Biggest firearm pet peeve(s)?

[rskent]

People calling a certain brand of gun crap. Especially when it’s a generally high quality brand like Glock, S&W, Ruger, etc. Just because they don’t like it or can’t shoot it doesn’t make it bad.

That bad for sure. But the opposite grinds me even worse. That’s someone recommending some less then it could be brand to a supposed friend as a carry gun. If you want to carry a ch@@p - a$$ed gun just because you like the color or the price, please do. But why do you have to talk your friends into buying one. Just to make yourself feel good about your gun?

A few RO duties ago a 40ish age couple came top the range. With their two new less than they could be guns that they bought on the recommendation of a friend. What a nightmare. Between the jamming and the locking shut. The long bad triggers. I felt so bad for those guys. I spent some time with the wife. She couldn’t hit anything with her gun at all. She couldn’t get a trigger pull, even using two fingers. Truth be told, I couldn’t hit anything with it either. They left totally dejected. I would be shocked if they ever came back. So, thanks to whomever recommended their new carry gun purchase to them. Thanks a bunch.

 

[redneck2]

Boy, you guys have never worked in a gun shop. Each one of your pet peeves usually happens multiple times a shift. You get the regulars that feel the need to educate everyone with their vast knowledge and prowess. Of course, it can be on either side of the counter.

There are probably other hobbies whose participants are as obnoxious, arrogant, or ignorant as some firearm enthusiasts, but none come to mind

Just think of some of the stuff that gets posted on sites that don’t have the moderator level this one does.

 

[redneck2]

few RO duties ago a 40ish age couple came top the range. With their two new less than they could be guns that they bought on the recommendation of a friend. What a nightmare. Between the jamming and the locking shut. The long bad triggers. I felt so bad for those guys.

I had some down time when working at the LGS. Had some re-loads to try out in my .45 Colt Bisley. Guy two stalls over can’t hit a full size silhouette target at 7 yards. He is expressing his frustration to his fellow shooter.

Now, I have no idea if he is that bad of a shot or it’s the gun. So, I let him shoot my Bisley, which everyone seems to shoot really well. Hits are right around the ten ring. So, he lets me try his pistol. To say the trigger was god awful would be too kind.

Turns out it was the gun, not the shooter. That thing was impossible for us to shoot well at all.

 

[Waveski]

She couldn’t hit anything with her gun at all. She couldn’t get a trigger pull, even using two fingers. Truth be told, I couldn’t hit anything with it either. They left totally dejected. I would be shocked if they ever came back. So, thanks to whomever recommended their new carry gun purchase to them. Thanks a bunch.

Now I'm really curious. Can we have a hint as to what it was?

 

[FFGColorado]

1. Being swept.

2. AR dumps at indoor ranges.

3. People who blatantly and obviously lie about their firearms.

4. Guys who take their girlfriends shooting with guns above their ability, with minimal instruction, and then laugh when they get hurt.

5. People who leave their trash at public ranges. Also people who shoot furniture, tv’s and appliances at public ranges.

Number 5 is a BIG one for me..My sons and I go to an uncontrolled outdoor shooting area above Lyons CO and the junk people shoot at then leave is disgusting. The Boulder County commissioners are just aching to close it permanently..they would need VERY little reason to do so..like having to pickup blasted empty propane tanks, TVs, emptied then painted beer cans(emptied while shooting-), old computers..It would get closed then these dim bulbs would be the first to whine..

 

[hemiram]

Range Officers who try to "teach me something", and/or nag me for shooting too fast, or some other nonsense they think up. I'm buying the ammo, I should be able to get rid of it as fast as I want to.
Haven't had one recently, but the one round New Years had me fuming by the time we left. My back was hurting bad, so I was sitting down on a stool to shoot. A 9mm isn't going to make me fall over backwards. First I had to tell him my glasses are safety rated. Then he comes over and critiques my choice of weapons, "You're all over the place, you've got some expensive stuff there, and some cheap stuff I've never heard of!". Even my cheap stuff shoots just fine, and I don't want to have to educate him about Sasilmaz being a private company in Turkey, so not buying their guns because of politics would be the same as not buying S&W because of Trump being president. He just didn't get it, my friend and I just wanted to be left alone. We both have been shooting for 40+ years and don't need his commentary. If he wanted to shoot one of my guns, all he needed to do was ask and furnish the ammo.

 

[stillquietvoice]

. Guys who take their girlfriends shooting with guns above their ability, with minimal instruction, and then laugh when they get hurt.

I saw this last summer. Young woman shooting her boyfriends sig 40 cal. I very politely asked if she could try my 9mm Smith 5904 with soft shooting 124 lrn reloads. After a couple of mags I switched her to wwb 124 fmj's. She tore the center out of the target, then let her shoot my Ar and m11 savage in 223. She was so excited.
Later her boyfriend came over and said that he was getting her a 9mm, and asked if 1000.00 was enough to buy her an AR 15.

 

[Reinz]

I agree with many posted and they seem to cover most pet peaveries.

I have just one to add, Ammo weasels. The buddy or acquaintance that asks you to bring specific guns for him to shoot but does not bring any Ammo for those guns.
Or.... they only bring a half of a box of say- 9mm for their gun because they KNOW that you have at least 500 rounds minimum. And to make matters worse, they NEVER pay you back or return the favor.

Burn me once, then I’m not just not available to go shooting when they want to.

 

[bannockburn]

Not really a pet peeve but I remember growing up as a kid hearing from my Dad's veteran buddies how bad the M1911 was: inaccurate, unreliable, too heavy, prone to every and any gun malady known to mankind, and my favorite: how when you fired it, the recoil would knock you down!

For years I believed all these so called stories until I finally got a chance to shoot one and then in that one glorious moment, all those falsehoods disappeared forever!

Thank you J.M. Browning for giving us the M1911!

 

[JT-AR-MG42]

This has got to be number one for me. Seems like a power trip. It makes me cringe to watch.

I would love to say something, but that would just make me some “RO on a power trip”. So as long as they keep em pointed downrange I keep my mouth shut.

Same here RS.
I often haul along (especially as summer months approach) a Woodsman MT or a High Standard Super Citation with 6 mags of SV.
After observing them in my RSO duties, and during a cease fire, I'll comment that I started out on a .22 like the one I have laying on the shooting bench.
That tactic usually attracts her attention, so I'll offer it up for a little shooting if she expresses interest.
(while staying back after minimal instruction. RSO training includes not intruding. Either pistol runs flawless).
It is always a real confidence booster that allows her to put up with the abuse.
If there is no interest on her part in my one time comment, no problem.

Concerning the 'power trip'. At our RSO meetings we often bring up the absolute need for a positive attitude on our part when showing up for duty.
In short, if you show up in a bad mood or with issues, problems WILL arise.
A negative attitude invariably gets a negative response.
The rules and safety are the only things we state rather than discuss.
Our club boss has even gone so far to say that if you are feeling issues, go ahead and stay home.
And we are graded in our performance as well.


As an RSO I have one that is not really a pet peeve, but more along the lines of humorous (and very frequent).

The 'too much video games' syndrome. Youngish male shooter blasts away rapid fire with high cap nine at 7-10 yds.
Few or no holes on the target draws a look of confusion, so next mag is fired a bit slower with a small improvement on paper.
Third mag is always much slower with corresponding higher percentage of hits. Eyes and body manner looking confused all the while.
I always try to keep a positive manner and say something like
'That group looks pretty good to me, and oh yeah, I learned this shooting is nothing like my video games (I quit video games after pong got surpassed).
Invariably, that statement gets a chuckle and an 'I see what you mean' out of them.

JT

 

[Legionnaire]

Firearm owners that wont lift a finger for the 2A.

This.

 

[daniel craig]

Lack of manners towards new shooters, not everyone is a savant or spends hours watching YouTube.

Confusing inherent capabilities of a firearm with overall accuracy. The firearm only does what you tell it to do and is only as accurate as your ability to use it.

 

[Dibbs]

Firearm owners that wont lift a finger for the 2A.

Cheap-asses who won't join the NRA, or any gun organization. They'll piss away 7$, every day, on that Mocha Latte, but 28 cents a day
to put their money where their mouth is, is just too much.

Public gun ranges, in general, avoid them like the plague.

Goobers who hand some noob a powerful caliber firearm, with no warning, and laugh, when it erupts on them. These same Goobs are down at the bar, two hours later,
sniveling and whining, about how unfair anti-gun people are, to firearms owners...

 

[Obturation]

Mall ninjas & tactical wanna be's , guys who think any gun with wood anywhere is old timey junk (except the legendary $10 gun, the AK)

 

[jmorris]

I don’t get bent out of shape much or annoyed very easily. Heck even manufacturers call mags clips. Doesn’t make it right but they do and if another says it, I do know what they are talking about. Life is too short to go over board on semantics, especially if you know people from all different walks of life.



Finger and muzzle control are the only two I apply evenly across the board. I don’t care if you are a kid shooting for the first time or an old guy that should know better. I’m not being a “range Natzis”, if I don’t want you pointing a gun at me with your finger on the trigger.

 

[P5 Guy]

Gun show table sellers with not one firearm marked with a price.

 

[Old Dog]

People who believe that they must show up at any type of political rally with AR-15s slung on their backs and Glocks in cheap holsters on their belts. They are so stupid they do not understand how much they're actually damaging the RKBA movement (not to mention new legislation to get firearms banned at state capitol buildings/grounds that formerly permitted lawful carry) and painting us all as mouth-breathing, pants-sagging, Confederate flag-waving morons.

People that work at ranges, gun clubs and gun shops/counters who believe that, by sole virtue of their employment, they possess rare knowledge that they are compelled to share with the rest of us. Ad nauseum.

Echo, trash left at public shooting areas. For years, I've always tried to take out more trash than I created, but it's getting difficult these days with the massive amounts of garbage the morons are defiling our public shooting areas with.

 

[Old Dog]

Ammo weasels. The buddy or acquaintance that asks you to bring specific guns for him to shoot but does not bring any Ammo for those guns.
Or.... they only bring a half of a box of say- 9mm for their gun because they KNOW that you have at least 500 rounds minimum. And to make matters worse, they NEVER pay you back or return the favor.

Oh, yeah -- got one of these guys at work. He now can't understand why he's not welcome to shoot with our group anymore, even after I informed him that he'd shot more than $200 of my ammo in one session and never made an effort to make it up the next couple times out ...

 

[Jessesky]

1. As someone who often builds guns for people, most of them only care that it looks Tacticool and badass, rather than understanding where you should spend your money first and what the purpose is for these ‘tactical’ accessories.

I’m all for making gorgeous and aesthetic guns, it’s one of my passions. But I don’t think you should spend to make it shine on the outside before you make it shine on the inside.

2.Ive got to agree with ammo weasels. I have buddies who ask to go shooting often and then complain about a range fee, when they don’t seem to realize they’ve shot $150 in ammo, and hours of my time in reloads. I’m all for introducing new shooters, and I get as much enjoyment with having other people shoot my guns as I do shooting them myself. But this one gets to me.

It’s for this reason I bought an SKS again, so I can give them a box of Tula and not care

 

[rskent]

Range Officers who try to "teach me something",

If its unsolicited I whole heartedly agree. If someone asks for help, I do what I can. If they don’t, I don’t.

 

[Legionnaire]

+1 on ammo weasels. Fortunately, my most expensive guns to shoot are bolt action rifles, so they can't burn through the ammo.

 

[dekibg]

Oh, yeah -- got one of these guys at work. He now can't understand why he's not welcome to shoot with our group anymore, even after I informed him that he'd shot more than $200 of my ammo in one session and never made an effort to make it up the next couple times out ...

ah, ammo weasels are pretty common.
I had similar situations with friends. They are still my friends, but now three of them are not going to the range with me anymore.
I will let you use my guns and SOME ammo, but have decency and buy ammo prior to the range trip just like I did.
Shooting is expensive hobby.

My personal pet peeve is when people chuckle and mention "tragic boating accident".
Several reasons:
- it is lame, cheesy and unfunny - probably similar to asking a bank teller for "samples" like they don't hear it 10 times a week
-do you really think that you will be able to get away (in hypothetical scenario where America becomes a Gestapo style state), by telling to the confiscators (and later when turned over to the cruel investigators) that your guns were suddenly lost to a "tragic boating accident" ?
-last but not least, as someone said earlier "that means you never plan to stand up for anything"

 

[dekibg]

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[Hangingrock]

I am a Life Member of one Sportsmen's Club and a Land Share owner in a Shooting Association. When I see unsafe shooting practices and or destruction of facility property I'm obligated to report what I've witnessed. Which means the offending party is called before the Board of Directors for a hearing and stipulated corrective action. Being confrontational has its problems but when it is a safety issue there is not much choice we simply contact law enforcement, document the problem and sign the complaint.

 

[doubleh]

1) People calling ammunition "Bullets" Had to correct a Friend today.
2) Calling Magazine "Clips".

Those two names have been in use for a long, long time and will continue to be. I don’t use them but I do know what people mean when they use them and just ignore it. If I had been the friend you “had” to correct I would have a two word reply for you. Sometimes it’s better to let an annoyance that doesn’t put you in danger go and just might save you losing a friend