Today The Unthinkable Happened!

[ZombieTactics]

I have a friend who is a world-famous guitarist. He deliberately takes a wood file to every new guitar he gets and messes up the finish. It's sort of a "OK, now I can stop worrying about when that's going to happen and just PLAY the dang'd thing" idea.

[FatalKitty]

Shotgun barrels are a lot thinner than rifle barrels, I wouldn't recomend throwing your shotgun on the ground repeatedly.

[ArmednReady]

Shotgun barrels are a lot thinner than rifle barrels, I wouldn't recomend throwing your shotgun on the ground repeatedly.

Well lucky for me my A1 was a very thick barrel

[BMC]

As others have said, it shows you actually use the gun. An HD shotgun isn't supposed to be pretty. Its a tool, like most shotguns other than the super duper elite. Every one of my competition shotguns costs over two grand without the upgrades. They have "purdy" high end wood and all and they have scratches because while even though I try to take care of them, Sh1t happens and will continue to happen unless you want a safe queen. My next competition shotgun will cost me $18.5K. Yes you read that right. And it will be treated just like my other ones because it is a tool that must perform a job in an environment that could render some visible wear and tear on the gun. The stock alone is $3,500 custom made. While ten dollars to one person and ten thousand to another can equal the same amount of appreciation, the reality is you have a tool gun, its a cresent wrench. Use it as a tool and move on. Now that you busted it's cherry, feel free to make it look like you went to war with it More people would actually appreciate the looks of your gun

[CDMJ]

Are all the SWAT guys at the Santa Barbara County sheriffs department this worried about the finish on their guns?

Flat black BBQ paint and stop worrying about it.

[Noah3683]

Are all the SWAT guys at the Santa Barbara County sheriffs department this worried about the finish on their guns?

Oh come on I think we can all leave gecko45 alone now. He has proven his point.

[CAL.BAR]

Yep have to side w/ the "tool" guys. Come on it's a basic Mossberg - not a 10K engraved safe queen. Use it. enjoy it. Don't sweat it.

[Havoc70]

One of my other lives is as a dive professional (assistant instructor). I bought a shiny new $300 dollar SCUBA cylinder (tank). First day using it, it fell over and got a nice chunk knocked out of the paint.

The instructor leading the class clapped me on the back and said, "Congrats, it's a tank now!"

Feces doth occur.

[caoboy]

Next time, just buy a slightly used gun. It'll come with a couple of scratches, so you won't notice nor care much if you get another one.

Really though, it is a tool, not a trophy. I buy firearms to be used, not babied. The only ones I baby are the ones that were passed down to me through inheritance, even those still get shot!

[Barbarossa]

Man I should post pics of my duck gun, you'd feint!

[bsg]

Wow that was extremely helpful thanks for the tip! First of all It was the 1 and only time I dropped it and secondly that comment was absolutely not needed. I already know I was a dumbass by letting it drop in the first place but I did so now Id like advice on how to fix it if at all possible, if not then I guess it sucks for me.

i believe the post implied "character" to your gun. i am sure it was not a comment about your character. "character" is an old term sometimes used to describe a gun with the patina/knocks that age/use brings.

i am sure DiscoBayJoe meant well....

[tacticalcity]

I agree it is painful to see an expensive gun get all scratched up. I am as anal as they next guy and love the look of brand new firearm. That said, if there are no scratches on your guns, it is clear sign you have no clue how to use them properly. A firearm is a tool, not a painting. It is meant to be used, and used hard. This concept was and is very hard for me to except. However, life is a lot more fun if you embrace the idea that doing it right often means beating up on your favorite possession.

Snapping at the first guy for giving you sound advice is a little uncalled for. You have unrealistic, or rather unhealthy expectations for the condition your firearms will remain in if you have a goal of gaining or maintaining any degree of proficiency. He is simply point that out. I and he would argue that you will get much more value from your firearms if you place less emphasis on babying and more emphasis on learning how to use them by training (tactical) or getting out there in the field (hunting) and using them as often as possible.

I don't mean that as a personal attack, honestly I don't. It is just that if you actually train with and/or use your firearms, they are going to get dinged up - and how! The more you train and/or use them...the more banged up they get. You can't stress the scratches and dings. Easier said than done I know.

When my $600+ Aimpoint Micro Red Dot Sign got a really hefty scratch on the outer casing during my first Carbine course I was pretty disappointed. I had had owned if for less than 24 hours and now it would no longer look sexy in pictures. I quickly learned that is just how it goes when you train hard.

I take my $2K+ ARs to tactical courses all the time. Plan to do the same with my new shotgun very soon. During those courses you're running and gunning and pushing yourself to the limit, which includes intentionally falling to and sliding on the ground. On rep 1-5 you're not tired yet so you can put all kinds of attention into making sure the firearm doesn't smack the ground. However, you're not doing right because you are focusing your attention all on protecting the firearm's finish and not on learning the proper technique. On rep 25+ the rifle is going to bounce off the ground, hard.

Same goes for hunting guns. The field can be harder on a gun than even the most intense tactical course. All that mud, rough surfaces, plant life and moisture does a real number on a firearm over time.

So unless you plan on mounting it on a wall, or only taking it out of the safe for show and tell, it is going to get very banged up. Gonna just have to learn to live with it. If you spend all your time babying your gun rather than training properly, you'll never learn how to use it to it's and your full potential. Not saying you can't do your due dilligence when storing it at home, or transporting it from location to location. Just that you'll eventually have to learn not place training correctly or hunting efficiently (depending on the weapon) above protecting the weapon's finish if you wish to be any good at either.

Just my $0.02.

FYI: If you do want to clean it up there are bluing touch up pens out there. It won't look perfect but it might help prevent rust. I use a matte black pen on my ARs. I consider it preventative maintenance rather than vanity. Not that there is anything wrong with vanity.

[rojocorsa]

Man I should post pics of my duck gun, you'd feint!

[rojocorsa]

Oh, and for a great picture of the theme of this thread....

If you have the September issue of American Rifleman, go to pg. 22.

[ArmednReady]

Oh come on I think we can all leave gecko45 alone now. He has proven his point.

Who are you to talk as much trash as you do? you never contribute anything useful to any posting you only run your mouth. The whole post was more of a joke than anything, I use the gun everyday obviously its going to get banged up I was more upset that it happened as fast as it did the gun isnt very old.

And yes some santa barbara PD does have a couple of guys very anal about there guns appearance. I have 1 co worker who still carrys his xd in the original box and yes its his duty weapon.