I told him it was a pellet gun and no worries if it’s causing passersby some concerns .I’ll just pack it in. I had the real sense he’d let me stay but why invite more calls since I think it was about time for their shift change anyway.
I’m a licensed master falconer and in CA, you have no idea how many times I had Fish and Game called by the tree huggers there. Lose a my hawk at a rabbit, duck or whatever even out in the sticks, and someone would often call. See your hoodedd charge perched in the back of your car grabbing a coffee at the drive-thru. More calls or highly personal confrontations on the spot. We falconers had to learn to be as stealthy as possible. And that is really my whole point here. The stealthier the better!
If folks think I’m sporting a gun that obviously "to them” is NOT a real gun, I am just not going to be hassled nearly as much! Period. Supersoaker, Paint ball gun! Call it what you will. That’s fine by me and maybe for added measure, I should put some orange removalable tape on the tip of the shroud when going to more populated areas.
One other advantage suddenly came to mind with that little paint ball exchange at the gun store. I recalled I recently I had sought permission to hunt a little rural corner shelterbelt bordered by two fairly well traveled country roads upstate with my Bobcat. Thick and I mean THICK with unmolested squirrels! This jeweled property had one road leading to a paid wildlife park and the other leading into a small town. Took some doing, but I tracked down the owner’s number who wasn’t home when I last drove by. My placed phone call found a very nice thoughtful gal with whom I immediately felt a solid rapport. She was a pure delight and we must have talked for half an hour. Permission or not, I just liked her and I think she felt the same. She said she needed time to think about it, and that she did. I thought she’s forgotten but two or theree weeks later she calls and reluctantly declines my request but for a very good reason I hadn’t even thought about. I could tell she felt bad and wanted to give me the okay, but couldn’t. She felt that given the close quarters of the road leading to the wildlife park, attendees coming and going from there might not realize I was using a pellet gun that could easily be seen from the road and call the police. She just didn’t want to have to field those calls and who could blame her. She was right! My Bobcat fully fitted out with scope, bipod etc. doesn’t exactly look like a toy and I didn’t have my Impact then. But I DO NOW. And maybe, just maybe... calling her back and telling her how my Impact sometimes gets mistaken for a paint ball/ supersoaker, she just might reconsider with an actual offer to show her. The worse that could happen is another "no” but I’d have the privilege of meeting this very fine lady.
One things for sure. From now on, I’m going to show every prospective landowner that Impact when trying to get hunting permissions and introduce it as my little "super soaker wanna be the real thing.” Might just open a few more doors.
