I've talked to quite a few competition shooters over the past couple months, mainly because I have been looking for a long range rifle, gunsmiths as well. Now these titles don't make them experts, but, hopefully it implies some decent knowledge.
One thing us ignorant fools realize quick... everyone of you says something different, and for good reason, different strokes for different folks.
I say remington, you say savage, I say 308, you say 243AI, I say Leupold you say Nightforce.
One says barrel break in is complete BS and whoever does it is a moron, the next says it is essential and you're dumb not to do it.
Some wont touch a gun that shoots an inch at 100 yards, I had one guy tell me he'd throw my gun in the garbage if it was his... Harsh, but honest, and I did get rid of that gun.
Clean this way, no clean that way, nylon brush, no, brass.
You experts don't seem to have it all figured out, how can you expect the beginners to????
Especially when we get advice from 10 different people on 1 thing and everyone of them tells you a different way to do it.
I guess it just comes down to experience and you becoming an expert on your particular set ups, but then who's to say you should be giving advice to someone else about a different set up...
There are errors in judgment by everyone, yes, even you experts, and at times it may just be because you're human. What is your favorite gun: "my new custom rig I'm shooting today" why: In REALITY Because it is new, and you want it to be great and expect it to be great, that is why you dropped all that dough.
You may not really have the rounds through it to determine its greatness, but because you just spent a ton of dough on it and it is completely custom, your subconscious pushes it to the front of your mind and the excitement gets the best of you. We're only human, the $1000 gun has to be better than the $700 gun right...