Know Too Much

I was thinking. I’m geeky on a lot of things. I know a lot more than the average person about military vehicles in WWII. Not so much that a REAL geek couldn’t run circles around me, “of THAT is a grainy picture of a Type 4b T-34 Russian tank with the optional trench shovel rack. That type was only made in the second half of March 1943 by a factory on the upper Volga staffed only with deaf midgets…” I don’t have that much detail on that sort of stuff. I have the same geekitude knowledge about antique tools, computers, literature, comic book superheroes from the 40s, role-playing games, beer making, politics, Roman history, heck - MOST History, and Industrial Processes and Operation. More than average on any one specific thing, but not an expert on any one thing. An eclectic mix. And cursory interest in many other fields

Say: on many subjects I am a mile wide, but only an inch deep. I know about everything, but if you ask me a follow up question, the whole thing collapses like a house of cards.

Same with guns.

But what if you didn’t geekify on a subject like a gun selection. What if Joe Schmoe decided one day that he needed to exercise his 2nd Amendment rights, needed to select a handgun that he would then practice extensively with, but would never delve into it and examine the whole gun culture and history from every angle like, uh… some of us do? Say Joe has a long afternoon to geek out online and then he’ll never return to the subject. What weapon would he select based on the short exposure to the Zeitgeist.

Mr. Schmoe would quickly light upon the top three, I have noticed. The Glock 21, the 1911 .45, and the S&W 686 .357 magnum. Of those I bet he’d select the 1911. It has the most positives, and fewest negatives, assuming an extensively practiced user that he intends to be.

I don’t have to go over the positives.

But what are the 1911’s negatives? It’s heavy, bulky, old fashioned, lacks capacity. Baloney. If you are going to carry, and put up with the weight of any gun and holster that extra poundage shouldn’t matter. The empty holster is inconvenient all by itself. And the 1911 as bulky as any other serious carry weapon. (I like the .380, and the pistols are sleek and low profile, but the power is anemic). Old Fashioned? Hell it’s CLASSIC! A direct connection to the genius of J. M. Browning. And, unless you are a New York City police officer and have to do a lot of missing when you fire your weapon, the capacity is plenty.

So geek out on pistols for the afternoon, and more time than not I am betting a random person will choose the 1911. My opinion, naturally. And we already mentioned how that opinion can be, uh… flawed. Or at least not as in depth as it can be. And choosing either of the other 2 isn’t wrong. Both are fine fine choices. And, in fact, when I did geek out one measly afternoon to make my first gun purchase 7 years ago… I bought the 686.

Heh!

Shows how much I know.