Gun snobs?

Originally posted by Brian Pfleuger:

It's the attitude that you display that's the problem. It has nothing to do with liking what you've got and telling others why you like it or recommending it to others.
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That's why "friendly Gun Snob" is an Oxymoron. The definition of a snob........ A snob is a person who believes in the existence of an equation between status and human worth. The term also refers to a person who believes that some people are inherently inferior to him or her for any one of a variety of reasons, including real or supposed intellect, wealth, education, ancestry, power, physical strength, class, taste, beauty, nationality, fame, extreme success of a family member or friend, etc.

Acting friendly towards folks who you think are inferior is not being friendly, but patronizing.
 
Do I appreciate and own certain expensive guns? Yep. Do I think they are the only way to go? Nope. I've carried a $300 Bersa and a $2,500 Brown, sometimes on consecutive days. I appreciate them both for what they are and what they do. Still, the Bersa is not the gun the Brown is. Saying that does not make someone a gun snob.
 
We see snobbery in our everyday lives. The Honda buyer looks down on the Kia buyer. The Lexus buyer looks down on the Honda buyer. The BMW buyer looks down on the Lexus buyer, etc. Most drivers sit in traffic on their way to/from work every day and don't get to use that 375 HP machine under them but they feel superior to the schmuck next to them on the road. This guy is a car snob. He feels superior because he drives a better car. He has no idea why the car is better but the price tag tells him it is. Now, the guy who buys the nicer car because it handles better and he takes it out into the country to open it up and use it the way it was designed may not be a snob. He appreciates what he has and enjoys it. He doesn't care what the guy next to him on the expressway drives. He drives what he wants and can afford. Everyone else drives what they want and can afford and life is good.

Now, the snob that gets under my skin is the guy who can't really explain why his gun is better but throws out the "well, how much is the safety of your family worth?" His stance is that since he spent more on his gun, he values the life of himself and his family more than you do. This kind of snob can pound sand. He just doesn't get it. I always hope his expensive gun jams at the range in front of his friends because he limp-wristed it.
 
Purdy or Holland & Holland
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If I did not know what these were before Googling them, am I safe from being a gun snob (holy heck, some of those guns are worth more than my house, and both our cars combined!!!!!!! $225,000 for a shotgun!?!?)?

Seriously though, you see it all the time (especially in regards to scopes) around here. I saw a thread recently where the expressed budget for a scope to shoot out to 300 yards at medium sized game and informal range work was $400. Inevitably, you had people talking NightForce and other very expensive scopes and explaining why a FPP was better and suggesting he save up a for a few more months to get X. In reality, most "mid-priced" scopes would accomplish what he was looking for.

It seems that the "snobbery" of rifles is calming down in the last couple of years. I attribute it to the success of rifles like the Ruger American, Marlin X7, and Savage Axis. With modern manufacturing techniques, it is not difficult to get a sub-MOA rifle, with glass, for under $400ish. I own a Savage Axis in 223 that shoots under 1/2 MOA (with handloads) and have a 308 on the way. For most rifle shooters, the proof is in the target and snobbery disappears when they see the results. Sure the bolt throw on a custom gun or Sendero may be smoother or the trigger may be crisper, and if those features are important to you and worth the money in your eye to meet your needs, you are not a snob, you are buying what you perceive you need.

For me, it comes down to what product will satisfy the needs and wants of the individual. For me, if product X costs $600 and Product Y costs $900, and both will do what I want them to do, I will buy Product X every time. Some people may differ. To me, that is why there are countless choices for every application, so that everyone can have what they want for an amount they are comfortable spending.
 
Snobs & Mall Ninjas....

I think some people are "snobs" about certain brands or products but they have a valid reason for their feelings/opinions.
Some uneducated consumers may buy a item thinking it's a value or a "great deal" when it's not. :rolleyes:

I had a security co-worker show me his new "high tech" white-light he bought at a gun show. The tactical flashlight broke & he could not get it to work correctly. :rolleyes:
Are you a snob or a smuggy buggy if you only want brands like 5.11, Surefire, Fenix, or Streamlight? Because they are designed to work under hard use, real world conditions?

CF
 
The issue is not about having a preference for one brand or the other. The issue is not about appreciating the increase in quality/workmanship that sometimes comes with an increase in price. The issue is thinking folks that have opinions and choices other than yours are somehow inferior, either by intelligence, social status or take home pay. There is never a valid reason to be a "snob".
 
The richest man I know hunts with a 30 year old Remington 700. Neurosurgeon friend hunts with an old wood stocked rifle and a Nikon Pro Staff. And, he is one of the most serious and dedicated hunters I know. People with real money don't need to impress or be impressed by anybody.
 
ClydeFrog said:
Are you a snob or a smuggy buggy if you only want brands like 5.11, Surefire, Fenix, or Streamlight? Because they are designed to work under hard use, real world conditions?
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Once again, what you OWN has nothing whatsoever to do with being a snob. Zero, zip, nada, nothing.

Being a snob is looking down your nose at anybody who owns something DIFFERENT, which you of course view as INFERIOR because it doesn't (in your mind or reality) meet the criteria that YOU have set, which in all likelihood has little or NOTHING to do with the criteria being used by some other person.

Being a snob would be putting down the PERSON, directly or by implication, because of the PRODUCT that they bought. If the argument for a high-dollar item is so compelling, why can't it be made with facts about the high-dollar item and without the scare tactics or Ad Hominum attacks or implications?

The flashlight, for example. Maybe I don't need "hard use, real world conditions". Maybe I want a cheap light that looks cool and I don't really care if it breaks?

I know a guy who sells BBQ grills as part of his business. They are freakin' awesome grills. They cost $3,000+, some are over $5,000. He's always telling me that it'll be the last grill I ever buy and I'll be replacing that $100 Wal*Mart grill every two years. He's right too, except I can replace the Wal*Mart grill every 2 years for the rest of my life and I won't spend what his grill costs. I grill 2 or 3 times a year. Is his grill worth $3000? Probably. Is his grill worth $3000 to me? Nope.
 
Brian Pfleuger said:
Being a snob is looking down your nose at anybody who owns embraces something DIFFERENT, which you of course view as INFERIOR because it doesn't (in your mind or reality) meet the criteria that YOU have set, which in all likelihood has little or NOTHING to do with the criteria being used by some other person.
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Being a snob is not limited to product preferences, but also extends to preferences about nearly anything (how you carry a CCW, the grip you use to hold a gun, etc.).
 
I haven't come across people that call leupold and aimpoints junk that would astound me. Now up until the new models of the mark 4s, mark 6s, and mark 8s leupold had been lacking on some desired features with tactical scopes especially for the price.

I don't think owning expensive equipment makes you a snob it's simply how your prioritize your income. I own 200$ optics to 2500$ optics. 600$ rifles to 3000$ rifles. It's simply preference of what I like, use, and plan to do with them.

Simply the attitude is what I think the OP is referring to. I have friends that think I'm insane for owning a USO SN-3, doesn't bother me. They ask my opinion on what I would get with this or that I ask them their desired budget and go from there. Would never say what they want is junk less they really were looking at junk (countersniper). My point is I never try to impose that my way is the only way.

Personally my USO kind of reached my limit with an optic. S&B is going up and I would have a hard time dropping 3000+. That said with more affordable options like the bushy HDMR at 1100$ and ERS at 1500$ with most of the same features, it's hard to want to spend for another USO. Though there is a level of pride for me with USO cause it's completely made in house 100% USA.
 
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A $500 Glock is as much handgun as I care to own.

A $250 used 870 is perfectly acceptable to me, although I use and prefer my Benelli M-1 bought used for $600.

I could be perfectly content with some $400 hunting rifles and used such rifles most of my life. I'm at the point where I can afford better now. My bolt rifles are the guns I use most and I have 3-4 that I've invested $1000+. All but 1 were bought used and money spent on modifications. I certainly don't look down on anyone who cannot afford a more expensive rifle. But I can afford it and it is worth it to me.

A $300-$400 scope is all I can ever imagine I'd need and could be perfectly content with a lot of $200 scopes.

I'm sure many consider me a gun snob. Others consider me to be cheap.

Where you stand on an issue depends on where you sit.
 
It isn't limited to just guns as we all know. Cars, dogs, horses, watches, alma mater, wimmin... heck I bet even stamp collectors have a few snobs in their midst. I mean... STAMPS? (I know there's a few "stamp" collectors here as well ;))

My dog's better than your dog. The putdown, be it soft or hard, is always funny to witness or be a part of from one POV. (usually the putdownee in my case :D)
 
There are snobs and then there are are folks that have learned thru experience. A person can be one, the other, both or neither. I see it all the time. Think some of the S&W, Glock or 1911 guys can be bad? Just try the popular rimfire site or or airgun forums. They can make life almost unbearable.
 
yeah....guns are one thing, I can sometimes understand the spending on a special model or one with unique options, but the optics? I've seen people spend more on optics for their AR than you could buy a whole new AR for
 
Like any hobby..
There are multiple enthusiast levels.
And thousands of variables that include finances, knowledge, peer pressure (snobs?) family or spouse and even location.

I have seen the snobbery more in the sport fishing world where if you didn't have a $400.00 custom wrapped tuna stick, then anybody catching a nice albacore on a off the shelf stick was just lucky.
 
I love the "I have $XXX budget for a scope, what's the best choice?".

It does not matter if xxx is $150 or $2000, someone will come along and say something alone the lines of "Save up X more dollars and you can buy a real scope".

It wouldn't matter if you were mounting the Hubble Space Telescope to your rifle, someone would come along with a "better" satellite based optics system.
 
It does not matter if xxx is $150 or $2000, someone will come along and say something alone the lines of "Save up X more dollars and you can buy a real scope".
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I agree with this... and heck I've probably been guilty of it in time past but yeah I can see where that would be annoying. Where I do agree with that is if someone wants a "good" gun at price XXX, but price XXX is completely unrealistic.
 
I agree with this... and heck I've probably been guilty of it in time past but yeah I can see where that would be annoying. Where I do agree with that is if someone wants a "good" gun at price XXX, but price XXX is completely unrealistic.
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Very rarely do I see completely unrealistic expectations when questions are asked. Dumb questions, yes. Questions that are asked on an hourly basis, yes. But not over the top unrealistic.

Workin scopes in the $30 range and workin guns in the $100 range are not the norm but neither are questions asking for such. Most questions that some feel to answer with "save you money and get something better" are not that far, if any, outside the realm of possibility. Just some, mostly coined as snobs, feel that they are unrealistic. In many cases the unrealistic poster is the one answering not the one asking.
 
I agree with this... and heck I've probably been guilty of it in time past but yeah I can see where that would be annoying. Where I do agree with that is if someone wants a "good" gun at price XXX, but price XXX is completely unrealistic.
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Very rarely do I see completely unrealistic expectations when questions are asked. Dumb questions, yes. Questions that are asked on an hourly basis, yes. But not over the top unrealistic.

Workin scopes in the $30 range and workin guns in the $100 range are not the norm but neither are questions asking for such. They aren't asked nearly at the rate that you see "buy something better" answers. Most questions that some feel to answer that way are not that far, if any, outside the realm of possibility. Just some, mostly coined as snobs, feel that they are unrealistic. In many cases the unrealistic poster is the one answering not the one asking.
 
In the real world, most average gun owners do not need a $500 scope on a $1500 rifle. They just do not use it enough to know the difference between that set-up and one that costs $500 complete. Just like most average reloaders don't use enough ammo to justify a $1500 progressive set-up, or the average hunter needing a $1200 pair of binocs. But on the internet, those are all minimum. In the real world, it ain't always what you have, but how you use it. While tools can make a difference, someone who works building bird houses with his kid for a 4-H project does not need the same tools as a custom furniture builder. Someone clearing their driveway does not need the same size plow as the city he lives in. To some folks $150 for a scope is all the extra cash they have in a year. To recommend they wait 4 more years to get a decent scope is realistic only to the guy who drops more than that on wine for dinner. Realistic is just that. Lookin' down your nose at someone that does not have the money, personal possessions or the ability to buy what you do, realistically....... is just being a snob. Appreciating what you have and your ability to use it, is realistic.
 
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