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Thread: “Hard Use”

  1. #1
    Site Supporter Jay Cunningham's Avatar
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    “Hard Use”

    I’m posting this here in the Rifles and Carbines forum, but it equally applies to hardware like optics and other gun platforms.

    We see “hard use” used all the time or perhaps “serious use”. What does this mean?

    What is hard use wrt military applications?

    SF applications?

    LE applications?

    SWAT applications?

    Civilian applications?

    Training junkie applications?

    Where is there crossover and where is there discontinuity?

  2. #2
    As a totally regular dude.

    Who shoots a bunch but mostly for my own good it means

    Optic/light/laser won’t destroy itself simply due to be being attached to a hot, dirty, shakey Rife that gets mostly cared for but also clumsily dropped or whacked on things.


    Rifle/can/trigger parts. Same. If i feed it good ammo, give it lube and run it semi auto it won’t turn to mush in 10k rounds

    I’m not taking a hammer or dropping my stuff on concrete like Aaron Cowan but when I fall out of the rig in a contractor class and my SBR skates across the parking area, nothing popped off, it didnt Fire and the bullets went where i wanted them to when I got it back in hand.


    I know milspec has a standard for “full auto rated” Not sure if that would ever matter for my use.

    Sorry too rambly. All shit will break but it shouldn’t be a surprise if it does.
    Last edited by Duke; 09-22-2019 at 05:04 PM.

  3. #3
    Site Supporter Jay Cunningham's Avatar
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    My “hard use” guns get shot a lot, but they don’t get banged around very much at all. Aside from rounds through the barrel and getting hot, they get a lot of lube and don’t get dropped on concrete or driven over.

  4. #4
    Site Supporter JohnO's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jay Cunningham View Post

    We see “hard use” used all the time or perhaps “serious use”. What does this mean?
    More than anything else, an adjective a marketing department came up with to increase sales.

  5. #5
    Site Supporter Jay Cunningham's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JohnO View Post
    More than anything else, an adjective a marketing department came up with to increase sales.
    True enough, but what about when the laity use it?

  6. #6
    The way I think of it:

    Former regular .mil guy. I would consider most line unit rifles "hard use". As in high round counts, semi regular cleaning, knocked into everything, dropped, possibly used for intentional bashing or thrusting, regularly slammed onto metal barriers (turrets) for supported standing, subjected to ridiculous weather conditions. Sparing or mediocre low quality lube applied.

    Conversely, as a regular guy I consider "serious use" guns to be a weapon that is not for target or sporting, but intended to be used against others defensively or offensively. This need not be a "hard use" weapon. A .mil rifle would be a "serious use" weapon. So would a carry gun. So would a home defense shotgun, or LEO rifle. As a private citizen that means it will be high quality, kept as clean as possible, free of abuse. "social use" could be a stand in as far as I'm concerned.

    That being said marketing teams are gonna market. They may not mean it the way I view it, and I guess we each have to decided what they mean on our own.

    -Cory

  7. #7
    The R in F.A.R.T RevolverRob's Avatar
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    My hardest use guns sit in a safe about 80% of the time. So a “hard use” gun gets carried more frequently and used to fire at most a few thousand rounds a year.

    I’m hardly a “hard” end user. If it can get wet and bumped or banged around in the field, like - I’m climbing into a tree stand the bang the gun against the edge if the stand. Or maybe I’m oafish and accidentally drop it.

  8. #8
    Four String Fumbler Joe in PNG's Avatar
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    "Hard Use" or "Professional Quality" et al are great marketing terms, even if owned by dilettantes who mostly keep them in the safe/garage and pull them out on occasion.

    You may not need it, but it is comforting to know your Whatitz is overbuilt for the job at hand.
    "You win 100% of the fights you avoid. If you're not there when it happens, you don't lose." - William Aprill
    "I've owned a guitar for 31 years and that sure hasn't made me a musician, let alone an expert. It's made me a guy who owns a guitar."- BBI

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Jay Cunningham View Post
    True enough, but what about when the laity use it?
    It's a term that the marketing department uses to justify a higher price. When the laity use it, it's a triumph for the marketing department and meaningless otherwise. In the bolt-action sporting rifle world, the equivalent is "working rifle."


    Okie John
    “The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
    "Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's

  10. #10
    As someone completely UNqualified to speak on the matter, this is pretty much how I interpret the terms.

    Quote Originally Posted by cor_man257 View Post
    The way I think of it:

    Former regular .mil guy. I would consider most line unit rifles "hard use". As in high round counts, semi regular cleaning, knocked into everything, dropped, possibly used for intentional bashing or thrusting, regularly slammed onto metal barriers (turrets) for supported standing, subjected to ridiculous weather conditions. Sparing or mediocre low quality lube applied.

    Conversely, as a regular guy I consider "serious use" guns to be a weapon that is not for target or sporting, but intended to be used against others defensively or offensively. This need not be a "hard use" weapon. A .mil rifle would be a "serious use" weapon. So would a carry gun. So would a home defense shotgun, or LEO rifle. As a private citizen that means it will be high quality, kept as clean as possible, free of abuse. "social use" could be a stand in as far as I'm concerned.

    That being said marketing teams are gonna market. They may not mean it the way I view it, and I guess we each have to decided what they mean on our own.

    -Cory
    David S.

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