daswig

Many moons ago, through no fault of my own, my picture ended up in a national gun magazine. At the time, I thought it was pretty funny, but later it exposed a very, very dark side to me. After the issue ran, I noticed that I was being approached by "gun culture wannabes". You know the kind of people I'm talking about....the ones with subscriptions to all the gun magazines but who don't bathe regularly, who dream of one day getting the cash together and buying a Lorcin, while sitting at home whacking off to Dillon advertisements. Not whacking off to the girls on the cover, but whacking off to the automatic primer tube loader ad. These are the people who will argue that a .22lr is the perfect self-defense round, since they read in a gun magazine that more people are killed by the .22LR than any other round, or that if it has a "Hack and Kough" logo on it, it must be the best, even though the only H&K logo-ed product they'd ever owned was a t-shirt. They're also the ones sporting the "genuine SEAL team" watch.

It got to the point that virtually every time I'd go out, I'd be approached by these losers. They'd ask me to go to the range with them (with me bringing my guns and my ammo for them to shoot, since they didn't own a gun, or if they did, it was an RG .22 short revolver that their "grandfather brought home from WWII") or try to be "buddy-buddy" with me when I didn't have a clue who they were or why they hadn't showered recently. Or, they'd want to monkey around with a $80K machinegun of mine that I had on the table that they obviously had no clue how to operate, while telling me how they had been issued that gun in 'Nam.

So anyway, to the question. Do you know any gun culture wannabes, and if so, how do you deal with them? Got any funny stories about them?

daswig

OK, I'll start:

One of my favorite gun culture wannabes was a cop. He was at a gunshow I was working. He was in uniform. He came up to my table, and we started talking. He told me that a bunch of stuff I had on my table was illegal to possess, so I should take them off the table. I told him he was full of shit, and to arrest me. He didn't care for that, but he didn't arrest me, either.

There's nothing in the world that amuses me more than moronic wannabes...those people with an IQ that's more than two standard deviations below "average", who are convinced that they have a clue when they really don't. But hey, I'm NOT naming names...

Suave

No I don't, but I must say: you certainly picked a shitter of a subculture to become a celebrity in. You should have had your picture accidentally make its way into Cosmo in their article on "best guys in bed" or something, so you'd have women (who may or may not be attractive, but at least would have bathed recently) fawning over you instead.

"Wannabes" don't really annoy me or anything either, because if you think about it, there are probably quite a few things that you yourself are not very well-versed in, yet may be strongly opinionated about. I'm not saying don't be amused by these guys, but try not to judge them too harshly, because you may unknowngly be in the same boat.

Also, what does the BFE for your location stand for?

__________________
"Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions." - Albert Einstein

"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." - Plato

daswig

BFE: Bum Fuck, Egypt.

Most rational people know when they are not well versed in a subject, and while they may hold opinions, they often know they don't know a lot about it, so at least they try to learn.

What amuses me are the people who want to argue subject X while claiming to be an expert, when they've had no training in subject X, and often not only are not well educated, but are apparently functionally illiterate too. For example: Somebody says "this sentence means X" while ignoring little things like conjunctions and punctuation. Y'all know what I'm talking about....like the "constitutional scholars" who claim the first clause of the Second Amendment means that the word "people" only means "state", as in a collective right. What part of the word "people" don't they understand??? Gun culture wannabes use the same thought processes as the anti-gun losers, but they're on our side, and frankly, we don't WANT them, just like most gun shows wouldn't welcome rednecks running around in Klan or Nazi uniforms screaming "Kill all whatevers!"

As for the cosmo thing: That would be FAR worse than what happened to me. Why, you ask? Because my wife has the combinations to the safes, she's a better shot than I am, and she has NO sense of humor about suspected infidelities.

The_Dunedan

Daswig;
A'int that a bitch? All the girlfriends I've ever taught to shoot ended up being better than me. Talk about an incentive to practice more!

daswig

Nah, she knew how to shoot before I started dating her. She got her first manual reloading press when she was 7 years old. Her daddy was a Good Man (tm).

Lebell

Yeah,

My wife shot a respectable group after just picking up my Buckmark and practicing a few magazines.

Anyway, I think it goes along with the culture in our country that idolizes "celebrities".

While you aren't a Britney or a Jack, you still achieved some minor celebrity that attracts coattail riders.

Btw, which mag did you make it into?

__________________
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis

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The_Dunedan

The bad part about working in the shop that I do, and having the select interests that I have, is that I'm all of a sudden the "big-bore guy." Now bear in mind, I'm a college student. I havn't got the money for a .700 Emperor, I just happen to know a lot about heavy rifles. But it never fails; some twit comes into our shop in Small Town Nowhere, wanting to know if we carry .416 Rigby ammo, or .458 Lott.

Me: "Yeah, we can order it for you...at $120 per box."

Them: "You mean I drove all the way from Charlotte ( 3 hours or so ) fir nuthin'? You're the guy who knows so much about this shit, why don't you carry the ammo?"

Me: "Because nobody in western North Carolina has much use for an elephant-gun."

That, or the guys who want to shoot our M-107, get all pumped up and brag to their friends, get their pictures taken with the thing...and then chicken out. My 5'3" 115lb mother shoots that damned thing all day long, and these "He-men" get scared of it. It's sad, really.

Lebell

Telephones are wonderful inventions

On another note, the only gun that SERIOUSLY intimidated me was an MG42...and for good reason, as my shoulder hurt for a couple of hours after firing it.

Beyond that, I find all new/unfamiliar guns a LITTLE intimidating, but that doesn't mean I won't shoot them

__________________
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis

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daswig

SAR.

When my kid gets older, that picture will undoubtedly come back to haunt me.

daswig

Heh. Dude, if it ain't a DD, it ain't a "big bore".

The_Dunedan

Well, there is some controversy brewing with ATF about some of the naster elephant-gun calibres...apparently they're talking about reclassifying the .600NE, .700NE, and anything else Nitro Proofed that's over .50 calibre...even the old .577/.450BPE could end up on the NFA list.

daswig

If they do, expect litigation over the "sporting use" clause...

The_Dunedan

That's what could really end up sucking. One of our customers is a BATFE agent, and he keeps up appraised on this kind of thing; according to him, the arguement's been put for that since they're not used to hunt any American game, they can be NFA-listed. It's part of the push to ban .50-plus calibre stuff. Prolly won't get very far ( it's a Feinstein/Kennedy Special, as I understand ) but it defintely shows what they're thinking.

daswig

Considering the U.S. v. Stewart timebomb that's still ticking, I'm not overly worried about their reclassifying ANYTHING as NFA weapons. The NFA is in more danger now than it ever has been before. I have to tell you, the idea of a $400 MG-42 appeals to me for some strange reason...

The_Dunedan

You're not alone! When I saw those reprinted MG and 20mm ads in Unintended Consequences I felt sick!

Hopefully Stewart will stand. I can afford a $500 MG-15 kit from Shotgun News, and my stepfather's a Master Machinist!

MrTuffPaws

I don't personally know any, but I see them at the range. Mostly as I am leaving, thank god. You know the ones that know they like "Glocks" so they and their bud go to the local range, rent one, don't know shit about any handguns or handgun safety, and are lucky enough to make it through without shooting anyone? Man, those guys scare the bejeezuz out of me.

The_Dunedan

MTP:
No kidding! I've seen that sort shoot holes in target-stands, benches, the CEILING...The really bad ones are the sort you'll sometimes see at the Combat Rifle matches I shoot in...brand new tricked-out Super-Shooter, all the latest optics and doodads...can't hit a thing. Blame the gun, the glass, anything they can think of except for themselves, and then get pissy when someone good-naturedly tried to help them out.

daswig

Yup, I remember once years ago at an indoor rifle range, there was this kid with a semi-AK who managed to shoot the wire to the target retrieval system, causing the whole thing to drop noisily to the floor. The range cleared out pretty quickly after that....

monkeysugar

I've got an acquaintance who has a boner for all things military, especially the weapons. The only quasi-military guns he has had the opportunity to shoot were an AR-15 and a 1911. Pretty much everything else you mention is compared to these firearms, and a so-so 300 win mag one of his family members bought. Needless to say, it leads to interesting discussions...

Him:"My dad's .300 has a $900 scope on it. He could take someone's head off at 300 yards if he needed to" me: "that's nice."
Him:"why did you get a single shot .223? An AR-15 provides superior firepower to that thing!" Me:"coyotes don't shoot back."
Him: "Want to go shooting this weekend? I'm teaching 4 or 5 people how to shoot and was thinking we could use your 10/22 and whatever else you've got. Oh yeah, I'll need gas money and some more money for a box of .45 shells." Me: "No thanks."
Him: "can I borrow your....." me: "FUCK NO"

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