What my most fired rifle knows about me that nothing else does

[Rogue_soldier]

It knows how my grip changes under pressure, in ways I don't even notice in the moment but it clearly does. It's logged the ambient temperature of every single range session, whether I was paying attention to that or not. It knows exactly how consistent my fundamentals are on a good day and it also knows what they look like when they start falling apart.

It can tell the difference between my relaxed shooting and my competitive shooting too, probably better than I can in the moment, since I'm usually too in my own head to notice the gap myself. A gun that's been put through thousands of rounds by one person ends up becoming a kind of record of that person's whole development, the good sessions and the rough ones both baked in. Mine happens to be a pretty honest one even when I'd rather it wasn't.

 

[Gabe]

What rifle is it?
After enough rounds, a rifle really does end up reflecting your habits back at you...good days, bad days and everything in between.

 

[Tabby]

Hate to burst your bubble guys, but that is a bunch of bull puckie. Your rifle is an inert object. It has no sense, it has no feeling. To start thinking that way makes about as much sense as gun grabbers saying that it's the firearms, not the person using them for evil purposes that kill. Will your car automatically take you to the local grocery store without any input from you? Absolutely not. The firearm, like your car responds to whatever inputs you give it. It doesn't know if you are holding it properly, much less than if you are holding it at all. All it is capable of doing is responding to the inputs from the person using it, right, wrong or indifferent. If your inputs are crappy, so will the response that the firearm provides downrange. I don't know how many times over the years that I have had someone tell me that the reason for their crappy shooting is their rifle, only to try it at their request and shoot a sub moa group using their rifle and their ammo. I do however have to admit that ammo does make a significant difference in the inherent accuracy of any firearm. While a firearm isn't able to talk, it certainly will not hesitate to show you the errors in your ways. The voices are not real and in general if you think that your firearm is talking to you, ignore the words and apply good shooting practices instead of listening.

 

[Robin1]

Hate to burst your bubble guys, but that is a bunch of bull puckie. Your rifle is an inert object. It has no sense, it has no feeling. To start thinking that way makes about as much sense as gun grabbers saying that it's the firearms, not the person using them for evil purposes that kill. Will your car automatically take you to the local grocery store without any input from you? Absolutely not. The firearm, like your car responds to whatever inputs you give it. It doesn't know if you are holding it properly, much less than if you are holding it at all. All it is capable of doing is responding to the inputs from the person using it, right, wrong or indifferent. If your inputs are crappy, so will the response that the firearm provides downrange. I don't know how many times over the years that I have had someone tell me that the reason for their crappy shooting is their rifle, only to try it at their request and shoot a sub moa group using their rifle and their ammo. I do however have to admit that ammo does make a significant difference in the inherent accuracy of any firearm. While a firearm isn't able to talk, it certainly will not hesitate to show you the errors in your ways. The voices are not real and in general if you think that your firearm is talking to you, ignore the words and apply good shooting practices instead of listening.

Agreed, the rifle is just a tool. Any changes on target come from the shooter’s input, not the firearm having intent or awareness.