Well, I took it as busting my chops. I knew he was trying to break the ice, so-to-speak. I've been around long enough to not take internet chatter seriously. Besides, as you so eloquently stated, we all have the right to speak our mind. However, some people are thin skinned and some people just realize that it makes no difference what some stranger in a place far, far away thinks about them. Life is too short to really give a crap.
I was never offended. If he truly didn't like what I did, that's his opinion. However, I knew he was joking around in his own way even though I do not know him. My guns shown are far from perfect. A true Inglis fan will know they weren't complete to the exact way they were conceived. They'd turn up their noses, grunt and think that my guns were just guns and nothing else. They may have paid a huge sum for a perfect Inglis so nobody else's is as nice. That's how gun owners are. My guns are better than your guns. I love Brand X and you love Brand Y and neither will ever change because that's what we own. I can say a S&W revolver is better than a Colt revolver and you can say the opposite. Who is right? Both.
It's what the owner thinks.
I think my Inglis pistols are beautiful because they are mine. However, they are actually ugly with the wear spots and nasty epoxy finish, etc. I love them because they were made in 1944 and someone who is 22 may think a Glock is the end-all-be-all and that the old clunkers are dated and ugly. Who cares? Not me. Both will go bang when you pull the trigger. Both may save a life or never see more than paper. My Chevy is better than your Ford. My Honda is better than your Toyota. My Benz is better than your Beemer. Yadda, yadda, yadda. All are fine cars for their purpose. One costs $18,000 and another costs $80,000 but they both do the same thing. The same in the gun world.
I was never offended because I love how they turned out. I am not a professional refinisher. I don't have tanks, bead blasting machines, state-of-the art equiptment or a degree in microbiotics. Guys who refinish for a living will snicker and roll their eyes. Me? I shoot them and enjoy them for what they are. I have probably 40 hours in hand polishing the paint off the Inglis shown above. Someone with the right equiptment could do it in 2 hours. So what? It was my time, at my pace and for my gun. It shoots like a dream and is 65 years old. Their Inglis models sit in their safe where they look at it and are so proud they paid $XXX dollars for it and they are just as happy as I am. To each, their own.
So, sorry for the long message but it's been quiet here. I am sorry I used a lot of bandwidth for the pictures. In the future I'll post links and change these to links if you wish. I'm like most guys and I don't read the directions. I don't need to because I am not disruptive nor do I insult, belittle and have never been kicked off of anything. I don't read the rules because I don't break rules. I am the owner/moderator of a Chicago sports talk board so I know what it takes to keep things in line. I promise to be a good boy.
