I recently acquired a new rifle in .45 Colt and it posting about it reminded me of a mistake I made when I bought my very first gun that exposed me as a complete newbie.

The first gun I bought myself was a Colt 1991A1 in .45acp. When I bought it the clerk asked me if I needed ammo, which I did. He showed me everything they had on the shelf and I figured since I was buying a Colt .45 then it only made sense to buy .45 Colt ammo.

I learned two lessons that day. First was that I didn’t know near as much as I thought I did about firearms. And second was that just because someone works at a gun store doesn’t mean they know anything about guns either, because the clerk didn’t blink and was gonna sell me that ammo. Thankfully while I was an idiot, I was at least smart enough to have brought a friend with me who was very knowledgeable about firearms and educated both of us on the difference.

Anyway, that my stupid moment. Anyone else do anything similar?

I was in San Francisco in a bar on shore leave while cadet shipping. I think I was just 21, but nevertheless, not exactly a pro in the world of drinking. My sea partner asked me to order us some drinks. I ordered a couple of Long Island Iced Teas and said, "and make them strong." The bartender just looked at me for a moment then shook his head and chuckled.

I seem to recall an episode as a “beer newbie” and asking for a bottle opener after being presented with a bottle of brew, not realizing the tops can almost always be removed by hand.

Edited to add: as I ponder this memory, it was a young lady friend who opened my beer for me.

Yep. “Mr. Cool” himself, right here. Just call me “Fonzie.”

When I first moved into my apartment in Italy, I thought the bathroom was great! It had a balcony. And a cool little sink across from the toilet. Which I used to wash my feet. Turns out the little sink is called a Bidet. And its not used to wash your feet. But it works great for that purpose.
The ignorant American abroad!

I once ordered apple pie À la mode with ice cream.

Before I learned the awesomeness of Excel, trying to type = in a cell and have it just show an equals sign.

When I first started writing SQL I was trying to JOIN on something that was only in one table.
(For the non SQL guys, it’s kind of the equivalent of telling it to match up two words that don’t match)

The first time I shot an AR I wondered why the hell I couldn't get the magazine to drop free no matter how hard I pulled on it as I repeatedly mashed the BOLT CATCH release.

quote:

Originally posted by TheFrontRange:
I seem to recall an episode as a “beer newbie” and asking for a bottle opener after being presented with a bottle of brew, not realizing the tops can almost always be removed by hand.

Edited to add: as I ponder this memory, it was a young lady friend who opened my beer for me.

Yep. “Mr. Cool” himself, right here. Just call me “Fonzie.”

Hah, those of us who like good beer still disparage twist-offs. Chosing a brew fit to drink should have been the lesson you took away. Gosh, back in the day, I remember routinely using my belt buckle as a cap lifter, no help from the date required (unless my pants somehow accidentally fell down during the process).

Shortly after moving out, I had the craving for chicken noodle soup. I boiled the chicken, dumped the dirty water, rinsed the pot, then shredded the chicken and added in noodles, veggies, and Swanson's chicken broth.

Little did I know,I poured the broth down the drain thinking it was just dirty chicken water?

***

Before owning my first AR, I was confused by "charging the gas system." I was curious how long the gas would stay charged before leaking down. I sorted all that out though...

I always consider myself a newbie. There is always something new to learn plus it keeps me more aware.

I was at the range on day and I brought my Garand and my 8mm Yugo Mauser.
I was unable to chamber a round while using the Garand. I even brought over the range officer since I was having a problem.
Then it occurred to to me to check the rounds in the clip. Lo and behold there was an 8mm round in the clip.
Glad it nothing was more serious than that.
The worst part was I had 20 clips with me and I had to take them all apart and check each round and that was the only one. Never happened again. So I learned my lesson.

I moved west after being a damn good east coast skier. I quickly learned I sucked compared to my friends. Spent an entire 120days that season really LEARNING how to snow ski. Still took a few years to truly be able to keep up

To this day I know nil to nothing about strictly sporting guns, so occasionally at the gun shop I work at I'll ask the customer to help break down a gun so it can be boxed. This particularly applies to "pretty" guns and expensive guns like Citoris - I'm desperately afraid I'll fuck something up.

I've been a shooter since 1977, but still a rank nimrod when it comes to certain guns. I know just enough to determine if they are loaded or not, but that little lever under the forend scares me. I'd rather tell the customer I don't know what i'm doing than prove it.

snwghst‘s skinning story reminded me of this;

Get in the wayyyyback machine to my Freshman year of high school.
I had been a dynamite wrestler in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. Three years and only one defeat. When I got to high school, there were a lot more kids and a lot more talent. I quickly realized I wasn’t nearly as good as I thought. A whole lot of practice and a coach that wouldn’t settle for less than perfection.

I did go to State finals that year though.

Not new to Guns, but new to ARs, I ordered some .223 from Ammo Man, supposed to be new ammo, and I think maybe Federal. I thought he shipped me reloads because the head stamp said “Rem”. Then I realized it was “.223 Rem”.

I exposed myself by posting about it on here before I realized my mistake. That was quite a few years ago. Now I even understand the .223/5.56 chambering differences.

quote:

Originally posted by honestlou:
Not new to Guns, but new to ARs, I ordered some .223 from Ammo Man, supposed to be new ammo, and I think maybe Federal. I thought he shipped me reloads because the head stamp said “Rem”. Then I realized it was “.223 Rem”.

Did you know "WIN USA" is a patriotic slogan to boost troop morale?

In high school, Was using a 12V power supply to help a friend test an 8-track player that he bought at a garage sale (yes, 8-track) .

I connected it wrong and one of the capacitors in the tape player BLEW UP!!! I mean exploded.

Kind of embarrassing.

While in a Paris restaurant and abandoned for the bathroom by my barely French-speaking-help wife needed to ask for check.

"L'addition, por favor" comes out of my mouth.

Smooth. I'm sure I've done worse but this one stuck.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
I was in San Francisco in a bar on shore leave while cadet shipping. I think I was just 21, but nevertheless, not exactly a pro in the world of drinking. My sea partner asked me to order us some drinks. I ordered a couple of Long Island Iced Teas and said, "and make them strong." The bartender just looked at me for a moment then shook his head and chuckled.

Also sea related. In the very early 80's I worked on a seismic research ship for Mobil and we did some work off the coast of Sierra Leone, West Africa. When we made port in Freetown, I got off the ship and went into "town" for a beer. On my way back to the ship I tried talking with this cute blonde who worked on the ship just ahead of us. She wanted nothing to do with me. I told the Chief this and he said, it probably had to do with the fact that it was an East German ship. GDC's

Every time I build something no matter how many times I check measurements I cut ONE freakin board wrong.

I once ordered from the menu in front of several professionals at a meeting. I caused quite a laugh when I said "I guess I will try the quin-o-ah salad, but that's a weird name!"

My buddy just looked at me like I peed in the punch and said "It's pronounced keen-wah..."

Oops.