What do you get out of NorthwestFirearms forum?

[CountryGent]

NWFA is my "Internet home" and it means a lot to me.

Easily the most important aspect is the friendships I've made here. Some of those friendships are very deep indeed. I have been blessed by said and I am grateful for that.

The fun, the laughs, and witticism is another reason. Up until fairly recently I knew I could always come here and smile or breakout in laughter, or provide the same for someone else. This has been, without reservation, the most laid-back, joyful firearms forum I've been on in all these decades.

And, of course, the solid information. Kicking around ideas, sharing content, the how to guides, discussing emergency preparedness, working through builds and gunsmithing problems, planning new projects/builds/experiments/whatever, outdoor discussions, etc. This has been a simply invaluable source of information.

There have also been times when this has been a good rallying point when we faced new anti-2A legislation. We are all in this together, after all.

On a macro level, I am looking forward to the joyful times again. I wish you all well.

 

[arakboss]

NWFA is my "Internet home" and it means a lot to me.

Easily the most important aspect is the friendships I've made here. Some of those friendships are very deep indeed. I have been blessed by said and I am grateful for that.

The fun, the laughs, and witticism is another reason. Up until fairly recently I knew I could always come here and smile or breakout in laughter, or provide the same for someone else. This has been, without reservation, the most laid-back, joyful firearms forum I've been on in all these decades.

And, of course, the solid information. Kicking around ideas, sharing content, the how to guides, discussing emergency preparedness, working through builds and gunsmithing problems, planning new projects/builds/experiments/whatever, outdoor discussions, etc. This has been a simply invaluable source of information.

There have also been times when this has been a good rallying point when we faced new anti-2A legislation. We are all in this together, after all.

On a macro level, I am looking forward to the joyful times again. I wish you all well.

Internet Home is a great way to put it. It's usually the last site I check before bed and the first one I check upon waking. The dynamic here is so much better than "gunboards" etc and that is in big part because of the variety of topics and viewpoints. Everybody agreeing all the time would = boredom.

 

[RVTECH]

Probably the biggest 'take away' for me has been the interaction with people from the PNW - a commonality which is not shared by all forums.

As well as others I too have met and made some good friends on the forum as well.

While not a 'newcomer ' to gun ownership I have gained a lot historical knowledge and education on a variety guns I might never have been exposed to otherwise.

While I have only had a few experiences in the classifieds all have been positive with little to none of the 'common' problems we all have heard about with online dealing.

 

[Bob D]

I have wavered in and out of involvement. As a left-wing gun owner, It's difficult to get too far into any reasonable conversations on legal/political issues even related to guns, as it usually devolves pretty quickly. I have appreciated it all though, and my skin is thick enough to not take it personally and to deescalate when called for, but it doesn't feel like the friendly, welcoming place that it did eight years ago.

I support any efforts to moderate vitriol and aggressiveness, no matter who from. As someone with friends both at MAGA rallies and BLM Protests, I get a bad taste in my mouth when I see comments that seem like they're wishing harm on any of my friends merely for being part of either group. There are 2A supporters and responsible gun owners among the most dedicated and patriotic of both groups. Most of us here in this country are doing what we think is best for our communities, and that's important to remember. I welcome a return to northwesterners connecting and enjoying their shared hobby together.

 

[Diamondback]

Mentorship, cameraderie, an oasis of sanity in an insane Paradise Lost... many members I wish I could get out to go shoot with, and many who've passed on that I wish I could've while they were still among us.

 

[DB is Here]

I came for the guns, stayed for the people and free beer.



What @Stomper doesn't send you any?

 

[Stomper]

I came for the guns, stayed for the people and free beer.



What @Stomper doesn't send you any?

Sorry, I'm all outta free guns people!!

 

[Xaevian]

Sorry, all all outta guns people!!

Since so many people tell me to hold their beer while making questionable decisions, I have plenty of mostly full beers to share.

 

[nammac]

I came for the guns, stayed for the people and free beer.



What @Stomper doesn't send you any?

Wait? There's free beer?

Probably PBR...

 

[kbf64]

probably there should be a fee for being able to post, $10 / yr from 50,000 members would help hire anyone to run the board. Read-only for non-donors.

I've gotten some great info here on this board, especially from reloaders. So I just sent over $60 for the year.

 

[Joe Link]

Thanks for the awesome post, Bill (@Cogs). To say you've been a huge asset to gun owners is a gross understatement. Keep up the great work!

Those of you who've been around a while have no doubt heard me mention that this community was started as a spur-of-the-moment idea when I was 26 years old, sitting at my computer drinking a beer while my girlfriend watched American Idol. I was tired of the ugliness I found on most sites, especially ARFCOM, the cliquish nature of the 'cool kids' vs everyone else, and the cult of personality most forum owners cultivated for themselves. I wanted better, and though I had zero knowledge about web dev or anything else, I knew that would be the easy part of this sort of endeavor. From the start I knew I wanted to create a place where people could meet others and form lifelong friendships offline, as in the end I believe there's nothing more important than friends and family. Internet friends are great, but where does a middle aged person go to make new best friends? The kind of friend that you could call at 3am with a problem, and you know they'd be there? I wanted this place to create those relationships. And I knew that by helping to create these relationships our entire network of gun owners would grow stronger and tighter, thus helping our cause.

I never set out to do this full time, and I never thought I'd be doing it 12 years later. If you'd have told me back then, when we were handing out cards at a booth at the PDX gun show to try to attract our first couple hundred members, that we'd have nearly 50,000 in 2020, I wouldn't have believed you. Ed Sr himself said we'd never have more than 1,000 members. Yet here we are, I'll be 40 in a couple years, and this place is my life now. I've met so many great people on here, I can't count them all. Real people. Honest, hard working people that seem to be in short supply, who are generally skeptical of new people for that very reason. Reading these stories really makes me feel like my work (and my life) has meaning and purpose, something which is very hard to find.

I really appreciate you guys

 

[bbbass]

Wow, not going to try to upstage Joe, and he's a rough act to follow.

But inline with others, I joined for the firearms info and camraderie (sp). When I first signed up, there was a lot of bickering, bullying, mocking, and personal attacks, as well as a lot of good stuff. Then we had our first big heart to heart with Joe L, and a change ensued. It was fairly calm for a long time, then came Covid and the thing, you know man, the thing!!! And now here we are again.

Reflecting back, this is my internet home also. It is the place I spend the most time, the place I share the most, the place I laugh the most, the place I learn the most. Ya'll are indeed like family, some of mine I don't talk to.

I've met very few members, because I also live on the far side of the state. Despite that, I consider many to be real friends. Anyway, I've met a total of 4 members in person. Bought a pistol, became friends with @kmk1012. Bought another pistol, it didn't come with friendship. Met up with a LEO member that moved nearby, he's too busy for friendship, and was driven away (from the forum) by some anti-LE comments. Then there was Argonaut.... I miss Argonaut!!! David was very interesting and a great man.

My firearms hobby is declining due to physical problems. I may have to join ifish. So I will miss the conversations about current events as they go away.

The other internet activities that I have are FB, wow the public sections can get rough, and you have to watch out for wild tin foil theories too, and Foxnews.com comment sections, which get fairly ugly with trolls, no cussing but lots of disgusting comments. Judgy eh???

 

[Mikej]

Thanks for the awesome post, Bill (@Cogs). To say you've been a huge asset to gun owners is a gross understatement. Keep up the great work!

Those of you who've been around a while have no doubt heard me mention that this community was started as a spur-of-the-moment idea when I was 26 years old, sitting at my computer drinking a beer while my girlfriend watched American Idol. I was tired of the ugliness I found on most sites, especially ARFCOM, the cliquish nature of the 'cool kids' vs everyone else, and the cult of personality most forum owners cultivated for themselves. I wanted better, and though I had zero knowledge about web dev or anything else, I knew that would be the easy part of this sort of endeavor. From the start I knew I wanted to create a place where people could meet others and form lifelong friendships offline, as in the end I believe there's nothing more important than friends and family. Internet friends are great, but where does a middle aged person go to make new best friends? The kind of friend that you could call at 3am with a problem, and you know they'd be there? I wanted this place to create those relationships. And I knew that by helping to create these relationships our entire network of gun owners would grow stronger and tighter, thus helping our cause.

I never set out to do this full time, and I never thought I'd be doing it 12 years later. If you'd have told me back then, when we were handing out cards at a booth at the PDX gun show to try to attract our first couple hundred members, that we'd have nearly 50,000 in 2020, I wouldn't have believed you. Ed Sr himself said we'd never have more than 1,000 members. Yet here we are, I'll be 40 in a couple years, and this place is my life now. I've met so many great people on here, I can't count them all. Real people. Honest, hard working people that seem to be in short supply, who are generally skeptical of new people for that very reason. Reading these stories really makes me feel like my work (and my life) has meaning and purpose, something which is very hard to find.

I really appreciate you guys

I'm glad to hear you feel that way Joe. Phew....It sounded like you were ready to flush half the membership and change the name to ishoot. I'm here everyday and spend a lot more time in the off topic forums than I do gun sections. Though it is comforting to have a place where I know ANYTHING I would ever need to know is right here in the forums. I'll say I believe that the huge majority of regular posters are damn good people to have around. That majority makes NWFA the best. The rough edges/people are IMO a small minority.

My firearms hobby is declining due to physical problems. I may have to join ifish. So I will miss the conversations about current events as they go away.

You might need a "Muzzle" of some kind. Not sure you'd last three posts on ifish! At least on the "Life in General" forum You're much better off here, trust me.

 

[Joe Link]

I'm glad to hear you feel that way Joe. Phew....It sounded like you were ready to flush half the membership and change the name to ishoot. I'm here everyday and spend a lot more time in the off topic forums than I do gun sections. Though it is comforting to have a place where I know ANYTHING I would ever need to know is right here in the forums. I'll say I believe that the huge majority of regular posters are damn good people to have around. That majority makes NWFA the best. The rough edges/people are IMO a small minority.

Nah, not to that point yet

Honestly, the good still outweighs the bad. The response to my message has been overwhelmingly supportive, with a lot of members who wrote this place off indicating that they'll be coming back. That's the problem with forums, once a handful of members are allowed to change the mood people stop visiting. When people stop visiting the voices of that handful of members inundate the forum with the same sort of discussion, alienating more people, and it snowballs. While we do have our share of trolls here, I don't think most of these people who alienate others truly know what they're doing, they're just passionately voicing their opinions. I think yesterday's message was probably a wake up call to quite a few people, and historically a simple message (or book, rather) is enough to have a big impact. For 99% of our members, the only change they'll notice is this place getting more civil, respectful, welcoming, and positive. For the other 1% (some of whom are popular members, unfortunately), they're probably better off finding somewhere else to call home.

 

[MannyGlocks]

At 11 and with my Dad's help, I bought a .22 bolt action single shot.

Scintillating eh?

 

[bbbass]

You might need a "Muzzle" of some kind. Not sure you'd last three posts on ifish! At least on the "Life in General" forum You're much better off here, trust me.

You've tried to "civilize" me before.... I liked it!!!

 

[Xaevian]

If I wanted drama and dumpster fires along with an occasional hookup with a butterface, desperate house wife, I'd sign up on Nextdoor.com. I'm here to help make a difference for the 2A in the PNW.

 

[bbbass]

If I wanted drama and dumpster fires along with an occasional hookup with a butterface, desperate house wife, I'd sign up on Nextdoor.com.

Welcome, neighbor!!!

 

[ZigZagZeke]

I'll tell you what I got… I got a life! In other words, it has changed my life! (Perhaps I could rephrase that to read: The people on this NWFA forum have changed my life!)

I now have a focus and direction I never would have conceived a few years back.

When I joined, in 2012, I had been away from gun ownership for 40 years. I hadn't given it much thought during that time, but always remembered the fun days of plinking varmints, coyotes, and game hunting as a kid. My focus was on climbing the corporate ladder, raising a family, playing golf and going fishing.

One day, my youngest son asked to go deer hunting and it rekindled those special memories of hunting with my dad and brothers. So, I joined NWFA to refresh my memory on hunting techniques, where to go around my area and if Black Tail are any different to hunt than Mule Deer.

I started hearing from people who were welcoming, courteous, helpful, and encouraging. I liked it here and felt very comfortable communicating with total strangers because I sensed a brotherhood of mutual love and respect for the second amendment and these people were just darn nice to me. Little did I know, my life would soon begin to take on a new focus and direction.

Many of you know what direction I have gone and what my focus has become, but for those who don't, let me tell you the who, what, and why of it.

I took my son out to a public forest to teach him how to use a rifle for hunting. We got out of the truck and were both in shock from the volume of trash at a target shooting site in the forest. IN THE FOREST! What the heck? It was a real eye opener for me. I was expecting something more like my childhood memories of shooting on our own ranch. We never took trash out on our ranch, shot it up and then left it there! I expected a clean place to shoot, just like nature should be… natural!

I posted my frustration on NorthwestFirearms and promptly received lots of replies of mutual feelings. I started to get a sense that this stuff is happening in all forests throughout Oregon and Washington. I wanted to do something about it and decided perhaps I could do a little something in my own back yard.

I shot an email off to the forest agency managing the forest I was in and asked them; if I could get a few of us hunters and gun owners together to clean it up, could they help with the disposal cost? They were super excited and responded with a positive YES! Beyond that, they will supply the trash bags, gloves and provide insurance for anyone if an injury happened. I posted this news to the NWFA forum and said let's get together and go do this! The response was awesome!

My first cleanup was so much fun! We had 35 people attend, cleaned up about 4 shooting sites and when we were done, everyone brought out their toys and we blew the place apart! Of course, we had to do a second cleanup of our own mess, but, it was so much fun we all wanted to do it again.

And so it began. Cleanup after cleanup, lots of volunteers meeting and greeting, sharing and enjoying each other's company. And the group shoots were always a blast!

One day, the owner of NWFA, @Joe Link , asked me if I would consider becoming the Volunteer Coordinator for NWFA. I almost turned it down because I was no authority and was a bit shy, but thought, okay why not! It shouldn't be much more than what I'm already doing! (The direction of my life was becoming a little more focused now. Thanks Joe!)

After a couple years, it became apparent to me that this effort, encouraging responsible target shooting on public lands, could, and should, be a bigger deal. I wanted to reach out to more gun owners and public land shooters all over the Northwest. This forum is a perfect platform for that, however, it was missing an important element that was needed to move the cause to the next level… An independent non-profit C-3 organization to qualify for grants, open doors with forest management agencies and gain corporate support through donations. I felt it could forward the cause for positive change.

So, I started Trash No Land, a non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization focused on the goals of promoting responsible shooting on public lands and saving our good places to shoot.

Since then, the members of this forum have been my primary source of motivation and encouragement, as well as, my biggest volunteers! I have met many great people here who give their time, resources, thoughts, ideas and fellowship! I really look forward to renewing those acquaintances and making new ones along the way. (I have also had the unique opportunity to shoot so many guns I will never be able to own in my lifetime! From Full Auto to 50 cals! It's been awesome!)

So my life has changed because of this forum and the members of NorthwestFirearms! There's no better family than the gun owner family who live here and I'm thankful for that. Thank you for giving me encouragement to pursue a passion you helped to develop!

Note: The Trash No Land organization is not affiliated with NorthwestFirearms. I am only a member here who started a separate non-profit. I appreciate the opportunity to communicate on this forum and value it as an integral part of furthering the cause for improving the shooting sports on public lands.

I'm sure this forum has touched most of us in one way or another. Perhaps you could share your experience of what you have gained from this forum?

Bill

NWFA is the one tab on my browser that's always open. Meeting people like Bill, and having the chance to work with them has been the most rewarding part of being here. My experience with Bill/Cogs of educating shooters by the side of the road in the forest was amazing. It's rewarding work and a chance to make a difference.

I've had a lot of great experiences here. I've bought and sold firearms and accessories face to face with uniformly great people. I even won an AR in one of the raffles.

I've prayed for, and lent moral support to those in their last days, like PinkHammer and Sarge. I've asked questions and gotten advice from those who have been there and done that regarding lots of different endeavors.

This is a great group of people for the most part and there's always "Ignore" for the others. So far, to quote Gus McRae, "It's been one helluva party!"

 

[Mikej]

NWFA is the one tab on my browser that's always open. Meeting people like Bill, and having the chance to work with them has been the most rewarding part of being here. My experience with Bill/Cogs of educating shooters by the side of the road in the forest was amazing. It's rewarding work and a chance to make a difference.

I've had a lot of great experiences here. I've bought and sold firearms and accessories face to face with uniformly great people. I even won an AR in one of the raffles.

I've prayed for, and lent moral support to those in their last days, like PinkHammer and Sarge. I've asked questions and gotten advice from those who have been there and done that regarding lots of different endeavors.

This is a great group of people for the most part and there's always "Ignore" for the others. So far, to quote Gus McRae, "It's been one helluva party!"

Man, you, and others today, are saying it sooo much better than I can.