Shoot or Talk?

[RedneckFur]

So is this thread about bragging rights, or insulting shooters who cannot afford $2000+ shooting irons? If you think that quality starts at 2 grand, then I'm afraid you're sadly mistaken.

[Rembrandt]

Originally Posted by larvatus

.....$2,000 seems to be the price threshhold for a handgun or rifle newly made to a reasonable standard of quality.....You get what you pay for.

I'd have to agree....the baseline for "reasonable standard of quality" continues to rise. The relationship between price and quality hasn't changed that much over the years....its just the decimal point has moved over.

Sadly you walk into any gun shop and 75% of the guns on the shelf are economized plastic versions of what was once made from wood and steel.

[larvatus]

So is this thread about bragging rights, or insulting shooters who cannot afford $2000+ shooting irons?

Why would anyone feel insulded by a statement of my preferences?

If you think that quality starts at 2 grand, then I'm afraid you're sadly mistaken.

Looking at the guns I own, or would like to have, my standard of quality is satisfied by a 1906 DWM Luger, a nickel steel Winchester 1886, a 1934 Colt SAA, a 1936 S&W Registered Magnum, a 1937 FN M30 Mauser, a 1938 Colt Shooting Master, a 1939 Colt Government Model National Match, a 1942 Remington M11 Riot, a 1957 Winchester M12, a 1957 Colt Python, and just about any SIG P210 or Manurhin MR73 made in the Seventies or the Eighties. I try to avoid guns with MIM firing systems and frames or receivers made out of plastic or aluminum alloy. This preference comes at a price.

[NRAhab]

Bullseye and silhouette, cool. What's your silhouette rating?

[larvatus]

I don't compete.

[NRAhab]

That's too bad; I'm a big fan of competition as a method for increasing skill.

[larvatus]

I am a big fan of practice as a method for improving skills. I lack the motivation to demonstrate my improvement or reveal its lack in competition.

[Tamara]

I have found to my detriment (both fiscal and in the spare time department) that competition involving either "run and gun" stuff or reactive targets and time pressure (bowling pins or steel plates) ranks up there with crack cocaine in addiction potential.

Edited To Add: ...and it's not really the "competition" aspect, as I don't have that "killer instinct" that seems to be necessary for successful competitors. However the combined pressure of the ticking clock and not wanting to look like an arse in front of the assembled observers lends an aspect of motivation that solitary practice sessions, and even ones with friends present, seem to lack.

[Wildalaska]

I perosnally just like looking good. I strike wonderful poses with my expesnive guns, then shoot the heck out of my Nagants

WildimastarAlaska ™

[Tamara]

Originally Posted by Wildalaska

then shoot the heck out of my Nagants

You, sir, are not right.

[Wildalaska]

You, sir, are not right

Thats what Bukharin said and you know how HE felt about Nagants

WildkobasavemeAlaska ™

[NRAhab]

"If you're going to shoot, make sure you look good doing it. That way if you suck, people are less likely to notice".

[Double Naught Spy]

I'm too lazy to run without being chased.

I believe this statement about himself to be true.

[MacGille]

What is this thread about? Arrogance, or ennui?

[NRAhab]

I had hoped it would be about a philosophical discussion of combat pistol tactics as inspired by a great western.

I was wrong about that. Now, it just seems to be people goofing around.

[AZAK]

I was wrong about that. Now, it just seems to be people goofing around.

I admit that I was wrong once; I thought that I was wrong, and I was mistaken.

[Alleykat]

If I were a betting man, I'd bet that the OP also smokes a Peterson pipe and is a card-carrying member of the NDA*!




















*National Dilettante's Association

[larvatus]

*National Dilettante's Association

With all operators running and gunning around these parts, I take comfort in my confirmed amateur standing.

"A man of true science ... uses but few hard words, and those only when none other will answer his purpose; whereas the smatterer in science ... thinks that by mouthing hard words he proves that he understands hard things."
--Herman Melville, White-Jacket

[B.N.Real]

"Anyone who can afford to waste your time is bound to come up short in making up it's value."

THAT-was a GOOD one.

You have to understand that larvatus is lucky enough to not only own several mint Sig P210's but to have extensive and provable knowledge of such handguns.

When you've spent many years doing everything there is with some of the finest handguns ever made,to go back to standard grade firearms is well...disappointing.

And we can all identify with trying to sell handguns and getting every gawker on the internet and in person,chiming in that they'll give us a hundred dollars for our $500 handgun.

In his case and those people like him that are lucky enough to be able to consistently own very high quality or collectable handguns,the gawker parade MUST be ten times worse.

Plus he,like many people in many states these days,has a defined limit of transactions he can do.

So ,if you can afford it,why buy a $700 stock handgun or rifle when you can buy a top of the line custom production handgun or rifle.

Heck man,we would all like to do that.

Yea,lavatus,everything I own is worth under $400 each but I still feel your pain.

[larvatus]

In his case and those people like him that are lucky enough to be able to consistently own very high quality or collectable handguns,the gawker parade MUST be ten times worse.

Over the past 18 months I sold four Neuhausen pistols, three Colt Pythons, and an S&W Registered Magnum with a minimum of fuss. My rate of return on five of these guns was at least 20% per year; with one of them, I tripled my $2,500 investment. The remaing two I sold at my cost, one to a friend, another in the wake of a costly repair necessitated by the carelessness of another friend. On the other hand, it took me more trouble to sell a $450 SKS, than I had in moving all seven guns. The carbine finally sold on Gunbroker.com tonight, after three bidders vied for my attention. One of them sent me a one-line email that required a monosyllabic response. Two others racked up my cell phone minutes well into three figures. You get no credit for guessing which one of them is coming up with the medium bucks.

Whenever the economy tanks, only luxury goods and staples remain in demand. I buy the best not out of luck, but because I have no money to waste. Two years ago I paid $3,650.00 plus shipping and transfer fees for a 1939 Colt National Match Government Model. Last week, a 1940 specimen sold at Little John's Auction for $12,500.00 plus a 10% premium. Other than being accompanied by a mismatched box worth up to $2,000, that gun was in a much worse shape than mine. Would I have been better off redirecting my gun money into five $700 Glocks?

[NRAhab]

That depends entirely on what you wanted to do those guns, sparky. A good friend of mine recently pointed out to me that "you're (me) not Tam"; by which he meant that I'm not a collector. He was absolutely right - I'm not much of a collector, guns have value for me not because they're rare, or unique, but if they can put a lot of bullets downrange in a hurry.

I mean, it's great that you can restrict yourself to only buying guns that cost more than 2k, but when you post about it on the intertrons you kind of come off like you're saying "I'm better than you peasants with your glocks". Just an FYI there.

[larvatus]

I can, and have, put a lot of bullets downrange in a hurry out of my 1939 Colt National Match Government Model. I have done likewise with borrowed Glocks. The Colt is a lot more fun to shoot and easier to hit with.

After spending a lot of time in the Soviet sticks, I don't care for peasants one whit. The Communist Manifesto had an excellent point in complimenting the bourgeoisie for rescuing a considerable part of the population from the idiocy of rural life. I am all in favor of elitism, provided that anyone can join in on personal merits. If American exceptionalism has any lesson to benefit the sullen masses, it is that nothing is stopping a farmer from trading in his log cabin for the White House. What makes a gun-toting peasant is not a want of wealth but a lack of taste that debars him from trading in his innumerable Glocks on a prewar Colt or a SIG P210.

[RedneckFur]

then shoot the heck out of my Nagants

In that case, Wildalaska, I bet your index fingers are STRONG!

[NRAhab]

What makes a gun-toting peasant is not a want of wealth but a lack of taste that debars him from trading in his innumerable Glocks on a prewar Colt or a SIG P210.

Thank you for aptly illustrating my point.

I guess you'd probably not be willing to put your P210 against a peasant with a Glock, would you? Not that I'd expect Dave to take such a challenge, but I'm just saying, that's one peasant who can run his pedestrian gun pretty well.

[larvatus]

I guess you'd probably not be willing to put your P210 against a peasant with a Glock, would you? Not that I'd expect Dave to take such a challenge, but I'm just saying, that's one peasant who can run his pedestrian gun pretty well.

There are many legitimate reasons to buy Tupperware. You might do so to stretch your budget, to forestall breakage, even to earn rewards through a party plan. It takes a peasant mind to parlay these reasons into the all-encompassing mindset that Tupperware is better than porcelain. Thankfully, for the time being, the White House China Room remains free of plastic.