While I agree that the shooter is a key factor in the end result of where the projectile ends up be it a well placed head shot on a pest or food for the dinner table. Where I disagree is in viewing another shooters choice as being a poor one we choose our rifles based on budget and and desire. I will not tell someone that my rifle is the better rifle than another persons because I simply do not know what motivates his choices. For me and where I am in my life it is about function and beauty. For utility and reasonable power I have a Marauder .25 synthetic stock. I also have a Daisy 880 that I shoot and plan On making a wood stock and fore stock for . Now I pose a question which is the better rifle?
That is exactly the answers I expected and like beauty it is all in the mind and eyes of the beholder
There's an old saying - "Beware of the man with one gun! He probably knows how to use it!"It really doesn't matter what you use. If you become one with your gun, you can hit your target every time. This means you know distances, power,every thing your particular gun is capable of doing. It all boils down to - PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!! Nothing beats trigger time.
Sorry, David - I left out one PRACTICE!!!
My point may have been misunderstood, previously .... I am not a hunter, nor does my food depend on hunting, but what I was trying to say is that whatever you do, try to buy the "best" of whatever you must depend on. If hunting is critical, buy the best rifle for the job, a dependable gun, consistent, etc .... whatever that would be. If you were a mountain climber, wouldn't you buy the best rope, and other equipment available? Your life depends on it.There is such a diverse crowd of members on this site, that it is difficult to give an "opinion" without hurting someone's feelings, or being perceived as pretentious. If someone wants to get into serious HFT competition, and asks what the best rifle might be for that under $300.00, how do you answer that diplomatically? A decent scope could easily cost that, now you have to put a rifle under it. About 2 years ago, I got back into this hobby. My brother-in-law, with a limited airgun budget, bought an 880. Happy as a pig in mud, we shot it, and had fun plinking. I was now re-hooked, but was a little more serious ... became interested in tighter groups, bought a Gamo. Then I laughed as I put a UTG scope on it that cost $50.00 less than the rifle. I loved that Gamo ... but ... wanted even tighter and more consistent groups, and moved on. I sold the Gamo to my brother-in-law, at less than half the value, and wow, is he a happy camper. This is way more gun than he ever expected to have, and I know he will stick with it. That is just fine. I laughed at the amount of money spent on this hobby, less than 2 years later I have thousands in this, one gun, and a slew of accessories ... thank you very much GTA! One last note, then I'll stop the editorial. To make another point, back in the RC car racing days, serious racers had the best cars & radios etc., limited income families raced beside the serious racers with "out of the box" cars (Radio Shack etc.). That was ok with us, but they NEVER were competitive, and the kids became discouraged. We started a separate "class" or division for them, and now the winners of that class were getting cool trophies, and the pride could be seen the eyes of the beginners. We break out springers and PCP's, maybe break it further down and add more divisions for competitions. This is all just my humble opinions.Pappy