Re: At what point am I wasting money?
Although I'm a new member here, with a low post count, I actually have an opinion on this topic and would like to share it. *grin*
First, I'll give my answer to the OP Question; "at what point am I wasting money". Well, there is a very simple answer although the approach taken to come to this conclusion may differ from one individual to another. Nobody can tell "you" at which point you're wasting your own money. Let me expand on my response for a moment. Being new to the tactical and long range shooting sports, and based partly upon my personality type (which is to say that I really enjoy doing extensive research prior to making what I would consider to be major purchases), I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted. However, I knew that I wanted to have a weapon system that met specific criteria for me. To be blunt, it was fairly easy to research the products that would meet my criteria. I like working with the upper end of the product spectrum. If I'm going to buy a bed, I don't need to sleep on a low quality or low featured bed for two years while I experience it and learn what I do or don't like about it; to one day upgrade to a better bed. I'm going to research the features and benefits of the high-end beds "first", and purchase one of those. The same held true when I was researching which bass boat I wanted to purchase. Why in the world would I need to buy a clunker with "adequate" features when I have cash to burn and would rather have a full-featured boat to start with. I don't need to learn how the old-timers did it back in the 60's... I should and was able to learn how to bass fish using top-notch equipment and features that made for a pleasant and effecient experience.
For me, the same concepts held true when I recently purchased my first precision tactical rifle. I rearched and read about the benefits of one platform vs. another. Based on the criteria established for my shooting needs, it was "very" easy to select the most appropriate products for me to start learning and practicing with. Why in the world would I "need" to learn on 10 year old technology first, or learn to shoot a rifle that was not capable of the high-performance goals that I had established as my criteria. If my goal is tactical shooting, why waste time learning with a basic target dot crosshair scope? I would rather start off with the most appropriate scope type for my skill learning objectives.
Perhaps I'm one of the fortunate ones; cash was not a deciding factor. If I'm going to go through an extensive learning process of trigger control, learning about and improving my atmopheric reading skills, etc., I would rather do those things with the fully featured good stuff first.
These are just my opinions, but I see no reason to purchase less expensive (less quality, less featured) equipment to learn on... what's the point really, other than saving cash.
So it really does boil down to your budget. If you can't afford the good stuff today, then by all means buy the less expensive stuff. However, if you've got the cash, then by all means buy that nice bass boat, that nice road bike, that nice bed, that nice scope, or that nice whatever.
There's no need to use old technology, old equipment, or cheap equipment to learn with unless you just want to. That's a personal choice; there is no right or wrong approach. It's economics and personal choice that drives our purchasing decisions.
Do what makes you happy, and fits within your budget. Many folks have replied to this thread with details about the technologies used for various products related to this thread, and that was helpful and should provide a good baseline to plan budget around.
