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Firearm "influencers"

Sld1959

Sld1959

Ronin
Today you hear people talk about " Social media influencers". Who were your formative firearm influencers?

My dad was first and foremost. He loved the 1911, his Smith and Wesson Terrier snub nose revolver, pump shotguns, and his lever action rifles. These influence my preferences to this day.

Next was an old gentleman we called gramps. He lived about 2 miles in the woods near our cabin. He was the local neighborhood watch years before they had such entities. He always carried his little Walther PP on his hip, more for two legged varmints than four. I guess that started my preference for carrying a handgun always in the woods.

Last I can think of is the tv character Mannix. He always carried his revolver in a behind the back holster. This led me to always carry my shooting shell snub nose in my hip pocket when we played cops. This is a carry method I prefer to this day.

What are some of yours?
 
Well, the only person I have ever heard called a "Firearm Influencer" is Tessah Gabrielle and that was in this month's NRA magazine. In fact the term "Influencer" is only something I not to long ago heard for the first time. I think it is meant to apply to internet/social media.

Anyway I knew what you meant. For me it was my dad and later my uncle. Then a bunch of guys I know and or train with. I think the biggest firearm influencer though is @BET7 . That dude is bad for my bank account. lol
 
Mainly the gun magazine writers from the 70' into the 90's, and now just a limited number.

IMO, starting in the late 90's most of the main gun rags started sounding the same & being cheerleaders vs. doing objective evaluations of new products. I stopping subscribing to Shooting Times, G&A, American Handgunner, etc then.

IMO, the only publications that still do objective evaluations/stories are the writers on The Firearms News, Handloader & Rifle magazines. Those are the only publications I pay any attention to nowadays.

I like James Reeves from TFB, but he's a slobbering fanboy at times with some brands.

My .02
 
Talyn said:
Mainly the gun mag writers from the 70' into the 90's, and now just a limited number.

IMO, starting in the late 90's most of the main gun rags started sounding the same & being cheerleaders vs doing objective evaluations of new products. I stopping subscribing to Shooting Times, G&A, American Handgunner, etc then.

IMO, the only publications that still do objective evaluations/stories are the writers on The Firearms News, Handloader & Rifle magazines. Those are the only puiblictions I pay any attention to nowadays.

I like James Reeves from TFB, but he's a fanboy at times with some brands.

My .02
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You're only a half step behind BET7 with regards for being bad for Bob's bank account. :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

I like James Reeves. He's a smart ass of the highest order. I don't put any particular stock in his opinions on gear ( though he was right about the Beretta shotgun) but his videos are awesome. I also like The Daily Shooter. Officer Gregg from Taofledermaus fame is good too.
 
Talyn said:
Mainly the gun magazine writers from the 70' into the 90's, and now just a limited number.

IMO, starting in the late 90's most of the main gun rags started sounding the same & being cheerleaders vs. doing objective evaluations of new products. I stopping subscribing to Shooting Times, G&A, American Handgunner, etc then.

IMO, the only publications that still do objective evaluations/stories are the writers on The Firearms News, Handloader & Rifle magazines. Those are the only publications I pay any attention to nowadays.

I like James Reeves from TFB, but he's a slobbering fanboy at times with some brands.

My .02
Click to expand...
Concur with a lot of Talyn’s opinion above.
 
Talyn said:
Mainly the gun magazine writers from the 70' into the 90's, and now just a limited number.

IMO, starting in the late 90's most of the main gun rags started sounding the same & being cheerleaders vs. doing objective evaluations of new products. I stopping subscribing to Shooting Times, G&A, American Handgunner, etc then.

IMO, the only publications that still do objective evaluations/stories are the writers on The Firearms News, Handloader & Rifle magazines. Those are the only publications I pay any attention to nowadays.

I like James Reeves from TFB, but he's a slobbering fanboy at times with some brands.

My .02
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Guntest magazine.

Honest AF.
 
Bassbob said:
You're only a half step behind BET7 with regards for being bad for Bob's bank account. :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
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Bassbob said:
Well, the only person I have ever heard called a "Firearm Influencer" is Tessah Gabrielle and that was in this month's NRA magazine. In fact the term "Influencer" is only something I not to long ago heard for the first time. I think it is meant to apply to internet/social media.

Anyway I knew what you meant. For me it was my dad and later my uncle. Then a bunch of guys I know and or train with. I think the biggest firearm influencer though is @BET7 . That dude is bad for my bank account. lol
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Well heck, here I thought I coined an original phrase lol.
 
papa said:
John Wayne , Matt Dillon , The Cartwrights , the Virginian , Clint Eastwood ... etc.

My dad was a shotgun hunter . He figured a .22 rifle was ok but no reason to have a center fire rifle and he hated handguns because " they were to dangerous " .
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….very similar to my Dad… Shotguns & a couple .22s as ‘meat guns’.
NO handguns in our household.

He did admire - and want - a .30 Carbine, like from his Army days. Never got one though 😕
 
Bassbob said:
Well, the only person I have ever heard called a "Firearm Influencer" is Tessah Gabrielle and that was in this month's NRA magazine. In fact the term "Influencer" is only something I not to long ago heard for the first time. I think it is meant to apply to internet/social media.

Anyway I knew what you meant. For me it was my dad and later my uncle. Then a bunch of guys I know and or train with. I think the biggest firearm influencer though is @BET7 . That dude is bad for my bank account. lol
Click to expand...
Try to keep up old man 👨‍🦳🏃‍♂️:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 
OK, I'm taking this down a slightly different road..... :LOL:

I was exposed to Lenny Magill and Gabe Suarez back in the day, as well as Mas Ayoob, via a high-school friend of mine.

After that, despite occasionally going to the range with my friends as I went through college and med school, I really wasn't really in the hobby/sport, so I kinda lost track.

By the time I found my way to armed self-defense in the last quarter of 2010, Magpul Dynamics was big on-scene, which coincided with the rise of the first social-media influencers. In a way, they really preceded the start of the "influencers" movement, but they Haley and Costa certainly both became a part of the scene, once that side of online marketing took off.

I was able to get in a couple of classes with Chris Costa after he split off and hung his own shingle - actually not for the fact that I saw him in those Magpul DVDs, but rather because I'd read about his coursework through various online AARs from other students, and thought that I could benefit from it. I found him to be a very capable shooter and quite effective at knowledge transfer, and I really got quite a lot out of his class. FWIW, he was cognizant of the fact that he had a bit of "star power" in the field at the time, and he went out of his way to make sure that each and every student felt that they were getting their money's worth.

Costa's classes were my first experience with large open-enrollment classes. It was certainly an eye-opener, and I think I got really, really lucky that there were some really good folks involved that made those early classes possible for him in my neck of the woods. Rob from Tac Strike, Jake from Ares Gear, Doug at ATEi, Trek and Mike from Raven Concealment - they all made sure that we got what we needed and, moreover, were safe.

1641581943993.png


[ For anyone who doubts that Costa was an "influencer," let's remember that he was the star of CostaGate - https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/costa-costagate/ and M4C.net thread, with the original video: https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?163603-Chris-Costa-Japan-AirSoft ]

I really think it was, for me, a bit of blind luck that my "influencer experience" actually was a great experience. Costa really was a nice dude. He really could shoot (versus some other "influencer" instructors, who won't even shoot demos in front of a live class, because they are afraid of messing up). And he actually could effect knowledge transfer. (y) Even today, I'd actually go back and take other classes from him, if I had the opportunity.

My friend Nick Humphries of Practically Tactical started down this path in I believe 2012-2013. His start, unfortunately, was a bit rockier than mine: https://practicallytactical.com/blog/fiveyears

I think that Cory & Erika's "RangeTime" really epitomizes the the kind of danger "influencers" pose to this hobby/sport. It's something that new shooters should be aware of.
 
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