People who ask for suggestions...

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

...and then tell you are wrong.

Ok, someone recently asked me in one of the online hunting forums that I am on about what sort of gun he should consider getting for hunting. He is 15 and he has a deal with his father that if he comes up with the money for it...his father will purchase the rifle for him.

Even if this kid is younger than that or below the age to purchase, giving him advice is not going to hurt anything since he can't do anything without daddy to buy it.

So he is looking for an all-purpose hunting rifle on the cheap. Something that can down a deer, wild boar, or other similarly sized critters that are legal to hunt. As cheaply as possible. He has currently $300 to spend and rifle season is coming quickly in his area.

So I suggest getting an Enfield .303. You can get them cheap since they are WWII surplus, they are usually in good shape, they still make parts to repair them should you ever wear out the firing pin or need a new magazine, and is an effective deer-stopper with Remington's Core-Loc ammo.

I got mine for $50 at the local Roses. It was gunky from all the cosmoline it was packed in and the stock had some nasty gashes and divots in it...but once cleaned was a very good rifle.

So I suggest that and further state that spending another $80 for a composite stock to replace the wood one (in the very likely event that you get a crappy one) would bring it to a high state of seer-killing functionality. Toss on a reasonable scope to the package and you can get a nice Bambi-blaster for under the $300 he has. Hell my scope ran me $45 used at a pawn shop. So with all that, he can still have enough left over to buy ammo, cover the cost of his hunting license and be able to buy breakfast at Denny's before his first day of hunting. Sounds like a good deal right?

Wrong! It would seem that this kid has his heart set on a brand new rifle (Remington 700) that runs between $550 and $1,000 depending on model. Because he was that dead set on "his precious" (and yes I mean that in the creepy Gollum kind of way), my suggestion was criticized as being just plain stupid, idiotic, and coming out of the mouth of a complete dweeb who couldn't tell the grippy end from the pointy end of the gun.

The fact that I'm nearly 40 and have been hunting since long before this twit was a glint in the milkman's eye obviously notwithstanding.

You asked for cheap, I gave you cheap. You asked for effective, I gave you effective. Don't want to take my advice? Fine. Save the rest of the money for your pretty-pretty-princess rifle (no disparagement to the Remington 700 series, damn fine weapon, just a comment on his desire to have a brand-spanking new gun that has never been sullied by the hands of mere mortals) and miss out on this years hunting season.

Or nut the fuck up and buy a gun you can afford and go out and bag a deer.

Either way...get out of my gorram face you twat.

[draggar]

Sounds like a little kid trying to make himself look big - I see it a lot on many forums.

I'll ask for advice and when I get it I'll shoot down the experienced and try to make myself look big.

I have yet to see it not backfire.

As for the kid - get something inexpensive and then sell the meat (and skin, etc..), save up and get something better.

BTW - deer antlers make GREAT dog chew-toys.

[protege]

Ugh. People like that piss me off.

In fact, I had someone tell me (on the model car site) that I didn't know what I was talking about. One of the guys had posted that he was thinking of buying a kit, a 1980s Nissan Skyline by Tamiya, on Ebay. Since I've built several of those, I passed along what I thought of the kit, and directed him to one of the reviews I'd posted. While I was at it, I also answered his question as to what paint brand was best. Again, Tamiya took trumps.

No sooner do I post my replies, when some douche adds that my advice was "questionable," since I apparently don't know what I'm talking about. Um, are you fucking kidding me? I'm no model expert, but I have been building model cars since I was 6. Even though I can't lay down a decent paint job (without lots of prep work and finishing), I do know what I'm talking about. I've built the kit in question...a half-dozen times!

[smileyeagle1021]

Oh, I get that at work... some new hire will ask me for advice on how to get used to using speech recognition. I'll tell them the best way to get used to it is to using it is to watch CNN or MSNBC or whatever news program of your choice and repeat back what the reporter is saying (including punctuation like you would when using speech recognition). Without fail at least half of the new hires will tell me how stupid of an idea it is... yes it is so stupid that everyone who has tried it has increased their dictation speed by at least 30 to 40 words per minute within a week or two. My title is mentor, that means I know what the fuck I'm talking about... and you came to me. If you didn't want my advice don't ask for it.

[Ree]

That happens to me all the time at work.

Someone will come to me and ask for help or have a question about an inventory issue.
I start to explain to them what to do, or how to fix it, or even how the inventory screwup happened, and then they will start arguing with me, denying my explanation, or telling me I'm wrong.

It ticks me off to no end.

[blas87]

How about when you even wonder why they asked for your help, Ree, because after they ask, they just argue with you like they know more than you, so it seems they were just bored and wanted to bug you and piss you off?

Nightly occurance at work, I swear. If you have a genuine question or concern, feel free to ask me, but if my answer isn't what you want, don't get cocky and argue with me.

[Greenday]

I usually get hit up for relationship advice. So I look at it unbiasedly and give my opinion. And it's damn good advice. I give better advice than a therapist or psychologist is likely to give and I give it for free (or a drink if we are at a bar).

99% of the time, the person does the opposite of what I tell them because it wasn't what they wanted to hear and things get messed up. Then they can't figure out why.

The other 1% took my advice and things continue to work out well for them.

When it comes to other people's relationships, it's extremely clear and easy for me to figure out the right thing to do. Just can't do the same for my own relationships.

[Skunkle]

I have an acquaintance who does this, in a way. He'll ask for advice on some or other situation he's having (a few of his friends are drama whores who try to drag him in feet first), and once the advice is given, he'll say "I'll take that into consideration", in a tone and quickness that says he's not hiding the fact that he WON'T take it into consideration - he already has his own plan and it's set-in-stone.

I think he feels supported by having "advisors", but knows from the get-go that he's doing things his way. He wants to be advised, but doesn't want to actually use it. Possibly he's thinking along the lines of "I'm glad I had several options, but I ended up going with the obvious best one: my own"

In case anyone wonders after reading this... No. The above isn't the only way he grates on people. Not by a long shot. I keep staying semi-connected to him because I think I may be one of the only "friends" he has who doesn't consistently fuck with him.

[Tanasi]

...and then tell you are wrong.

Ok, someone recently asked me in one of the online hunting forums that I am on about what sort of gun he should consider getting for hunting. He is 15 and he has a deal with his father that if he comes up with the money for it...his father will purchase the rifle for him.

Even if this kid is younger than that or below the age to purchase, giving him advice is not going to hurt anything since he can't do anything without daddy to buy it.

So he is looking for an all-purpose hunting rifle on the cheap. Something that can down a deer, wild boar, or other similarly sized critters that are legal to hunt. As cheaply as possible. He has currently $300 to spend and rifle season is coming quickly in his area.

So I suggest getting an Enfield .303. You can get them cheap since they are WWII surplus, they are usually in good shape, they still make parts to repair them should you ever wear out the firing pin or need a new magazine, and is an effective deer-stopper with Remington's Core-Loc ammo.

I got mine for $50 at the local Roses. It was gunky from all the cosmoline it was packed in and the stock had some nasty gashes and divots in it...but once cleaned was a very good rifle.

So I suggest that and further state that spending another $80 for a composite stock to replace the wood one (in the very likely event that you get a crappy one) would bring it to a high state of seer-killing functionality. Toss on a reasonable scope to the package and you can get a nice Bambi-blaster for under the $300 he has. Hell my scope ran me $45 used at a pawn shop. So with all that, he can still have enough left over to buy ammo, cover the cost of his hunting license and be able to buy breakfast at Denny's before his first day of hunting. Sounds like a good deal right?

Wrong! It would seem that this kid has his heart set on a brand new rifle (Remington 700) that runs between $550 and $1,000 depending on model. Because he was that dead set on "his precious" (and yes I mean that in the creepy Gollum kind of way), my suggestion was criticized as being just plain stupid, idiotic, and coming out of the mouth of a complete dweeb who couldn't tell the grippy end from the pointy end of the gun.

The fact that I'm nearly 40 and have been hunting since long before this twit was a glint in the milkman's eye obviously notwithstanding.

You asked for cheap, I gave you cheap. You asked for effective, I gave you effective. Don't want to take my advice? Fine. Save the rest of the money for your pretty-pretty-princess rifle (no disparagement to the Remington 700 series, damn fine weapon, just a comment on his desire to have a brand-spanking new gun that has never been sullied by the hands of mere mortals) and miss out on this years hunting season.

Or nut the fuck up and buy a gun you can afford and go out and bag a deer.

Either way...get out of my gorram face you twat.

You gave him good advice, it just wasn't advice he wanted to hear. He's not going to find a safe Rem 700 for that kinda money. Rem did come out with a much less expensive line of bolt guns a few years ago but at this time I don't remember the model numbers.

Frankly it's hard to outfit a hunting rifle for $300. The Enfield wouldn't have to come to my mind at first I would have suggested a Mauser one of the Yugo Mauser can be had (without a scope) for around $200 and that will all the leather equipment. They're decent shooters and ammo is easy to find.
I'm not a fan of Endfield's of any flavor because if you get a stinker it's a crap shoot if you can get the barrel off without damaging the receiver.

When I'm treated as you were I remind them they asked and I answered in the future I'll remember to ignore them. I don't expect my advice to always be taken but the polite thing to do is keep your mouth shut if the advice isn't what you want.