[fabsroman]

I judge quality by functionality and looks. Kind of like women. A woman can look great and be completely dysfunctional, or she can be completely level headed but very hard on the eyes. Me, I like my guns to look good, but to also function very well. At the end of the day, my hunting guns are just that, hunting guns and they are plain janes that I do not mind getting nicks and dings in, but they must operate flawlessly. Now, my sporting guns, like my clays guns and my paper target guns, must function flawlessly and also look good. Do I think Remington is as good as it used to be, sure. However, I think you need to buy one of the upper level guns to get good quality. About the only Remington gun I have my eye on right now is the Sendero II in .264 Win.

Another issue that was brought up, is the manufacturers invention of new products. This kind of goes towards the quality issue too. 100 years ago, I would be willing to bet that there weren't too many different models of guns within a particular manufacturer's product line. Now, manufacturers offer a million different guns with different actions, chambers, barrel lengths, etc. This is kind of like why light bulb manufacturers will never produce a light bulb that lasts forever, even if they have the technology. Once they produce that light bulb, they will essentially put themselves out of business except for the occassional light bulb breakage. Gun manufacturers need to introduce new "better" models and new "better" cartridges to continue to make money. My uncle has hunted with the same Browning A-5 for the past 40 years. How much do you think the gun industry has made off of him. Meanwhile, I usually buy a new gun every year, but I am starting to run out of guns that I want and I refuse to buy these new short magnum cartridges in a bolt gun just because they will shave a little weight off of my .270, .30-06, or .300 Win Mag's current weight and allow me a slightly shorter bolt throw. Once I get to the point where I think most of my gun needs are met, the gun industry will need to create another need to get me to spend more money. I'm not a fan of this, but I know some attorneys that create additional work within litigation cases just to create billable hours. Kind of what the gun industry and auto industry are doing to create additional sales.

Quality is different to every person. To some people, a gun that can kill a deer at 200 yards is just fine, so they are okay with paying the entry level price for a rifle that has sub par accuracy and looks. For others, quality is a rifle that can hit a prarie dog at 800 yards, so they are willing to spend more for accuracy than the person mentioned above. Finally, to some quality is in the beauty of the gun. I have been looking at a Beretta SO6EELL, and I think it is a beautiful gun. To me, the quality is in the art work on that gun and if I can ever afford it, you can bet that I will not fire it. I'll continue to use my Beretta 682's and 391's for targets and my SBE for hunting.

If you buy a $5,000 economy grocery getter car, would you expect it to run as far as another $20,000 grocery getter. If you buy a $50,000 performance car, would you expect it to keep up with a $1,000,000 performance car? Kind of using extremes to show my point. Usually, the more you pay the more you get.

Yes, some items go to the snob effect. For instance, the guy shooting a $20,000 gun that cannot hit the broad side of a barn, or the person paying $100,000 for a performance car that they will never drive hard. I sat in a $80,000 Mercedes once, and wondered what was so much more special with this car compared to my Taurus. Yeah, it had more leather and wood in it, but was it really worth $62,000 more? Not to me, but to some it is. They can keep it. Meanwhile, other people think I have lost my mind when I pay $3,000 for a shotgun.


Billy,

I am somewhat surprised by your comment about the BMW and Lamborghini since you are a race car fan. The price level and performance levels of those cars is much higher than say, my Taurus, but that doesn't mean that my Taurus or the BMW or Lamborghini are not quality vehicles. My Taurus gets its job done (i.e., point A to B) as does the Lamborghini (i.e., 0 to 60 in less than 4 seconds).