Got a New Gun and Love It! What Should I Change?

“Got a new gun and love it! What should I change?” Ever see a post like that in a firearms forum? I have. Way too many times I have seen that. I find them to be one of types of posts that just make my skin crawl.

Now I have nothing against somebody modifying their firearm with aftermarket or alternative OEM parts. But I do have something against somebody modifying their firearm if they do not know why they are modifying it. Of course it’s their gun and their money, but I find it very annoying nonetheless.

My typical response to that type of question is something along the lines of:

 “First thing you need is some more magazines and night sights if you plan to carry it. Other than that, shoot two or three thousands rounds through. After that you’ll know what you’ll want to change.”

That usually pisses them off because it’s not the answer they are fishing for. But it’s the truth. Most firearms have a personality all their own, and it makes sense to get to know the firearm before you start making changes to improve it. In other words learn the gun first, and then improve it.

Otherwise you may end of changing things you may have liked more stock, if you were just giving the chance to see for yourself. There are a lot of shooters out there that have spent tons of money for the purpose of customizing their firearms to only to not improve their performance, or even making them worse. While this may be the logical approach, it’s kind of a boring one.

And that’s why if pisses some off when that’s the advice I give them. But hey, it’s your firearm do as you wish. I just wish everyone knew what they were doing; unlike the people asking the “what should I change” questions on forums.

I really touched a nerve one time with my standard response. The person who made the original post replied to my comment with “why would I want to shoot it that much before I make some changes. I just want to customize it and make the gun my own.” Once I stopped laughing, I replied “if you want to customize it in a way that makes it all your own, why are you asking strangers on the internet what to do?”

Pretty sure I made a mall ninja cry with that statement.