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Are shotgunners arrogant??

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Oldnamvet

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A vocal member of the gun club where I am a member claims that shotgunners are the ones who most frequently cause gun clubs to fail. He says they are elitist, arrogant, SOBs who look down on everyone else while polishing their $3K over/under shotguns. This drives away other members until the club no longer has a critical mass to keep functioning. He also claims that most pictures of NRA admin people shows them holding an O/U shotgun rather than rifles or pistols. I don't know since I don't pay much attention much less keep score.

I heard about this while I was shooting skeet with my JC Higgins pump and having fun with the others I shoot with. We never have criticized anyone because of their gear or skill level. Safety comes first then fun with us. That includes one guy who shoot a kreighoff (around $12K worth with all the barrels and stuff).

Are shotgunners overall people who think they are better than the other shooting disciplines? It seems a lot of people believe that. Why?
 
Hell yes, now get out of my way, you are touching my hummer. :p

I don't think so
I think what most non-shotgunners don't realize is that shotgunners support most gun clubs.
Everyone pays a membership, but shotgunners pay a fee each and every time (clays) they come.
That's not true for anyone else.
Shotgunners are profitable, rifle/pistols are a cost center.

I have found that almost all shooters are very generous, however, get any group of anyone in a club/group/work situation and politics will result.

I do think shotgunners tend to look down on rifle pistol, but some rifle/pistol people do just the same. IMO, we are all shooters and we better stick together. (and I like all 3 disciplines)
 
He says they are elitist, arrogant, SOBs who look down on everyone else while polishing their $3K over/under shotguns.
Click to expand...
No. You don't get to look down on everyone else until your shotgun costs $30K;)

A century ago trap shooting was an elite sport. It along with tennis and golf were considered the idle games of the well off. Times change.

I know arrogant and elitist shotgunners, rifle shooters, handgunners, archers. Being a jerk is not the exclusive preserve of any one segment of the shooting sports.:rolleyes:
 
The hard-core shotgunners tend to inhabit their own subculture. There is some cross over of course, but then again there seem to be quite a few shotgunners who only shoot a rifle when hunting and virtually never touch a handgun. There is a sense that shotgunning is the sport of landed gentry, though as pointed out this is fading. I have been told many times that shotgunners are supporting the rest of us, but I view this as just a new manifestation of their same old arrogance.

All I know is, my shotguns have RIFLE SIGHTS on them and that's how it's gonna stay :neener: I ain't wearin' them funny clothes nor getting fitted for my iron like some bride gettin' fitted for her fancy dress.
 
It's a stereotype.

But, just like every other stereotype, it's a stereotype that exists because there is truth to it and in it.

But, just like every other stereotype, the problem comes when you unthinkingly and uncritically apply it every person that seems to superficially fit it.

I am a white Southern male from rural Arkansas. I belong to one of the few groups that it is still very PC to make stereotypical assumptions about.

Among these stereotypical expectations are that I will have only a few teeth, not wear shoes unless absolutely forced to, drive a pickup with a Confederate Flag license plate, have a KKK membership, pick a banjo, dip Skoal, and fit a whole host of other characteristics that fit the stereotype.

I poke fun at this set of stereotypes by having the THR handle "hillbilly."

However, if you poke around rural Arkansas, you can, without fail, find some white males who do fit a certain hillbilly-redneck stereotype almost completely. In fact, you might even find some of my relatives fitting that stereotype 90% or more.

That all being said, I will say that I think there are certain (ahem) shotgunners who do perpetuate certain stereotypes.

For example, there is, within 25 miles of where I sit right now keyboarding these words, a "gun club" that is exclusively shotguns only.

Typically, the membership of this shotguns-only club does fit within a certain social and economic class.

Members of this particular club have been known to make disparaging comments about the "hoi-polloi" with their silly notions of owning semi-auto rifles and pistols and whatnot.

Now, applying the above stereotype unthinking and uncritically to every single person who shoots shotgun at this particular club would not be intellectually honest. There are plenty of shotgunners at this club who do not come close in the slightest to fitting that stereotype.

However, I do know for a fact that if you poke around a bit, you will find shotgunners at this club that do fit, to a tee, a certain stereotype.

hillbilly
 
Heck, no....

Most of the people I shoot with are fine folks and NOT just shotgunners. Most of us own and operate other firearms. That's irrespective of game and weapon of choice. IOW, the Purdey-ites have no more or less jerks than the K-gunners or those happy folks with well worn Ted Williams/Ranger shotguns.

Casa McC has a number of non shotguns and I'll just leave it at that.

I do note that "Practical" shooting draws more uh, uptight folks than clay games do and benchrest has more detail oriented folks, but there's lots of overlap.

By and large, shooters of all genres are good folks and certainly not arrogant.

In fact, I'll wager the usual flagon that a lot of elitest, uptight jerks would benefit from a few rounds of ANY clay game.

Regardless of equipment, it comes down to the shooter. Score cards and clays are not impressed by the engraving on a Piotti or the numbers on the price tag, just how it breaks birds in the hands of a given shooter.....
 
I haven't seen it.
I shoot quite a bit on 3 different ranges/clubs and most folks are just regular folks. Last time I shot sporting clays it was me (Beretta 390), a radiologist (Perazzi), a tree trimmer (Rem 1100), and a retired school principal (Citori). Some nice cars in the lot next to the trucks and jeeps, etc but I never experience elitism or arrogance. The snotty ones usually get a quick humblin' from somebody of lower socio-economic class with a plain ol shotgun.
Worst place I ever shot was a hunt club where virtually all of the birds were planted and most of the "hunters" came down from Chicago and hired a dog-handler/bird cleaner/guide. Worst sportsmanship, worst shooting ability, worst manners. But not because they're shotgunners ('cause they ain't)
 
I like arrogant shotgunners...

I use to make a little spending money shooting trap against arragant shotgunners when I was a kid.

A 10 year old with a 20 gauge youth 870 against a 45+ year old with a really expensive O/U.

Easy $$$ :D
 
I've dabbled in a few different disciplines over the years. Overall I've found that competitive shooters tend to be good folks all around. I've seen shooters lend competitors ammo, guns, parts to fix guns at a match, etc.

I've felt welcome at IDPA, IPSC, NRA Action, Skeet, and Sporting Clays. Some more than others, but no one ever snubbed my gun choice or discouraged me from competing. Quite the opposite actually.

Where I see the most snobbery is right here on the internet on gun oriented boards. And it's ALWAYS somebody talking about snobs with expensive shotguns looking down at the poster's 870/Mossberg 500/Spartan/Huglu. Often it is accompanied by an anecdote relating how the poster, or the poster's buddy/brother/dad, beat the pants off those Krieghoff/Perazzi snobs with his 870/Mossberg/Spartan/Huglu, and boy were those snobs unhappy about it. It's become so regular, I'm almost disappointed when the story ISN'T retold in a thread like this.

Funny, I've never heard a guy shooting a K80 talk about how he put some pump-gun yay-hoo in his place. Always the other way around. Makes me wonder. I shoot on a squad of K80 owners. You wanna bring your 870 express and shoot some practice targets with us? Great! Glad to have you. You're gonna get the same encouragement we give each other - "Work hard, now" - "Big eyes. All you got" - "One shot now". We don't care about your iron, just that you have fun and are safe.
 
Often it is accompanied by an anecdote relating how the poster, or the poster's buddy/brother/dad, beat the pants off those Krieghoff/Perazzi snobs with his 870/Mossberg/Spartan/Huglu, and boy were those snobs unhappy about it. It's become so regular, I'm almost disappointed when the story ISN'T retold in a thread like this.
Click to expand...

You spoke too soon....look up one post.

I like arrogant shotgunners...

I use to make a little spending money shooting trap against arragant shotgunners when I was a kid.

A 10 year old with a 20 gauge youth 870 against a 45+ year old with a really expensive O/U.

Easy $$$
Click to expand...

(Yawn...)
 
One of the reasons I no longer shoot trap and sporting clays more than a couple times a year are some of the people that are part of those activities. They are a minority, though at some clubs they are barely a minority......

I have been literally cussed for shooting an 870 before. That is a fact. I was told, in a nutshell, if I couldn't get suitable equipment I should just go home. Then I beat him and his K80 in a 100 bird sporting event, and told him about it, repeatedly while actively keeping score over the entire course. I wanted to stomp his XXX and was looking for a reason but HE went home.

That sort of angst just isn't worth it, I am getting too old for that sort of school yard crap. I moved on.
 
Sorry PJR, I just had to relate one of the biggest reasons I no longer shoot shotguns much.

I will give a nearly wholesale pardon to skeet shooters. Skeet shooters seem to be wired a bit differently:neener: For the most part their main claim to fame seems to he harassing each other WHILE shooting for sport with the shooting being only one component of the experience.

I have seen two action shooting (handgun clubs) shut down by shotgunners on club boards too, even though the action shooting was quite profitable to the club. Whose fault is that? It could be argued for ever, with both sides having strong positions.
 
Remember that every sale is a two-part process. First you have to convince yourself that the item is worth the money, then you have to convince others that it was worth the money.

In order for a person to enjoy owning (in this example) a $10K+ shotgun, they have to convince themselves that it's superior to (for example) a $500 shotgun. Unfortunately, it's an integral part of human nature that the same person will often end up thinking that they are superior to the guy carrying that $500 shotgun. That's where elitism comes from.

Are shotgunners more elitist than other shooters? I don't think so, but I do think they're more obvious about it.
 
HSmith, no apologies necessary. I've had the reverse experience however. The first club I joined was dominated by a group of IPSC shooters who thought their poop didn't stink. Their attitudes were enough to cause me to pull up stakes and find another club even though it was a much further drive.

The club where I shoot now is multi-disciplinary. One night not long after I joined I was shooting skeet when some of the IDPA gang wandered over clad in tactical web gear, toting short-barrelled shotguns and signed up for a few rounds.

One of the skeet shooters grumbled something to the range manager about them. The manager looked up and said "They are guns are legal. They are shooting safely. They paid the same price for the targets that you did. They are members of this club. Now shut up."

I knew at that instant I'd found the right club for me.
 
At my local range, it's not particularly uncommon to find that the most arrogant- and superior-acting members are shotgunners. That comment about "looking down at people while polishing their $XX,XXX O/Us" brought back specific memories.

But I think for them it boils down to having been shooting as a group for a long, long time, and having evolved together. There are definite "cliques" now, difficult to bust into, but possible nonetheness.

They can easily be taken for being elitist, when I think it might be something different altogether.
 
Are shotgunners overall people who think they are better than the other shooting disciplines? It seems a lot of people believe that. Why?
Click to expand...

:rolleyes:

stereotype: A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image.
 
I guess I should also mention that while packing that same ratty 870 around the sporting clays course I have been handed shotguns that cost as much as my first house to take a couple shots with, and that it was offered to shoot after just a simple comment like 'wow, that is a gorgeous shotgun'. I have met a lot of guys with uber expensive shotguns that have money and a love of fine art. Rather than hang it on the wall of the house they buy a shotgun that they can carry around the competition field, shoot, clean, and generally enjoy the way most art cannot be enjoyed.

One fella was shooting an MX10, don't know what it was worth but somewhere between a nice used car and a pretty serious pile of cash..... He was wanting a new bird gun, to carry out in the field and not worry about rain and things like that. I was shooting a Red Label SC, and offered the gun to him to see if it might fit his needs. He DEMANDED that I shoot his gun, well I guess I could shoot a few with it. No, the WHOLE round, he shot my gun and I shot his. ALL of my guns AND my car couldn't have paid for his shotgun, but he really didn't care. He just wanted to share the experience, and he often did with anyone he could strike up a conversation with.

Re-reading my earlier posts left me thinking I might have come off as being against shotgunners and especially so the guys with really expensive guns. That isn't true. I have met some really fantastic people shooting shotguns.
 
I have never felt more welcome in any group of people, than in the clique of shotgunners who have been shooting together for years, some decades. Friendly, open to newcomers, helpful.

Competitive bunch, but it's in good fun. Shooters are knowledgable, too, and many have substantial gun collections, not of Krieghoffs and Perazzis, but of original Broomhandle Mausers and express rifles from Hemingway's day. By and large they've all shot rifles and pistols, and gotten bored. That's why they shoot shotguns most of the time, now. That can come off as arrogance, but it's not, in my experience.

Frankly, there is a little bit of snobbery. When some potbellied 20-something shows up with a speedmetal t-shirt and tacticool guns he probably can't shoot worth a hill of crap, and walks over to the rifle/pistol part of the range, we might roll our eyes. But really, does anybody like slovenly subscribers to Soldier of Fortune?

But if he comes to the shotgun range with a shotgun, people will welcome him and help him out. With a smile. For real.

The only incident where there was any hostility is still legendary. Some neo-Nazi kid showed up with a t-shirt that said Zyklon-B on it. Someone asked what the shirt was about. He said something about gettin' rid of the Jooz. He was told that it was time for him to leave; he said that he had the same right to be there as anyone else. By then, a rather large number of shotgun barrels pointed his way to indicate otherwise, and he decided it was best to leave.

That's the kind of snobbery I like to see!:)
 
I've stood there unshaven in a black T shirt and worn jeans and been handed shotguns worth more than any vehicle I've ever owned by total strangers.

I've fired a few shots from dozens, yes, dozens of shotguns and enjoyed it no end.

Some of these were working, commonplace shotguns and some were Art that shoots.

Parker A-1 Special, only 1500 or so made.This was the ONLY A-1 SBT ever made.

Purdey "Best". A couple of these.

A side lever Grant.

A Lang hammer gun.

A Woodward O/U, one of 15 made.

And Kolars, Kreighoffs, Berettas, more Parkers, Merkels, Brownings, Fox, and so on. Plenty of Remingtons, Winchesters and Mossies.

12s,16s, 20s, 28s and a couple fine 410s.

Owned by a bunch of folks who didn't have an arrogant moment among them.
 
Maybe that is the difference. People who earned/have/inherited lots of money don't regard the status of a shotgun/rifle/pistol or any item as a big deal. They have some really nice ones because they like them and want to share that joy with others. They have long ago learned that there is always someone better, faster, richer than you are so just enjoy what you have. Big fish in a big pond.
In some places (where I live), a high end shotgun is a Browning O/U. And some people like to match their status based on what they shoot. Big fish in a little pond. Fortunately, they are in the very tiny minority. They just seem to make a lot of noise. Eventually they go away. One individual like that (brags about his house with its 7 bathrooms. I asked if he was that incontinent that he needed to be close:evil: ) would announce he would be coming to shoot at 2. Most of us would then show up at 10 and be leaving when he arrived. Without anyone to shoot with (and belittle), he soon drifted to another club.
 
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