jamesjames
Member
Wear ear protection
What would you tell yourself back then?
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Bobson
Member
Pretty much.
22-rimfire
Member
If I could roll the clock back, I would buy full auto's.
I learned after one gun to buy quality, not quantity. But as time passes, you get quantity too.
Yes to ear protection ALWAYS.
I learned after one gun to buy quality, not quantity. But as time passes, you get quantity too.
Yes to ear protection ALWAYS.
Onward Allusion
Member
Don't ever sell or trade any gun. Also, get started on reloading from the git go.
I had only a few hundred dollars of gun money until 2011, so it doesn't make that much difference.
I would tell myself to buy every single brick of .22 I could find.
I might tell myself to get a PSL and maybe an AES-10B, and a few cheap cases of ammo. I wouldn't save much money, but I can't bring myself to pay $1000+ for one.
I would buy and keep at least one Colt Python. Colt prices have gotten outright insane lately, and even for less desirable models. Python prices are sky high. Is anybody really paying that much? I'd have to do some research to see if Colts or .22 lr would offer a better return for the money. I think Pythons were maybe $800-1000 in those days.
I would tell myself to buy every single brick of .22 I could find.
I might tell myself to get a PSL and maybe an AES-10B, and a few cheap cases of ammo. I wouldn't save much money, but I can't bring myself to pay $1000+ for one.
I would buy and keep at least one Colt Python. Colt prices have gotten outright insane lately, and even for less desirable models. Python prices are sky high. Is anybody really paying that much? I'd have to do some research to see if Colts or .22 lr would offer a better return for the money. I think Pythons were maybe $800-1000 in those days.
TruthTellers
member
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9mm isn't an under-powered mouse gun anymore.
If I could go back to Jan 2009 when I bought my first gun I'd have told myself not to. I still like that 1911, but it wasn't worth what I paid. I compounded the mistake by buying it off post in WA, thereby getting hit with the 9.3% mark up. I don't regret the second one at all, but I should have waited and gotten a police surplus Beretta 92 series instead of buying a 92FS new.
I'd also have not bought the M1A or the Sig 556. Should have bought a mutual fund instead, almost any fund. I'd have had ~$18,000 more today instead of 3 guns I regret buying.
I'd also have not bought the M1A or the Sig 556. Should have bought a mutual fund instead, almost any fund. I'd have had ~$18,000 more today instead of 3 guns I regret buying.
NorthBorder
Member
Don't sell your gun. You'll regret it later.
Don't sell that car. I'm, really regrettin' it now.
Don't sell that car. I'm, really regrettin' it now.
il.bill
Member
Exactly!
At 18 to 21 years of age there was almost nothing that I could have learned from the old coot I have become today.
But ... the one idea that I would try to get across is to save money to buy some acreage out in the country at early 1970s prices where you could later have your own shooting range.
plodder
Member
Buy every RDIAS for AR15 that you can get your hands on.
Quentin
Member
Yes, I'd definitely bring up hearing protection.
And I'd thank my young self for buying good firearms that I still have. It would be fun to see my 336C, Model 60, Colt Series '70, S&W Model 19, Wingmaster, Ruger Mark I and Luger in new condition. Of course I'd have a few good financial tips but overall I can't complain.
And I'd thank my young self for buying good firearms that I still have. It would be fun to see my 336C, Model 60, Colt Series '70, S&W Model 19, Wingmaster, Ruger Mark I and Luger in new condition. Of course I'd have a few good financial tips but overall I can't complain.
My advice to my younger self in 1992:
Listen knucklehead, in a couple of years, you are going to attend a gun auction near Columbia, MO. There will be three Colt Python's in the auction; a hunter model with scope and camo finish from the factory and two fully engraved with factory certificates, new in wood display boxes. One 6" blued, the other a 6" stainless. YOU need to have AT LEAST $3000 cash in your pocket when you go to that auction! Yeah, I know you just bought a house, blah blah.....you have a couple of years to figure it out. Eat Raman noodles for six months if you have to!
(One of the fully factory engraved Pythons sold for $800 and the other sold for $700. I had $500 in my pocket.)
Listen knucklehead, in a couple of years, you are going to attend a gun auction near Columbia, MO. There will be three Colt Python's in the auction; a hunter model with scope and camo finish from the factory and two fully engraved with factory certificates, new in wood display boxes. One 6" blued, the other a 6" stainless. YOU need to have AT LEAST $3000 cash in your pocket when you go to that auction! Yeah, I know you just bought a house, blah blah.....you have a couple of years to figure it out. Eat Raman noodles for six months if you have to!
(One of the fully factory engraved Pythons sold for $800 and the other sold for $700. I had $500 in my pocket.)
Legionnaire
Contributing Member
A few good quality guns are sufficient to your needs.
Shoot the few you have a lot.
Reload.
Get training.
Go meet Jeff Cooper; we corresponded before he died, and I regret I never met the man.
Shoot the few you have a lot.
Reload.
Get training.
Go meet Jeff Cooper; we corresponded before he died, and I regret I never met the man.
fastbolt
Member
If I were to give some advice to my younger self ... and thought I might listen ...
More attention to practice firearms training and realistic practice. Don't follow the herd.
Focus as much effort into practical firearms training & practice as you do in the martial arts. Learn how to apply arts training to firearms use, sooner.
Try and get into armorer training earlier.
There are more use calibers than just .357 Mag, .44 Mag & .45 ACP.
Don't bother with boxes and boxes of holsters, but focus on the smallest number of them that fit the greatest variety of intended, practical roles. Then, learn how to inspect & maintain them.
Spend more time 'improving' the shooter, rather than obsessing over trying to improve a gun that's already demonstrated its reliability in anticipated circumstances.
Don't get rid of the original Ruger .44 Mag semiauto carbine or the Mossberg .444 Marlin!!
If a pistol magazine can't be restored to reliable functioning with a simple follower and spring replacement, get rid of it and replace it with another one. Questionable magazines aren't worth the time invested in pondering what's wrong beyond the simplest and most obvious answer. Nobody needs boxes of questionable magazines.
Don't overthink armorer repairs and maintenance.
Don't over-think firearms cleaning & lubrication. Plan lubrication around the intended roles and environmental/operational circumstances. Don't look for a snake-oil answer to a simple question.
Unless someone is standing on a range and consistently demonstrate what they're talking about, be wary of self-proclaimed 'experts'.
More attention to practice firearms training and realistic practice. Don't follow the herd.
Focus as much effort into practical firearms training & practice as you do in the martial arts. Learn how to apply arts training to firearms use, sooner.
Try and get into armorer training earlier.
There are more use calibers than just .357 Mag, .44 Mag & .45 ACP.
Don't bother with boxes and boxes of holsters, but focus on the smallest number of them that fit the greatest variety of intended, practical roles. Then, learn how to inspect & maintain them.
Spend more time 'improving' the shooter, rather than obsessing over trying to improve a gun that's already demonstrated its reliability in anticipated circumstances.
Don't get rid of the original Ruger .44 Mag semiauto carbine or the Mossberg .444 Marlin!!
If a pistol magazine can't be restored to reliable functioning with a simple follower and spring replacement, get rid of it and replace it with another one. Questionable magazines aren't worth the time invested in pondering what's wrong beyond the simplest and most obvious answer. Nobody needs boxes of questionable magazines.
Don't overthink armorer repairs and maintenance.
Don't over-think firearms cleaning & lubrication. Plan lubrication around the intended roles and environmental/operational circumstances. Don't look for a snake-oil answer to a simple question.
Unless someone is standing on a range and consistently demonstrate what they're talking about, be wary of self-proclaimed 'experts'.
PJSprog
Member
Winning answer right there.jakk280rem said:
I thought I knew everything as a teenager, too.
Yup. I always have when shooting, but never did as a musician when practicing or playing onstage, until about a year ago ... 32 years later. Way too late. Tinnitus is awful.jamesjames said:
As for firearms advice, I'd likely tell myself not to wait so long and be so picky when considering old bolt action military rifles. Find good one's, buy them, and shoot them. Stop waiting for those "perfect" rifles to fall out of a rainbow.
MrTuffPaws
Member
Buy an incredible amount of AR parts and magazines. You'll make a fortune when a Democrat is elected president.
Old Dog
Member
This is just plain a litany of stupid mistakes I made shortly upon, or after I turned 18 ... let's say, back in the mid '70s ...
1. Self, buy at least one blue steel S&W Wesson revolver in every caliber every other payday ... and don't ever sell them.
2. Don't EVER sell grandpa's Remington-Rand 1911A1 Saginaw Steering Gear M-1 carbine.
3. $600 for a NIB blued 4" Python is NOT too much money.
4. Someday, you will understand why grandpa's Winchester Model 70 in .30-06 needs to stay in the family.
5. Don't sell the Dodge Coronet 440 (with still only 26,000 original miles on it) when you enlist ... just don't ...
6. And for gosh sakes, don't sell the Combat Commander just because you discovered it's not the only auto-pistol in the world ... someday, you'll want to carry a gun every day and you'll fall in love again with the 1911, really.
7. Go to Gunsite while Col. Cooper is still active there.
8. Buy up a few hundred acres for hunting and shooting now!
1. Self, buy at least one blue steel S&W Wesson revolver in every caliber every other payday ... and don't ever sell them.
2. Don't EVER sell grandpa's Remington-Rand 1911A1 Saginaw Steering Gear M-1 carbine.
3. $600 for a NIB blued 4" Python is NOT too much money.
4. Someday, you will understand why grandpa's Winchester Model 70 in .30-06 needs to stay in the family.
5. Don't sell the Dodge Coronet 440 (with still only 26,000 original miles on it) when you enlist ... just don't ...
6. And for gosh sakes, don't sell the Combat Commander just because you discovered it's not the only auto-pistol in the world ... someday, you'll want to carry a gun every day and you'll fall in love again with the 1911, really.
7. Go to Gunsite while Col. Cooper is still active there.
8. Buy up a few hundred acres for hunting and shooting now!
DeepSouth
Random Guy
Pass on the cheap guns.
And yeah, wear hearing protection.
And yeah, wear hearing protection.
plodder
Member
Whazzat you say?
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