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Old September 6, 2012, 06:43 PM   #59
orionengnr
Senior Member
 
Join Date: July 9, 2004
Posts: 5,172
As an NRA Life Member, I hate to have to say this, but...I have largely given up on reading The American Rifleman, especially the tests of firearms, ammo, etc. (In all fairness, it seems as if a number of other gun-related publications fall into the same category.)

It may just be my observation, but it seems to me that everything they test is just the greatest thing to ever come along.

As far as the value of opposing viewpoints, I will make a confession:
When I started getting into recreational shooting in late 99/early 2000 (as opposed to merely owning a couple guns and shooting twice a year) I started reading...everything I could lay my hands on.

Before the Internet, I had read American Handgunner waxing ecstatically over MagSafe 9mm and .40 S&W loads. I also bought a copy of Marshall and Sannow's "Stopping Power", which also endorsed those pricey ($20/6pack) pre-fragmented loads.

I had those hyper-expensive loads in the P7 PSP sitting on my nightstand, and although I had only put a few of those rounds down the barrell, I was convinced that I had the best HD setup around.

You see, the problem was that I had exactly two data points, and they both aligned.

Then one fine day, along came Al Gore, [mega-sarcasm]and he blessed us with the Internet.[/mega-sarcasm]

I found numerous posts on the Internet that quickly dispelled the notion that I had done everything possible to prepare for "what if".

I started reading other opinions, and my eyes were quickly opened. I read, and I shot, and I read and I shot and then... I read and I shot some more. Nearly $200 worth of MagSafe 9mm and .40 (a pitifully small number of rounds) were expended into paper and I quickly discovered that the lighter (and faster!) 9mm load would not reliably cycle my S&W 469, which was so loaded...

Almost 13 years later, there are no "gimmick" rounds in my inventory. Just plain old factory JHPs...quality ones, like Gold Dots and DPX.

And every time someone posts asking about Glaser and/or MagSafe, I try to show "the Rest of the Story", as Paul Harvey would have said.

Bottom line: If it weren't for people willing to share their knowledge/experiences, and express "the other side" our community would be far poorer (in knowledge). If I was not willing to listen to both sides, I would have made some (more) very poor decisions along the way.

The more data points, the better. We are adults, and given sufficient evidence, we can make our own informed decisons. Key word being informed.

Supressing/discouraging dissenting opinions is counter-productive, and (IMHO) anti-American.

Most of us understand the concept of separating the wheat from the chaff...and are capable of doing so.

Last edited by orionengnr; September 6, 2012 at 06:48 PM.
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