Gun Snobs????

[jonsidneyb]

I am curious how you would define a gun snob.

I am guessing to most it means that they think everyone should carry exactly what they carry? There gun is the best there is?

I used to own and example of almost everthing out there and have gone the other way.

I have gone to Automatics that all have the controls in the same place and Smith revolvers. I don't pictures myself as a gun snob as I did this so that I would only have 2 manual of arms. There are a great many guns that I respect but will not own for the simple fact that I want them to work the same way. Well, 2 ways. I think some might consider me a gun snob because I now limit myself to what handguns that I shoot.

Lets here how you define a gun snob.

 

[Johannes_Paulsen]

Here's some thoughts....


Someone who says, for instance, that 1911s (or Glocks, or XDs, or whatever,) are the "BEST. THING. EVAR!!!1!111! Everyone NEEDS one!"

Someone who says, for instance, that people who buy Glocks are stupid, don't you know that every cop who comes within 10 feet of one has an "accidental" discharge.

Someone who says, for instance, that, "I am the only one in the room professional enough -- that I know of -- to handle this gun."

Someone who says that only weapons of a certain caliber are ever worthwhile, and yes, that includes (DANGER! HERESY WARNING!) anyonewho says that no defensive caliber should be less than .40.

 

[CWL]

Gun snobs are people who don't really understand that they know very little about guns and that all they possess is an opinion. I think that most gun snobs are in their early years of firing guns and probably have very little if any professional training. These are the ones who own one or two pistols and think that their particular gun is the absolute "it" of all guns, ever. Hopefully, most grow out of this stage.

I've been shooting for over 20 years and have run the whole range from hi-cap wondernines to .40SW fever, .357Sigs, and am settling down to m1911 collecting. I've had my faults and prejudices but am now comfortable that I'm just a novice. I know that it really depends on the shooter and his/her training, not on the pistol or bullet. I don't care what anyone else owns or prefers.

 

[johndoe1027]

Anyone that thinks they "know" more than the next guy. In other words, they assume that they know more than you or anyone else. If they assume that, they are probably ignorant.

I get that all of the time at the gun shops cause I'm young. Then god forbid I mention that learn from the net! They automatically assume I know nothing. Then I get to watch them cringe when I correct them on something just to be a smart alleck.

Also, anyone that says there is a "best" gun of any sort because there's not. If there was a "best" there would only be one platform instead of the many wonderful choices we have these days.

I also consider the guys that want to look down their nose at you for asking questions to be snobs. Sometimes it's like they don't want to answer you so that they know something you don't. AHHHH! The good guys are the ones that will take a 5 second answer and expound on it until you understand everything about the platform in question, not just the mechanics of the trigger (or whatever).

In closing I'd like to say that any weapon other than a 5" bbl SAO 45ACP 1911 with an internal extractor is not going to prove sufficient, even for target practice. Also, plastic guns are crap and 9mm's won't kill anything.

 

[jonsidneyb]

Good answers. I guess I can safetly have my personal favorites and stick with them and not be a gun snob. I like what I like for my own reasons but understand that what I like might not fit other peoples desires in firearms.

 

[Eightball]

Anyone that thinks they "know" more than the next guy.

Yep.

That, or anyone who looks down on you because of your firearm choice. Who cares if you have different needs than they do and a different budget, they sneer at your "less than capable" or "less than perfect quality" firearm.

It ususally falls into two classes with me--rich gun snobs (who have fancy stuff and anything that isn't of the quality they are used to=crap), and "knowledge" gun snobs (who presume that you know less than they do, and look down their nose at you because of it). They ususally have a personality to match their egalitarianist stance on firearms.

 

[1BLINDREF]

Glock owners

 

[Frandy]

It's having an air of superiority or regarding others as inferior. We see it all the time on chat boards such as these. It's an attitude.

So, when someone looks down their nose at another's choice of firearms, my guess is that the first person is a gun snob.

(Should have read Eightball's answer prior to posting - he said it!)

 

[Zeke Menuar]

I'm a gun snob. I admit it.

I won't go into detail. There are several brands of guns I refuse to own.

That being said I keep my mouth shut about it, even when asked a direct question.

It's the militant, loudmouth "this brand only" put down artist's that tick me off. They give all of us a bad name.

ZM

 

[Ala Dan]

To Me

A "gun snob" is anyone who owns, collects, or shoots firearms; and absolutely
REFUSES to cave in our 2nd Amendment rights. Heck, I'm one myself; and
very proud of it~!

 

[jonsidneyb]

I admit I don't like guns that do not work.

I have to wonder about those that say if it is not brand X it is not any good.

Then I have to wonder when people look at what I shoot and notice out of all of my guns I only have 2 grands.

I am not talking about being picky, I am talking about those that might think I am a snob because in handguns I generally only shoot two brands and those that think nothing is good but the one they use.

 

[Technosavant]

A "true" gun snob is a mixture of different things:

1) Ignorance. Not necessarily stupidity, but limited knowledge and/or experience. They might well truly believe what they say, but they just don't know any better.
2) A need to put others down so he/she can feel superior. If those guns are crap and only idiots would buy them, then we're that much better, eh?
3) Narrow mindedness. A touch of this means that they have their opinions, and those opinions go untouched by fact.
4) A need to inform everybody of that which you have arrived at through numbers 1, 2, and 3. These people feel the need to open their mouths and prove to the world they have no clue.

It's one thing to not prefer certain guns or brands. It's one thing to decide you won't have anything to do with them, for whatever reason. It has become gun snobbery when you look down on others for buying whatever cheap/unreliable/overly expensive/antiquated/etc. gun they have chosen.

It's possible to be a revolver snob or a semiauto snob. It's possible to be a US-made or foreign-only snob. There's plastic fantastic and real steel only snobs. There's snobs who won't consider anything with a MSRP under $800, there's snobs who can't imagine why you'd ever want to spend more than $300 on any gun. The specifics change, but the characteristics above pretty well cover it.

 

[03Shadowbob]

I am definitely a gun snob. I only interact and am friends with people who like guns

 

[TheFrenchCanadian]

My interpretation of a gun snob would be:

The guy that walks in while you're clearing a jam in whatever weapon for whatever reason, unpacks and says "Gee, I guess you should've gotten a (insert brand/model he happens to be holding) instead!" and then turns around, racks the slide and starts shooting...

TFC

 

[Caimlas]

I define a gun snob as someone that considers one type of firearm superior, for no apparent technical reasons. Stuff like "Remington makes the best firearms" or "only glocks rock"; people who think you don't need a black rifle because you can't hunt deer with it (even though it's a false assumption) fall heavily into this category.

 

[Hawk]

Not much I could add to the perception of what constitutes a gun snob.

I would submit that to be a true gun snob, the opinions must be unsolicited. Otherwise it's baiting and charges of snobbery wouldn't apply.

Example of baiting:

[hyperbole]
What's up with those 2,500.00 handguns?!
Does anybody really think any hundred year old design could be worth as much as 4 or 5 of my [insert brand]?
Whadda buncha tools!!!
LOLOLOLOLOL
Seriously!?! What do you get for the extra 2 large past a [insert inexpensive 1911 brand]
[/hyperbole]

Fortunately, such threads occur mostly outside the confines of THR, but we're not totally immune. Anybody owning an expensive handgun and responding in a spirited fashion to a post such as the above is NOT a gun snob thereby.

 

[jonsidneyb]

I actually like some expensive guns. I just cannot afford them.

I find it funny when someone tells me I should get rid of what I have and get XYZ. I had XYZ locked in a box under the bed and no longer shoot it since it does not fit me anymore. I eventually sold gun XYZ after giving it another try. Nothing was wrong with this gun, it was reliable, it worked, it just didn't fit me.

I just get annoyed when someone tells me to get what I already had for 8 years and had 1k rounds through it and decided I liked something better.

 

[johndoe1027]

Yeah, eightball said what I was trying desperately to get across. I understand if someone had a bad experience with brand X and won't own another one. Fine. I've heard enough bad experiences about ALL mass produced brands that I know lemons get out into the public all of the time, no matter the price tag or heritage of the company.

Some of the Taurus and Rossi bashers come to mind. I know that every gun they make isn't perfect but my two have never failed me and the more expensive guns I own have failed at one time or another.

I also don't care for the guys who insist than any gun that costs less than $800 is no good. I'd trust my life on my $200 38 snub before I would most other guns any day.

 

[glockman19]

Glock owners

LOL.

A "gun snob" is anyone who owns, collects, or shoots firearms; and absolutely REFUSES to cave in our 2nd Amendment rights. Heck, I'm one myself; and very proud of it~!

Me too

I'm a gun snob. I admit it.
I won't go into detail. There are several brands of guns I refuse to own.

I will...I will NEVER own a Taurus

 

[pax]

Heh.

Some of the posts above sound suspiciously like, "Those of you who think you know everything are annoying those of us who do..."



pax

 

[jonsidneyb]

If I was super rich there is a long arm that I would like to have. Some would call me a snob for having it. If I did have it I would not dare look down my nose at other arms as I know that this super expensive gun in not better than some standard price guns in some ways but instead is very unique.

I want a specific Veirling. It is regulated with a 17 rimfire under the rib and 6.5x55 so that these to are on the same windage and tries to regulate so that a 300 meter zero on 6.5 corresponds to a 75 meter zero on the rimfire. Then it has a regulated pair of 12 gauge on both sides. A gun like this can be 300k. I will never be able to afford one. I do realize that it is not the best gun for everything but at the same time pretty good for somethings. Not sure if that would make me any kind of a snob.

What I prefer to shoot in the way of handguns are S&W revolvers and CZ-75 and variants of it. When people see the revolvers I seem to always here "get a glock" When some see the CZs I hear someone say the 1911 is better. Nothing wrong with the Glock or the 1911. It just strikes me funny that I had both of those other guns but was considered stupid for having a CZ and S&W on me.

 

[helpless]

"Those of you who think you know everything are annoying those of us who do..."

nice

 

[jonsidneyb]

I can see that.

The ones I notice are the ones that seem to think there is only one handgun brand in the world worth having. I think it is fine to settle on one and stick with it but it does not mean that what you do not choose does not have merit. I have also wondered if I could look like a gun snob because I feel like I have made my choices as to what I want to carry and don't want to budge.

 

[mashaffer]

I guess that someone who looks down on those that can't afford the level of quality that they deem minimal. Comments like "if you don't value your life or your family enought to spend $X that's your business" are a dead giveaway that you are talking to a gun snob. Frankly I see a lot of this on the net. Degrading someone for not spending money they don't have on a gun they can't afford is all too common.

mike

 

[Im283]

I crack up at gun snobs who work in gun shops. There is one here that sells Hi-Points and others in the price range or even less. The guy told me he would throw it away if someone gave him one. I asked why he chose to sell them. Never got a response.