A few negative points about America's gun culture....from a gun nut who does not like what he sees.

Guns have been in America since day 1.  They are not going away.  I am a collector and gunsmith, and have a shooting range in my backyard.
That being said, there is a dark side I am seeing emerge via the internet, that I do not like one bit.  I will break it down point-by-point.

Point 1:  The culture of BUY BUY BUY !!!

I needed a part to affect a repair on an older model handgun (Beretta M1951 Brigadier), and went through two pages of internet search before i found where I could get the part.  Every search just said where I could BUY that particular model...NOT...where I could get the parts.  But then again, the whole internet is driven by BUY  BUY  BUY.  I hate it.  Try looking up just information, and you are at a loss.

POINT 2:  Young men are going broke buying them.

A young person in their 20's plays a game, or watches You Tube videos or some movie and it has a particular gun in it they just gotta have.  They are going broke doing this.  Usually it is ARs.  They buy a basic AR...then customize it with pop-in parts (not gunsmithing), play with it for a while, then realize they can only shoot it a maximum of 100 yards at their local range....AND the money to feed it overpriced ammo drives them into the poor house.
THEN...you see them trying to sell their boom stick on-line and they never get what they put into it.

POINT 3:  Guns and ammo prices are becoming outrageous, and being spurred on by the gun industry and You Tube personalities telling everyone you just gotta have them, regardless of cost.  I think in a mere 5 years a .22 plinker rifle will cost $5,000 and they will say what a good deal it is.
I hate these internet drug (gun) pushers with all my might. Speaking of which...

POINT 4:  Internet gun runners.

Used to be the price you got locally was what it was.  Now prices are nation wide from a web site called GUN BROKER.  A pox on them.  No one with two working brain cells should use that overpriced auction site to price their guns they sell locally, but they all do.  It is stupid and it is wrong.

EXAMPLES:

At the last gun show in Nacadoches(sp), TX I saved up $3,450 and went there to find an M1 Garand.  The rifle we used in WW2, Korea, and early Vietnam.  Prices on GUN BROKER for them vary from $1,200 to $2,500 or more.

I get there and this old geezer and his wife are selling a whole bunch of them (with case and 4 clips) for only $950 each.  Snagged one up without even thinking about it.

Now get this...2 aisles over is some internet gun runner selling just one in terrible shape for $1,900.  More than double what I paid.

I went back and bought another one, just for the hell of it.  I may swap the barrel out of .308 like the ones I shot on the Navy rifle team.

RANT OFF

COOL NOTE:  I also picked up a Japanese Nambu pistol for only $500.  It had a price tag of $675 on it, but the guy said you can have it for 5.  Done deal.  I have never even seen one in real life at a show or anywhere else.  I intend to clean, replace the springs, and reload some ammo for it and make it shoot again...BANZAI !!! Will make a YT video when I get it all done. So far, none of the Nabus on YT videos work. It is because they do not know what they are doing when it comes to this particular pistol.

"Point 1:  The culture of BUY BUY BUY !!!"

You started your comment by admitting that you were a "gun collector", last I knew, you cannot be a "gun collector" unless you "BUY BUY BUY". Isn't it a little hypocritical to claim that others shouldn't spend their money on guns when you admitted that you have?

"POINT 2:  Young men are going broke buying them"

What people spend their money on is not something that I would judge. People overspend on all sorts of things that I personally don't agree with but, that it their right to do so. There is a culture where someone can over-extend themselves financially and seemingly no one is blamed.

"POINT 3:  Guns and ammo prices are becoming outrageous, and being spurred on"

Prices for everything are skyrocketing. Just as everything is going up, law enforcement is being "defunded" and trashed by the Democrats. I can certainly see why someone would purchase a firearm that didn't have one before as crime is getting worse. It's often been said that when seconds count the Police are only minutes away.

"POINT 4:  Internet gun runners"

Because the Internet affords so much anonymity, I'm not sure how one would know for certain who is and who is not a "gun runner". Certainly there are people making videos that I question what experience and/or knowledge they actually have but, I have a right not to watch just like anyone else.

All points lead to one common cause.  Obsession for absolute control by our governments or their puppeteers.

1. Buy Buy Buy! - China has figured out that capitalism works.  They are using capitalist principles to infuse themselves into world markets while keeping ultimate control of THEIR country with totalitarianism.  Governments all over the world, including ours, are realizing this tactic.  Since they are afraid of the people, they do everything possible to use capitalism against us.  They are intentionally driving prices high to limit the number of guns in our hands.

2.  Young men are going broke buying them - This goes back to number one.  Guns have become more expensive.  Young men don't have the means of older men.  The same puppeteers are influencing our education systems and gearing them towards indoctrination centers.  They are emasculating each generation a little more than the previous.  Just look at communist threats from the 60s.  Their tactics are long term and they are working.

3.  Guns and ammo prices are becoming outrageous - Back to number 1.  Our government is limiting supply by all means possible.  They are controlling our supply of lead and buying as much guns and ammo as they can justify for agencies like the EPA and the IRS.  That leaves less for us and at inflated prices.

4. Internet Gun Runners - OK. This doesn't lead back to number 1. It's a bunch of self absorbed people trying to make themselves look smart or make a buck off of people not paying attention.

RV wrote:"Point 1:  The culture of BUY BUY BUY !!!"

You started your comment by admitting that you were a "gun collector", last I knew, you cannot be a "gun collector" unless you "BUY BUY BUY". Isn't it a little hypocritical to claim that others shouldn't spend their money on guns when you admitted that you have?

"POINT 2:  Young men are going broke buying them"

What people spend their money on is not something that I would judge. People overspend on all sorts of things that I personally don't agree with but, that it their right to do so. There is a culture where someone can over-extend themselves financially and seemingly no one is blamed.

"POINT 3:  Guns and ammo prices are becoming outrageous, and being spurred on"

Prices for everything are skyrocketing. Just as everything is going up, law enforcement is being "defunded" and trashed by the Democrats. I can certainly see why someone would purchase a firearm that didn't have one before as crime is getting worse. It's often been said that when seconds count the Police are only minutes away.

"POINT 4:  Internet gun runners"

Because the Internet affords so much anonymity, I'm not sure how one would know for certain who is and who is not a "gun runner". Certainly there are people making videos that I question what experience and/or knowledge they actually have but, I have a right not to watch just like anyone else.

POINT 1 counterpoint...Yes, I buy, but do not answer to the siren song of BUY BUY BUY at overinflated prices.  Last year I got a classic S&W model 10 for $300.  At the time some pricks were selling them for $900.  NO Hypocrisy here.  I KNOW what guns are worth, and I KNOW what prices are completely stupid.

Point 2 counter point...Older men have more money than young men.  I am NOT going broke because my experience ALSO tells me how overpriced and insane some AR prices are.  Younger men do not know this and are going broke because of it.  Check any on-line sales and you will see for yourself.  They are putting their "custom" boom sticks up for sale because they do not have the means to keep shooting them.  Yet those internet gun runners keep singing the siren song to them of BUY BUY BUY.  Older and more experienced men now better.  At Least I do.

EXAMPLE...I bought a heavy barrel upper for only $300 and a lower at a local gun shop for only $250.  550 so far.  Replaced that dingy "pistol" stock with a full sized one, and I still only had 650 into it and will put it up against any "custom" build out there.  Some companies charge upward of $3,000 for their boom stick and mine is cheaper and definitely more accurate.  Why more accurate.  Reloading.  The heart of any rifle is the barrel.  I make loads tailored to that particular rifle.  Most others buy generic factory ammo made for all guns.  Not tailored to their particular one.  Reloads are also much cheaper.  Win win.

Point 3 counter point...No disagreement with any of your points.  Well said.

Point 4 counterpoint...You apparently have never bought a gun on-line.  There is no anonymity.  You know exactly who you are buying from on-line.  Or NOT buying from in my case.  I will not pay an asking price of $800 for a $300 gun.  Internet gun runners are a pox onto the shooting sports.  I wish them all many raspberry seeds between their teeth and only to be able to watch over-the-air TV.

Retirednsmilin308 wrote:Guns have been in America since day 1.  They are not going away.  I am a collector and gunsmith, and have a shooting range in my backyard.
That being said, there is a dark side I am seeing emerge via the internet, that I do not like one bit.  I will break it down point-by-point.

Point 1:  The culture of BUY BUY BUY !!!

I needed a part to affect a repair on an older model handgun (Beretta M1951 Brigadier), and went through two pages of internet search before i found where I could get the part.  Every search just said where I could BUY that particular model...NOT...where I could get the parts.  But then again, the whole internet is driven by BUY  BUY  BUY.  I hate it.  Try looking up just information, and you are at a loss.

POINT 2:  Young men are going broke buying them.

A young person in their 20's plays a game, or watches You Tube videos or some movie and it has a particular gun in it they just gotta have.  They are going broke doing this.  Usually it is ARs.  They buy a basic AR...then customize it with pop-in parts (not gunsmithing), play with it for a while, then realize they can only shoot it a maximum of 100 yards at their local range....AND the money to feed it overpriced ammo drives them into the poor house.
THEN...you see them trying to sell their boom stick on-line and they never get what they put into it.

POINT 3:  Guns and ammo prices are becoming outrageous, and being spurred on by the gun industry and You Tube personalities telling everyone you just gotta have them, regardless of cost.  I think in a mere 5 years a .22 plinker rifle will cost $5,000 and they will say what a good deal it is.
I hate these internet drug (gun) pushers with all my might. Speaking of which...

POINT 4:  Internet gun runners.

Used to be the price you got locally was what it was.  Now prices are nation wide from a web site called GUN BROKER.  A pox on them.  No one with two working brain cells should use that overpriced auction site to price their guns they sell locally, but they all do.  It is stupid and it is wrong.

EXAMPLES:

At the last gun show in Nacadoches(sp), TX I saved up $3,450 and went there to find an M1 Garand.  The rifle we used in WW2, Korea, and early Vietnam.  Prices on GUN BROKER for them vary from $1,200 to $2,500 or more.

I get there and this old geezer and his wife are selling a whole bunch of them (with case and 4 clips) for only $950 each.  Snagged one up without even thinking about it.

Now get this...2 aisles over is some internet gun runner selling just one in terrible shape for $1,900.  More than double what I paid.

I went back and bought another one, just for the hell of it.  I may swap the barrel out of .308 like the ones I shot on the Navy rifle team.

RANT OFF

COOL NOTE:  I also picked up a Japanese Nambu pistol for only $500.  It had a price tag of $675 on it, but the guy said you can have it for 5.  Done deal.  I have never even seen one in real life at a show or anywhere else.  I intend to clean, replace the springs, and reload some ammo for it and make it shoot again...BANZAI !!! Will make a YT video when I get it all done.  So far, none of the Nabus on YT videos work.  It is because they do not know what they are doing when it comes to this particular pistol.

""POINT 2:  Young men are going broke buying them. ""

How many and what type of firearm are these young guys buying?

If you buy second hand you can get some good buys

I recently purchased a Ruger 10/22 SS new, with carbon fiber full length suppressed barrel with synthetic stock for $1300 NZ , a Rossi puma 44mag lever action in SS with a 16inch barrel for $1400 , I also picked up a near new 12g stoeger shotgun auto loader for $250 , A little external surface rust , not a big investment,

Depends on how many guns you think you need

vege57 wrote:

Retirednsmilin308 wrote:Guns have been in America since day 1.  They are not going away.  I am a collector and gunsmith, and have a shooting range in my backyard.
That being said, there is a dark side I am seeing emerge via the internet, that I do not like one bit.  I will break it down point-by-point.

Point 1:  The culture of BUY BUY BUY !!!

I needed a part to affect a repair on an older model handgun (Beretta M1951 Brigadier), and went through two pages of internet search before i found where I could get the part.  Every search just said where I could BUY that particular model...NOT...where I could get the parts.  But then again, the whole internet is driven by BUY  BUY  BUY.  I hate it.  Try looking up just information, and you are at a loss.

POINT 2:  Young men are going broke buying them.

A young person in their 20's plays a game, or watches You Tube videos or some movie and it has a particular gun in it they just gotta have.  They are going broke doing this.  Usually it is ARs.  They buy a basic AR...then customize it with pop-in parts (not gunsmithing), play with it for a while, then realize they can only shoot it a maximum of 100 yards at their local range....AND the money to feed it overpriced ammo drives them into the poor house.
THEN...you see them trying to sell their boom stick on-line and they never get what they put into it.

POINT 3:  Guns and ammo prices are becoming outrageous, and being spurred on by the gun industry and You Tube personalities telling everyone you just gotta have them, regardless of cost.  I think in a mere 5 years a .22 plinker rifle will cost $5,000 and they will say what a good deal it is.
I hate these internet drug (gun) pushers with all my might. Speaking of which...

POINT 4:  Internet gun runners.

Used to be the price you got locally was what it was.  Now prices are nation wide from a web site called GUN BROKER.  A pox on them.  No one with two working brain cells should use that overpriced auction site to price their guns they sell locally, but they all do.  It is stupid and it is wrong.

EXAMPLES:

At the last gun show in Nacadoches(sp), TX I saved up $3,450 and went there to find an M1 Garand.  The rifle we used in WW2, Korea, and early Vietnam.  Prices on GUN BROKER for them vary from $1,200 to $2,500 or more.

I get there and this old geezer and his wife are selling a whole bunch of them (with case and 4 clips) for only $950 each.  Snagged one up without even thinking about it.

Now get this...2 aisles over is some internet gun runner selling just one in terrible shape for $1,900.  More than double what I paid.

I went back and bought another one, just for the hell of it.  I may swap the barrel out of .308 like the ones I shot on the Navy rifle team.

RANT OFF

COOL NOTE:  I also picked up a Japanese Nambu pistol for only $500.  It had a price tag of $675 on it, but the guy said you can have it for 5.  Done deal.  I have never even seen one in real life at a show or anywhere else.  I intend to clean, replace the springs, and reload some ammo for it and make it shoot again...BANZAI !!! Will make a YT video when I get it all done.  So far, none of the Nabus on YT videos work.  It is because they do not know what they are doing when it comes to this particular pistol.

""POINT 2:  Young men are going broke buying them. ""

How many and what type of firearm are these young guys buying?

If you buy second hand you can get some good buys

I recently purchased a Ruger 10/22 SS new, with carbon fiber full length suppressed barrel with synthetic stock  for $1300 NZ , a Rossi puma 44mag lever action  in SS with a 16inch barrel for $1400 , I also picked up a near new 12g  stoeger shotgun auto loader for $250 , A little external surface rust , not a big investment,

Depends on how many guns you think you need

The guns these young men are buying are ARs. $2500 to $3000 each. Stupid.

As of today $1300NZ = 825 us...for a 10/22 ?  You got screwed no matter how fancy it is.  I got a new 22 inch barreled 10/22 for 395 US

1400NZ = 888.98 US...another bad deal...but will not comment negatively about it.  A Rossi Puma is one of the best lever guns out there.  Especially in .44.  I have had two in my life and they are awesome.  Years ago I saw one on a rack or $1,000 Henrys and it was $300...but that was about 8 years ago.  I sold it for 400 3 years ago.  

250 NZ = only 158 US...great deal !

...but, I guess in NZ you have to pay for whatever you can find.  Given all the limitations put on you and the distances involved.


Now how many guns do I think I NEED ?  Maybe only 4.  A shotgun, a handgun, a rimfire rifle, and a centerfire rifle.  That is pretty much it.

BUT...seeuns how I am in TEXAS and we love our freedoms here, I have 45 firearms.  but I am also a historical collector, and that is the category most of them fit in.  I also reload my own ammo.

Current project is making refurbishing a Japanese Nambu pistol and making high quality ammo for it.  If you search You Tube, no one knows how to make these shoot.  I do, and will post a video once I am finished.

********************************

But...to you point....It just hit New Years a few minutes ago and it sounds like a war zone outside.  I know what firecrackers sound like, and them ain't firecrackers.

Never understood shooting in the air.  You gun makes just as much noise if you shoot into the ground.  Completely irresponsible, in my opinion.

My last purchase was a Kimber K6s in .357.  I bought it used for $850 and it came with 200 rounds of .38sp.  I polished it up and bought some wood grips.  She turned out pretty good  and shoots very well for a 6  shot snub nose.

Crusader wrote:My last purchase was a Kimber K6s in .357.  I bought it used for $850 and it came with 200 rounds of .38sp.  I polished it up and bought some wood grips.  She turned out pretty good  and shoots very well for a 6 shot snub nose.

Damb, those grips are beautiful !

The world will never understand nor love us Texans, will they ?

We do what we want, when we want, and how we want.  Sometimes on the other side or the law, and sometimes within the law.

We have our own laws we follow.  Though the skirting gets less and less the older and wiser we get.  (wink)

Dave

PS...come on over if you want to reload those 38s after they are spent.  Unless, of course, you already reload.  Just bring you own primers.  I got everything else.  Including a range out back to test and chronograph them.

Retirednsmilin308 wrote:

Crusader wrote:My last purchase was a Kimber K6s in .357.  I bought it used for $850 and it came with 200 rounds of .38sp.  I polished it up and bought some wood grips.  She turned out pretty good  and shoots very well for a 6 shot snub nose.

Damb, those grips are beautiful !

The world will never understand nor love us Texans, will they ?

We do what we want, when we want, and how we want.  Sometimes on the other side or the law, and sometimes within the law.

We have our own laws we follow.  Though the skirting gets less and less the older and wiser we get.  (wink)

Dave

PS...come on over if you want to reload those 38s after they are spent.  Unless, of course, you already reload.  Just bring you own primers.  I got everything else.  Including a range out back to test and chronograph them.

I may take you up on that some day. I hope to buy some land within the next couple of months. It will be nice to have a cheap place to shoot. I've been living with my brother since my divorce. We get along great and I pay him rent, but I need my own place. I'm looking near Canton. I'd love to move farther East, but I commute to DFW everyday.

Crusader wrote:

Retirednsmilin308 wrote:

Crusader wrote:My last purchase was a Kimber K6s in .357.  I bought it used for $850 and it came with 200 rounds of .38sp.  I polished it up and bought some wood grips.  She turned out pretty good  and shoots very well for a 6 shot snub nose.

Damb, those grips are beautiful !

The world will never understand nor love us Texans, will they ?

We do what we want, when we want, and how we want.  Sometimes on the other side or the law, and sometimes within the law.

We have our own laws we follow.  Though the skirting gets less and less the older and wiser we get.  (wink)

Dave

PS...come on over if you want to reload those 38s after they are spent.  Unless, of course, you already reload.  Just bring you own primers.  I got everything else.  Including a range out back to test and chronograph them.

I may take you up on that some day.  I hope to buy some land within the next couple of months.   It will be nice to have a cheap place to shoot.  I've been living with my brother since my divorce.   We get along great and I pay him rent, but I need my own place.  I'm looking near Canton.  I'd love to move farther East, but I commute to DFW everyday.

Well, I am near Tyler, and Canton is only a little more than an hour away. We can make this work. Gun stuff or no gun stuff.
Maybe we can meet at a First Monday's one day in Canton.