Why is the "Other Military Service Pistols" forum so quiet?

[Colonel Enfield]

Apologies if this isn't the right thread to ask this question, but I'm somewhat perplexed by how quiet the Other Military Service Pistols & Revolvers forum is.

It only seems to get a handful of posts every month, and many of the threads only have a couple of replies.

Any idea why its so quiet there, considering how active many other forums here are? I'd have thought military service handguns would be a very popular and active discussion topic.

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[Aragorn243]

I would venture to say that most of the forums are quiet. I know all the ones I follow have been rather slow all summer.

[jmoore]

I haven't purchased many military pistols or revolvers of late. Not so much due to scarcity, but price. Saw an Enfield No.2 revolver last weekend on the shelf for US$699! Maybe I'm behind the price curve, but there's "more better" gear to be had that's more useful. Have eyes on several rifles at the same or less money, currently, but got to get the property tax paid first. US$5000+ is a chunk out of the play money!

[Sarge]

If it bothers you that the thread is so quiet, WHY don't YOU post something there???
Much of this whole board is about dead, Not just that one thread!
Sarge

[Colonel Enfield]

If it bothers you that the thread is so quiet, WHY don't YOU post something there???

I do. And have, several times. The most recent post in the forum (at time of writing this) was made by me.

I've spoken to many other gun site operators and from those conversations, I do have the impression that our hobby is generally in decline, with less new collectors entering it every year and the old guys like me (67) starting to fade away, to use a polite expression.

Perhaps it's getting too expensive for younger newer collectors, or maybe it's just a fact of a changing culture.... I really don't know for sure.

I know expense is certainly an issue - with the World War I centenary at the moment there's a big interest in old military rifles (which is great) but as I've mentioned before, the prices on them have gone silly here in Australia, to the point where they just aren't affordable (or don't represent good value) to many people looking to get into the hobby - it's hard to explain to someone in their 20s why $750 for an old, fairly average condition rifle represents a better use of their discretionary spending than a brand-new $750 rifle, complete with warranty, accuracy guarantees, ability to mount accessories, etc.

Other feedback I've recevied from new shooters (and in some cases, personally witnessed) is people being put off by "cranky old men". Fortunately most of the old-timers I've encountered (including the folks here) have been fantastic, welcoming and only to happy to share their knowledge. I doubt I'd still be enjoying the hobby myself if it wasn't for the support, knowledge and encouragement of people with far more practical experience with the gear than I am ever likely to have.

Regarding handguns, I do get people are understandably not keen to go around saying "Look at these handguns I have!", but given the level of knowledge here, I am surprised there isn't more "theoretical" or "historical" discussion - less "What's this gun we found in my grandad's attic?" and more "What sort of pistols did the Turkish army use after WWI?", for example.

None of this should be taken as a criticism, by the way - more an observation and (in my view) a question which needed asking.

[jmoore]

Why is it that things are slow? For me, there's no longer the weekends to do big photo rich posts. Used to spend hours prepping photos and attempting to type. And during the week, it just seems harder to get time to contribute meaningful info. Same for what few sites I frequent, except maybe for the generally inane S&Wforum, where any old thing seems to be OK or not. In actual fact, most of my time on this site is generally spent READING posts and trying to keep up! And that's done in two ten minute periods with a 30 minute session in between. No facebook, nor auction site skulking.


As for why other folk don't post more? Dunno! Could be other internet attractions? I've heard there's lots out there.

[Badger]

I think that specific forum is quieter because of the 26,000+ Registered Members worldwide, we don't have a preponderance of collectors visiting that are specifically into pistols/revolvers other than the Model 1911 genre.

The other factor is there are far more "takers" then "contributors" in most any type of forum on the Internet. By that I mean, folks who simply go to a site to read and research, as opposed to answering questions and helping others. As an example, not counting Google or other type of search robots which index threads from the site, our daily/monthly/yearly site visit activity is actually up over 30% this year, even though we're just coming out of the summer, which is traditionally slower.

We've had 4,813 different "real" people visit the site in the last 24 hours who spent an average of 15 minutes searching and reading threads in various forums, but only about 450 of them posted anything in the same time-frame.

I've spoken to many other gun site operators and from those conversations, I do have the impression that our hobby is generally in decline, with less new collectors entering it every year and the old guys like me (67) starting to fade away, to use a polite expression.

Perhaps it's getting too expensive for younger newer collectors, or maybe it's just a fact of a changing culture.... I really don't know for sure.

For those that are interested, there's a lot of site empirical data available in our statistics section, which is accessible from our Quick Links drop down box menu at the top of the web site on the navigation bar.

Site Statistics (click here)

Once there, look at the bottom of that web page display and choose various statistical screens to view different types of data.

I've attached a couple of screen pics below which you can all view anytime from that member menu and as examples, it shows the current status of our most popular forums and a snapshot of current member demographics. Keep in mind that the member demographics doesn't show all 26,000+ members ages, because the software is only able to analyze the data of those members who actually enter their birth-dates and ages in the optional member profile fields.

Regards,
Doug

[Eaglelord17]

I've spoken to many other gun site operators and from those conversations, I do have the impression that our hobby is generally in decline, with less new collectors entering it every year and the old guys like me (67) starting to fade away, to use a polite expression.
Perhaps it's getting too expensive for younger newer collectors, or maybe it's just a fact of a changing culture.... I really don't know for sure.

It depends. In Canada I think there is a fair bit more respect for these older military rifles than there once was particularly amongst the younger generation, as shown by the rapid increase in price over the last couple years.

The price thing is a good point, as in the 5 years I have been collecting I have spent a ton on this hobby (thank you having a pretty good paying job and no extra expenses). Most people definitely can't afford to collect some of the more 'traditional' routes (i.e. K98ks, Rosses, Lee Enfields etc.) and need to go for what is cheaper and available (mostly Soviet surplus, which there is nothing wrong with).

I think I will work up a post on how to collect and shoot milsurps for cheap (for me half the fun is being able to make them shoot again). I know when I started I was buying (and still am) things in really weird obsolete calibers, some of which I still haven't shot yet either due to factory ammo price, availability of ammo, or a mixture of the two.

[Aragorn243]

I see no decline in military collecting in my area. They disappear as fast as they show up. I suspect part of it is a general reluctance to publicize what one has to keep that information private. I know that sounds strange in areas where every purchase has to be registered but many of these long gun purchases are legally under the radar in the US and I suspect the owners want to keep them that way. I personally don't post as much because my collection is nearly complete and I'm not actively seeking many new items and those I am seeking are hard to find and/or unexpected when I do run into them like the Type 30 I recently acquired. Handguns are one weak area for me and they are likely to stay that way due to the high prices.

[Beerhunter]

In the UK of course, collecting rifles is so much easier than pistols and revolvers. I suspect that there are no more than a few hundred pistol collectors in Great Britain - if that!