Range Snobs

[MountainPeak]

I don't have problems with range snobs. I don't allow them on my deck! I too, seem to see a little class envy throughout this thread. My collection runs from low dollar to high dollar. Over all, I seem to shoot high dollar slightly better. Surprising ain't it!

 

[LiquidTension]

Hey Carbon-15 - Ryan is the guy with the long red hair, I'm the tall blonde guy with the AK and FAL. I had forgotten you were there that day at Indian Creek. Was that guy a moron or what? We need to get together sometime. Oh yeah, I'm a member of MCRC now, don't make it up to Indian Creek much anymore. MCRC is much nicer =)

 

[Guy B. Meredith]

Well, I figure that anyone not making like a boisterous strutting stud is okay.

If people are enjoying themselves then whatever they have is okay. If they are sincere and information might be accepted I give what I can. I stay away from boy/girl combos or approach through the male side to keep intrusion to a minimum.

I have a $1000 PC 627 V-Comp that is way over what I would ever buy because I won it in a raffle for $20. Not interested in high end equipment for status and have more interest in developing my skills (boy do they need it). My favorite is the cheapest of the lot, an M66. Even the 627 will remain with iron sights; no race options, not because I disdain fancy equipment but because I like putting the burden on myself.

I do have an attitude of snobbery about strutting obnoxious types. They give shooting a bad image. Usually even my level of competence is beyond them as they are just interested in the bravado of power and noise so I love to give them a chance to compare targets.

Sometimes it's fun to break out a few high end .357 magnums to make boisterous conversation difficult.

 

[Tamara]

Dear People Who Are Complaining About Range Snobs,

Please give me a list of which guns are acceptable to shoot on the range with you so that I will not be seen as a "range snob". Is there a certain price cutoff point, or is it by specific brands and models?

RSVP,
Tam

 

[cardboardkiller]

I enjoy giving a guy I know fits when he drags out his $20,000+ Perazzi, I say "Man that sure is a beautiful shotgun, but it shoots the same $2 box of shells my damned old $1000 Benelli does." His ears turn a peculiar shade of purple.

I have seen a guy drag out a would be beautiful O/U Krieghoff with so much duct tape wrapped around the stock to fit him it looked like a pawn shop nightmare. Needless to say this guy smoked every shooter in our little tourny.

We had a Benelli rep here at a skeet shoot once and this guy was ragging on him about how pretty the rep's Executive model was and how he would hate to foul up such a pretty shotgun by taking it out hunting and that it probably wouldn't take the beating his 1100 had and keep running. Next thing I know there is a $3000 Benelli flying through the air at a pretty good pace and lands in a large mud puddle that was nearly as long as most family cars. The rep picked his shotgun up out of the puddle, wiped off the wood, the sights and shook the water out of it and shot over 200 rounds without a hitch. I never laughed so hard in my life.

 

[LiquidTension]

I don't care if a guy is shooting a PSG1. If he is cool, I have no problem with him. The type of weapon has nothing to do with my attitude towards other shooters. Their attitude has EVERYTHING to do with it. I think that people in this thread are just commenting on personal experiences where the snobs happened to have expensive weapons. I'm sure there are some rich gun owners that look down on those of us that can only afford cheaper weapons, but there are also gun owners that are very free with their expensive weapons and let others shoot them all the time. I would be in the latter category if I had any money, but alas, I do not.

 

[whoami]

I don't care if a guy is shooting a PSG1. If he is cool, I have no problem with him. The type of weapon has nothing to do with my attitude towards other shooters. Their attitude has EVERYTHING to do with it. I think that people in this thread are just commenting on personal experiences where the snobs happened to have expensive weapons. I'm sure there are some rich gun owners that look down on those of us that can only afford cheaper weapons, but there are also gun owners that are very free with their expensive weapons and let others shoot them all the time. I would be in the latter category if I had any money, but alas, I do not.

Exactly.

You want to shoot a beater SKS with a duct taped handle, fine. You want to shoot a Les Baer custom 1911, fine
You want to shoot an M99 with Nightforce optics, fine
You want to shoot a S&W snubbie, fine.
You want to shoot an IBA bolt action, fine.

It has NOTHING to do with what is used to shoot. It has EVERYTHING to do with attitude, SPECIFICALLY about other shooters. They want to criticize my shooting, that's fine. I know I'm not a very good shot. But if that judgment consists solely of the fact that I'm no good because, for example (from experience), I choose a Walther P99 over a Glock......there are plenty of lanes on the other end of the field.

 

[556A2]

At the 2 ranges I go to (Firepoint Inc. Matthews, NC or Jim's Pawn Fayetteville, NC) I have never met anyone that was snobby. Everyone at the ranges are very friendly, in fact the last time I went to Jim's I was getting hit my brass from the people in the next booth, and they apologized non-stop for it.

 

[Sean Smith]

Please give me a list of which guns are acceptable to shoot on the range with you so that I will not be seen as a "range snob". Is there a certain price cutoff point, or is it by specific brands and models?

RSVP,
Tam

Just the ones you own. Turn them in to me immediately, and for a modest handling fee I'll keep them far away from you.

 

[Tamara]

Truthfully...

...I had a lot of fun inviting a friend over to shoot in the back yard today. He shot my Beretta AR70 and my Krag-Jorgenson M1896 carbine, both firsts for him. I may have had as much fun watching him shoot them as he did actually shooting them. I remember going to a gathering of TFLers once, and watching one guy's daughter have fun shooting my No.1 RSI may've been the high point of my weekend. Half the reason I take my Mateba to public ranges is so that folks who've never shot (or, frequently, never even seen) one o' them Eye-talian semiautomatic revolvers can get a chance to try it out. Part of the fun of owning bucks-up 1911s is that nothing will scare up a range buddy faster than a phone call or email saying "Hey, wanna go shoot the Professional or the Baer?"...

 

[Pendragon]

I picked up my Ruger Single Six .22 (9.5" bbl) on 9/11 (yes, that 9/11)

I took it to the range a few days later and was trying to sight in the adjustable sights on the 25 yard rifle range.

The guy next to me is shooting the loudest (non .50) rifle I have ever heard. He is the sleeveless, muscled, silent type with a girl that usually goes with that type.

I ask him on the cease fire "what kind of rifle you got?"

"three hunert win mag....[looks at my puny .22]...a MANS gun..."

LOL!

Anyway - my snob gun is my Valtro and I will let any reasonable person shoot it.

 

[Navy joe]

I don't care what people shoot, I talk to the rental gun and Ruger shooters just as much as the high end folks. I am worn out on the fact that approximately half of the people with a budget for nice guns have the priggish superior attitude to go with them. And yes, they often get outshot. My favorite lately is tactical snob who is apparently a deacon at the church of tactical truth since they can buy a Wilson CQB. Possesses a "tacticalular than thou" king size attitude. Seeing that type get beaten by someone shooting a cheap CZ or a wheellgun is priceless.

In short I have not much use for gunners that can't be sociable. And yes, you can shoot anything I've got, std. crack dealer practices, the first session is free.

 

[blades67]

I've never encountered anything like a range snob, seen some range boobs though.

 

[jsalcedo]

Got any pics?

 

[rick458]

When I Belonged to Pearland Sportsmans Club, it was so cool to see the old benchresters pull up to the line of benches in their vans, and swing open the doors racks of high zoot bench rifles and sharpshooting regular ole guns.
I was once INFORMED by a bench rester, that zeroing in the hunting guns, was supposed to be done on the other range (They had about 10 at the time). but when I brought over the MTM boxes with the load progression on the Midway stickers and politely told him I was doing load developement FOR the hunting rifle He was cool because it was in the nature of the benchrest range (solid concrete tables and seats Oh so stable).
I did get in trouble from the grounds keeper for shooting too early
0800 is their start time I was booming at 0630 (came off nights) he said it pisses off the old ladies in the neighborhood.
I need to get back on there it is a great range, with good people.

 

[Carbon_15]

I don't care if a guy is shooting a PSG1. If he is cool, I have no problem with him. The type of weapon has nothing to do with my attitude towards other shooters. Their attitude has EVERYTHING to do with it. I think that people in this thread are just commenting on personal experiences where the snobs happened to have expensive weapons. I'm sure there are some rich gun owners that look down on those of us that can only afford cheaper weapons, but there are also gun owners that are very free with their expensive weapons and let others shoot them all the time. I would be in the latter category if I had any money, but alas, I do not.

BINGO...you pretty much sumed it up.

I'm much closer to broke than rich, but Liquid can attest, anything I have, your welcome to shoot...just ask. And when I go to the range with friends, my ammo is community ammo. Liquid, was it you are Ryan that shocked the crap out of me by letting me play with the AK. I was guilty of a little bit of unspoken, subconsious snobitude since I had just got my AR. A few rounds through that AK really changed my mind about "cheap"guns.

 

[Intune]

Snobbery

It IS all about attitude. I have a Mossy 500 that a girlfriend got me about 25-30 years ago. It had the 18.5 cyl bore barrel and it was my only shotgun for a few years. Got a 28" barrel and was in high cotton. It sits next to the Beretta Silver Pigeon II o/u that I got last Fall. My friends were raggin' me about taking the pig into the dove fields but everyone who wanted to got the chance to bag some doves with it. Then the ragging really started about bringing it out to the field. It was built to look, feel and SHOOT nice. I enjoyed shooting their sxs's(Daly?) Wingmasters and Rugers. Kinda like Tam said, it's about experiencing new things and giving others the chance to shoot something new, different or unusual. Maybe their only chance ever. That's part of the joy in owning weapons. Sharing. There are gun, car, clothes, income, ethnic, religious, zip code, Mason-Dixon and anythingucanthinkof snobs. I usually try to engage in a conversation, maybe ask a few questions, show some genuine interest. But, alas, some folks truly are snobs. Beware the dreaded butthead/snob combo for they are a true treat. At least their voices are usually muffled by their posterior so they're easy to spot. I can't be a snob 'cause I don't shoot well enough and I just bought an SAR 1, designated an official POS by some. Hmm, AR snobs, I'll betcha! Have fun out there, make somebody's day and ignore the socially challenged.