Of late I have noticed an influx of newer members, and of these many are also new AR buyers, or potential new AR buyers, asking questions about add-ons, best rifle to buy, etc. Oftentimes these questions are met with replies that the poster has a hard time understanding. “I just asked about the best free-float rail, why are these guys telling me to go take a class first?” Let me try to explain.
While m4carbine.net welcomes all comers, what it was born of and it’s bread and butter is the defense-minded civilian shooter, law enforcement user, and military (or private military) user. This means, in a nutshell, function before form. It means that we are generally all on a similar page in that we view firearms and gear as tools to reach an end goal. Tools that can have a pride of ownership, look cool, be cool, impress the ladies, etc. but tools first and foremost. This is not ownership for ownership’s sake. This is not filling the safe full of rifles and pistols rarely fired. This is needs-based purchasing, accessorizing, and fine tuning.
We are all victims of our frame of reference, and human nature is to assume that everyone sees the world the same way you do, and given the above frame of reference the established membership here tends to see things through the lens of that sort of needs-based decision making. Posting things like “I don’t like the way that looks” may, therefore, result in some derision. We try to keep it good-natured, but you’re going to get a ration of shit about it all the same. “Which free-float rail should I buy?” will most often be met with a “what do you want to do with it and how much do you want to spend?” response. This has become a sort of unnoficial m4carbine.net mantra and is indicative of that kind of needs-based decision making.
You can’t based your decisions on need without a frame of reference. How do you know you “need” a different pistol grip if you don’t have rounds downrange on the A2? I personally can’t stand the A2 grip, but that’s based on several thousand rounds downrange with one to discover that issue. There are others that love the grip, have no issue with it, and wonder why anyone would change. But you can’t make that decision without getting out there and shooting the gun. If your goal is strictly aesthetic then you need to be up front with that from the beginning and let people know that. Don’t try to mask aesthetic decision making as needs-based. You’re only going to head down a path that doesn’t end well. I wrote the post Go Shoot the Gun to address that topic in more detail.
So, generally speaking, there are certain assumptions that your established m4carbine.net member is going to make when we see someone asking questions about guns or gear.
We assume that:
- you plan on shooting the gun.
- looks don’t matter to you.
- your use is other than firing from the bench at the local public range.
- your use will entail some kind of dynamic application (competition, defense, training, etc.)
- you are buying based on a perceived need.
- your need is not “buy it to have it”.
- you actually want advice, not confirmation or validation of a choice already made.
Given those assumptions, you may not always like the response you get. But hopefully reading and understanding those assumptions will help put them in a context that helps you get a feel for what we’re about, and why you got the response you did. The established membership here wants to help. Many of us have years of experience and costly lessons learned, and we are trying to save you and others the same mistakes we made. But we base that on a perceived need, and an assumption that you are making purchases and decisions for the same reason we are. It’s not about the ride, it’s about the destination.
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