Good post, but I think you may have missed one, or did you leave us out deliberately?
Kidding!
How about us older fellas who pack something familiar that works?
We have the money for a newer, Rifle, Boat, Pickup, or whatever but we choose to spend our money on things that are more important to us, or leave it in the bank.
We have learned that it doesn't take the latest/greatest to get the job done, and more often then not, the old tools are less hassle then the new toys.
I could keep my old 1976 Ford F150 going for years without ever taking it to a Mechanic. These fancy pants rigs today can only be fixed by a engineer/computer programer/electronics repairman/master mechanic.
Then there is the cost of repairs. Scratch one of those fancy new guns and you are looking a hundreds of dollars in repairs. Trying to do it yourself will more then likely destroy the value of your new toy.
I can bang my old .06 around all I want and not have to worry about costly repair bills.
See us older guys have learned that it's the guy behind the trigger that makes the biggest difference.
Money can get one a shiny new toy but it can't make a good shooter out of a poor shooter or make a competent hunter out of an incompetent hunter.
But time and a lot of practice can. We have had the time and practice, we can do just fine with whatever we have in hand.