Rant
So I find myself having this conversation with a few people pretty frequently .
Basically they'll see one of my builds, ( and look I honestly just really enjoy sharing and being people along my lil journeys, not trying seel anything or boos my ego , just I know I put out content I'd like to see instead of complaining about there never being any) see my groups, see the function testing or just me plinking. And apparently most people think hitting anything beer can size and lower @100yd is like some massive feat and makes me some kinda expert...idk the people I deal with will sell their gun if they can't put three rounds in the O of Coke on a can at the same distance

Anyhow tell come to me saying they wanna build something as good as mine how well mine looks like it preforms ect and wanna know what my build specs are. And after they to get some details on what they specifically want to do....which they usually just blow past...I'll tell em . O I'm using this barrel this hand guard this optic. And I'll always say , hay this isn't like a duty spec whatever ( better then mil spec but that's not much of an accomplishment imo) I just build these for causal special use stuff or because I wanna play with a caliber for fun.

Keep 1.5" and under @100yd function well and fit me. Bare bones requirements of my stuff and now days it's not hard to do. I also don't larp around trying to be a navy seal shooting thousands of rounds in afternoon, not cleaning for months on end , purposely abusing my stuff ect.

Well they go off or immediately pull the stuff up on there phone and it's always something along the lines of "Thats too cheap no way it can work I want the best !" I've gotten to where I don't even argue over the fact they where fawing over my build before the knew the price, so then I'll just tell them about some HIGH quality companies. Proof research, sgt of arms , bagara, Lantec BCM, night force, Leupold, March, ect. Like good higher end stuff that have been 100% proven ,if I just wanted to get something that would preform with no extra work ( y'all know I have a thing for tinkering)and if you have half a brain and a extra 30min you can Google and learn for yourself

Well then they go look all that up and come back " well that's too expensive! I can't afford that !". Then I try to give them a cheaper option which then rolls back around to " well I want the best ! " So then I finally sit them down and force them to explain exactly what they need this for and ther budget..... 9/10 their not getting something they need to relay on to save their lives , their not gonna be goin into the mountains on horse back for weeks on end after a trophy bull elk or something...no they wanna shoot a pig , coyote or deer at all of 100yd out of a stand a few times a year or have a range toy and stay under $800-1000. Mabye do a thermal right ..and thats a whole nother can of worms . Well I help spec them out a decent lil set up that should be functional and work well, and honestly usually better quality then my builds . Ill send them links to articles and videos of reviews on all the parts and what not so they can hopefully make a better decision .What usually happens ?
"Well is this the best ? You sure it's gonna do good ?"

Like bro idk what the heck you want me to tell you . You where thinking mine was the best thing ever till you learned how much I spent on it, then the actual best it too expensive and when you actually explained what you need ,you basically show you don't need anything past a $500 savage axis with a lower end Leupold I've shown you all this proof this stuff works , I've sent you all this information for you do educate yourself... Like again if you jau tliek nice stuff , or building out stuff or really needs a high performance gear, fine completely understandable. But when you need something that...well y'all get it

Like I've honestly stopped doing a lot of stuff as far as reviews and the like on other platforms just because it seems all people do anymore is just look at a price tag and equate that to quality. That or they forgot that back in the gap you had to pay and arm and a leg for anything half decent because manufacturing ,on many things,just wasn't to the point where anything budget related was decent.... like serious just look at how much stuff has advanced in the last ten if not 20 years. Heck I remeber looking at stuff in catalogs for $1000 when I was 15 and now that stuff is just standard on on gear half the price and works just as well....And don't get me wrong there obviously merit to that, common sense will tell you a $3000 nightforce is probably gonna be better then a $100 Chinese Amazon whatever ,like seriously common sense.....But at the same time seems no one just sits down and thinks about what they will actually be doing anymore before they buy anything. If you just want it fine, but sweet Lord Billy bob thinking he needs a $3000 set up to shoot a deer is friggin ridiculous .

I swear I've been so tempted to build some stuff with the most crap components slap in some high end names and logos and see how many people will actually say anything about the performance or if they'll just all about how get it is because it's a Gucci brand whatever.
Ok rant over

Your overly patient nugget, you're gonna burn out dealing with these folks. Who has the time to hold their hands leading them , and then they don't listen anyway, lol.... I know you like to tinker and thats great, but most folks just need to go to a gunstore and buy something they can afford.Have a couple recommendations for them and cut em loose!.

Wolfie...you're always gonna get some who just want to "kick da tiahs."....in curiosity . If they want something bad enough, they will invest in it. You have to just be patient and weed them out.

I built a 6.5 grendel with the cheapest components I could buy except the trigger which wasnt overly expensive an MBT on sale around 90 bucks total cost was 437 . That gun will shoot and inch all day with me behind the trigger but with my son behind the trigger at 3/4 inch. it's not all about the rifle lol. They all watch to many youtube videos.

You just need to print out a parts list and when you get asked.......hand 'em a copy

Don't ask me I own a couple rifles people tell me are impossible to get to shoot

a solid distinction that I do make is I am not hanging my life on any of these guns. not intentionally. I guess my carry gun would be the closest thing , but since I haven't ever had to draw it outside of practice.

I get if your going down range you want "the Best" the thing is our troops seldom get "the best"

if you have a bolt failure at the range , your trip is changed not even over , if you have a bolt failure hunting , your first round probably still found it's mark.
but you are going to be on your backup gun after that.

so many people think they can pay a price tag on parts and never have a failure rather than running a bunch of ammo to make sure it all works.

a lot of people are showing you their confirmation bias , they believe if they spent $$$ and you didn't to get your results then they have to find fault with yours or they must think they wasted the $$$

I tend to like you operate more on the run a bunch of rounds to prove it works.

Yeahhh idk people come to me for help and I honestly just wanna help, and I try not to just be one of those people just to tell someone something to get them out of my face or get mad if you don't take my advice,but this stuff gets, me a bit annoyed because it makes some question peoples intelligence... Like I'm not a very smart guy ...so when I can sit down and go , " hay this cheap thing works pretty well even though it's cheap and I really don't need much " if hope most people could do the same

Yes ma'am , and I get asking for stuff outta curiosity, I mean I constantly do it but man just thinking buying the most expensive things meant the best t

Wolfie, your still young, lol, put another 30,40 years on you and you'll question peoples intelligence more and more....

Lord don't get me started on people who think mil spec is the best stuff ever...unless you in some of the more cared about unit most of what your getting are clapped out m4. Like it's honestly a joke for most vets that the last thing we want to hear when buying something is that's it's mil spec.

And I feel your right about wanting to buy stuff that will never break....stuff breaks , if you actually use your stuff it's definitely gonna break eventually... That's where preventive maintenance comes into play. Like again if your gonna be in the mountains of Alaska for weeks on end or in God forsaken stan then yeah get the stuff with the best reviews best record....but man if your just getting a range toy .... Like really

And the confirmation bias ...man most people just don't seem to care what the actual results are its just whys supposed to work . And trying to have a legitimate conversation with this type of people....I don't even try anymore,I just lost my proof. And honestly the amount of these Gucci gear guys who cannot shoot well.... Is kind a ridiculous. Thell have a 2k rig and post 2moa groups at 100yd acting like their snipers and here I am with my dog crap lil hunting build that was $500 and I'm shooting 1" all day in the same position.
I mean do t help alot of them will (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) the most dog crap ammo they can find but..

Quit talking to people and no stress. Do you. You have your beliefs and others have theirs.

I tell people buy the “best you can afford.” If that’s a $3K set up then buy it. It that’s a $500 set up then buy it instead. Most folks don’t want to put in the time nor effort, then again some folks put in too much effort.

Take the SFAR I bought. Opened box, loaded mag, shot mag. Loaded another mag, shot mag. Installed thermal, loaded mag, sighted in thermal, then went hunting. No issues whatsoever to this day. I probably should clean it at some point I’m sure, other than the barrel which I run a snake down after every hunt.

Now go read reviews of the “professionals” and you won’t find one without having some sort of issue. Mainly because they’re shouting cheap dirty ammo and they bought it thinking it’s some fancy sniper rifle that will stop a battalion of enemy at 1K yards. Too me, it’s just a hard hitting AR and shoots just fine. It’s actually hit everything I’ve pointed it at.

Some tell me I’m lying, ok, I don’t care. Others say I’ve definitely cleaned it before shooting, after shooting, etc…I just leave them hanging. Again, I don’t care.

Just keep doing you and ignore everyone, lol. If they can’t determine what you’re doing from your videos then conversing with them isn’t gonna help either. Less stress man, less stress.

It's not just guns wolf. But with guns most guys would be better off with a dpms or psa uper and lower with decent trigger up great for 500 to 800$ and spend the other 2k or what ever the DD or wonder BVM cot on ammo and shoot it untell that can out preform the rifles abilities. And if some cheap parts break they learn how to figure out what it is and fix it.

But our world people think a name brand top end product makes them the best or part of an elite club.

I loved running in field trials pulling up in my beat up Toyota 4x4 with dogs in the seat next to me and my 870, jeans and wore out game vest and win against the guys with 10k plus over and unders, top end upland clothing and gear, new 1 ton 4x4 and custom dog box trailers. It was the sweetest when the money guys I beart were stuck up and had been looking down their nose all weekend and acted like I was doing me a favor if they said hello in responding back to my good morning.


It's not the gear it's the Indian.

You'll always have that. I own a glass company and people come to me asking questions. Typically they something like '' your the glass expert - that's why I came to you'' and then the questions start and they don't like the answers. I'm getting old. I just say ''good luck with that''

Keep up the good work!

PS. I built an AR for coyote hunting and got some custom paint made for me by a friend at his paint store. I wanted it to be dirt colored. He thought it would be funny to put sparkles in the paint. So he gave me the can and smiled and said no charge and I prepped it and painted it only to have to a sparkly dirt colored rifle. I left it that way. So now it looks stupid but it sure can shoot. ''Hey where's the sparkly rifle at'' I don't mind - it keeps away the rif raf.

When I Ironworked I painted all my tools pink. My cousin could not believe it. Try to picture an Iron worker walking iron with a belt full of pink spud wrenches. I took a lot of flack but no one ever stole any of my tools. No one wanted to steel pink tools.

Let me add, I do believe you get what you pay for over time. I’ve got a Benelli that has been through the gauntlet of muck. And I’ll be honest, with any other gun I don’t think any would’ve survived and I wouldn’t have used another gun the way I’ve used the SBE. When you take your gun in the shower with you, it’s a mess. When you get home from hunting and prop it up against a tree and use the water hose to wash it down, it’s a mess. But, that gun is still shooting and killing to this day and still looks pretty good for all she’s been through. Was it initially expensive, yeah, but I’ve definitely got my money’s worth.

Your right and it's also nice to have nice things. But your average guy is not going to put his gun through what a hard core hunter does in a season in his life. And let's be honest an 870 would likely have done as well but with more recoil and less class. At least I know if I only ever shot one of my 870s my entire life I don't think I could wear it out just really beat it up. Sure probably have to fix a few parts.

Sometimes you do get what you pay for no doubt. But for most people the extra 10% increase in performance won't be worth the 60% + increase in price and they can't utilize the improvements because they dot use them hard or have the skill to know the difference. Try reading gun reviews sometme. 5 paragraphs of how the new wiz bang gun is the best of the best. Then in the last paragraph "I HAVE NOT SHOT IT YET BUT HOPE TO GET TO THIS WEEKEND" why is this guy making a review? I want a review from a guy like you after 5 years of hard use hunting in rain, mud, frozen, used for a boat paddle . Then Wright a review.

Often it's a look what I got. I alway wonder about all the Glock, BCM, LaRue, and heck even NRA and gun related stickers plastered on vehicles. It's for attention and wanting to be part of a club. Sure tells me what vehicles in the parking lot are most likely to have a gun in it. Tells criminals the same thing. But they never thought about that.

The first question I ask of someone who asks me what I use and what I think that they should get, I immediately assume that they are an inexperienced shooter. That's not a problem unless it is not addressed right from the get go.
I ask them what they have shot, under what conditions and what kind of groups have they been able accomplish at 100 yards.
You will learn everything that you need to know about them if they are honest with you.
Now you have something to work with, or not, if they are lying to you.
If you don't ask these questions, you are wasting their time and yours. I don't hesitate to actually tell them that.

My take is that you interpret those questions to mean they think, or you want us to believe, that you take the cheapest components and turn them into the finest products.

MIL spec only means made to a min max tolerance laid out in the Military orders one set of prints for all to use.

it isn't good or bad it is a set of prints to make parts from multiple companies come together and fit with all the others within reasonable tolerances.

clapped out weapons is a result of wear , age , neglect and bean counters.

our department went to a stipend and you buy your own side arm. People take better care of their own stuff.

that should be how our military works , you get a stipend amount to buy your rifle and side arm and you take them with you when you leave.

Now you know there is no reason To have weapons of war on our streets.