Why Do Old Farts

[Altjaeger]

Why do old farts complain when a new cartridge hits the market that it is nothing more than the old (you fill in the name) in a new wrapper before proceeding to bad mouth companies for introducing them? :D

[southtexas]

Good question, Alt.

I've wondered that myself, since no one, yet at least, is FORCING them to buy the new wonder-cartridge.

But as a COF (certified old fart) myself, I have come to the conclusion that complaining about the new cartridges gives them an opportunity to pontificate and show their knowledge regarding cartridges, old and new.:)

[DancesWithKnives]

Same thing happens with guns themselves. An 84 year old geezer buddy of mine complains that there was no need to design any new semi-auto pistols after the 1911 was developed. Just can't see why anyone would consider a Springfield XD, Glock, S&W LE, Sig, H&K, CZ, etc. His deceased father, in turn, couldn't see why anyone would give up an 1873 Colt style revolver for a 1911.

I expect that when some of us get to be well up in our 80s we'll question why anyone considers the future latest generation of firearms over what we are used to now.;) [I'm trying to buck that tendency by using everything from Old West revolvers to 1911s to current designs to whatever I can buy in the future. :D]

DWK

[Altjaeger]

Same thing happens with guns themselves. An 84 year old geezer buddy of mine complains that there was no need to design any new semi-auto pistols after the 1911 was developed. Just can't see why anyone would consider a Springfield XD, Glock, S&W LE, Sig, H&K, CZ, etc. His deceased father, in turn, couldn't see why anyone would give up an 1873 Colt style revolver for a 1911.

I expect that when some of us get to be well up in our 80s we'll question why anyone considers the future latest generation of firearms over what we are used to now.;) [I'm trying to buck that tendency by using everything from Old West revolvers to 1911s to current designs to whatever I can buy in the future. :D]

DWK

I will plead guilty of having little to no interest in personal ownership anymore of anything manufactured or at leasted designed after about 1960. However, I could care less that my son shoots a Glock.:)

[Alan R McDaniel Jr]

Old Farts always complain about the new-fangled stuff that whipersnappers come up with when the old stuff works just as good, it's our job, it's our life.

Alan

[Phil T]

Because, as a well-known gun writer said, "There is no need for better cartridges, but there is a need for better firearms."
Their R&D money would be better spent improving the delivery system than on reinventing the wheel.

[Altjaeger]

Phil, not necessarily a bad thought, but if everyone agreed we would not have wildcats.:)

[Smokey]

My father was one of those COF people that could not understand anyone who owned a perfectly good rifle that would go out and buy a second rifle particularly in a new caliber. He owned a Savage 99 in 250-3000, a very worn out single shot 22, and a S&W 22 revolver. Note I did not mention a shotgun.

He hunted small game with the 22's, turkeys with the rifle. The rifle was ordered the day he got home from Europe after WW II. He had ordered a 300 Savage but the rifle came in as a 250 and that was what he used. He was an axcellent shot with all of them. That was all he needed.

Sighting in time for him was one shot at 50 yards [this all took place in north central PA]. Why waste ammo. I don't ever remember him shooting a deer with more than one shot. The rifle was never scoped.

When I started hunting he bought a used model 94 in 30-30 that was supposed to be sighted in. We went to the hardware store and he bought seven 30-30 cartridges. He said the shells should last me three years. Two shots to verify it was sighted in, two sighting in shots the next two years, and three shots for the three deer seasons. Did any of you go to the hardware store and buy individual cartridges? Very common in that little town.

Now those guns were perfect for hunting in PA which was full of deer so why in the world would anyone need anything else. I can still remember him and other hunters complaining how the new fangled .243 isn't as good as a .250 or .257 Roberts. Everyone knew the .308 was not as good as a 300 Savage.

And, as a side note, if you wanted to get really accurate and do some long range shooting at that time you went to a Williams peep sight.

[Joe Boleo]

I just do not run out and buy the latest fad in firearms. The old ones in my gun safe are not worn out yet. Take care...
Joe

[Altjaeger]

I just do not run out and buy the latest fad in firearms. The old ones in my gun safe are not worn out yet. Take care...
Joe

I don't either. Just doing a quick mental inventory of the 7 cartridges that are suitable for deer hunting in my safe I have the new fangled .308 introduced in 1952. I also have a .250-3000 (introduced in 1915) and the .30-06 (guess:D). The other 4 were all introduced before 1900 and still perform just fine.

Still I don't complain about the new rounds. They make a bit of interesting reading and its not my money. But then I sit quietly as kids talk about hot vehicles today knowing full well none beat the muscle cars of the 60's in pure class!

[Just a Hunter]

COF's base there opinions on first hand experiences in regards to what they have spent a lifetime using.

When a item has proven itself as reliable in performance and results for 30+ years it becomes difficult to accept there is a need to introduce something new just for the sake of having a different name on a box of ammo.

[Hi Ball]

ALT, I must admit I don't purchase a new firearm just because some gunrag gives it high praises! I also will tell you I have tried several that have come along in the past dozen years and only one or two has impressed me.

One being the .270WSM and the other was the .204!!!:D:cool:

I been using my rifles for a number of years now and I hope to qualify for the OLD FARTS CLUB in about 10 or 12 years maybe.;) :) Never the less, what I have in the vault in the way of hunting and target shooting, has manage to serve me well over the years I have owned them and besides I'll stand with a 50 year track record on any firearm. I also don't have any problems buying ammo for my rifles that most old farts would give up their brass T for nowdays.:D

[Altjaeger]

The only ones that take even a little effort to find in my case are because they were pre-1900 designs and fading away. But I have a fair supply of ammo on hand for one. The other is $50 a box that I refuse to pay so someday I will buy the reloading gear and brass and get started.

[billt]

Good topic Alt. I piss and moan about as much as anyone, but in the last 10 years I've had to eat a lot of my own words! Example, when Glocks came out I laughed at them. Now I own 6. Three of them in the now famous 9 MM, which I had center stage in badmouthing for many years. Much the same with AR-15's. I thought Mattel had a hand in designing them, and Stoner proposed it because Fairchild never did design too many planes worth a $h!t. Again, now I own many. Same deal with AK-47's. I hated them, then bought a couple. Now I absolutely love shooting them! Easy to clean and maintain, cheap to shoot, ungodly reliable.

I think a lot of this has to do with experiencing these guns. We get snide in our views. Especially in our old age. Closed minded, and all the rest. My take now is not to badmouth anything unless I've put a couple hundred rounds downrange. Then form an opinion. If everyone did that a lot more guns would be liked instead of hated. And a bunch more would be sold! Bill T.

[purple heart]

First of all, at what age do I need to be to qualify for old fart status?:D
As some have stated, cofs complain because they've earned the right
and it's usually based on experience.

Smokey,
It wasn't too long ago,and maybe even today, you could walk into some
hardware stores and some small gun shops and buy less than a full box
of cartridges. You'd see boxes on the shelf that had an X on the end of the
box signifying it was not a full box of ammo.

I don't hate any guns that I don't own. I just can't afford to have all I want
so I have to make do with the ones I have.;)
Being a reloader I use to want to try all kinds of different calibers and it was
fun to work up loads for something new. Then the developments came in
and we lost our places to shoot that were close and handy. Now I have to
about pack a lunch and take most of a day to go somewhere to shoot.
Takes a lot of the fun out of it. Plus the guys that I use to shoot with
gave up shooting and moved on to other things. Now about all the
shooting we do is to sight on the deer rifles every year.:(

[southtexas]

First of all, at what age do I need to be to qualify for old fart status?:D
As some have stated, cofs complain because they've earned the right
and it's usually based on experience. (

Not sure it can be tied to a chronological age....my kids started telling me I was a COF when I was in my early thirties!:)

And I have a suspicion that they have now become COF's in their own right.

[Fuzzball3]

Wellll...I don't complain a bit. I just chuckle at the foolishness and go hunting, with my 336/.35 or M700/30-06. Each has it's specialty, each gets used, I've never needed anything else. Very rarely need a second shot...

Most whipper-snappers are just buying illusions and/or dreams and I don't object to that. They'll grow up too if they live long enough.

[Rugerman]

Maybe they got burned by buying one of the newest, greatest, wizbang guns or cartridges that were a flash in the pan that the company quit making ammo for therefore making the gun usless, or they bought it and went to some little out of the way place and couldn't find ammo. So they decided that if a 30-06, 270 or 30-30 was the way to go. Try going to some little mom & pop place and try to find WSM 300 on the shelf, sure they have 30-30, 270 and 30-06 but other than that you are out of luck.