I'm a hypocrite and I think I'm okay with it.

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  • lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,678
    Reasonable thinking I can follow.... most any day I drive to work I'm not going to get into a car accident, however I still want a decent car with airbags and will put on my seatbelt to buy down my risk. Different folks have different experiences with different understandings to come up with different ways to mitigate to different levels of what's acceptable risk to them. And why not enjoy and find utility in what you do towards that. That's what a free country ought to allow.

    Exactly how I feel about it.

    On the appearance, a gun draws attention, period. That said, I'd still prefer one that draws a little less attention. Whatever floats someone else's boat, but I don't really want a gun that it looks like my 13 year old son designed it after playing too much COD zombies. If I was going for a design aesthetic, I'd rather go "battlefield pickup". But as I get older and have owned guns longer, I generally just prefer wood and steel. I appreciate the look of a nice modern gun, but it doesn't get my blood pumping as much as a nice, slightly worn parkarized 1911A1 with walnut grips, or 6" Colt Official Police 38spc, or M1 Garand, or 1903A3. A carry handle M-16A1 looks nicer than an M4 covered in do-dads and gee-gaws.

    Doesn't mean my G34 doesn't have have matching OD green thread protector, slide stop, weapon light and mag release. But it doesn't have a zombie green slide with kill hashes on it. Or stars and stripes and coordinating red white and blue bits and a giant compensator with oversized magwell.

    Okay, I'll judge guys a little based on their style (I judge people who drive PT Cruisers too, I am human), but sort of to each their own. I prefer my guns not draw extra attention and the over exaggerated styling has always seemed garish to me (like something from a cheap action or sci fi movie).

    I see nothing wrong with functional things for actual function sake. You compete and need a big mag well and giant compensator, more power to you. If it really makes your shooting experience on the range that much better, go for it. I don't like the look and I gain nothing appreciable shooting paper or steel at 50yds and less with no scoring and no timing and no lives on the line. If that bullpup shotgun is better balanced, fits in your safe easier or is just easier to carry for what you want for it, go for it. They do seem more wasteful to me than most other guns.

    Only because unless you have your own property to just shoot stuff on, almost every single clays facility I have ever been to is quite clear on a 23" minimum barrel length (I've seen a few that are 22 and some that are 24, but a lot seem to be 23"). So there goes using every bullpup shotgun I've ever seen for clays (not sure you'd really want something twitchier for clays). I guess you can hunt with one, though I'd be surprised if anyone has actually ever hunted with one. .410 shotguns are kind of expensive to shoot compared to a 12ga unless you reload. Even a gas operated shotgun sort of sucks to shoot slugs out of for very many shots, so even on a range you can shoot it on, you generally have to be firing slugs and how many are you going to want to shoot? A box? Two boxes? Maybe 3?

    I guess for HD/self defense it can make a bit of sense. But being able to top up a tube feed shotgun isn't a bad thing in an HD/self defense scenario and is a lot faster to at least get a round or two loaded back up compared to swapping a magazine on a bullpup shotgun, especially if you are mildly practiced and have a side saddle.

    Anyway, it doesn't HAVE to make sense to own one. That is the beauty of it all. Just stating the reasons I shake my head at it. But I don't have to get it and I am glad people can buy what they want, even if it isn't practical.
     

    Docster

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 19, 2010
    9,768
    Not a hypocrite because you've likely changed your opinion. I would personally say never justify to others a gun purchase except perhaps your significant other.
     

    Virgil Co.C

    Active Member
    Aug 10, 2018
    615
    If it’s cool and ya like it why not. I have bought stuff because of the cool/neat factor. Just because . Not the first go to tool if SHF. But it’s nice having options and just something different to shoot . Just bought a 410 because I thought it was neat . Definitely not an apocalypse gun but it takes chokes which I liked.
     

    Pale Ryder

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 12, 2009
    6,234
    Millersville
    I've been on kick watching reruns of "The Last Alaskans" also been wanting a centerfire revolver for quite a while now. So that combination turns into me buying a 7 1/2 " stainless super Blackhawk 44 mag that I need about as much as anyone needs a zombie painted bullpup shotgun with tally marks. Despite me committing to my self, no new guns I don't have ammo for, here I am ready for a grizzly bear attack in southern md, minus the magnum ammo, found a few specials. But it sure is cool and I can't help smiling when I look at it, show it off to my friends and proudly wear it on my hip while on my property.

    Well you can always take up deer hunting, good statewide now.
     

    mranaya

    Task Force Sunny, 2009
    Jun 19, 2011
    996
    Hanover MD
    The two that rank consistently at the top for lowest recoil are the VersaMax and I think the A400?

    Anecdotal support follows: When I take new or prospective gun owners to the range, who want know what it's like to shoot shotguns, I take a Moss 500, Saiga 12, and VersaMax. So far, everyone loves the low recoil of the VersaMax. On clay days, I can fire that thing all day long. Not well, but no ouchy on my no-skill shoulder.

    As for the Zombie shotgun, I do have a few ZombieMax ammo cans from around 2012 that to this day make my wife's eyes roll.
     

    Ilexopaca

    Member
    Mar 4, 2012
    69
    You're not a hypocrite man...

    Years ago I read a paper in a scientific journal about consumerism (the act of shopping) and how it affects the brain much like nicotine or drugs. In other words, the anticipation, the desire to own the next cool thing stimulates your dopamine levels.

    This is why sometimes after buying that camera lens, gun, guitar (whatever) you sometimes feel a let-down over-time. It's like withdrawal. You find yourself not using the item you bought as much as you used to. But you're out there hunting for the next cool thing to buy because it's stimulating.

    This has informed how I go about determining if buying a certain object is something that will really make me happy. This is how I do it:

    Using Amazon as an example I will place that thing I really want in my cart, but I don't pull the trigger. That way, as I go about purchasing neccesties I'm forced to see that "desired item" sitting in my cart. So when I go to buy something I really need (like a replacement chainsaw for my broken one) I have to decide if I really want to buy the "desired item" that's in my cart too. Inevitably I move it to the "save for later" list. Over-time, something happens in my brain. I level-off. Rarely, I do decide I really need that thing I desired. More often it turns out I don't really need it. And there is a certain satisfaction of "proof of concept" because I can go back and review all the seemingly nonsensical stuff I once desired - going back years now.

    You can sort of do this on Gunbroker also by using your "watch list" - albeit repeatedly. Sometimes, after watching that pistol or rifle I really wanted for a while I come to the realization I no longer desire it as much as I used to. Othertimes I finally make the purchase - but I do it with much more certainty.

    I won't lie, most of the guns I've purchased on impulse I still love to shoot today! On the other hand, a few turn out to be lemons - and nothing sucks more.
     

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