Has fanboy behavior ever turned you off a gun or accessory?

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If you refuse to buy a gun because you don't like certain people who own and love that gun, that's not really thinking for yourself, is it? That is being influenced by other people and ignoring the intrinsic qualities of that gun.

Except the problem is the margins are so narrow between competing manufacturers of similar guns. Sometimes razor thin, if there is even a margin at all. Most of us will never push our weapons to the limit such that the aforementioned alleged margins (that may or may not exist) even come into play.

When viewed through that lens, it makes perfect sense to base your decision on other...intangibles. Same reason people pick guns for the way they look. Or company reputation, even if it means paying more for--arguably--the same exact thing. Pride of ownership...is not a real thing to anyone but you. So why not pick a gun based on your perception of that gun's typical owner. Real or perceived doesn't matter.

I know several people who own one of those fanboy-type pistols. Some of them shoot them very well, some....not so much. MOST defend their choice, regardless of how much research they did, or if they can even name 2 competitors' pistols. But only ONE took the time to truly research, test several, and picked the brand in question. I respect his choice....the others, who have only ever shot THEIR gun but feel they must argue that it is the best, that gets old. At least if they were just honest and admitted they didn't care to do much research and wanted to go with the "safe" choice, that is fine too. Even though nowadays, "safe" choices are quite plentiful.
 
Nope, only change where I hang out online. Only two people determine my firearms purchases and she really wants me to buy whatever I want as long as the lights, water and gas are on. ;)
 
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When you turn 57 years old you will only buy what you enjoy, or need.

So many of us are thankful that both the many chic AR-15 selections, and costly accessories divert vast heaps of cash Away from M-1 Garands, Enfields, SKS etc.:) What a blessing.
 
Yes, the Springfield Armory Inc. Xd line of pistols.

Their slick marketing seems to convince their legions of fanbois that they've purchased the "best pistol evar" from the "first name in American firearms". They have Xd stickers all over their cars, constantly tout it as the best pistol ever, and are pretty in your face about it.

It's a $300 rebadged Croatian polymer pistol with "improvements". They're OK pistols, but I wouldn't pay $500 for one and then put a sticker on my car about it.

Kind of like Apple Computer/Electronics products. Fanbois keep me away from those too.
 
Yes, the Springfield Armory Inc. Xd line of pistols.

Their slick marketing seems to convince their legions of fanbois that they've purchased the "best pistol evar" from the "first name in American firearms". They have Xd stickers all over their cars, constantly tout it as the best pistol ever, and are pretty in your face about it.

It's a $300 rebadged Croatian polymer pistol with "improvements". They're OK pistols, but I wouldn't pay $500 for one and then put a sticker on my car about it.

Kind of like Apple Computer/Electronics products. Fanbois keep me away from those too.
dOOd, Springfield Xm is the best u dont know dood anything else is a POS!
 
It's a $300 rebadged Croatian polymer pistol with "improvements". They're OK pistols, but I wouldn't pay $500 for one and then put a sticker on my car about it.

I wouldn't put a sticker on my car / house/ bike / boat / whatever denoting any gun affiliation what so ever. BUT I do have an XD I treat like crap. It doesn't care.
 
Oh you mean mall ninjas? Sure they irk me at times, but I don't let their foolish behavior stop me from purchasing a particular firearm.
 
Heheh... fanboy, non-fanboy, whatever. What cracks me up is seeing the fanboy-gear put to hard use in training. The guys at PFT tell you right at the beginning of their classes. "At the end of this class, a lot of gear will be in this trashcan right here, and probably some guns for sale."

They're usually right.

Intarwebs fandom doesn't seem to affect me much. I view it as advertising. People get psychologically attached to the crap they buy. They feel some weird compulsion to prove (often to the point of being absolute jerks about it) that THEY bought the BETTER crap than YOU bought.

Why they get emotionally invested in their gear choices doesn't make sense to me. I suspect it exposes underlying fears that they bought crap whose quality is truly unknown to them. I mean, how many of them have run their crap hard? How many have crawled through gravel and mud banging it off rocks, cars, walls, etc... and seen that their stuff still works? Few. And they know it. So, I guess they have to bray about it on the intarwebs. MY STUFF IS BETTER THAN YOUR STUFF.

And you know what? Fanbois have influenced me to buy stuff. They really have. But not here on THR or any other gun forum. When I've seen it work in training or non-square-range shooting, it's gotten my attention.

The more I learn, the more I start to understand a couple of things.

1. I don't know A DAMNED THING.
2. The intarwebs are full of crap.
3. Fanbois are clueless. Except those that aren't.
 
well, I'm fifty four, and I've been into guns since I was ten, mostly walnut and steel, and fan boys turned me off of Glocks, but it was an unreasonable prejudice. I bought my first Glock this year. Nice lil' 26. I still think Brownings and 1911's are more my style, but the Glock is a well made tool.
 
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