Nice guns dont make better shooters

[waktasz]

It's funny I was just having this conversation in a mountain bike forum. 

If you pay X amount of dollars extra to get the bike you REALLY want, you will ride it more, and you will get better by virtue of riding more. 

Get the gun you want. If you like it more you will want to touch it more, and more time with the gun in hand means more skill development.

 

[Nathanb]

15 hours ago, waktasz said:

It's funny I was just having this conversation in a mountain bike forum. 

If you pay X amount of dollars extra to get the bike you REALLY want, you will ride it more, and you will get better by virtue of riding more. 

Get the gun you want. If you like it more you will want to touch it more, and more time with the gun in hand means more skill development.

 

This is so spot on. I used to switch guns all the time. Then I bought the gun I should have bought originally and haven’t bought another one since. I also only grab that gun when I head to the range for practice. 

[Boomstick303]

16 hours ago, waktasz said:

mountain bike forum.

 Which Mountain Bike forum?

 

Truth to this.  You buy equipment you will want to use you will use it.  Sometimes flashy toys keep people interested longer.  Not to mention nice guns are sweet to shoot.  As long as you maintain them properly.

Edited March 3, 2021 by Boomstick303

[waktasz]

5 minutes ago, Boomstick303 said:

 Which Mountain Bike forum?

 

Truth to this.  You buy equipment you will want to use you will use it.  Sometimes flashy toys keep people interested longer.  Not to mention nice guns are sweet to shoot.  As long as you maintain them properly.

Pathetic Mountain Bikers on Facebook  

[Tango]

How about this: a nicer gun makes one shoot better. 

 

You are welcome.

[ltdmstr]

On 3/2/2021 at 8:23 PM, waktasz said:

It's funny I was just having this conversation in a mountain bike forum. 

If you pay X amount of dollars extra to get the bike you REALLY want, you will ride it more, and you will get better by virtue of riding more. 

 

I'm still riding an IF Ti Deluxe single speed 29er that's prob 10-15 years old.  Guess that's kinda like shooting single stack.

[waktasz]

On 3/3/2021 at 1:42 PM, Boomstick303 said:

 Which Mountain Bike forum?

 

Truth to this.  You buy equipment you will want to use you will use it.  Sometimes flashy toys keep people interested longer.  Not to mention nice guns are sweet to shoot.  As long as you maintain them properly.

I have a 15 year old Raleight 26" hard tail. I hate it but I don't know anything about bikes and only started riding it again a few months ago. My kid hand previously confiscated it for a while 

[rowdyb]

When I worked for Trek and could get employee deals it was amazing.

[waktasz]

bikes are like primers right now

[Boomstick303]

There are some bikes in stock here in Colorado. Mostly big name store stuff. Specialized and Treks. No Yetis though.  Those are a little hard to find from what I have seen. Expensive bikes are like expensive guns. If you don’t like using them they are a waste of money. 

 

I have a 2012 Specialized Carbon Stump Jumper I bought on Clearnace. It’s paid for itself the first 4-5 years I rode. It’s amazing.  I will never sell it as it has 26” wheels on which it is hard to find 26” wheeled bikes anymore. Smaller wheel sets are nice for the tight switchbacks on the tons of front range trails we have here in the Denver Metro area. Looking forward to getting back on it this summer.  Loosing lbs so I can drop out of that Clydesdale classification. 

 

I would love a job at Yeti. 

Edited March 5, 2021 by Boomstick303

[ltdmstr]

Nice bikes are like nice guns.  They just work better and are more fun to use.  And they don't break constantly when you beat on them.  My other bike is a Moots Psychlo-X.  Converted to 1x11 last year and it's awesome.

Edited March 5, 2021 by ltdmstr

[Boomstick303]

9 hours ago, ltdmstr said:

Nice bikes are like nice guns.  They just work better and are more fun to use.

 

As long as you know how they work, and how to maintain them.  

[firewood]

On 3/4/2021 at 3:26 PM, waktasz said:

I have a 15 year old Raleight 26" hard tail. I hate it but I don't know anything about bikes and only started riding it again a few months ago. My kid hand previously confiscated it for a while 

 

I have a 17 year old Trek 4500 which is a "Hybrid Mountain Bike" Anyway not quite a beginner as I have been riding bikes for about 3 years. I do not ride technical single track mostly road bikes. Local here is the famous D&L Trail, a MUP (multi-use path) most of it is old railroad bed or canal towpath so it is basically flat. The roads are another story. Anyway last summer I did weekly metric centuries, 12 of them in all, between 62 and 75 mile non-stop rides on the D&L with my Trek which is really kind of a tank. Not bad for a 62 YO almost beginner.

 

My primary road bike is a 15 YO Cannondale Synapse AL, a $350 craigs list find, which I usually do twice weekly rides in my neighborhood 15-25+ miles each with 2000+ feet of climbing. Do I want a better bicycle? Yes. I. Do. But for now I do very well against those with $6K CF electronic shifting machines. Bicycles are like competition shooting, a lot of ways to transfer your disposable income outbound and actually a lot of opportunities to put a social life together around the hobby. The main thing is to get your FTP up with a decent power to weight ratio. To myself I say kiddingly as my FTP is 3.256 watts per kilogram that I'm classified as a "B" rider LOL! In 2020  between outside riding and smart trainer/Zwift I logged in 6350 miles, almost 400,000 feet of climbing. So far this year I'm a bit behind the 8 ball.

 

To anyone still in this discussion, I'm all for making oneself happy and doing with your monies what you please, good shooting equipment do cost money. And this is a past time for most of us, recreation. I do get the impression that the pent-up energy associated with the past years lockdown and stimulus bux available are the cause of a temporary "let me try to purchase some shooting skills" but it's all in good fun.

Edited March 24, 2021 by firewood

[HesedTech]

Since a poster is comparing a high end competition gun to the similar in bike racing I have to jump in. 

 

I road raced bicycles for over ten years when I was in my 30s. To this day, in my mid 60s, I still ride for health and enjoyment. Frankly I credit the decades of regular exercise has contributed to my health in these years, but that's another issue. What I do believe is I have the creds to make the comparison about how high end performance and the use of top equipment in the cycling world. 

 

Frankly having a smooth operating light weight bike is like riding on a cloud. It's the same with a gun that has a smooth, non-gritty, crisp and light break, and a short reset trigger, you just want keep sending bullets down range. 

 

Do we absolutely "need" high ends stuff? Of course not, but what is life if we can't dream and make those dreams come true.

 

I think we all fundamentally know in any competitive sport it is the work people put in which determines who will be at the top of the leader board. The tools just help us refine our skills.

[Brooke]

On 3/26/2021 at 6:20 PM, HesedTech said:

Since a poster is comparing a high end competition gun to the similar in bike racing I have to jump in. 

 

I road raced bicycles for over ten years when I was in my 30s. To this day, in my mid 60s, I still ride for health and enjoyment. Frankly I credit the decades of regular exercise has contributed to my health in these years, but that's another issue. What I do believe is I have the creds to make the comparison about how high end performance and the use of top equipment in the cycling world. 

 

Frankly having a smooth operating light weight bike is like riding on a cloud. It's the same with a gun that has a smooth, non-gritty, crisp and light break, and a short reset trigger, you just want keep sending bullets down range. 

 

Do we absolutely "need" high ends stuff? Of course not, but what is life if we can't dream and make those dreams come true.

 

I think we all fundamentally know in any competitive sport it is the work people put in which determines who will be at the top of the leader board. The tools just help us refine our skills.

Thank goodness for some common sense comments. Will higher end guns make better shooters? Maybe in some cases. If the gun functions better or more consistently it could. If the shooter is happy enough with gun to practice and focus better it could.

 

Will it always make someone better. Certainly not but it can easily make them happier to own and use a special gun.

 

Isn't that what hobbies are for? I don't mean taking competition lightly. I can't but I can be happy with my tool. Its no one else's freaking business what I shoot and why. I shoot an expensive gun badly. I try hard and love every minute of it. It's my life go stick your thumb wherever.

[Phoenix1977]

All Guns Matter!

[obsessiveshooter]

I shoot and I mountain bike and I will say, You could win USPSA nationals with a barely modified or unmodified Glock, but good luck winning a mtb race on a perfectly reliable old bike with no suspension.  

[Bakerjd]

For me personally I think better guns make me a better shooter. Not because they are better per say but because I can trust them to not break or jam mid stage, and I like them more so I want to use it which gets me to practice more. 

 

My biggest and hardest habit to break is my division ADD. I have really nice limited, open, single stack and carry optics pistols and have not yet been able to keep myself shooting one single division for a whole season. I get bored or frustrated and change.  Usually I start with SS and get about 1/2 way through the season then go to limited. Then after area 5, I live in MI, I'm like well cool season is basicly over so I can just mess around with the open or CO guns. I find the switch from SS to Lim fairly simple but this year it was a little worse since I had a brand new limited gun that was a lot different then any I'd even shot before. It was a 5.5" sight block setup and took much more work getting used to. I still ended up doing pretty well with it though. 

 

I will also say that another big help for me is having a major match goal ahead of me to train for. Once the area match is over its usually 4 or 5 months of basicly down time with a few locals left in October then maybe a local or two indoor in the winter. 

[MILDOTS]

I was always the guy that tried to buy his way to a better performance, it didn’t work but I sure got a lot of cool guns. 

[Nolan]

2 hours ago, MILDOTS said:

I was always the guy that tried to buy his way to a better performance, it didn’t work but I sure got a lot of cool guns. 

 

I started out as the guy that didn't care what it looked like (more like too poor for pretty), it just had to work well and be reliable.  Eventually after many gag trophies for "Ugliest Gun", I could afford better parts, better gunsmiths, prettier guns and now I'm like you.

 

I do think knowing your gun runs increases your confidence and lets you concentrate more on the actual shooting regardless of whether it's a nice (pretty) gun or looks like you drug it to the range behind your car.

 

Nolan

 

[melbigson]

I read in a book somewhere something about only ever buying equipment that will help you shoot better, not anything that you think will make the gun shoot better. I might be butchering that but you get the point. And hell yes gold plating helps me shoot better 

[twodownzero]

On 10/22/2019 at 9:37 PM, Malarky112 said:

I shoot with regular group of friends and CZ Fanboys. They like to pick on my gen 4 G34. Their guns all cost about 3 times as much as mine and I still beat  them on a regular basis. 

One thing I like about competing with a Glock is that my carry gun is a G19. While they’re not identical it still feels so familiar when I pick it up. 

I remember when CZs were $250 and people still wouldn't buy them.  I do wonder what kind of CZ costs 3 times as much as a Glock 34 though, it sounds like your friends are getting ripped off.

 

  

On 10/5/2021 at 6:42 PM, MILDOTS said:

I was always the guy that tried to buy his way to a better performance, it didn’t work but I sure got a lot of cool guns. 

 

Me too, but I wore the finish off all the nice guns trying.  I'm sure I'll learn to kick ass someday.

Edited October 9, 2021 by twodownzero

[VigilAndy]

I got my first gun after someone tried to break into my house while I was home and I felt a little vulnerable chasing him off with just my K-bar. But after I got the gun (a 1911) I quickly fell for the thing as a mechanical device. Not the lethality or protection it offered. Just loved how it was put together and operated as a machine. And the history of it’s development. I was hooked. I didn’t see a gun I didn’t want after that for a few years. I got out of shooting for a long time but now I’m back and hooked even worse. So anyway, I have all these nice pistols and then I discovered that folks perform and compete with these things! Perfect, it would now make so much more sense for my wife! Wrong..  Anyway, I started with the obsession buying and now am getting around to the performance. 

[ltdmstr]

Wow.  Six pages all starting from a false premise.

[twodownzero]

On 4/13/2021 at 8:35 AM, obsessiveshooter said:

I shoot and I mountain bike and I will say, You could win USPSA nationals with a barely modified or unmodified Glock, but good luck winning a mtb race on a perfectly reliable old bike with no suspension.  

 

You could show up to any single speed XC race and win it on a rigid bike.  You probably couldn't win without modern geometry though. 

 

I hope you all discover Gnar Couch by the way.