This is no post of the sort. I can totally understand if it was an “AR vs. AK” thread- I don’t think this question has ever been asked before, and it has a deeper purpose than the exact firearms in question.
I’m published in a national magazine for research (as in actual experimentation, not book reading) in the field of terminal ballistics and spent nearly two years working in the industry. I’m not the most qualified person here by any means, but I’m not just some goober off the street with no idea what he’s talking about.
While I am not against being accepted, I am primarily interested in learning new information and sharing what knowledge I have. I have no intention of being rude to new members, for the purpose of making myself look like “billy badass”, and have on occasion stood up for the new guy who I felt was being treated unfairly.
I say what my personal experience has lead me to believe is true. If we’re not discussing things and offering different opinions, information, and perspectives… then shut down the forum, make this a read-only information website and get on with it.
If I have seen a lot of people buy DPMS and be happy with it, and someone comes on here and says “Hey, guys! New around here! I just got a DPMS and wanted to see what y’all thought of it!” I’m not going to be a complete jerk and tell them it is a worthless piece of junk and they need to throw it away and try again. The polite, tactful response (which seems to be lost on many here) is to make them aware of the shortcomings, but acknowledge that it is probably okay for their annual range trip, but not to rely on it for defense. That’s reality and that’s the truth.
If I change my tune, and act like someone I am not, and represent ideas that are not mine and say “You moron, you should have bought a Colt! Throw away your rifle, it is a worthless piece of crap!”… well, that’s not what I actually think… so why, again, is this a forum, and not an information board?
I was not banned, so there must be some expectation that I will become accustomed to the culture and we’ll all get along fine…
How am I supposed to integrate into the forum when you guys come into threads I create, with a legitimate purpose, to troll me?
That’s what the posts here are… they are troll attempts. Attempts to get a reaction so you can get me banned.
Hopefully the mods will see through it.
The people here hate me… I can’t post anything, about any topic, without having someone giving me shit. The same thing happened with my thread trying to do a review on a new PSA upper… it took THREE TRIES and help of the mods to get it going and stay on track because of the incessant trolling and unprovoked attacks I received.
If a mod comes by, I am asking that this thread be LOCKED. It is far off track from what I intended and is serving no purpose other than causing a disruption.
and spent nearly two years working in the industry.
Two years working in a gun store really doesn’t mean that much. Gun stores are notorious for making bad recommendations and general ignorance, telling buyers that lower quality guns are ‘just as good as’ or claiming that the Special Forces use Bushmasters.
If I have seen a lot of people buy DPMS and be happy with it, and someone comes on here and says “Hey, guys! New around here! I just got a DPMS and wanted to see what y’all thought of it!” I’m not going to be a complete jerk and tell them it is a worthless piece of junk and they need to throw it away and try again. The polite, tactful response (which seems to be lost on many here) is to make them aware of the shortcomings, but acknowledge that it is probably okay for their annual range trip, but not to rely on it for defense. That’s reality and that’s the truth.
This forum looks at guns from the standpoint of being able to run reliably through a multiple high round count carbine classes, be reliable enough to stake your life on, be able to survive the rigors of an issue M4. An AR is a different gun than an 10/22 in that their is an unsaid expectation that people can trust their life to it, even if they don’t say so. I would not trust my life to a gun that doesn’t work reliably from the factory or cannot manage 10 rounds without a malfunction, as I’ve seen some do in classes.
Trolling is posting with the intent to disprupt or inflame.
What we have here is people disagreeing with you with regard to the silly hypothetical SHTF with a way to force them to choose a lesser brand, as they have in the past with your advocacy and defense of lower level brands.
If we’re trolling here by disagreeing with you, you were most certainly trolling all of thise times when you stuck up for lesser brands.
Ive often thought about this with my wife in mind. She can shoot, but is not a skilled shooter. If it was down to one of my lever actions, a shotgun, or my bolts, combined with one AR, I’d give the AR to my wife. It has an easy manual of arms, is easy to aim and fire, and is light and easy to carry. I will transfer my firearms training to whatever rifle is left over and make due.
I prefer to keep my identity somewhat private online, so if I told you the magazine and the topic, you’d pretty well be able to find out my real name in short order. (It isn’t a monthly, it’s an annual, and my research was quite specific.) With your word that you won’t release it publicly, I would be glad to share that with you over PM.
My two years working in a gun store were spent as the nearly sole “armorer” for multiple high-round-count rented full autos. This in includes M16s in 5.56NATO and 9mm, as well as Kalashnikov designs.
I have not taken any “carbine classes” that you would recognize. I have received coaching from numerous qualified shooters to include civilian instructors and military personnel. I’m proficient, not “high speed low drag”. I’m not a trigger puller… I’m a gun dork. And, more specifically, I am a bullet dork. I do train for speed in gear, with days with round counts similar to those in formal classes… I would attend a class, mostly just for the fun of it, except for funds being short. Sorry I’m not rich enough to spend thousands flying all over the country going to expensive shooting schools… kind of have college school to pay for.
If you take a look, I actually responded to your original post. I don’t think it was a goober post, I was simply explaining why some might take it that way.
I never called you a bubba. It does seem however that you have some issues. It would appear that somebody offended your sensibilities by being derisive of the DPMS.
I would suggest that you take a moment to understand the difference between recreational firearms and serious use firearms and consider that most people here are concerned with the latter.
As a “for example”, I own a XCR. I think it is a brilliant design, it’s fun to shoot and I haven’t experienced any problems with it. That said, it is hardly a proven system and it remains a recreational firearm for me. Despite how much I enjoy owning and shooting it, I don’t get offended when people say it’s not a proven Tier One firearm, that is because I know that is true.
I apologize if my response offended you. I recognized your attempt to help, and was in no way attempting to attack you.
I understand the difference between recreational firearms and serious use firearms very well. So much so that if someone already has a DPMS, and uses it is a range toy, etc. that I am content with telling them it is a fine range gun, but is bad for defense.
To me, it is like saying a Ruger M77 has no business even being manufactured because a Remington 700 is better… different people have different needs, and are willing or able to pay a different price. That’s just the fact of life.
I don’t own a DPMS… I am honestly not even 100% sure I have shot a DPMS, although I know I have observed many being fired and have cleaned many. (I’m sure I test-fired one at some point after performing some work- but I didn’t make a mental note of the brand at the time.)
The fuming hate of lesser brands here has gotten to such extremes that I have seen someone become upset that DPMS and RRA match rifles were being recommended for use in Service Rifle competition. It’s a game! Those rifles are made for playing a game, they’re not combat rifles… and even if you use better quality (from a combat standpoint) parts… it doesn’t make those types of rifles good for combat, and doesn’t make them any better at their job… which is playing a shooting game.
I’m just asking for some common sense in certain things… that’s all. I’ve never recommended DPMS or any similar quality rifle for defense, and I doubt I ever will.
This forum seems to be intended for informational purposes related to the serious use of firearms for defensive purposes. That said, dogmatically adhering to a single focus and dismissing everything else does not make a community. Without a sense of community, the information will dry up and people won’t care to share what they’ve learned. Simply put, technical expertise in a subject matter doesn’t make one an effective communicator. To be effective, you have to establish “buy-in” from the target audience.
Here’s where the rub seems to lie. Some on this forum “appear” to feel that only serious trigger pullers who work in the field for a living should be the target audience. That may not be their intention, but it’s how they come across in the emotionless electronic media we’re using. Most seem willing to at least tolerate some less than serious discussions. They’re probably a little more used to putting up with people, either because their duties require it or they generally like their fellow man.
There are a small handful of genuine asshats here, but they can be ignored, for the most part. I think the key is learning to brush off the antagonistic ones and learn which ones are genuinely telling you that you’re off the reservation. Probably what some are focusing on is your apparent youth. Looking back now, I was probably pretty intolerable to be around as a young Marine if you weren’t in a similar state. The shooting community has a tendency to eat their young, particularly if you get on their nerves.
You may never become a Tier 1, HSLD Operator in a hostile environment. Even those guys need gun geeks. Not every piece of equipment they need is designed, developed and marketed by their equals. Not every potential pitfall is discovered by them, nor is every solution. Even when it is, sometimes it takes someone with people skills to get the message out. Then some gun geek will usually design, develop and market the solution we could all benefit from.
In the interim, keep your head down, watch for friendly fire and stop defending sub-par brands. You can always post on TOS under another screen name for those that wouldn’t understand the difference!
For what it is worth I don’t dislike Lamarbrog. He seems like a gieniunely nice guy.
However, he seemed to be wondering why he received a certain response and I tried to answer it.
Further, these ‘what would you do’ SHTF hypotheticals tend to be the fodder of less serious boards. Combine that with one posted by someone who frequently rationalizes and defends subpar weapons that was constructed to make the reader choose between a subpar brand and a 70 year old less capable weapon, and you can see why it ruffled some feathers. Now drop that survey into the General Discussion section, a section that some board mods and members would like to remove because they feel it spins some stupid posts–you see where I’m going.
