[cslinger]

On a more serious note. My guns and gear are very much a hobby. I enjoy the variety, the tinkering the "barbi for men" if you will. I am a fairly decent shooter with damn near anything but not anything near expert with anything.

Whenever folks ask me about buying a gun or am for training I always tell them I am a fair to middling marksman because I don't commit to a single platform or put as much money into ammo as I should. I always tell them if they want to LEARN TO SHOOT I will teach them the fundamentals of trigger control, front sight, press etc. but it is up to them to pick a gun and BA/UU/R as a departed gunny on these boards used to say. Buy ammo, use up, repeat. Nothing beats trigger time and muscle memory.

The great majority of us love to get new toys and we love justifying our new purchases but the reality is a 70s jframe loaded with 5 rounds of decent ammo and backed by years and thousands and thousands of rounds of practice is way better then any wonder weapon in my armory.

All the high tech glass in the world won't teach you how to read the wind, understand the drop of a given ammo, give you the instincts to dial in the right amount of Kentucky windage as needed. That takes ammo, training, practice, experience and time. Once you have all that good glass/rifles etc can make your job easier but nothing more.