Friday, June 28, 2013

Interesting firearms shopping site

Liana emails to point out a pretty interesting site, Find The Best which is putting up a firearms comparison analysis engine.  A couple days ago I put up a bleg asking what .22 bolt action rifle is good for teaching newbies.  That was an interesting test for the system, which lets you select a whole bunch of criteria to find what you're looking for.

Pretty neat actually.  And the results can be sorted different ways, for example by price:

And that led me to one that made me go hmmm:


Like I said, pretty interesting.  I hadn't even known about this little rifle, and now I'm thinking of maybe getting it.  Because what I did know was that I think I need a beginner's .22 rifle, and Find The Best helped me zero in on what I was looking for.

They have a decent set of search criteria to filter with.  You could use this to pick a carry pistol, for example.  They also have a neat feature showing all of the gun stores and FFLs near where I am.  I didn't know that there were six within 5 miles.  Heck, that's walking distance.  The have a place for user reviews, although as a new site there aren't a lot.  I might go through and put links to my range reports there.

I think that the site could be improved by questionnaire for new shooters where it asks a series of questions that can help set up filters.  For example, how large are you (small/medium/large)?  How mechanically inclined are you (a little/some/a lot)?  What type of clothes do you typically wear (fitted/loose)?  The idea is that a newbie won't know much about shooting but will know the answer to questions like these.  Then the filters can provide a starting point.  A good filter for a large, mechanically inclined man who wears baggy clothes could include a full sized 1911, for instance.

But this is nit picking.  I spent rather a lot of time fooling around at Find The Best.  Interesting place.

11 comments:

  1. I like the ability to search with various criteria. The two gripes I have is that it doesn't appear the additions are moderated - it looks like anyone can add a gun to the list with whatever details they want.

    And two, the user based reviews are always so-so when it comes to being informative. For example, the CZ 712 shotgun I have been considering has 7 ratings - all 1 star. Out of the 7 ratings though, there are ZERO reviews explaining the rating. It would appear to a new shooter that the shotgun is a piece of garbage - but I have heard good things now that the 712 is a little more mature.

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  2. I was wondering why Ruger's 77/22 wasn't getting mentions and then looked up their MSRP. $900 wah? That's crazy.

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  3. I've handled various CZs, but haven't fired one- I do know my Uncle has a CZ in .17HMR and absolutely loves it.

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  4. We have the CZ in .22LR, and my daughters absolutely love the thing. It's a tack-driver, too.

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  5. The CZ-452 gets a lot of positive comments on the Appleseed forum. I figure if anyone knows beginner-friendly guns it's Appleseed.

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  6. A great choice. Although I have nothing but good things to say about the Savage .22s as well.

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  7. Carteach0 did a review on his CZ-452 a while back. IIRC he said it was a tackdriver with most any ammo he fed it. Look up his post and give it a read if you're on the fence.

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  8. Don't think you can go wrong with the CZ...

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  9. Ted we have quite a lot of those CZs in my club very popular in fact the club owns two or three as starter guns for new members, they are well made and a sensible price over here in the UK a number of members use theres for rabbits and the .17HMR is also very popular.

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  10. I bought a 452 when they first showed up in the area, had to be ~10 yrs ago. Mine has the 'European' style humped stock, & the schnabel forend.
    The iron sights are right on, but with a 3-9 scope I can shoots the guts out of a 1" square all day.
    I'll let you run it when you come up for the NEBS...

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  11. From a personal and from an Appleseed perspective, I love the CZ 452 Scout. I bought one for my daughter 4 years ago and it IS a tack driver. We have used it for many young shooters at Appleseeds as well and it always brings a smile (hers is pink, sadly no longer available). It feeds anything and can be single shot with an included adaptor or mag fed up to 10 rounds. I was impressed enough to purchase two other CZs since, one a 452 full stock in .22WMR and a 512 in .22LR.

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