People trying to "look cool" with their setups?

[wyohome]

There is a guy in our county that has nearly covered his pickup in pieces of mirror. This project has cost him a great deal of time and money, not to mention years of bad luck. It is not something I would do, but if that is what he wants, so be it. I feel the same about making a rifle into a Swiss Army Knife...None of my business.

 

[alman]

The more different types of people that enjoy our sport , The more better .
Nice rigs nwilliams !

 

[Inebriated]

[QUOTE="Bojangles7]


And he has the right to roll his eyes at them. I'm sure none of you have ever rolled your eyes at the way people dress or conduct themselves in public. What's the difference?[/QUOTE]

That's where you're wrong... most of us DON'T roll our eyes at everyone who is into something else or has something we don't like. Most of us just don't care.

 

[MuleRyder]

To the OP, I'd rather hang out with those guys having a good time shooting than some eye rolling, holier than thou jerk like you. Who cares what other people spend their money on, maybe they think your choices are stupid. Mind your own business.

 

[chucknbach]

Ran into one of those guys a couple weeks ago with my son. He had a Colt AR with a bunch of fancy red dot optics on it.
When we were done shooting went over and talk to him. He enjoyed talking about his new purchase, The amount of money spent on it was more than most guns I own. My sons eyes were big and he had drool coming out of his mouth. I said to my son "just like the commando from call of duty, huh?" The owner of the gun knew exactly, what I was talking about.
Judging by the guys enthusiasm and the big poo eating grin on his face I'd say it was worth every penny he spent on it.

Heaven forbid we start becoming elitist. Judging what gun or gun set up or experience level is required for gun ownership.

My personal belief is that it's every US citizen's duty to own and maintain a weapon of some kind. I'm going to use that argument on my wife when I get my AR.

 

[Beaux Nehr]

Heheh, yeah, it's not right OP. You can't get sassy with someone or think you're better than them because of what they buy.
You also can't set arbitrary pre-requisites for others.
This picture sums it up.



What IS justified is rolling your eyes at those guys when you see them giving bad "instruction" to their friends, or when they start using obscenities loudly in their lanes. Those guys are deserving of ire.

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

My personal belief is that it's every US citizen's duty to own and maintain a weapon of some kind. I'm going to use that argument on my wife when I get my AR.

Good luck with that argument! It's well "tried", just don't know how "true"

 

[Powerglide]

I have a right to roll my eyes, or, a right not to roll my eyes.Either way, it's nobodys business. As far as making fun of somebody, just don't do it.Heck, they could laugh at fat woman you brought or the ugly truck you have.Not so funny then, huh?

 

[dagger dog]

The op would bust a gut at a SASS CAS match !

You can play ARMY,COPS and ROBBERS, COWBOYS and INDIANS anything you like and it's even more fun if you got the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ !

 

[Powerglide]

The guy with mirrors would think he was normal!

 

[Double Naught Spy]

I notice this a lot when I go to the range. People with no real marksmanship skill or military experience shooting expensive guns with all kinds of cool-looking accessories. Example: I recently saw a group of guys with a desert-camo AR with holo sights, foregrips, collapsible stock, the works. These guys were clearly not military/police. Would not surprise me if that entire rig was over $1500. They could easily have bought an AK or SKS, or even just used a good .22 or a hunting rifle. And ditch the useless optics!

If they just wanted to shoot for fun they could do so at about a tenth the total cost and have the same or better experience.

I also see people at the store buying these extremely expensive, military grade optics. What for? Just buy a 1.5x zoom scope! Or use the iron sights!

Am I wrong to kinda roll my eyes at these people? I should note these people are in the minority - most people are hunting types looking to practice or just people who enjoy the sport of shooting.

I think this is the first complaint I have ever seen about fellow gun owners looking too cool and that being described as a type of problem. Not only that, but the complaint is also about using gear that is of too good of a quality than the poster thinks other people should need at his range.

Sorry, but the OP reads like a post about a guy who is intimidated by folks with better gear and so he thinks they should not be using it or spending the money they spend because they aren't real professional gun folks who might have a real use for the equipment.

I just hope he doesn't complain when I show up with fancy store bought targets. The kids have outgrown their Crayons and won't make targets for me anymore and I just feel silly spending the afternon coloring my own targets before I got to the range. I don't want to look uncool either and store bought targets are where the cool really is.

 

[TITAN308]

1. You all got trolled.

2. OP can't get mom to buy him an AR-15

 

[sugarmaker]

The only time guys like that bother me is when they come to the range with lots of gear and zero knowledge of range safety. But then anyone who lets their guns swing across the firing line while hanging from a black nylon strap will get my attention.

 

[brigadier]

I notice this a lot when I go to the range. People with no real marksmanship skill or military experience shooting expensive guns with all kinds of cool-looking accessories. Example: I recently saw a group of guys with a desert-camo AR with holo sights, foregrips, collapsible stock, the works. These guys were clearly not military/police. Would not surprise me if that entire rig was over $1500. They could easily have bought an AK or SKS, or even just used a good .22 or a hunting rifle. And ditch the useless optics!

If they just wanted to shoot for fun they could do so at about a tenth the total cost and have the same or better experience.

I also see people at the store buying these extremely expensive, military grade optics. What for? Just buy a 1.5x zoom scope! Or use the iron sights!

Am I wrong to kinda roll my eyes at these people? I should note these people are in the minority - most people are hunting types looking to practice or just people who enjoy the sport of shooting.

People like that are both annoying and scary. I have seen first hand what happens when trends like this go over the line.

I am all for goofing off with toys, but when it comes to real killing machines, they need to be respected and it appears that respect for firearms among young people is diminishing at the same rate the hobby is growing, if not faster.

The gun community is on allot of bandwagons right now that are headed for disaster. This is one of them. Try to talk some sense in to people like that and if they don't listen then keep your distance from them, both physically and socially.

Regarding fancy accessories on firearms, a good flashlight, "low tech" optic, bipod, adjustable furniture, recoil control system and quick reloading system are good to have. Much beyond that is a waste of money. I can't tell you how often I hear people going on about fancy laser sights, infrared and all that. My experience is that with handguns is that good ol iron sights is best for practical usage, a simple scope or iron sights with rifles. I saw a thing on some world leading combat training school who teaches pretty much the same thing, saying that they're always getting guys loaded down with all kinds of fancy accessories on their gun but end up leaving with just their iron sights attached.

FWIW, I have around $1700 in to my AR-15 and would have spent over $2000 had I paid retail for everything. But it cost that much because I researched everything and got the best product I could find for my intended purpose, though admittedly I am still working on it (will probably spend around $2500 after everything. I guess you can say a serious business AR-15 costs more but looks less fancy then your "goof-off" gun.

If your gun cost $2000 and looks nice but relatively straight-forward, you might actually know your stuff. If it cost $1500 and looks like a Robot, you're probably a wannabe.

 

[Grmlin]

Well OP I think you've got your answer.

Last time at I was at the range I had a young man (16-18) come up to me while I was sighting in my Tacti-cool M&P-15 with full rails, scope, laser, and light and started giving me a class on the weapon. I just smiled and nodded. He made a hasty retreat when a couple of my former Marines came up and called me by rank (although I'm retired). I felt bad, we invited him over to shoot with us and had a great time. He might have been over enthusiatic at first but he was very intelligent and a damn good shot. Not only did he learn but I learned from him as well.

The point: Don't judge a book by it's cover.

@dagger dog Now I have a picture of the Village people at the range.

 

[Bubbles]

I don't buy guns and accessories because they "look cool", I buy them to do a specific job. Some of them do look cool though.

Similarly, I didn't buy a classic Mustang convertible to "look cool", I bought it for other reasons... but it does make me look cool.

 

[brigadier]

I definitely keep appearance as a criteria for what guns I buy, but it's probably the very bottom criteria. Nothing wrong with wanting a good looking gun, so long as you don't do it at the cost of function. Everyone likes shooting a good looking gun at the range, but it's not worth loosing your life over in a real situation.

If you want some real artistic creativity, try building a gun that looks as good as possible while also working as good as possible. It's tricky and demands some creativity but it's doable.

 

[Ranger30-06]

When you pay the guy's bills, you can decide how he spends his hard earned cash!

Seriously, as long as he's safe and not breathing down your neck all afternoon or offering you completely bogus information, why should you care how he spends his spare change?

 

[justin 561]

Am I wrong to kinda roll my eyes at these people? I should note these people are in the minority - most people are hunting types looking to practice or just people who enjoy the sport of shooting.

Wait, they're at a range..Arent they practicing or were they just shutting both their eyes and pulling the trigger?

 

[hso]

Isn't shooting supposed to be fun?

Part of the fun is tarting up the rifle based on what you think is cool when you start out.

Evenatually your idea of "cool" changes to small groups or meat in the freezer and the tarted up rifle stays in the closet unless you're playing gun games with it.

 

[RoboDuck]

I have built a few rifles and added different sights , optics, handguards ect. Thats the neat thing about the AR platform. You might roll your eyes when I shoot my 10mm handloads and its the loudest gun at the range.

 

[MEHavey]

Had I been at the gunstore I might have suggested something else as a starter...
But if they are safe, responsible, and willing to learn,
they are welcome at my range.

 

[Nagant]

Not sure if OP is trolling or just an angry old miser. However, there are plenty of people with this attitude, I think... and it's not good for us as gun owners or for gun rights.

I enjoy my useful "tacticool" gear (which I DO know how to use, btw) as much as any other twenty-something dude. And I've safely introduced A LOT of my friends to firearms. And many of them have in turn become very enthusiastic about "tacticool" weapons, both because they enjoy shooting and because they want to be effective members of the civilian militia of the United States. There is nothing wrong with wanting a cool-looking gun. While I do admit that some people are just ridiculous and don't have the skills to match their equipment, it's no more appropriate or helpful for folks to tease and castigate the tacticool crowd than for me to criticize the elmer-fudd-looking old dudes who think that anything beyond a single-shot break-open shotgun is "overkill" who I see frowning at me and my fancy plastic guns at the range.

Ridiculousness...

 

[hirundo82]

I'm not discounting people who are true collectors or super experienced shooters. But these are people who don't really look like they know much more than the 14 year old girl learning to shoot with her dad! Doesn't it make sense to start with a beginner setup until you really know what you're doing, rather than spending thousands of dollars to look like Jack Bauer?

So basically until someone gains an amount of experience that you deem sufficient, they should stick with the guns you consider appropriate? What business of yours is it how they decide to spend their money?

 

[wyohome]

I like a bolt action rifle with reasonable accuracy. MOA is about as good as I can shoot so that is good enough. I hate plastic stocks, a nice wood stock is much better. There really is no need for any cartridge other than .308 Win, it will shoot well enough and kill anything that walks, with a smaller amount of powder. There are very expensive scopes on the market, a vari-x 2 is enough scope. Anyone who varies from these standards is wasting money and is wrong.