It's not contempt by any stretch, I just don't suffer fools and a lot of it is based on experience.
I am in full teaching mode now that spring / summer is here. I see it a lot, i saw it in my last block of classes, of which I was shooting my Valkyrie. I brought the Valkyrie to Alaska, I had the guys up there get me 75gr American Eagle for $118 a case. I know what the rifle will do and where the issues lie.
I tend to focus on my technique, in short, perfect practice versus volume or just getting hits.
While many of
us feel 5/8" is the top edge of accuracy, we are seeing much better results with this system than the internet would have you believe.
Recently, the local monthly match here in CO had a .22 cal shoot off among some of the better shooters. A sub-set used a .22 variant, whether .223 or .224 and again, Mike (Everyday Sniper Mike) won this battle using the same Valkyrie from JP shooting 90gr Federal. And yes, we see the 90gr Federal as the weak link here, but it's still better than 1 MOA if properly driven. He was also top 10 overall in a match with targets out to 1250 yards.
I also have been talking with the guys at JP since before SHOT Show up until my rifle was delivered. We spoke almost weekly, not to mention Brian Whalen here in CO is a JP Team Shooter who had the Valkyrie months before most others. We shot his, we discussed, we evaluated. Because most of us are Instructors we tend to hyper analyze a lot of stuff and frankly, the Valkyrie is not an issue.
Does that mean Savage doesn't have an issue, not at all, does that mean a Lego Valkyrie does not have an issue, not at all. But properly put together the Valkyrie works and works as advertised.
I focus on my fundamentals, this is why every single class a student will ask me to "Shoot their rifle" as they want to see what it does when I shoot it versus what it is doing when they shoot it. I shoot in front of students every class, in my videos I toss clips where I might make a technical mistake but still hit the target. Might be something as simple as closing my left eye, and I am left eye dominant, but if I close it, 95% of the time that video clip is trashed. I am a broken record doing the same thing over and over as we all know Consistency is King.
I can troll around Facebook and see the BS, my favorite lately is when seeing a Shooter, call out a member of a different group or discipline for whatever reason and the crowd cheers, "Ya for the truth bombs, good job BOB, you told him, no BS zone, etc" the second that mirror faces back it's a whole different story. My question is, do you want to hear it straight or do you want me to sugar coat it to make you feel good about your decision.
Every week I have someone ask me about a buying decision, the instant i say, No, or avoid that product, they usually will state, "Well I just bought it". I even had a guy in class just recently ask me at dinner about a laser. I said, nah, there are better and cheaper options, he frowned and said, I just bought one. What they want is validation, for me to agree with their choices and I just don't work that way.
I sort of feel like Rodney Dangerfield in Caddyshack laughing at the Hat on the Mannequin when he turns to the Judge who is wearing the hat he smirks, "It looks great on you" , clearly not so much, but that is people want to hear.
I call it like I see it, hurt feelings all. It's not personal unless you make it so, it's just how i roll.
