Wally,
I agree in principle to some of what you've posted just now. I've said this in my long post on another thread, that some of Mac's posts have rubbed me the wrong way. But, if you look at the vast majority of his posts, I believe that you'll see, as I do, that he usually makes a special effort to be considerate of the feelings of others. In particular I remember a thread of a few months ago when I was struggling with my 38-55, and had sent it back to the factory for some work on the latch and the chamber. John (JPH45) authored the thread and it got a bit involved. Mac at first, really didn't get all of the issues but he eventually saw what we were getting at, and through it all, even though it was obvious to me that he was not really believing what John and I were getting at, he did it in a way that, to me anyway, was at least civil even if it was obvious he didn't (at first, and for a few back-and-forths) or couldn't believe what we were talking about. In fact, I had a hard time with the chamber/bore issue myself (how could they at NEF have cobbled such a mismatch together and sold it to me???). But he kept it civil and in the end accepted what we were saying as fact, and apologized for his lack of acceptance.
So, why am I defending Mac (and Tim, too)?
I've come to appreciate the extra burden that moderating this type of forum puts on a person. we all, or most of us that post here, try to stick to the facts, as we see them. (my opinion here). As a member of this place I know that I try to keep my posts on a factual and open-minded plane.
How much more of an effort must it be to have the added responsibility of refereeing the discussion that goes on here? I'm guessing that it's a heavy coat to wear. No matter how you come down on this or that issue, you're going to tick SOMEONE off.
The easy thing to do would be to just stay out of the day-to-day threads and just warn, then delete, report to Bill, whatever went over the line.
But they have gone a lot farther, and poured a lot of effort and, IMO, honestly generous effort, into sharing what they've come to know about these rifles.
What happens to this forum if Mac and Tim do leave for good? Will Bill allow it to continue to exist, in the absence of any moderation? I doubt that.
Maybe I'm just a wimp, but I for one would really miss this place if Bill decided to shut it down...
Anyone want to volunteer to help carry the load?