Activity is shifting to places like facebook/instagram/reddit. Forums are a dying format.
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Activity is shifting to places like facebook/instagram/reddit. Forums are a dying format.
it might just be seasonal, its summer, people are out and about doing other things, lawns, gardens, family vacations, fishing, ect. in winter there is probably more activity inside and online. when your snowed in or froze in.
I don’t know boys….I wonder sometimes if we are a dying breed. Local gun shows within 100 miles of me have had a constant in the last year —- no offense intended, I’m old too (64) and the constant has been….old people. I see very, very few young people at the shows anymore, mostly old guys like me. The outdoors club I belong to, almost all seniors.
The one thing I’ve been hammering on my peers is to be nice and take the time and effort to RESPECTFULLY answer youngsters questions when/if they do seem interested. I’ve seen way too many seniors with an “attitude” when young people ask questions or are interested. If we do not continue to promote and embrace young people when they do come around (“READ THE STICKIES,ETC”) the local gun club, the forums, everything will just simply die.
Just my .02c worth.
Art
I am glad y’all are still here because without y’all this place is nothing more than a bunch of 1’s & 0’s floating around in cyber space.
I on some other casting and trapping forums and I always come on here because of how you all are on here . only one trapping forum I still on because how it is on there , the other trapping forum I was on was give me problem and bias . I drop them. Back to what was the OP is yes I see some other gun forum that dose not have much activity. It is not because of the summer but some of the posting on some is just from last year. Thanks No 1 for keeping this place going. I learn alot and get help when I need it and help those I can . We are all in this together to learn and all. Keep up the good work No 1 .
Demographics. Shooters are old white guys many who live in rural areas. The world is getting more urban every day. Then there is often the us against "them" mentality that permeates many forums. On some forums if you post "had some great tacos for lunch today" you will get hit with "so you are against securing the borders ". They politicize everything.
We need new people doing this stuff even if they don't look like us or have all the same beliefs.
Yup. I have noticed attitude to some of our younger or newer participants. They post something they find interesting that may be of benefit to someone else and then the negativity starts. I am not talking about a post that corrects an error but some feel they have to chime in and bash em. Why? If you don't like it, just move on to another post. We will lose these younger/new members real quick. No one likes to get slammed, especially from "old farts". I am 62.
I'm one of the youngsters here, being 60, and like others, this is my most visited forum. The younger folks are more enamored of newer methods of communication, as should be expected, which means we either adapt, or fade into obscurity.....we don't reach out enough, and frequently come across as the luddites we are.
For many of us casting weather is spring and fall. I'm working in the garages so extreme heat leads to sweating all over everything (bad tinsel fairy) and in winter it is too cold much of the time. Although a big burner does warm things up nicely on milder days. For others in the desert southwest I imagine winter is when they have the best weather for casting and smelting. Summer is for the garden, camping, outdoor projects.
This forum is broad based. It covers a wide range of interests with useful information. Casting, reloading metallic and shot shell, black powder, old military surplus, handguns, gunsmithing, etc. It is rare to not find this site on the first page of Google results when searching for anything in those subjects.
Age of participants is a concern. Not only are we as a population becoming more urban with the difference in perspective that can bring but our families are tending to spread out from each other to go where work or opportunities are. Removes some of that family influence from "grandpa" or "uncle Joe" who re-loads from being around the younger generation. If it takes a two day trip to visit and an infrequent event then younger family is just not going to be around to learn or have their curiosity sparked.
I think this is an older guy hobby. Takes a bit of living and learning to develop the skills and patience for casting and reloading. All most of us can do is encourage the interest when we find others with it and be good ambassadors for the sport and hobby. Not to mention if you are still single and chasing members of the opposite sex that can considerably dent your funds available for hobbies.
The high cost of components right now is not doing the hobby any favors. Lot of folks see $100 primers and expensive components and just don't pursue it. I started a person in their 30's loading for .38 special and if it wasn't for my being able to provide some components I'm pretty sure they would just not reload and shoot less. Although to be fair they did stock up on brass at recent gun show. Younger folks do have a lot to grab their attention, especially in summer. Young adults have household projects, teens have social activities, parents have family activities.
Summer is time for garage and estate sales to scrounge up goodies such as solder or pewter for fall melting. Fishing and camping. Prepping brass for later reloading in the cool of the basement. Things will pick up come fall. If nothing else a few friends will want 20 rifle rounds for sight in and deer hunting. Seems a heavy chunk of fairly soft lead works really well ;-)
My take is twofold.
1, I am on a few boards owned by verticalscope.. and they are trying very hard to close down and destroy one of the boards.. trying very hard to run off most of the posters.... considering they sell advertisement and get paid on clicks... that seems counter productive.. but who am I to wonder....
2, shooting sports in general are suffering right now due to ammo cost and availability. Guns that use exotic ammo , unless you reload.. may just be priced out of range to take them out on the town. Nobody like to pay 10+$ on a triggerpull....
Downloading a picture is not a big deal...if...you use a host like IMGUR. Seriously...it's free & it's easy to use, I'm 72 and by no means a computer guru...I'ma dinosaur.
IMGUR stores your pictures and you have access to pages of them listed like this...
https://i.imgur.com/utP68pa.jpg
Select the photo you need to post & select the appropriate link for the forum your in...
https://i.imgur.com/tWM258l.jpg
Like I said, select the image link & paste it in this forum like anything else you'd paste...
https://i.imgur.com/uS4Zhy7.jpg
You even control the size of the picture...no kidding, it's pretty dang easy...
https://i.imgur.com/Q0DXf0O.jpg
Nothing enhances something your talking about like a good photo.
We're talking about direct download, drag and drop tech has been around a long time.
I see why some forums die. Too much bad information put out, especially it seems on reloading forums. I think a lot of the members we have here found it by accident, and found out the old guys really do know stuff, and you get no B.S. answers here that isn't quickly corrected by someone who has been there- done that, rather than reading what someone else just read somewhere with no hands on experience.
I just hope Willie has a line of succession in case he ever wants to retire from herding this bunch of cats!
I did not have a lot of money when I was younger, so casting and reloading was a necessity if I wanted to shoot a lot. There was no internet, and I learned from reading and from the older guys I shot with. I treated them with respect and was eager to learn from their experience. One guy in particular mentored me and took me under his wing.
My take about the current crop of young guys. Some have "instant gratification" syndrome. Buy a few boxes of cheap stuff and go blast it up. Hitting the paper = accuracy. Some seem to lack critical thinking skills. They cannot determine when someone on YouTube or a forum is full of crap. They have been conditioned to accept "fake news".
I expect most young guys coming to this forum not to be typical of the young guys I used to see at public ranges. They will have an incentive to learn and meet their needs. And for most, those needs are like mine were over 50 years ago. How do I shoot more inexpensively and make quality bullets and ammunition?
If they are infected with the "instant gratification" syndrome, they will not be successful. YouTube makes it look easy...too easy. I suspect many come here after getting their noses bloodied by believing any caveman can cast perfect bullets using whatever cheap crap they can find.
There is a line between being "civil" and accepting reality. For many folks, being told they are wrong crosses that "civility" line. A recent thread I participated in serves as an example.
It discussed the effectiveness of lighter loads in shotshells for shooting trap. Some folks believe a lighter charge is just as effective as a heavier payload. They are wrong but hold firm in their opinion. An inexperienced trap shooter looking to save money might drink the Kool-Aid if he lacks critical thinking skills. Of course, it is not "civil" to say that. But all is good...as disagreement may generate more "clicks" and "clicks" are important. Facebook learned that. If we all agreed, there would not be much less traffic.
all I know is from my own experience. I do know that I was very active in a couple other forums in the past. on one of these I was run off, banned I guess, because I disagreed with the opinion of a moderator on a non shooting sports subject. there were many with differing opinions and it seems all who did not agree 100 percent with moderator were banned. gives me some comfort knowing I was just one of many. and on another site there were some that seemed to track what others are doing and saying to the point of it being really creepy like right up to the point of them telling everyone what others on the forum personal info is and suggesting they go and liberate them of their personal possessions.
so there are all kinds of situations in our world
there was book written by one of the founders of Facebook that exposed the website for those tactics they use to promote argument and disagreement and promotes hatred towards others. we all can agree to disagree in a civil society but when some entity thinks they can take from you either your possessions, your rights or your peace of mind. that crosses a boundary in my way of thinking that is very wrong.