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

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

IMO Privacy concerns due to the increasingly Orwellian environment plays some part.

[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.

[Aragorn243]

Some observations on the "young". Can be taken as criticism if you like because that's probably what some of it is.

I attend a WWII weekend once a year and go to the occasional military exhibition in between. I see kids, and I mean kids, running around in full, either real or excellent reproductions of WWII gear carrying replica $200+ resin rifles and frankly acting like complete idiots. It addition to this ever increasingly large group are the twenty-somethings that have the same with the exception that their firearms are the real deal. In general, this group is slightly more historically accurate and slightly less idiotic than the first although for the life of me, I can't quite wrap my head around with why anyone would want to dress up in SS uniforms and then proceed to tell people that THIS SS unit didn't perform any attrocities during the war. Yes, I've heard that. So not only one individual is doing this but an entire group of them forming a complete squad.

So money seriously doesn't seem to be much of an object with these people, they are buying things up so fast that new comers are left buying czech or yugo rifles. Interest is there because again, no shortage of people getting into it. It's knowledge that seems to be at a complete loss.

On a semi-related note, the last great milsurp, the Mosin Nagant, sold by the thousands at Cabelas to people that just wanted a cheap rifle to cut up and make go bang.

In defence of the re-enactors, once they get in their 30's they really seem to settle down, get serious, know what they are talking about and take care of their stuff. There are also exceptions to the younger ones. I take a young girl, 15 now, to this show each year and I just have to look at her and roll my eyes when these characters start acting up. "Look at my plastic rifle, isn't it cool"