There was a Knife Owner Phases thread over on BF, and I thought it was kind of funny so here goes.
The old guys that were around before I got into guns probably tired of my noob questions back when I first got into guns. Then I saw the generation of noobs after me do the same thing, and then they found themselves answering questions to the next generation of noobs, and so on and so on.
So what was it like for you when you went from noob to geezer in the gun world? Everyone ends up settling down in a different place, but some go through a mall-ninja phase (I won't lie, I got sucked into the tacti-cool world a time or two), and some stick with hunting-specific guns, while others end up in the Mil-surp world or compete in various matches.
For me it was like this:
1. Grew up with guns in the house, but when I got older I didn't really get back into shooting until I was in my mid 20s (I married young)
2. Bought my first handgun - a S&W Police Trade-in 4043. It was a tank that weighed a ton and had the longest stiffest trigger ever.
3. Wanted a rifle, so I bought a Mini-14 and wanted to doll it up in "tactical" accessories - all of which were junk and fell apart (NC Star red-dot, Tac-Star flashlight, cheap mounts/slings, etc.)
4. Started buying more and more handguns and upgrading to nicer and nicer guns all around but still cheaped out on things like optics, lights, and accessories. Got my CCW. Bought my first HD Shotty (Mossberg Mavrick).
5. Started getting into "tactical" stuff and looking at Sigs, HKs and my first AR build. Started doing a lot of research before purchases.
6. Had a mess of high-end pistols/rifles/shotguns that were too pretty to shoot, so they stayed in the safe and remained pretty. Started buying higher-end accessories and parts. Couldn't resist even decent deals on high-end pistols and rifles. Had about 7 AR builds going simultaneously and always looking for that next Bolt, or gas-tube, or front sight to show up in the classifieds.
7. Built my first bolt-action (or rather, picked out the parts and took to the smith) mid-range shooter and began to start looking at doing more shooting and less collecting. Started regretting some of the "tactical" stuff I had bought and began simplifying many of my guns.
8. Started shooting... a lot. Only really shot a few of the guns in my safe, but shot them as often as I could get ammo for them (I never got into reloading). Took a few classes, watched a few videos, got a few friends together and did as much training as we could do.
9. Lost my job and had the tough choice of selling off guns I could replace or would never use and keeping the ones that meant the most to me. Couldn't afford to shoot as much, so I had to really make it count when I made it out to shoot.
10 Today - own fewer guns, but the ones I own are highly functional and get plenty of use. I'm starting to appreciate some of the guns I scoffed at as well as folks whose ability far outweighs their equipment. I find very few gun deals that can convince me to pull the trigger, but I've got a small wish-list of things I'd like to have (but can live without for now). Started through the knife-phases to distract me from guns. Still don't reload, but I'm convinced that I just don't have the time (plus, I'm eliminating a bunch of stuff around the house that I thought I'd use/get-into but never did and I know that I would just have some reloading stuff laying around if I bought it).
What were your phases and what phase are you currently in?
The old guys that were around before I got into guns probably tired of my noob questions back when I first got into guns. Then I saw the generation of noobs after me do the same thing, and then they found themselves answering questions to the next generation of noobs, and so on and so on.
So what was it like for you when you went from noob to geezer in the gun world? Everyone ends up settling down in a different place, but some go through a mall-ninja phase (I won't lie, I got sucked into the tacti-cool world a time or two), and some stick with hunting-specific guns, while others end up in the Mil-surp world or compete in various matches.
For me it was like this:
1. Grew up with guns in the house, but when I got older I didn't really get back into shooting until I was in my mid 20s (I married young)
2. Bought my first handgun - a S&W Police Trade-in 4043. It was a tank that weighed a ton and had the longest stiffest trigger ever.
3. Wanted a rifle, so I bought a Mini-14 and wanted to doll it up in "tactical" accessories - all of which were junk and fell apart (NC Star red-dot, Tac-Star flashlight, cheap mounts/slings, etc.)
4. Started buying more and more handguns and upgrading to nicer and nicer guns all around but still cheaped out on things like optics, lights, and accessories. Got my CCW. Bought my first HD Shotty (Mossberg Mavrick).
5. Started getting into "tactical" stuff and looking at Sigs, HKs and my first AR build. Started doing a lot of research before purchases.
6. Had a mess of high-end pistols/rifles/shotguns that were too pretty to shoot, so they stayed in the safe and remained pretty. Started buying higher-end accessories and parts. Couldn't resist even decent deals on high-end pistols and rifles. Had about 7 AR builds going simultaneously and always looking for that next Bolt, or gas-tube, or front sight to show up in the classifieds.
7. Built my first bolt-action (or rather, picked out the parts and took to the smith) mid-range shooter and began to start looking at doing more shooting and less collecting. Started regretting some of the "tactical" stuff I had bought and began simplifying many of my guns.
8. Started shooting... a lot. Only really shot a few of the guns in my safe, but shot them as often as I could get ammo for them (I never got into reloading). Took a few classes, watched a few videos, got a few friends together and did as much training as we could do.
9. Lost my job and had the tough choice of selling off guns I could replace or would never use and keeping the ones that meant the most to me. Couldn't afford to shoot as much, so I had to really make it count when I made it out to shoot.
10 Today - own fewer guns, but the ones I own are highly functional and get plenty of use. I'm starting to appreciate some of the guns I scoffed at as well as folks whose ability far outweighs their equipment. I find very few gun deals that can convince me to pull the trigger, but I've got a small wish-list of things I'd like to have (but can live without for now). Started through the knife-phases to distract me from guns. Still don't reload, but I'm convinced that I just don't have the time (plus, I'm eliminating a bunch of stuff around the house that I thought I'd use/get-into but never did and I know that I would just have some reloading stuff laying around if I bought it).
What were your phases and what phase are you currently in?
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