Thread: Rifle and Optics Snobs

If someone differentiates a piece of equipment based on the brand name stamped/printed/etched on the side of it, they are idiots in my eyes.

Grew up in Asia so can spot a fake Rolex/Omega almost immediately, small details like metal finishing and tactile feel set things apart.

Think I know when an item is quality and when it is not after some examination and use.

Remington M7/700 , Howa 1500 , Tikka T3 all good rifles with strong and weak points, none making them 'more accurate' over another in terms of stalking use (although with newer Remingtons the QC is a bit suspect, not sure about newest ones since last collapse).

Doubt I'll ever own a 'custom' action.

Japanese optics would be the best in the world if they were not constrained by the lack of domestic market (they make what the customer orders, not something to sell, March might be an outlier here...) old Bushnell Elites are superb.

Binoculars are the only sector where I would say buy the very best there is, although going to a shop that stocks all the top names (Swaro vs. Leica really, personally think Ziess isn't close) and trying them first is essential.

Black rifle loving dudes will get this:





I'm not gonna lie, I was (still am) a snob for HK.

Since I got my Vixen, I look down on Nikko Stirling owners.

I still shoot rabbits and possums with the 10/22 I got in 1985. Does that make me a snob for using an old classic, or the opposite end of the spectrum for using worn out gear without any bluing left, sights broken off, stock replaced with synthetic because the original broke and rust showing up? It still does the job and that's all I need.

I don't care what others think. I get the best I can afford with my limited budget and assume everyone else does the same. I do have views on how much people are willing to spend on diminishing returns or the last 0.01", but that wasn't the question.

Always identify your target beyond all doubt because you never miss and I will be missed

All but 2 of my rifles are second hand wood and blue. Most well under a grand. Two new ones, one was an $850 Rossi, the other a $950 Ruger..but I love seeing and handling new kit and if buying it floats someone's boat then fine.

One of the funniest things I've encountered was when shooting a NZDA silhouette match for the first time, with my old Interarms 308 and cast loads lol, the little guy next to me had a huge "precision" rifle in some exotic calibre with 3+k of optics on top, a total cost he told me around of around 8 grand as he looked pityingly at my old crapper with its Nikko Stirling on top. Then he found out, his first time also at silhouette, that he had to shoot off-hand. And yup, after a couple of shots, he just could not manage to hold the rifle up to acquire the target long enough to take the shot. I didn't do much good with my casts after we got past 100m but I was tfe one still wearing the grin at the end.

If you are at the range with a bunch of others, there probably is an element of snobbery....
I can count the number of times I've sat in a hut on a rainy day/evening and encountered someone keen to talk about ballistics or rifles or scopes or whatever.... typically, if I encounter that situation I will move on....hunting is generally a solo activity so as others have said, people make purchase decisions on whatever drives them.
Things are probably a little different in other countries where status is important and there are limited hunting opportunities - Europe in general springs to mind here when considering what the market is for high grade walnut stocks etc....
Kiwis generally don't give a shit in my experience; @Hermitage - have you encountered "snobbery?"
Feels like another troll post.....

Originally Posted by Jhon

All but 2 of my rifles are second hand wood and blue. Most well under a grand. Two new ones, one was an $850 Rossi, the other a $950 Ruger..but I love seeing and handling new kit and if buying it floats someone's boat then fine.

One of the funniest things I've encountered was when shooting a NZDA silhouette match for the first time, with my old Interarms 308 and cast loads lol, the little guy next to me had a huge "precision" rifle in some exotic calibre with 3+k of optics on top, a total cost he told me around of around 8 grand as he looked pityingly at my old crapper with its Nikko Stirling on top. Then he found out, his first time also at silhouette, that he had to shoot off-hand. And yup, after a couple of shots, he just could not manage to hold the rifle up to acquire the target long enough to take the shot. I didn't do much good with my casts after we got past 100m but I was tfe one still wearing the grin at the end.

Classic. I enjoy these stories. Here's one; had a couple of guys on the farm looking for rabbits, both with far better quality gear than I had. They looked at my 10/22 with it's half front sight left and half rear sight and questioned my abilty to hit anything at all. We saw three hares just up ahead, "right you guys, I'll take the one in the middle, you guys hit those on the outside". I let them shoot first, they both took ages to line up for 'pretty' shots with their good scopes, both missed and I knocked over 2 of the hares on the run (with only half a rear sight) before they got a second shot off. I put a trs25 on after that, but it was amazing how accurate you can be even with broken iron sights. The ability to keep on pulling the trigger until the target is down helps too.

I guess as much as there is snobbery, there is also reverse snobbery in judging those that do have expensive gear.
As long as it does the job and give you joy to use it, that's all that matters.
If you judge someone for having top quality expensive optics though, that just means you have never used top quality expensive optics because if you had, you would be saving madly to get some yourself.

I'd also wager that by international standards most NZ rifles aren't that expensive

Here's a cheap one
https://www.guntrader.uk/guns/rifles...10804133457042

Here's one worth a bit more, second hand though
https://hollandandholland.com/new-an...d-guns/CM35813

Originally Posted by imaca

I'd also wager that by international standards most NZ rifles aren't that expensive

Here's a cheap one
https://www.guntrader.uk/guns/rifles...10804133457042

And here we have identified the real problem. Anyone referring to a firearm priced at £22,495 as 'the cheap one' is not in the same league as most of us

I find now I am spending on new gear like quilts and mats.
Law of diminishing returns kicks in there $ v grammes/ounces.
The best rifle related thing I have bought in the last few years was a Stug stock for a Remington 700.
Every time I pick it up I love how it fits and feels like a .22 weight wise.

Originally Posted by Ben Waimata

And here we have identified the real problem. Anyone referring to a firearm priced at £22,495 as 'the cheap one' is not in the same league as most of us

At the upper end of their market, you can scoop a bargain, NZ$403,900 odd for a couple of Purdey SXS game guns.
https://www.guntrader.uk/guns/shotgu...20712141713276

I'm sure they are nice, but killing my mortgage would be far nicer. We don't live in different worlds so much as on different planets!

As others have stated there will always be some form of snobbery in every activity people can do. Some people just have to have the best kit. Some of those people just genuinely love to having the best possible kit they can just for the sake of enjoying it.
But yeah there will also always be those that get the best simply to show off that they have the best.

I personally try to get the kit that works the best for me. Thus far that definitely hasn’t been the most expensive. I buy things generally second hand, as I have a limited budget.

I’ll try items for a hunt or three. And if there are persistent annoyances that I can’t fix myself I’ll move the item on until I find something that does fit.

Over the years I have slowly worked my way through many various bits of kit, and am pretty much sorted for everything I need. Most importantly I know that the kit I have I can trust to do whatever it’s individual job is. All the bits of kit simply doing what they are designed to do, all work together to give me an enjoyable hunt.

The last thing I want to be worrying about is the kit that I am carrying/using. All I want to be worrying about is the weather, the terrain and where the animals might be. I just want to hunt.

I look down on those who don't have a Stug stock

Over the years I've had some nice rifles and some not so nice.
The one thing i have never regretted is spending money on good gear.
I brought a Swarovski scope and binoculars over 30 years ago, and both are still going strong.
Now day's I try and buy nice gear, and spend as much as i can afford at the time, on rifles and optics. Only having 2 rifles helps, I'm not sure if buying good gear makes me a snob, but it is really nice using quality gear.

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