I enjoy a spirited debate, BUT, all too often on this site, it digresses to idiocracy and name calling, lacking respect and having little semblance to the original topic. It seems that few recognize the difference between facts and opinion and it seems when someone posts a fact there are 10 opinions telling them they are wrong.
I ran into this on the 9.3X300 WM thread I posted a few months back regarding the velocities I posted as measured by my Oehler 35P. Some still posted that it wasn't possible, even after I posted photos of the printout and photos of the fired cases with primers still intact and still slightly rounded. I am not daunted though and will continue to contribute to these forums, knowing that my experiences will be questioned by those whose knowledge is gleaned from the internet and other questionable sources.
It seems to me that the "old boys club" on here, referred to earlier, almost always agree and seldom have any arguments within, but meet real resistance when voicing experiences not well covered on the internet. This is when the inexperienced and opinionated seem to become most vocal. I view this as the greatest cause of irrational debate and argument on this site, the uninformed attempting to defend positions that common sense and experience have proven to be incorrect. A perfect example of this is bullet construction, when one has thrown hundreds or even thousands of bullets at game and harvested 100s of head of game, it gives one an experience base as to what works and what doesn't. A single bullet failure is enough to rule that bullet out as appropriate for game, however the inexperienced seem to think that a single bullet success makes it acceptable for game and that just isn't how it works out there. Do they listen to the old boys with hundreds of animals taken? No, they base their opinion on one or two successful uses and what they see on TV. I have only been on CGN for 2 years and have seen this debate several times now and still it amazes me how many think that pseudo hunting, match bullets are appropriate for all types of hunting and game, when every single hunter on here with a large experience base has experienced one or more failures with these bullets.
Another is sub-calibers for big game which will cause many pages of opinions to be expressed, with "the old boys club" being fairly united against the proposition because they have seen what can go wrong when using even adequate calibers for game. And again it comes down to the fact that one failure that shouldn't have happened, one lost animal, trumps 10 successes!!
Like I said, I enjoy a spirited debate between two or more well informed individuals, the problem with hunting and shooting is that as years go by and experience and knowledge grows, opinions as to what works and what doesn't, always seem to converge. Just my observations.