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I'm just curious if anyone else here kind of feels like the market for firearms has similar ties to the cell phone market.

Are we caught in the "got to have the latest" "newest" net?

I read a lot on a lot of various websites, and I am inundated with new products. It's like no one wants to write anything worth reading anymore.

Frankly I'm disappointed in many of my favorite gunsites these days. Nothing but, "look at this product that just came out", and "we are the first to show you this new product". It's as if the sensationalism that's taken main stream media infected the one thing I appreciate

Buy, buy, buy.....

I like to read about how things work, history, what's going on in the military, local gun ranges and what they are doing. This is getting harder and harder to find. My library of bookmarks is dwindling.

Has this industry turned into a cesspool of busybodies trying to get the fly to go into the light?

Sorry for the rant. This is the one place I do enjoy as of lately that isn't trying to sell me some new form of sliced bread.

:s0137:
 
Everyone is trying to capitalize on the firearm industry these days. Companies coming out of the woodwork making the latest and greatest tacticool product. I hear you.
 
I think the ammo industry is one of the worst. As an example, in the last year CCI SV has gone from over $6./box clear down to $2.19/box and that isn't even a case price! It's just crazy.:(:(:(
 
While not a magazine or web site...
I try my best when giving a muzzleloading demonstration to not sound like a commercial or salesman for a specific product or company.

Far too many magazines seem to have just become a commercial or catalog , instead of way to getting information pertaining to a given subject.
Not to forget the gun writers who love to "name drop" or flat out sold out to a company or product.
There is a famous Muzzleloading writer who comes to mind here...but that might be best for a different thread.
Andy
 
Sometimes I wonder, perhaps if certain manufacturers had spent some of the R&D budget on improving quality control and customer service, modernizing their manufacturing plants ...............:confused:
...........geeeez, now I'm dizzy, and my head hurts!
 
Bigger, better, faster, more... I would equate it with "new & improved" regarding your favorite products. How many times do you go to the grocery store just to find that a product that you've been using for years is now "new & improved"? Why? Because some marketing/business degree noob fresh out of college is trying to justify their paycheck. If they're not changing your product, they applying the grocery shrink ray to it while keeping the same price to squeeze more $$ out of you. But hey I know, let's ask Glock for another generation of each gun in their line up so that it can make all of the previous ones seem worthless and lackluster. Just saying.
 
Are we caught in the "got to have the latest" "newest" net?

if you want something to compare along this line of concern, try to follow the 'camera hobby' equipment surges.....

For about 30 years I was a photo hobbyist. Didn't quite realize how hard core the purveyors of New Better Stuff could be. Finally at the tail end of that hobby, with a bag full of camera bodies & 3 bags of very expensive glass, I missed a shot of a lifetime because I had too many too specialized bits of expensive gear, useful only in specific set up static situations easily predictable for lighting, action, etc.

The photo I got was unrecognizable and souring, despite considerable time/sweat/financial expense/seminars/yaddayaddayadd.

So I reassessed my goals, sold the glass, and got a basic then-cutting-edge digital pocket camera. Surprised to learn it took better auto photos 80% of the time than my old gear.

Don't know how gear-heavy current camera hobby really is, as now my cell phone has sophisticated pocket camera that can do slo-mo & other soft ware stuff I've yet to explore.

Similar purchasing/over spending opportunities in many hobby fields, from classic cars/off road trucks/motorcycles, or you name it.

We're all afflicted with it. "Too much is not enough".
 
Let's take a step back and think about what the end goal for most companies is...MOOLA! Higher profits, cornering a nitch until something or someone else comes around, going after the mighty dollar. It's in all products, folks gotta have the newest gadgets...and try to keep up (or even best) the Jones'.

Personally, I enjoy the hunt for the classics when it comes to firearms. The older model SIGs, C&R items, RETRO ARs, those weapons that were "the coolest" back in the day! Why you ask??? Can afford them now (within reason of course), in my somewhat older years now, when compared to earlier in the life (Kids were the main priority then - older now and more independent!).

Keep the history coming, and take advantage of the newer items if need be!
 
if you want something to compare along this line of concern, try to follow the 'camera hobby' equipment surges.....

For about 30 years I was a photo hobbyist. Didn't quite realize how hard core the purveyors of New Better Stuff could be. Finally at the tail end of that hobby, with a bag full of camera bodies & 3 bags of very expensive glass, I missed a shot of a lifetime because I had too many too specialized bits of expensive gear, useful only in specific set up static situations easily predictable for lighting, action, etc.

The photo I got was unrecognizable and souring, despite considerable time/sweat/financial expense/seminars/yaddayaddayadd.

So I reassessed my goals, sold the glass, and got a basic then-cutting-edge digital pocket camera. Surprised to learn it took better auto photos 80% of the time than my old gear.

Don't know how gear-heavy current camera hobby really is, as now my cell phone has sophisticated pocket camera that can do slo-mo & other soft ware stuff I've yet to explore.

Similar purchasing/over spending opportunities in many hobby fields, from classic cars/off road trucks/motorcycles, or you name it.

We're all afflicted with it. "Too much is not enough".
I'm not knocking digital but when it came along and evolved it basically destroyed a generation of professional film photographers. With big memory cards, tons of auto-fied options and endless do-overs, it basically made trained monkeys photogs overnight. Same thing with video and youtube. No need for years of study, apprenticeship, videography training, any trained monkey is an expert now. While it's great for the average consumer on many levels, I feel bad for those who literally dedicated their lives to the art before digital came along.
And yes, of course... get off my lawn.
 
if you want something to compare along this line of concern, try to follow the 'camera hobby' equipment surges.....

For about 30 years I was a photo hobbyist. Didn't quite realize how hard core the purveyors of New Better Stuff could be. Finally at the tail end of that hobby, with a bag full of camera bodies & 3 bags of very expensive glass, I missed a shot of a lifetime because I had too many too specialized bits of expensive gear, useful only in specific set up static situations easily predictable for lighting, action, etc.

The photo I got was unrecognizable and souring, despite considerable time/sweat/financial expense/seminars/yaddayaddayadd.

So I reassessed my goals, sold the glass, and got a basic then-cutting-edge digital pocket camera. Surprised to learn it took better auto photos 80% of the time than my old gear.

Don't know how gear-heavy current camera hobby really is, as now my cell phone has sophisticated pocket camera that can do slo-mo & other soft ware stuff I've yet to explore.

Similar purchasing/over spending opportunities in many hobby fields, from classic cars/off road trucks/motorcycles, or you name it.

We're all afflicted with it. "Too much is not enough".
I, like you, was for many years an amateur photographer. I shot 35 and some medium format. Had a decent collection of stuff. And then one day my 7 year old granddaughter wanted to show me some pictures she took on her "hand me down" camera, really on my daughters old cell phone. She had upgraded and passed the old one on. The photos were good. All the years I had spent mastering f stops, exposure, depth of field, etc. was out the window. That crummy little cell phone camera took care of all those details. So I went out and bought a digital, at around $100, and have never looked back. I still have all the old stuff up in the closet.
 
when it came along and evolved it basically destroyed a generation of

....yes, how many turnovers have we all observed in our own short swim in this tepid pool of transience and ephemeral delights?

Trying to stay abreast of gear/trends of what is/isn't necessary to feed your own brood in a demonstrably volatile market of consumer passions, can be mistaken for the heartless hawking of undesirable goods on an unwilling public.....difficult to call who is/should be given a ride vs who should walk home, eh?

The generations of film-sellers/processors/etc lost out as well. So did the steam engine industry, along with the wick makers.

Thread drift here was unintended, simply trying to demonstrate the selling of goods whether wanted/needed is not limited to the fire arms glee club.
 
All the years I had spent mastering f stops, exposure, depth of field, etc. was out the window.

disagree....maybe out YOUR window, not hers. She'll have newer never-ever-imagined dragons to slay in her own life & times. And a slew of trivial possessions that will fade in relevance as newer/better/more relevant stuff comes to market.
 
I enjoy the hunt for the classics when it comes to firearms. The older model SIGs, C&R items, RETRO ARs, those weapons that were "the coolest" back in the day! Why you ask??? Can afford them now (within reason of course), in my somewhat older years now, when compared to earlier in the life

yes, great point.....
some of the $ recovered from my photo fetish funded some decent black powder items that proved to be enjoyable, entertaining, educational, and easily traded off when different whims rattled my bones...
 
yes, great point.....
some of the $ recovered from my photo fetish funded some decent black powder items that proved to be enjoyable, entertaining, educational, and easily traded off when different whims rattled my bones...

Definitely concur!! Have ceased one old and enjoyable hobby to focus on the current one solely! Momma may have had a little something to do with the decision! ;)
 

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