Where did “soft shooter” come from?

March 14, 2022, 07:50 PM

tigereye313

quote:
Originally posted by sigfreund:

I wasn’t going to get into the grammatical aspects of the issue, but now that it’s been brought up, that is another thing.

“Soft” in the sense of a “soft shooter” is an adjective modifying “shooter” which in that expression is a gun, i.e., a noun. In that context therefore, what it implies is that the gun is soft, or to use a couple of synonyms, that’s it’s squishy or malleable, or perhaps flaccid (to return to one of my antonyms). That, of course, is not what people mean by the expression. What they’re referring to is how it shoots, not the “shooter.” That means the proper modifier would be an adverb in a phrase such as, “It shoots softly,” as you correctly pointed out and used—but which most people don’t.

What do we have if we don't have semantics?

March 14, 2022, 08:10 PM

sigfreund

quote:
Originally posted by tigereye313:
What do we have if we don't have semantics?

The horror is too much to contemplate.

March 16, 2022, 03:47 PM

flashguy

I don't think I use the term "soft shooter". I'd probably say the gun has "light recoil" or "less recoil" if comparing it to another gun.

flashguy

March 18, 2022, 05:33 AM

Blume9mm

All I know is an M1 Garand kicks like a motherf.... and the men that carried those and shot them in battle were some tough dudes....

March 18, 2022, 06:35 AM

YellowJacket

I've heard "soft shooter" to refer to low recoiling shotguns my entire 40 years on this planet. Makes perfect sense to me.

March 18, 2022, 08:39 AM

Flash-LB

quote:
Originally posted by YellowJacket:
I've heard "soft shooter" to refer to low recoiling shotguns my entire 40 years on this planet. Makes perfect sense to me.

Well, at least I'm not the only one.

March 18, 2022, 09:32 AM

trapper189

Much better to say the increased mass of the firearm spreads the rearward acceleration of the firearm over a greater period of time thus flattening the curve of the recoil impulse and lowering the felt recoil over a firearm of lower mass. Furthermore, the lowered bore axis and subsequently reduced muzzle rise is interpreted by many shooters as having less recoil.

For the record, my toilet paper doesn’t shoot at all.

March 18, 2022, 10:03 AM

Hildur

I don't think I've ever used that term but I've definitely heard it and it doesn't bother me any more than "kicks like a mule."

I shot a M38 Mosin Nagant that would take a shoulder off. It reminded me of that scene in Maverick when Joseph the Indian lets Mel Gibson shoot his bow and after 1 shot he couldn't use his arm for the rest of the day.

May 03, 2022, 09:36 PM

jljones

I’m running new furniture on my shotty. Makes it a real soft shooter.

May 03, 2022, 09:48 PM

sigmonkey

quote:
Where did “soft shooter” come from?

Porn industry. Final answer...

May 04, 2022, 01:00 AM

Pale Horse

quote:
Originally posted by jljones:
I’m running new furniture on my shotty. Makes it a real soft shooter.

Must be a mossy shotty because all the furniture I’ve run on my remmy shottys don’t let me run them runnier than the mossy shotty I run. Though the mossy shotty I run is a shortie shotty.

Also when I say run, it’s important to note that I personally do not run. I ran once. Did not like.

May 04, 2022, 09:39 AM

HRK

quote:
What’s next? “Oh, Pet, the Hoppe’s and 700X I’m using with my Alien meld together ever so wonderfully to form the most delightful fragrance”?

Sigommelier?