Roy, You just gotta love it - "hail Mary" or not, the
ploink is all that counts!
![Grin ;D](https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/Smileys/default/grin.gif)
I still say the biggest problem is the myths and some flat-out lies perpetrated by the gun rags. No matter if the negatives originate from pure ignorance, failure to separate myth from fact or the intentional lies associated with "marketing by negative" (knocking down similar products rather than having one they can sell on its own merits)
The claim that shots cannot be placed accurately beyond 50, 100, 150 or X yards of range with open sights is BS. Three things account for accuracy at any given range:
1- The equipment's ability to produce accuracy - the overall quality of the gun that is properly constructed with quality sights, quality ammunition components contained in a load that is tuned to the gun.
2- The shooter's willingness to accomplish the task at hand - If the shooter is not willing to do their part then the gun cannot do its part.
3- Environmental conditions - I don't care if you're shooting a smoothbore matchlock or the latest mega-magnum, everything is affected by winds, thermal currents, rain, snow, ect. and some more than others.
I feel that number two is the biggest problem of all. Shooters of today have allowed themselves to become apathetic and ignorant. The read an article in a gun rag that claims open sights are not accurate beyond 50 yards and they believe it. The manufacturer put some giant bead on top of a post and the consumer blindly accepts it as being "first rate". (I deal with this on a regular basis with the vintage Ford Mustangs - the most common argument is "rust proofing wasn't put on at the factory, it's got to be
factory". My reply is, "the factory didn't put anti-seize on the bolts going through or into aluminum either and it just cost you $600 to repair a part that could have been saved by a penny's worth of anti-seize." Ignorance is costly to those who embrace it and profitable to those who can exploit it.)
The design of the sight system is as important as the barrel itself. You can have an extremely accurate barrel & load yet the giant-size front sight that covers 48" of view at 150 yards will destroy any possibility of obtaining an accurate sight picture. No way around it, the finer the sights, the finer the accuracy can be and if the shooter is not willing to seek out and install proper sights, then all is resting on the apathy of the shooter. Same goes for selecting ammunition/loads - if the shooter is willing to put the effort into checking the weight & balance of every ball/bullet and accurately building loads to match the select projectiles and which compliments the gun, then there is a reasonable expectation of accuracy.
Far too much reliance is put on equipment these days because the shooters are apathetic as to what is required of them. You can take a modern rifle & ammo that is capable of stacking bullets end to end at 600 yards and put it in the hands of an apathetic shooter and it will be of no value at 100 yards let alone 600 yards. Take that same rifle and put it in the hands of a dedicated shooter and he/she will make it sing at 1000 yards or more.
The most accurate rifle with factory loaded ammo I have ever owned in a Mosin-Nagant 91/30 built in 1937 and in capable hands, I'd put it up against any sporter ever made using commercial factory ammo and OEM iron sights. Thing is, if you spent five minutes searching the web, I'm sure you'll find hundreds of gun rag articles written by "
experts" telling you how poor the accuracy is with this rifle.
Fact of the matter is, these self-proclaimed experts are experts at nothing more than selling their writing skills. If writer A writes an article telling readers that by simply replacing the junk OEM iron sights with quality ones, they can shoot accurately over the iron at much longer ranges - writer A is not going to be able to sell his writing skills to company B that makes rifle scopes. It's no different than the auctioneer, every single gun that came up for sale was "best I've ever seen". After an hour of listening to that $#@*, I was pushed over the edge, I stood up and said, "If these are the best you've ever seen, you obviously don't get out much." - I didn't wait for him to ask me to leave.
Thing is, just like at that auction where people were paying on average 150%-300% above what the items were worth simply because they listened to the BS the auctioneer was telling them, likewise these same people will read some $#@* from a gun rag writer and just accept it as fact and never get beyond their own self-inflicted apathy.