Beware the man with one gun

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The saying refers to a rifle, perhaps?

Back in the day the common man owned a single rifle or shotgun. He could shoot, reload and shoot again and hit the intended target.

I know a guy who shoots the same load out of the same rifle year round. Varmints, rabbit, you name it. He just does not miss a deer no matter what. He owns one rifle shoots the same 130 grain reload and he's on his third barrel.

Myself, I like to shoot several rifles because I'm not a meat hunter.
 
I don't agree with the assumption having only one firearm helps in any way. I am not an "expert", I carry a full size 45 when in the woods in my area, mostly on a ATV. I have owned and shot J frame S&Ws for years, carry one concealed in most places IWB or pocket. I will even open carry a Ruger single six, first two shot shells for snakes around the house. I keep a Marlin 30-30 by the kitchen door for coyotes and a Winchester Defender plus a 45 for nighttime protection. I am isolated somewhat and getting older, no kiddies around so lights, motion detectors alarms etc keep the "bad guys" away. Each firearm is for what I think is the best for my use, realizing I could carry the 45 and a Stevens 24 to cover most but I chose to be, and am after all these years reasonably proficient with each firearm I use.
 
I subscribe to the theory. When I put on my P11 for CC I question how I would do in a situation where I would need it, especially since I shoot my 75B 10x more often and my groups are 1/4 the size. Typically, I only CC outside of the home while running around town but when I get home I usually attach the 75B open and sleep with it nearby, especially since it has the tritiums and I'm much more familiar with it. Had the CZ compacts been more representative of the 75B and as compact as the P11, I would have saved up for one or sold something else to fund one. But, getting back to the OP, with the practice I have with my 75B, I feel much more confident with it and it speaks volumes to the quote.
 
In a perfect world, maybe. Its really not as simple as that.

The specialist is really a "limited" person, where the generalist, has more options, when things may become a little more fluid.

Its sort of like only being able to drive a small automatic, and finding yourself with only a 12 speed tri axle with a clutch and air brakes available to get you away to safety. Anybody can drive the automatic, do you even know how to start the tri axle?

How do you even know what to specialize in, if you dont take the time and make the effort, to learn as many platforms as you can, to make an informed choice?

Broaden your horizons. You'll be better off in the long run.
 
I've been thinking about changing my carry gun because I really like something else, but I'm just so use to carrying it and feel so competant with it, I just can't change.
Everything else is just a fun range gun.
 
The specialist is really a "limited" person, where the generalist, has more options, when things may become a little more fluid.

Its sort of like only being able to drive a small automatic, and finding yourself with only a 12 speed tri axle with a clutch and air brakes available to get you away to safety. Anybody can drive the automatic, do you even know how to start the tri axle?

How do you even know what to specialize in, if you dont take the time and make the effort, to learn as many platforms as you can, to make an informed choice?
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Is that what you tell the wife? I think people are buying different guns because they like owning different guns and everything else is pretty much rationalization. We are not some special ops team heading off to train insurgents.
 
Hurricane said:
I get what people mean when they say this. But it seems as arbitrary as saying "beware the golfer with one club" or "beware the mechanic with one wrench".

I guess to me, I'd say beware the man with any gun. Especially if I didn't have one. I may be splitting hairs on a bald dog, but boredom will do that to you.
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If the mechanic has a crescent wrench, then how many more wrenches does he need?
Thus we see the weaknesses of such analogies. Hopefully.
 
Is that what you tell the wife?
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I dont tell her anything, its all give and take, and variety goes a lot farther than just the missionary position. ;)


I think people are buying different guns because they like owning different guns and everything else is pretty much rationalization.
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Why do you have to rationalize anything? If you choose to own them, I would hope its becasue you wanted too, not because you felt pressured to, and/or the need to make excuses for your choices.

I do buy them because I like them, and I also buy them so I can learn them. Those I dont really like, I sell so I can buy others, but I havent lost anything from the lesson of owning them.

We are not some special ops team heading off to train insurgents.
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I know I'm not, but thats not to say I couldnt. How about you? Are you versatile or competent enough to teach someone pretty much anything they might bring you, or are you just that "one gun" person?


If the mechanic has a crescent wrench, then how many more wrenches does he need?
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You know my brother in law, and former mechanic!? :D
 
If the mechanic has a crescent wrench, then how many more wrenches does he need?
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Maybe many more since "cresent" is a brand of wrench and not a type of wrench. Adjustable wrench is the proper term(this from a retired mechanic) for this type of wrench.
 
I know I'm not, but thats not to say I couldnt. How about you? Are you versatile or competent enough to teach someone pretty much anything they might bring you, or are you just that "one gun" person?
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I've hunted small game when I was a kid and learned pump shotguns and double barrels. In the 80s I tended to buy and sell a lot of pistols including revolvers looking for what I liked. Then I bought a Sig 226 and settled down with that. Lost that in a divorce and have been using Glocks since as far as pistols go. I did 20 in the Army mostly in the 82d. I don't know jack about some things like bolt action rifles, skeet or trap. I knew more than anyone else I've ever met about M60 machine guns. I'shot some foreign stuff and could make just about anything work if I had a few moments to play with it or study the safeties first but I'm not in training to be a grunt anymore. Did that, got my retirement check.
 
The saying in question is based on a false premise. It suggests that guns have particular attributes such that using one exclusively leads to better performance. That begs the question that guns are difficult mechanisms to operate.

On the contrary, they are very simple devices based on the idea of a bullet and a barrel. Semi-automatic pistols, revolvers, rifles and shotguns are easily mastered and it's a good idea to be comfortable with as many as you can learn. You may have to employ a BG's weapon, or one given to you in an emergency, and I see no advantage in relying on one weapon only.

That said, I seriously doubt I'll ever fire any handgun more accurate than my 686. They aren't all the same, but using one doesn't make you less proficient in using any other.
 
Where I grew up a man had only one gun, maybe two at the most. My father, and both grandfathers, each owned one shotgun that put food on the table and defended the family.

So I don't get it about the one gun thing, except that in our situation anyone who meant harm to us needed to be afraid of those guys in my family who had only one gun.

My mother, after losing our father, was scared at night, so my brother gave her one shotgun. She successfully defended herself with that one weapon when an intruder tried to come into her house through a kitchen window.

Beware the man with one gun, he may know how to use it.
 
Another statement which has lost it's meaning over the years.
Someone brought up "a stitch in time" and "a penny saved".
I was raised with and understand both. I have needle and thread both at home and at work, and I'm not a surgeon :). I'll still bend over to pick up a penny on the ground, although these days I sometimes wonder why. However, I will bet you that anyone under 40 would neither recognize or understand the philosophy behind either...even if you try to explain it.

I have learned in this thread that I will be a better shot simply by owning a bunch of guns. I somehow doubt this.
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As ludicrous as is the inverse. :rolleyes:

I know a number of people with one gun. None of them shoot often or well.
I know people with multiple guns. Some shoot well, some do not. But I'll tell you this much--every good pistol shooter I know owns more than two.
 
All of the best shooters I know own multiple guns.

that said, based on my experience, the number of guns a person is proficient with directly correlates to how often you shoot them and test your skills.

For me this works out to having a high level of proficiency with two to three guns, average-above average with maybe a half dozen, and reasonabled familiarity with fifteen or more.

At the end of the day, its all about how much time you're willing to spend pulling triggers.
 
jimmyraythomason said:
Maybe many more since "cresent" is a brand of wrench and not a type of wrench. Adjustable wrench is the proper term(this from a retired mechanic) for this type of wrench.
Click to expand...


"A genericized trademark (also known as a generic trademark, proprietary eponym) is a trademark or brand name that has become the colloquial or generic description for or synonymous with a general class of product or service, rather than as an indicator of source or affiliation ("secondary meaning") as intended by the trademark's holder. Using a genericized trademark to refer to the general form of what that trademark represents is a form of metonymy."
-Wikipedia

"A rose by any other name..."

The point of my post was analogies can't be taken literally anyways.
 
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My take on it (outside of what Cooper said as mentioned of the first page of responses) is that you should pick one system of firearms so you can rely on the same muscle memory. For example, Sigs, Glocks, XDs all don't have external safeties. If you train with one of these, the others would be harmonious with your muscle memory. I would add a firearm with a safety that requires additional safety manipulation into the mix because under stress, you may not remember, be able to do so. If you train with a pistol that has a safety, I would add only those pistols that have the same type of safety manipulations (either you push it up or push it down but I wouldn't have both types).

This doesn't mean that I don't use other types of pistols or own different types of pistols. I just make sure the ones for self defense all operate the same and that the other ones are just the social plinkers.

Not that long ago, I had an opportunity to take a formal force on force training class. It amazed me how much harder simple things became. I knew that things under stress would be harder but it still surprised me a how much harder they were.
 
This saying actually started with my wife. She asked, "Why do you own so many guns and why do you want more? You can only shoot one at a time." Thus started this line of reasoning, passed to other wives.
 
I don't think you need to learn more than one gun to get good with one gun. The military gives a guy a gun often the first gun he ever held and then trains them on it. Given a choice I wish they gave him more time on that weapon rather than time with a lot more weapons he will never use. Owning multiple guns will not make you a better shot. Its about how much time you practice not how many guns you practice with. Exposure to many different guns allows you to make better choices on which gun you decide to go with but it doesn't intrinsically make you a better shot. Generally gun guys like to own guns so sure good shots tend to own a lot of guns because they are attracted to them. But don't mistake cause and effect. A guy who grew up with one rifle and sent out repeatedly with one bullet to get supper and did is a dangerous man. I doubt many of "The Greatest Generation" ever had more than one gun of any type.
 
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