Aaaaargh....
 

I need an answer to a question. Perhaps some of you folks can help with this.

Why do people who lack the skill to hit anything beyond 100 yards, who live in an area where the "monster" is a 220-lb whitetail, and who are -NEVER- going to hunt elk in Colorado, buy or create 7lb rifles in chamberings like .300 Winchester Magnum?

Ow.

One of the idiot inbred neighbors brought in his rifle to be "line-bored" today, by which I eventually gathered that he wanted me to sight it in. The rifle in question was a Savage Mdl 10 of approximately Silurian vintage, which he also decided he wanted a new scope for. Grand.

So now, in addition to sighting in this portable catastrophe, I have to sight it in from SCRATCH. No chance that he's just getting a second opinion and that the rifle might actually be driving tacks, oh no. Just an optical boresighter and 20 rounds of .300WM in a rifle that had also had about 1-2/3 inches of it's stock amputated and replaced with a horridly insufficient buttpad. This because the owner weighed approximately 325lbs.

I, on the other hand, weigh about 180lbs, and let me tell you what, the very small percentage of that which makes up my right shoulder is fucking KILLING me. The dude's rifle should at least get him a deer, but if he brings it back in I'm going to shove it up his ass sideways.

Why would he bring it in, you ask?

Aah, say I, because this moron (like all of his friends and relations) cannot shoot. He cannot shoot because he decided to be macho and buy this monstrosity, and then "customize" it into an even bigger monstrosity. The result of which is a rifle which beats him so badly that, even though he only fires it perhaps ten times per year, he has developed a twitch as big as Dallas. So naturally he can't hit a bull in the ass with a broom.

So I fully expect to see him again tomorrow or Monday (even though we're closed on Monday, which everyone and his dog knows) or even on Sunday (when EVERYTHING is closed around here!), asking me to "Shoot this raahful in fer me, I kaint seem t'git it ter shoot none. I kno' ye shawt 'er in yesturdee, but maybe them ringziz wurked loose. I buy ye 'nuther boxuh bullits ferit.

Today, when I was sighting the rifle in, this jackass brought his entire family (who he'd brought to the shop with him) outside to watch. They stood around and laughed while I brutalized myself with this Inquisitorial engine of contusion ELEVEN TIMES.

The Rotundimus Maximus Stultorum who brought this thing in probably hasn't fired it eleven times in the past 18 months!

Why do people do this to themselves? And why do they then do this to -me-?

ok, so maybe SOME gun owners are compensating for lack of......

Fads. Trends in firearms are like trends in cars and clothes and whatever else: flavor of the month.

Gun companies keep doing the McGun Super-Size thing: bigger, faster, heavier bullet, lighter frame, etc. Uber this, uber that.

Make sure to put a 1913 rail on it and call it "tactical" to boost sales. Make sure the thing is finished in matte black despite the fact that black is one of the worst colors to use for camouflage purposes. Yeah, that's the ticket.

I read about this trend in the '70s with the use-a-safari-rifle-for-a-whitetail and the got-to-have-it .44 Magnum wheelgun for "self defense."

I see it now more and more. Superultracompactshort rifle rounds that are more like tow-behind artillery pieces. Ridiculous handguns chambered in rounds that would only be put in large rifles by sane men. .357 Magnum concealed carry pieces that weigh a dozen ounces that nobody likes to shoot due to the beating. Awkward "trail guns" with 3" barrels that hurl soup-can sized bullets.

...

As I gain wisdom in my old age... I've decided that stuff made XX years ago can often do the job better than today's hot rod ultracrap.

S&W [big bore beast slayer]? Hells naw, says Ruger and Taurus as they build an equally gigundo weapon with minimal practical use.

...

I'm sorry, Dunedan... but you're dealing with the same shit mechanics deal with: yuppies with Dodge Ram V10 Mega Cabs for commuting.

...

People like that are part of the reason I'm often embarrassed to associate with firearm ownership and activities.
I'm afraid of being lumped in with the rising majority of dipshits who own and use firearms and their "philosophy."
Seems like the 40% that are reasonable people are outweighed by the 60% that are absolute douchebags.

...

Oh, by the way... I have a Ludlow era Savage 111 in .30'06.

11 shots to roughly zero a scoped rifle? You're getting rusty.

Don't I wish; this thing heated so quickly (pencil bbl + magnum chambering) and it started to "string" in about five shots. So I had to cool the rifle, then resume zeroing while making much larger adjustments to the scope. Of course, it probably -actully- started to string at about round #3, but it took me until #5 to notice. So I got a rest ust long enough for my shoulder to -really- start hurting, then I got to go right back to it.

I wish this was rust. Sadly I've been getting -way- too much practice at this kind of thing lately. I need to shoot my FAL and see if it's given me a flinch, I'm sure it has to some degree. I'm waiting for some numbnut with more money than sense and a Dremel tool to bring me a cut-down .577 Tyrannosaur or some similar thing.

Guns= cool. Embiggened guns = more cool.

7 lbs guns = an extra 5 lbs of beer that one can carry.

Im surprised you didnt know that.

Disposable income + they are a fan of things that make a big boom?

Well, see... I've got this .470 Nitro Express and I don't have the time to sh...

Sorry, but your description (especially the accent) really cracked me up. Sorry you had to endure this stupidity. Some would say that it is just the 'Merkin way to have bigger and bigger guns.

Why didn't you just say no in the first place?

Smart men never say no to an idiot's money and new experiences with firearms.

Indeed. The money especially. The experience I coulda done without, but the money was mighty persuasive.

If its any consolation, I sell swords, and get amazingly similar bullshit out of customers..... Think of rednecks buying swords advertised as DECORATIVE, and then taking them to a large household appliance, and then being amazed when they break- or when they break when they are "sparring" with their cousin (using hockey gear for protective equipment) and then want to know if I can "fix" what is left..... some of it you kind of have to be there to really enjoy the full flavor, but they really do put the ninja in mall ninja.....

What, you got 5'7", 138 lb. guys with little dicks wanting to buy zweihanders?

;)

try 5'2" 115 lb, and they all want something with extra "spikey" to go with their goth-emo-brutally metal decor

im about 5'11, 145 lbs, and i love my 7.62, 30-30, and .308. they do me just fine.

ive often wondered about this. My old friends dad has a 300 mag that he's only taken one deer with.

it was at over 300 yards, and it was a medium sized whitetail. he could have taken it with his 30-06 that he uses almost daily, no problem.

this 300 he has sits in a gun safe all day. it has become nothing more than a conversation piece.

"oh, nice. i've always wanted to shoot one of those."

he could have used his money more wisely.