Firearms "know-it-alls"

I love hearing the know it all's who swear they get 1/2" groups at 300 yds with their Mini 14's. You know, the gun with the genuine Bushnell Sportview 3x9 scope. Of course, when you challenge them to shoot for guns, they don't have the right ammo, they forgot their glasses, they need to go home and feed the canary..........

I sort of always thought that me showing someone that I knew more about a specific gun than he did put me in the "know it all" category.

rk

I have to agree with JohnKSa...

Due to age and medical conditions, my shooting is not what it once was. Nor was I ever as good as I wanted to be.
But If you listen to me, I can coach you into the ten ring, if you have the other qualifications...

If I've never shot someone in anger, does that mean I cannot read and evaluate the reports and opinions of those who have? Frankly, one can learn more about many things by reading the findings of men like Jeff Cooper, Bill Jordan and Elmer Keith than by spending all summer at the range wasting ammo.

I've never seen a 5mm Bergman round, but I've read about it in Cartridges of the world. Does that mean I'm a phoney?

For that matter, I've known men who have been in combat, and survived. And they still don't know that the ammo issued them in the service is available at the sporting goods store. And they don't know how an M16 functions. Or the bullet weight. And some of them aren't even very good shots.

Criteria for knowledge is a very subjective thing.

I would guess I fall into the annoying category since I do know a lot about guns...some guns, that is - rifles, revos, 1911's, handloading, etc. I don't know a lot about battle rifles or shotguns, and make no pretense otherwise. I think the last two threads I started were questions, asking people's opinions about rifle actions for a nice piece of wood, and about 7.62x25 in the 1911, so I'm hardly afraid to publically ask questions.

My favorite conversation between me and a gun store employee .

"Whatcha gonna carry in that SP101?"

".38 Special"

"You know, .38 is for show and .357 is for go"

I don't want anybody to know that I carry or that I know a thing about guns.

I listen to all the "experts" and I believe every word they tell me with wide eyed incredulity.

I believe some are idiots and some are bald face liars, but I believe them!!



I'm no expert, but I have been shooting for 52 years, and packing daily for 40.
I may not know everything about a particular gun I am looking at, but it doesn't take long to figure out if I want to deal with the guy across the counter or not..

There are plenty very knowledgeable and straight shooting dealers around. I don't deal with fools.

Posted by Iggy:

There are plenty very knowledgeable and straight shooting dealers around. I don't deal with fools.

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Words to live by when dealing!

Take care,

Art

Yep, Happens all of the time.

how about the "this is a great carry gun" than ask the clerk "what do you carry?" and find out he dont have a permit to carry.

Sad but true, most of your know-it-all/gun shop commando types spend more time talking trash at the gun shop, sitting at the BS table all day (most people that frequent gun shops know what a BS table is), and drinking the owners coffee, when they should be at the range shooting. Most of the gun store commandos I have seen have bellies the size of Rhode Island and look like they do a much better job of eating than they do shooting. Do I judge know-it-alls and gun shop commandos by the way they shoot? Yes I do.

One of the local pawn shop owners, who is also a CHL instructor, loves to brag in his store about how good an instructor he is, and about how good a shooter he is. He showed up at one of our local IDPA matches, and got stomped, placing dead last. Don't let your mouth write a check that your butt can't cash.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

Only on ocasison do I become a "limited" know it all! I was in a gun store a while back and this young kid behind the counter was trying to sell a small older woman with the help of her husband a snubbie 44 mag. as her first gun I quietly suggested that she try a smaller caliber or better yet head over to an indoor range near by that rents guns, so that she and her husband could try a few before deciding...The husband informed me that he had shot alot and she could handle it...She looked terrified but bought the gun anyway... I oftern wonder if she developed carpal tunnel in her shooting hand...

The flip side is that there are also people who shoot great, but either do not know much or cannot teach what they do know. I have seen a number of new shooters, especially women, who fall in this first category. They have great psychomotor skills, but not a great depth of technical knowledge, at least at that stage in their shooting careers.

Ran into a couple of fellow customers, father and son, at the gunstore last weekend. Son was about my age. Dad was buying an AR-50. I asked the son where they were going to shoot it and he informed me they had a ranch with a lot of land, and 'besides, its only lethal out to a mile.'
Tell that to the victims of ours and Canadian sniper fire in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

sendec

Whats the saying, "People who think they know it all irritate those of us who do."

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Someone just irritated me. A lot. That quote made my day a bit brighter. Thank you.

Whats the saying, "People who think they know it all irritate those of us who do."

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Indeed.

Opinions are like butt cracks - everyone has one and most of them stink.

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Then keep your nose out.

Actually, what it all boils down to is this: Nobody should give advice. The wise don't need it, and fools don't heed it.

quote:
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Opinions are like butt cracks - everyone has one and most of them stink.
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Then keep your nose out.

Actually, what it all boils down to is this: Nobody should give advice. The wise don't need it, and fools don't heed it.

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UhOh - I guess that means we don't need THR...

I'm sure some people thought I was a know-it all Sunday at the gun show. Working a table for a political organization, I ran into some interesting thoughts. Honestly, the most perceptive and best-spoken guy I met was a trap shooter who was raffling off some kind of very exclusive pellet gun next to me. I think he somehow roped me into volunteering to help coach a youth team.

There was the guy who was sure open carry is legal in Illinois, because "they'd be breaking the Constitution if they passed a law like that, wouldn't they?"

There was the guy who just couldn't believe that no one had sued the state, taken it to the Supreme Court, and won back all our rights.

There was the guy who was pretty sure the Supreme Court had recently handed down a decision nullifying a bunch of gun laws. He'd never heard of Miller vs. U.S., though.

Those three got angrier and angrier the longer they talked to me, but I don't think they were mad at me. I hope not.

Then there was the guy who came up spouting F-bombs left and right. He started out against the "radical right and the radical left" and somehow got to the topic of how Chicago should "succeed" (sic) but they never would because Daley needs downstate Illinois to "support his *******." I hope it was clear to that idiot what I thought of him. Before he left, he mentioned that somebody ought to cut Rosie O'Donnell's throat. To be honest, I'm not sure anything I said to him registered enough to make him angry. He was pretty loud.

I guess that means we don't need THR

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Weeeell, yeah... It isn't so much that we need it; it's more like we want it.

Besides, There are plenty of tickets left for the middle bleachers (between wise and fool).