{"id":425410,"date":"2024-07-23T11:00:36","date_gmt":"2024-07-23T16:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/?p=425410"},"modified":"2024-12-27T12:27:49","modified_gmt":"2024-12-27T18:27:49","slug":"tier-lists-are-ridiculous","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/tier-lists-are-ridiculous\/","title":{"rendered":"Tier Lists Are Ridiculous"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love a good meme, and I believe the rule of memes should revolve somewhere around the line that it should never be serious. Or, at the very least, you should never take a meme seriously. In the gun world, we have a weird mix of memes. We got everything from the classic boomer memes revolving around M1911s to the new world of spicy zoomer memes that will get you placed on a watchlist. Somewhere between those two meme levels sit the worst part of gun culture memeage, which is tier lists.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tier lists are the worst because they often break the number-one rule of the meme: don\u2019t be serious, and don\u2019t be taken seriously. The problem is a lot of these tier lists aim to be serious and try to offer themselves as a reputable authority. Tier lists exist for all types of guns, and it seems like the AR-15 is our most popular occupant of such lists.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m here to tell you that tier lists are stupid. The problem they create is reaching less informed gun owners and creating an idea in their heads that these lists matter. They become an authoritative source and might prevent someone from learning something that actually matters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s A Tier List?\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

If you are new, a tier list is often a graphic or meme that tries to stack rank brands<\/a> or firearms in general. It\u2019s typically presented starting at trash\/poor\/low tier and slowly builds up to operator\/professional\/high tier guns. In between are some various forms of mid-tier variations with whatever brands the creator feels are relevant. The goal of the tier list is to provide an authoritative source of which rifles are better than other rifles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"AR
While easily digestible, these tier lists are ridiculous.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These lists provide nothing more than logos and tiers. They exist because they tend to be popular and fun to make. If you want to start a conversation or try to make yourself feel like an authority and a knowledgeable person, then a tier list doesn\u2019t require much work to make. This is why I think they\u2019ve been spread around, why they still get posted to various social media outlets, and why we\u2019ll likely continue to see them as time passes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why are tier lists ridiculous?<\/span><\/h2>\n

What\u2019s wrong with tier lists? Why are they a problem worth an entire article? As we established, they act as authoritative sources and can even influence new gun owners or future gun owners. The reason why you shouldn\u2019t trust these tier lists is that they offer no useful data to the person reading them. The core of the list is an opinion. It\u2019s all opinion-based and opinions… Well, we all know what the old saying about opinions is.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Firing
A Bullpup isn’t for everyone, but they have their place. (Photo: William Lawson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since they are opinion-based, the tier list does not include factual data, and there is no standardized testing to establish why one gun is better than another. Why does Gun A rank above Gun B? Because the maker of the list feels like it should. A lot of these lists are designed around the user\u2019s personal preference. If you own a BCM, you might feel it\u2019s a great rifle and deserves to be a top-tier rifle. With that said, it probably is a good rifle, but can you explain why it needs to be at the top tier?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ownership of a gun does not somehow grant an expertise in it. Jeff Cooper said it right, \u201cOwning\u00a0<\/span>a gun doesn\u2019t make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician.\u201d If you want to feel like you\u2019re an authority on firearms and are enough of an authority to create a tier list, you better be willing to explain your credentials.<\/span><\/p>\n

Provide The Data<\/span><\/h2>\n

These lists don\u2019t provide data or even reasoning as to why one gun is better than the other. Imagine if I start asking them to come up with established standards for testing. We are quickly getting out of the convenience of just making a quick graphic and posting it online.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I know M-LOK is better than Keymod because NSWC-Crane did an entire report on the two handguard mounting systems. They used established standards and testing and explained what those standards and testing consisted of. A tier list doesn\u2019t do that. In fact, it doesn\u2019t have the room to do that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Geissele
Geissele AR-15 lowers are among the best in the business. (Photo: Jason Mosher)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Let\u2019s look at one of the numerous tier lists you can find on Google image search. When we see a list that says HK makes better guns than FN, it\u2019s never explained how or why that\u2019s established. Let\u2019s assume they are comparing the HK 416 and the FN M4\/M16 series. Okay, maybe the argument is that HK\u2019s gas piston system and ability to run very reliably with suppressors and short barrels is what makes it better.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So why is Knight\u2019s Armory on the same tier as HK<\/a> when they produce direct impingement rifles just like FN<\/a>? These lists start to fall apart with just a little critical thought applied. They often rely on military and police use without the context of why a specific rifle is used over another.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes, you need something to be precise, and sometimes, you need something to be short and light. One is only better than the other in the context of the task it\u2019s attempting to accomplish. If I want to clear rooms, then an Mk 18 makes sense. If I need to provide an overwatch, then maybe an Mk-12-type rifle would make sense. Context isn\u2019t a part of the tier list world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Finding a Good Gun\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

If you are trying to figure out which gun deserves your money and you\u2019ve just learned tier lists aren\u2019t functional, then what are you to do? My recommendation is to turn to sources of information that have provided value to you. What experts do you turn to to learn? Personally, I like Chad Albrecht and his crew at School of the American Rifle. They are very knowledgeable experts in the AR-15.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"FN
The classic M16 still has style.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I like instructors like Aaron Cowan of Sage Dynamics and Steve Fisher of Sentinel Concepts. They are extremely knowledgeable shooters with decades of experience. They also train shooters extensively, and that training allows them to observe all sorts of rifles, shotguns, and handguns. All you have to do is tune into their social media feeds and YouTube channels or search their name, and you\u2019ll likely find tons of information. I\u2019m just providing two subject matter experts who I\u2019ve found value in. There are tons of other good sources of information.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My final thoughts on tier lists are pretty simple. There are two types of firearms: Guns that work and guns that don\u2019t. That’s it.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My thoughts on tier lists are pretty simple. There are two types of firearms: Guns that work and guns that don\u2019t. That’s it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":425413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-425410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-insights"],"small_media_thumbnail":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Handgun-Ranks_Short-e1711762860786-300x225.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425410"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425410\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":434893,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425410\/revisions\/434893"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}