Whipped Cream Difficulties

Over at Tam’s place, she asks the musical question: “What is a man’s favorite color for a gun?”

I thought I’d answer over here, since the comments there are kind of cluttered, and I want to see if there’s anyone out there that feels the same way I do.

Here’s the thing: I don’t like shiny guns. There’s a part of me that says I have tacticool ninja reasons for that: “O. M. G. The reflected sunlight off of my nickel plated Model 29 might give my position away!” But I think my reasons go deeper than that, though I can’t really articulate them beyond: shiny guns don’t look right to me.

That goes for stainless steel, too: I acknowledge the practicality of stainless, and can see good reasons for owning something like a Kit Gun in stainless. But it still doesn’t look right or feel right to me.

Make mine blued.

I think that has something to do with my upbringing. My dad didn’t own anything in nickel or stainless, I don’t think my grandfather on his side of the family did, and I want to say the same thing goes for at least one of my uncles on that side as well. I guess I didn’t grow up with an appreciation for shiny finishes, or with a practical need for stainless steel.

How about some of you other gun bloggers? If you’re a big nickel or stainless steel fan, do you think part of it may be your upbringing? Did you have a father or uncle or aunt who carried a nickel plated gun in the line of duty? Did you grow up on one of the coasts, or around water, where stainless steel was the most practical thing to own?