YouTube Channel

TheAverageShooter

TheAverageShooter

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2018
Messages
255
Location
Fort Bragg
Rating - 100%
16   0   0
Hey Everyone!,

Hope everyone is doing well. I couldn’t find a “anything goes” section for things that still dealt with firearms so, I hope I’m posting in the right spot!

Anyway, I run a YouTube channel along with a couple of my friends. We are trying to specialize in videos for “the Average Shooter” (hence the name) that are looking for simple videos without too much of the overdone technical breakdowns of everything. We are trying to create ”gun porn” or eye candy for the more PC people by influencing a bit of cinematic hues to our videos.

We know some people want to see videos of pure shooting (montages) of certain firearms, as well as some people wanting a lot of talking. So, our thing is slightly catered to the “seeing it” while doing a voice over so that there’s not always a break in the fun.

Another thing about our channel, is that it is built of 3 primary shooters (two active duty, 82nd and one civilian-my brother in-law.) Our goal is to produce an unbiased approach to reviews since there are three of us and what I might like, may vary from the other two. But also, it eliminates the “buyer bias” from at least 2/3 of the group. Typically, we are good with not showing bias, or at least I think so, because no firearm is perfect and we all have something we really like or dislike about each gun out there, or what it came with from factory.

Anyway, we hope that you join us over on YouTube! We also encourage constructive criticism to help us in making our content better for our subscribers. Don’t hesitate to let us know what you like or didn’t like about the video either in our comments section or through message. Every like, comment, or subscriber helps us grow and spread our passion to other enthusiasts!

Below is the link to our most recent video, since our channel overhaul. We still have some work to do as we are waiting on specific equipment to show up.




Thank you,

-Matt
 
grungewehr39 said:
I have friends that like the women in high heels shooting, but it does nothing for me.
I have friends that like the women in high heels shooting, but it does nothing for me.
Click to expand...

Don’t get me wrong, I love watching my wife take interest in shooting, but I don’t think it needs to be exploited. Now if she wants to take boudoir pictures with some of my favorite guns, that’s another story haha. But again, that would be for me, not for everyone else or a way to “clickbait” a video.
 
Best of luck with your venture
Build a brand, sell merch, make millions.
Seriously.
 
HMP said:
Best of luck with your venture
Build a brand, sell merch, make millions.
Seriously.
Click to expand...

We hope to get further! But it’ll take some time and uphill battle before it does! If we can do some quality videos, build a following, hopefully it’ll get there one day. And of course, anyone on this forum is welcome to come shoot with us and bring some toys.
 
Just in case - check out Bitchute also. I believe they include a tool to auto-mirror Youtube content.
 
Don’t hesitate to let us know what you like or didn’t like about the video
Click to expand...

Sure!

Ok, I'm 2 minutes in and it sounds like you're doing a commercial and selling the things. I'd have left by now if I hadn't seen this here...

2:10 and you shot a gun!

Clean every 40 rounds? WTF? Clean how much? That put me off the thing.

3:57 and you're apologetic about mentioning the flaws of the gun? I watch these to find about flaws in guns.

4:39 and the gun is falling apart? After that first 2 minutes of lovefest?

5:30 and the replacement gun falls apart? You can't mention this stuff up front?

6:30 and repeatedly fails to eject. Still not understanding the gushing first 2 minutes.

Did you really just use the word impressive at 8:50 after all this?
 
Stout said:
Sure!

Ok, I'm 2 minutes in and it sounds like you're doing a commercial and selling the things. I'd have left by now if I hadn't seen this here...

2:10 and you shot a gun!

Clean every 40 rounds? WTF? Clean how much? That put me off the thing.

3:57 and you're apologetic about mentioning the flaws of the gun? I watch these to find about flaws in guns.

4:39 and the gun is falling apart? After that first 2 minutes of lovefest?

5:30 and the replacement gun falls apart? You can't mention this stuff up front?

6:30 and repeatedly fails to eject. Still not understanding the gushing first 2 minutes.

Did you really just use the word impressive at 8:50 after all this?
Click to expand...

Hell yeah, constructive criticism. This is what we encourage. (I will start off by saying that I personally, took no part in this specific review—I’m currently deployed.)

I agree, Ryan (editor) did use a bit more B roll than I would have liked in the beginning. He used two separate segments with the same camera motion and all. Probably should have kicked it off with some shooting, then roll into B roll and some footage shooting the gun off.

As for the cleaning, we shot it on a couple range outings. We had issues with the magazine, and the every 40 rounds was actually in the manual, although, we didn’t adhere to it because who the hell is going to shoot only 40 rounds before cleaning? Lol.

Not sure why he apologized for the gun having flaws, I think he may have meant it as a hue of sarcasm, I’ll have to rewatch and see what you’re talking about. I’ve only watched the video a couple times. Haha.

To clarify, it wasn’t the gun per se, that was falling apart. It was the magazine lug and (later on, closer to 400 rounds), the stock was worn down at the adjustment rings. You mentioned a replacement gun, we never got a replacement gun, we were given replacement magazines. The gun itself ran as an AK platform should, it was the mag that was the issue, but again, only with 3” shells. But to also reply to your comment about the constant failure to eject, that was once the mag was broken and bouncing around with the 3” shells.

The general consensus between the two back home that shot the gun and footage, was that yes, they did love the gun, it was a great shooting shotgun and enjoyable with your typical loads. They didn’t start having any issues until 3” were introduced. So, that’s why the video started off the way it did. They didn’t mean to “sell a product” but maybe it sounded that way because they actually did enjoy it enough to speak highly of it overall? Not sure. Not trying to defend them or retaliate towards your comment either, trying to stay on middle ground here haha. But, I think they did like he shotgun despite the couple downfalls, and the reason they saved the issues for last is because just like all movies and everything else, you never give your ending first. But also, the last impression is what the consumer usually leaves with. If we tell you up front that it fell apart, would you watch any further? Some people might just to see how bad or why, but others would click away immediately lol.

I will take your comments though and pass them on to the team so we can try and make this more enjoyable! Maybe there was also confusion based on what was said in the video but I do personally appreciate your feedback and will try and see what ways we can fix up some of it!
 
Last edited:
On the gun:
Is the mag a Kalashnikov USA product or made by others for them? Are there options for aftermarket mags?
FWIW It's been my experience that mag-fed shotguns just do not work as intended because all the magazines are cheap crap. And with an MSRP over $1k I would expect quality parts.

On the video:
My BS detector pegged when I learned the gun was provided to you by the manufacturer, but thank you for disclosing that early.
You'll be a more credible source for unbiased opinion if you dont't get your guns for free.

Three failed parts in 400 rounds should result in a significant thumbs down IMO.
Your intro even implied that the gun IS reliable but you then show a video of a gun breaking under normal use.
I get the impression your guys maybe filmed the intro before they shot the gun?
 
Last edited:
Catfish said:
On he gun:
Is the mag a Kalashnikov USA product or made by others for them? Are there options for aftermarket mags?
FWIW It's been my experience that mag-fed shotguns just do not work as intended because all the magazines are cheap crap. And with an MSRP over $1k I would expect quality parts.

On the video:
My BS detector pegged when I learned the gun was provided to you by the manufacturer, but thank you for disclosing that early.
You'll be a more credible source for unbiased opinion if you dont't get your guns for free.

Three failed parts in 400 rounds should result in a significant thumbs down IMO.
Your intro even implied that the gun IS reliable but you then show a video of a gun breaking under normal use.
I get the impression your guys maybe filmed the intro before they shot the gun?
Click to expand...

The mags (as we were told by their marketing director) are made in-house by Kalashnikov USA. Due to our experience with the gun, they’ve sent up our issues to the VP of manufacturing to find a resolution. Based on what we’ve been told and seen in other reviews, the Saiga mags should work, but we didn’t have any available to try for ourselves.

For the mention of it being sent to us, we did that to inform that there was no “buyer bias” involved in the review. I will also add though, because of our negativity towards the end, the marketing director didn’t quite like our review and tried defending the mag issue by saying “I shoot a lot of 3” and never had that happen.” So, who knows. But, we don’t mind giving a shoutout where we can, or at least as a thanks. As seen in the video though, it didn’t stop us from mentioning defects. I get your point with being seen as more unbiased if we don’t get our guns for free, but we feel buying the guns would make us more biased because no one buys a gun they don’t have interest in or want to hate lol. We got it for 6 months knowing we had to send it back, so it’s not even a permanent keep, but a loaner/T&E gun. So there were really no true “ties” to the gun so to speak.

The problem though, was the magazine. And again, ONLY when the 3” shells were used. The gun didn’t jam, didn’t fail to cycle or extract until AFTER the magazine was broken by the 3” shells (at this point we hadn’t gotten the spare mags in the mail to try other mags). With all other rounds such as target loads, birdshot, etc., the gun had no faults or issues, which is why he stated in the video, that despite the issues we had, he could still recommend the shotgun IF all you intend to shoot is your normal range stuff and not the 3”. So if 3” was said by the manufacturer to NOT be compatible with the firearm, the chances are high that, we may not have had a single issue in our time with the shotgun.

As for the intro, I will have to ask. I believe they did a voice over once all the footage was organized.

I appreciate your feedback as well! And of course, your time and view. Please know that I’m not getting defensive, not trying to shush everyone up, just trying to help clarify if anything! No hard feelings whatsoever, as this truly is helping us.
 
TheAverageShooter said:
no one buys a gun they don’t have interest in or want to hate
Click to expand...
valid point. And if you trash-talk a demo gun that'll probably be your last demo gun.

TheAverageShooter said:
The problem though, was the magazine
Click to expand...
Two magazines. And the stock.

I looked on their site and I can't find if it's rated for 3" shells or limited to 2.75". I'm interested to har what the book says. But it's still a bit fragile don't you think?
 
Catfish said:
valid point. And if you trash-talk a demo gun that'll probably be your last demo gun.


Two magazines. And the stock.

I looked on their site and I can't find if it's rated for 3" shells or limited to 2.75". I'm interested to har what the book says. But it's still a bit fragile don't you think?
Click to expand...


Yessir. We try not to “bash” any company without reason. I have once publicly, and that was American Tactical Imports. (Story for another time, lol) But, I will only do that IF the company deserves it. Most of the time though, it’s understandable that first gen guns will have their faults. Should it be that way? No. Every gun should be tested thoroughly before going to a consumer. To us, they should use people like us to T&E before it ever goes to market. But, that would be in a perfect world. In our opinion, what can really break a company is how they choose to handle consumer complaints. They sent us more mags to see if it was just an issue, which it turned out to be the mags being made with plastic locking tabs rather than metal and they just couldn’t hang with the 3”, so we addressed the issue again. If they really did bring it up to the product VP, hopefully we see fixes which was the point of the T&E gun.

Yes, the stock also was an issue, but not initially. It was well towards the end of our review and we believe it to be in conjunction with the 3” as well, that’s when it started collapsing as it was being shot. But yes, regardless, they should have used some metal for the stock rather than plastic with little adjustment circles molded into it.

As for the shells and what the gun is rated for, the barrel is stamped with 2.75-3” and the manual does state that they can be shot through the gun. But clearly, it cannot handle the 3” like they say it can. Well, to rephrase; the gun “can” but some parts of the gun “can’t.” So in short, yes, it’s got a couple fragile points. If they want this thing to be perfect out of the box, swapping the plastic stock tube and mag tab for metal, they’d be good to go. I will say though, most people would probably swap that stock out for a Magpul MOE or something anyway, so that’s why we didn’t harp too much on that knowing that most people customize furniture before all else usually. No excuse though, you shouldn’t “need” to replace anything on a new firearm.
 
I just subbed your channel. Hope you'll sub mine. Now, my comments on the video:
Very nice production values. Much better than mine although, it's just a hobby for me. I understand your reasons for the voice over but would have liked to hear some live audio as well such as; the sound of the gun, reactions of the shooter especially during the malfunctions, comments about the recoil and how it compares to a Remington 1100 for instance.. I think that would add some extra interest. Also, at the end, it would have been nice to hear what the manufacturers reaction to the problems were. Overall, pretty good.

Terry
 
specops56 said:
I just subbed your channel. Hope you'll sub mine. Now, my comments on the video:
Very nice production values. Much better than mine although, it's just a hobby for me. I understand your reasons for the voice over but would have liked to hear some live audio as well such as; the sound of the gun, reactions of the shooter especially during the malfunctions, comments about the recoil and how it compares to a Remington 1100 for instance.. I think that would add some extra interest. Also, at the end, it would have been nice to hear what the manufacturers reaction to the problems were. Overall, pretty good.

Terry
Click to expand...

Thank you. You do bring up some good points. I didn’t even realize how little they included audio. I’ll pass that on to the team and take note of it myself for sure. Thank you for the sub as well! I’ll look into your channel!
 
@TheAverageShooter I just checked out your site, not posted in a while on there
How did you feel about the YouTube channel stuff?
Youve got several thousand subscribers, over a million views - can you comment on how YT 'rewards' you for that?
Did your channel ever get censored in any way for being gun-based?

I found this old thread while searching for youtube threads, as I didnt want to start a new one
 
HMP said:
@TheAverageShooter I just checked out your site, not posted in a while on there
How did you feel about the YouTube channel stuff?
Youve got several thousand subscribers, over a million views - can you comment on how YT 'rewards' you for that?
Did your channel ever get censored in any way for being gun-based?

I found this old thread while searching for youtube threads, as I didnt want to start a new one
Click to expand...
I’ve actually been doing the shorts! They get far more engagement! I’ve been steadily growing by doing those short videos from time to time.

YouTube doesn’t really reward me for my work like they used to. Part of the reward is continuing with Instagram and doing the short videos. The reward is the free guns I get for doing shorts and reviews. For instance, Springfield sent me the new gun that comes out on the 12th to do some videos and a review with. I consider that a pretty fair “payment” to provide content.

As far as I’m aware, my YouTube account isn’t censored yet.
 
  • Like
Reactions: HMP
I know you're a few years on now and this is an old thread, but here's another constructive criticism to add.

Screenshot_20230708_224957_YouTube.jpg

Don't take offense to comments, or bark back at them. A content creator's reaction is going to be scrutinized harder than a viewer chiming in with views from the Peanut Gallery. It looks better to ignore a comment you don't agree with, than to jump in and say "haters gonna hate". Mostly because, we all know this already so it doesn’t add to anything to defend your opinions or purchases.

If you want to provide a premium viewing experience, and you intend to interact with your audience, provide a premium interaction - with everyone. Even if they are wrong or you beg to differ. I respect highly the content creator's that respond to a critique with "thanks!" Or some other form of side stepping engagement that deflects negativity, It's much more professional. Otherwise, simply ignore them.

I'm aware that most people view Shorts in a swiping fashion, but I'm a comment reader. So, I was a bit turned off to your content following the viewing of this response, and that was only the second thing i viewed upon approaching your channel. That's how much of an effect your presence and words can have on your most requested asset from making content for YouTube, viewers.

Unless of course, you make the content for self fulfillment purposes only. In which case, I'd question why you bother interacting with viewer comments at all.


Just my view from the Peanut Gallery, do with it what you will, and I hope to see you continue to make more content and potentially offer something outside of the GunTuber norm some day.
 
Last edited:
Hunter600rr said:
I know you're a few years on now and this is an old thread, but here's another constructive criticism to add.

View attachment 641919

Don't take offense to comments, or bark back at them. A content creator's reaction is going to be scrutinized harder than a viewer chiming in with views from the Peanut Gallery. It looks better to ignore a comment you don't agree with, than to jump in and say "haters gonna hate". Mostly because, we all know this already so it doesn’t add to anything to defend your opinions or purchases.

If you want to provide a premium viewing experience, and you intend to interact with your audience, provide a premium interaction - with everyone. Even if they are wrong or you beg to differ. I respect highly the content creator's that respond to a critique with "thanks!" Or some other form of side stepping engagement that deflects negativity, It's much more professional. Otherwise, simply ignore them.

I'm aware that most people view Shorts in a swiping fashion, but I'm a comment reader. So, I was a bit turned off to your content following the viewing of this response, and that was only the second thing i viewed upon approaching your channel. That's how much of an effect your presence and words can have on your most requested asset from making content for YouTube, viewers.

Unless of course, you make the content for self fulfillment purposes only. In which case, I'd question why you bother interacting with viewer comments at all.


Just my view from the Peanut Gallery, do with it what you will, and I hope to see you continue to make more content and potentially offer something outside of the GunTuber norm some day.
Click to expand...
I didn’t take offense to the comment lol. I don’t make the guns, I simply shoot them. I get it what you’re saying. It was said more so in a joking manner because almost everyone loves to put Springfield down just because their buddy said something negative.

If it turns people away for me to defend a product that works, so be it. I understand that my channel won’t be for everyone. I just don’t like when there are viewers or people that might be interested in picking something up, and you’ve got that dude on there being all negative about it. If there were several comments on there and his happened to be the only negative, that’s one thing. But when it’s the only comment, it would probably make a potential buyer second guess themselves all because some has some biased hatred of a company for no reason.

Sad part is, debating, whether positive or negative, drives up the algorithm due to interaction. So I kind of have to respond one way or another.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom