Anyone LOAN a gun to a friend that got TRASHED?

Its sad, but my brand new power washer has notes in yellow paint pen, saying- MUST HAVE WATER ON BEFORE STARTING and CHECK OIL BEFORE USING, because my wife lets people use my stuff, and once I saw them start this $400 power washer with no water running thru it,(faucet wasn’t even turned on)even when I asked them do you know how to use one of these? Oh yeah, for sure, they say. When I vent out to my wife, she comes back at me with “not everyone is as perfect as you” and I tell her it’s not about being perfect, it’s about common sense, which is a rarity these days!!



This is is a great topic, Yo, but just me alone, I could make this the longest going tread AGN will have ever seen, just from the stupidity I’ve endured over loaning out crap over the years. So, I’m gonna make this my last post on this, lol. Sorry about your gun, man.

Blood pressure building up, ha ha
 
You know the sad fact is that there are real life STUPID people out and about that are seriously TOO STUPID TO EVEN KNOW HOW STUPID THEY REALLY ARE!!! 

ME I gotta admit my ex wife always used to call me STUPID and I tried my grandest to put up with all her BS then finally CAVED and told her YOU'RE RIGHT I'M TOO STUPID! I MARRIED YOU DIDN'T I? Then got a divorce. Yo!
 
My uncle is a machinist that owns his own shop. He was telling me about an employee he had at the time, and my uncle wondered how his brain functioned to keep the rest of the body alive, he was that stooped. He came up to my uncle asking what he should do that day for work(mind you, he’d been there at least a couple of months now, and he asks that) and my uncle told him to find the henway tool. My uncle watched him for two hours search and search, and finally he asks my uncle, “what’s a henway?” My uncle says about 2 lbs(hen weigh)
 
Oh Boy! I broke the golden rule. And it did not turn out good.

As a rule of thumb, I do not loan out my stuff. I have brothers & brother in laws who have borrowed stuff over the years. Only to never see the item again, or have it come back destroyed! Usually, if they want to borrow something and I have an extra , I will give it to them. This resolves any issues.

So with that being said here is where I went wrong. A few years ago my father in law expressed an interest in airguns. He knows I have been around guns my whole life. And into Bigbore airguns for the last 20 years. 

My father in law has a education in mechanical engineering, and is a all around smart guy. So I didn't think there would be an issue with letting him borrow my WAR Flex 30. I showed him all the operations of the gun: loading the magazine, cocking the bolt, safety, firing, etc. After an afternoon of shooting I felt confident he understood the rifle. And let him take it home for the week.

A few days later I asked him how it was going? And his response was " I can't get this damm thing to hit the target" . " I cranked the dials all the way on the scope , and even took the scope off and remounted it. And it still isn't hitting the paper." Insinuating the gun was a piece of junk!

My stomach turned when he told me that. As many of you know these guns are tack drivers. The gun was sighted in and ready to shoot.

As soon as the gun was back it my hands it took me 2 seconds to see that the moderator was BENT! And I could hear a rattling sound coming out of it! I removed the end cap to discover that one of the baffles was missing! I confronted him on the missing baffle and his response was " Opps! I must have forgotten to put one back in." 

I ended up sending back to WAR for repair. I want to say it cost in excess of $100 to fix. My in law claimed he received the gun like that. Its not worth an argument, and to keep the peace I just sucked it up.

When I told my wife what happened she just said " Why did you let him borrow it? "

You live and learn!

Duke
 
This is a question of morals and responsibilities. I would have repair or replaced. Way I see it I borrow someone's something it in my custody. So accident purpose or act of god it was in my custody so I would feel liable. If I had no money. I can do like 10 bucks or better a week. 

But where do you find someone with a sense of morals in responsibility anymore?
 
I'm not a Shakespeare scholar, but I like this quote from Hamlet: “Neither a borrower nor a lender be, for loan oft loses both itself and friend, and borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.” It's difficult to say no when the request comes from certain people, such as a father-in-law. In most cases, the truth is probably best. I've told some folks, "I'd like to say yes, but I just never borrow or lend". I have also offered to do the chore for which someone wanted to borrow the tool. That said, something like power washing a house, or blowing a yard full of leaves would stretch the limits of my generosity. It can be a true dilemma. In the case of a request from a good friend or family member, I generally go along with it if I can afford to repair or replace the item borrowed. 
 
I took my nephew (15) squirrel hunting twice.

First time, I loaned him my motorhead tuned marauder. It came back with the front barrel support twisted about 30 degrees to the right, bending the barrel and shroud with it. No idea what he did to cause that, he went with my dad one way while i went the other and we met up 30 minutes later...

Next time, I loaned a junker chinese sidelever. He proceeded to try and saw through a rusty steel cable by sliding the stock and barrel back and forth across it when we were shooting cans in the parking lot. I just threw that gun away after that.

Never again! And my dad wants to buy this boy (17 now) a nice henry .22...i advised against it, but that means someone has to keep loaning a gun to go squirrel hunting...
 
I took my nephew (15) squirrel hunting twice.

First time, I loaned him my motorhead tuned marauder. It came back with the front barrel support twisted about 30 degrees to the right, bending the barrel and shroud with it. No idea what he did to cause that, he went with my dad one way while i went the other and we met up 30 minutes later...

Next time, I loaned a junker chinese sidelever. He proceeded to try and saw through a rusty steel cable by sliding the stock and barrel back and forth across it when we were shooting cans in the parking lot. I just threw that gun away after that.

Never again! And my dad wants to buy this boy (17 now) a nice henry .22...i advised against it, but that means someone has to keep loaning a gun to go squirrel hunting...

If your dad is like mine he will do exact opposite of what you say... Been there and done that.. I could elaborate but nobody really gives a pooop..


 
I have to say that even though I said I never let someone borrow anything that I wouldn't just give them I have loaned my brother deer rifles when his went down, tools when he needed them and money when he was poor. It always came back to me better than I gave it..... Except for the money. That came back dead even. The moral of the story is there is always someone in your life you can trust. Grandparents tend to be trustworthy then again they never need anything because they are self sufficient. I'm rambling good post. 
 
If you want to shoot with friends who don't have their own guns, keep a sub $100 springer around and some cheap bulk pellets. I have both a high power and a low powered springers I let friends shoot. I only have experienced airgunners shoot my PCP and when I'm not far away. I keep a 35# yard sale recurve bow around for the same reason. I wouldn't let a noob try to string my 50 yr old Pearson Javelina bow.
 
A Beeman R10 .20,

My pastor was having problems with pigeons roosting over the door way at the church and asked me if he could borrow one of my air rifles to take care of the problem. So out of the goodness of my heart, I loaned him my favorite R10 and gave him a "crash course" in what to do and what not to do. Well that didn't work because when I went to pick my faithful rifle up, it had ben left cocked, I don't know for how long and only God knows for how long. I had to replace the spring and everything else appeared to be ok but never again and never to a preacher ever if he's my pastor that's got a problem with pigeons doing what comes and goes naturally.



Shoot straight and only once,



Simplyhooked
 
This is a question of morals and responsibilities. I would have repair or replaced. Way I see it I borrow someone's something it in my custody. So accident purpose or act of god it was in my custody so I would feel liable. If I had no money. I can do like 10 bucks or better a week. 

But where do you find someone with a sense of morals in responsibility anymore?

Man did you nail this one on the head. What happened, did we as a society raise our children wrong? I have been puzzled by this for years. Even more sad it I truly believe it is getting worse.

Work ethics, moral reasonability, seems to be going further down hill. Now that being said, I do know some just wonderful people that I would do about anything for, but the list is getting shorter and shorter.

This is actually a great topic! Great replies and people I would love to meet in person!

Eamon
 
Ha, as to people being downright stupid, irresponsible, uncaring, lying, etc, I've seen the worst society has to offer!!!!!!!!!!! Being a painting contractor is the most frustrating job a person can have when it comes to dealing with idiots! It's insane how many stories I have about this subject! 

I had this kid that was a nice guy but he was of a dull mind. Painting, like most jobs, needs to be done in steps of progression. It's not rocket science, 1st - grind and scrape off loose paint and renail or rescrew loose boards, 2nd - pressure wash, 3rd - caulk, 4th - prime, 5th - paint multiple coats. The first day I line him out as usual and come back in the afternoon to check but one end of the house isn't done??? Okay do it first thing tomorrow I said. I drop him off the next day to begin pressure washing as soon as that end of the house is finished from the previous day. I come back in the afternoon and that one end of the house has not had anything done to it, lol??? I'm getting a little pissed now as you can imagine. Long story short he pressure washed that end of the house without grinding it so it needed to be redone??!! It doesn't end there either, lol. This kid had already worked for me for 3-4 months. Come to find out his Mom and Dad were heroin addicts during his time in the womb and the poor kid couldn't think straight when he got stressed. 

Anyway I just went through this, I loaned a gun to friend and got the gun back with the reg 10 bar higher??? and the mag not working. Both might not be the guys fault, after all the clear lens in the front of the mag was already cracking, thanks FX for making such crappy front mag lenses! And thanks again for making a reg that needs it's 3rd repair. 

What am I going to do??? He's a good friend, generally responsible, and I'm not accusing him of something that might not be his fault, even if it was his fault I'd absorb any the cost because "to a point" that's what a friend does. I'm not perfect and don't expect others to be. Will I loan him other things, yep, for now I will, that is unless a pattern of irresponsibility forms, or other things breaking becomes a pattern. 

I try not to borrow stuff but at times I do if I can't afford to buy those things or can't rent them. I try my best to treat such items as good as I can because I hate the thought of letting down friends or relatives. If something were to happen I understand I need to get the item fixed or repaired at my cost or at least make up some type of recompense.

I've had other weird things happen with friends concerning money and I let that go too. They were certain the deal was like 'this' and I was certain the deal was like 'that', oh well a small amount $ is not worth putting a wedge in a friendship. I figure that somehow or someway a good deed will revisit me at some point in my life and I can see that it has happened already. 




 
It’s been my experience in the 34 years as a sheet metal worker, just because a guy has a degree in mechanical engineering doesn’t mean he’s got it going on. In fact it’s a high rate that they have the book smartness, but not the hand skills or common sense. I once ran a 16” round duct thru the attic of a hospital that was missed on the blueprints. It was a needed ventilation duct for make up air. Since it was installed after the fact, It was very difficult to install as all the other trades had taken up the attic space. I did my own Bigragu engineering and successfully got it done.

When the engineer who designed the project showed up, I showed him what I did. His reply was OMG! That is a tight install! How in the heck am I going to get it drawn in on the blueprints as there’s no space?” 

DRAW! Are you kidding me?!! You’re complaining about how you’re gonna DRAW IT?! Try INSTALLING IT! Yup, that’s what I told him, then walked away.
 
It’s been my experience in the 34 years as a sheet metal worker, just because a guy has a degree in mechanical engineering doesn’t mean he’s got it going on. In fact it’s a high rate that they have the book smartness, but not the hand skills or common sense. I once ran a 16” round duct thru the attic of a hospital that was missed on the blueprints. It was a needed ventilation duct for make up air. Since it was installed after the fact, It was very difficult to install as all the other trades had taken up the attic space. I did my own Bigragu engineering and successfully got it done.

When the engineer who designed the project showed up, I showed him what I did. His reply was OMG! That is a tight install! How in the heck am I going to get it drawn in on the blueprints as there’s no space?” 

DRAW! Are you kidding me?!! You’re complaining about how you’re gonna DRAW IT?! Try INSTALLING IT! Yup, that’s what I told him, then walked away.

Haha I’m in construction and totally feel your pain there. I just built a house where the engineer asked why I wanted my truss package made with a large opening for the HVAC guy. Clueless 
 
It’s been my experience in the 34 years as a sheet metal worker, just because a guy has a degree in mechanical engineering doesn’t mean he’s got it going on. In fact it’s a high rate that they have the book smartness, but not the hand skills or common sense. I once ran a 16” round duct thru the attic of a hospital that was missed on the blueprints. It was a needed ventilation duct for make up air. Since it was installed after the fact, It was very difficult to install as all the other trades had taken up the attic space. I did my own Bigragu engineering and successfully got it done.

When the engineer who designed the project showed up, I showed him what I did. His reply was OMG! That is a tight install! How in the heck am I going to get it drawn in on the blueprints as there’s no space?” 

DRAW! Are you kidding me?!! You’re complaining about how you’re gonna DRAW IT?! Try INSTALLING IT! Yup, that’s what I told him, then walked away.

Haha I’m in construction and totally feel your pain there. I just built a house where the engineer asked why I wanted my truss package made with a large opening for the HVAC guy. Clueless

There's this planning department part of local government that's required to have accurate specs on the blueprint plans in order to be legit for them to keep as records as a history in their files and records dept. For if they need to be like Bruce Willis in DIE HARD 1 yippiekayeaayymotherFxxxxx! In case terrorists seize your house or building complex. Another very concerning issue is ITS WHAT WAT YOU KNOW ITS WHO YOU KNOW to get that high dollar salary position even if you're Lloyd Christmas or Harry Dunn from DUMB AND DUMBER you got the job. Could even be your- father's brother's nephew's former roomate! What's that make us? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! Yo!
 
I solved that years ago.. When people ask "hey can I borrow your XXX" I say sure.. I come with it.. And I do, chain saw, truck, tractor, tools what ever they need.. I usually end up doing all the work.. No problem, but my stuff does not get loaned.. Every time I did in the past.. Something got broken, screwed up or what ever..

Hey can I BORROW your lawn mower weed whacker rake dust pan power washer scrubbing pads gutter attachment ladder squeegee mop hedge trimmer blower broom 10 -55 gallon trash bags pickup truck sandpaper scraper paint brush paint roller paint mixer 4 rolls of tape 5 gallons of paint garden hose sponge carwash chamois car wax couple towels and armor all? Yo!