why is more expensive better.

[Hokkmike]

The axiom that more expensive yields better quality has generally proved to be true in my experience. But sometimes you are buying features you really don't need or adding $$$ to the cost for brand name sake. Many average shooters try to "buy their way" to proficiency. You see this in almost all competitive sports where more money spent equals a competitive edge. It gets tiring. The actions of the "gentlemen" you cited were very "junior high". Pointless to argue with them and a big mistake to let it bug you. "Don't let an idiot(s) determine what kind of day you are going to have."

[RobW]

Let me guess, drop leg holsters, beards, glocks and lots of hair gel.

LOL. Let's keep in going - Oakleys, 5.11's and Salomon boots.

[Joe from Media]

I could write a check for a new Mercedes, yet I drive a 2013 Chevy Equinox. All I know is that when the Mercedes needs a new alternator, the dealer will want $800. for one. To tell the truth, those with money rarely give a crap about the status of stuff. They have nothing to "prove" to anyone. I grew up in a area with many "old money" families. Their go-to car was usually a Ford Country Squire wagon.

[CMP703006]

I've poked fun at my buddy a couple times about some of his cheap guns but then again he paid like 100 bucks for them and they are pre-WW2 pocket pistols. However these aren't his only guns, just ones he picked up for shits and giggles. If that was all he could afford I'd probably lend him the extra cash to buy something that doesn't loose the extractor when you shoot to fast. (Took us ten minutes to find that damn piece on the range floor)

I don't understand how people at the range could give someone they don't even know a hard time about their gear. I could never bash someone for genuinely wanting to practice shooting but don't have the disposable income to purchase a more expensive firearm. I've been fortunate enough to have the income to build a custom rifle(far easier to justify to myself now than a wife in the future) and shot alongside guys using Savage Axis rifles with Tasco scopes, never once did I think to tell them about how much better my stuff was than theirs.

The average 3 gun, pistol and shotgun shoots for the most part aren't really price dependent anyway. In trap, skeet & sporting clays the only real benefit to a $17,000 K80 vs my 70 year old Model 12 is craftsmanship and the longevity of the parts. Same with service Pistol, 3 gun & other close range competitions, the skill of the one using it far out weighs any technical advantage the gear gives. A hardcore 3 gun shooter could do better using a high point, a cheap franken AR and a Stoger pump gun than a mediocre shooter with a 2011 race gun, Daniel Defense AR and a Benelli shotgun.

The only place that I really see price being a performance factor is in long range shooting. It can be done with cheaper equipment however it gets to a point where the shooter can out perform their equipment. Even still if someone is trying to shoot long range with cheap gear the breath spent bashing their equipment could be better spent teaching them the fundamentals and giving them help. Or after spending 30 seconds talking to them instead of belittling them you could find out he is an exceptional shooter and is simply sighting in a friend's deer rifle. Then when he pulls out a Desert Tech with an S&B and starts shooting tiny little groups you could talk to him and actually learn something from him instead of having standing to the side looking like a judgmental asshole.

[IronButt]

My friends & I occasionally engage in friendly digs about each others choice of firearms, but to make fun of a total stranger's guns is like making demeaning remarks about his wife, or even worst, his hunting dog. It's something I just won't do.

[RockIsland]

[donotknowme]

A guy once made fun of my gun. "What is that a Wop 9? It's like the Fiat of guns. Always jamming up in you when you need it."

[streaker69]

A guy once made fun of my gun. "What is that a Wop 9? It's like the Fiat of guns. Always jamming up in you when you need it."

Did you stab him in the eye?

[daschnoz]

When I buy junk like that I spray paint the slide silver and use a magic marker to write Les Baer on it...

If it's a 500S&W wheel gun, write "Less Bear" on it.

[lemko]

A few years ago, I went to a local gun shop to buy some .25 ACP ammo for my Beretta Bobcat pistol. The guy behind the counter makes a smartass remark, ".25 Auto? The ladies like them!" Fast forward a year later and this guy is out of business.

I'm more impressed with somebody who has good shooting skills despite what firearm he's using, even if it's Hi-Point or a JA-Nine, not some snob with a pistol that cost more than my car and can't shoot worth a damn.