Farwell and Godspeed

[KMW1954]

Sad to see it come to an end. I have enjoyed my time here and have used many of the resources available here that just cannot be found elsewhere. You have provided a great service to Savage users. Too bad some of the FAQ couldn't be moved to a permanent place and not lost.

J.Baker, again thank you so much for your service to the group and with you nothing but the best going forward!

KevinWright
TwinLakes, Wi

[Robinhood]

Thank You Jim, Fred and all of the contributors. I have enjoyed the discussions and the learnings.

[Grizz Axxemann]

TBH, I'm kind of bummed out. I just got here!

[pdog06]

Try being here for 20 years and see how ya feel…

Jim, I’m sure your feelings are mixed, from being sad to see it go to feeling somewhat relieved to not having the stress of running the site and having more time to enjoy life and pursue other avenues of you wish.

All I can say is Thank You! Thanks for doing this for so long and giving us Savage nuts a landing spot. It has helped a TON of people over the years but all good things have to end sometime.

I know people don’t want it to end. There’s already people on Accurateshooter asking their admin if there’s a way for them to absorb this sites info over into theirs so it isn’t lost, similar to how what you did with the pistol site.

Really gonna miss hanging out here with y’all, and hopefully will see a lot of you around on other sites.

Thanks again Jim(and all the moderators!)!

Mike

[epags]

Sad to see it come to an end. I have enjoyed my time here and have used many of the resources available here that just cannot be found elsewhere. You have provided a great service to Savage users. Too bad some of the FAQ couldn't be moved to a permanent place and not lost.

J.Baker, again thank you so much for your service to the group and with you nothing but the best going forward!

KevinWright
TwinLakes, Wi

And the same goes for me.

[wbm]

Thank you for all the years Jim....this really hurts my heart...no exaggeration. For almost 20 years this has been a treasure to me.

[fayettefatts]

Thanks for all the hard work over the years Mr. Baker. I've learned a lot here and enjoyed the time spent.

[J.Baker]

I will be retaining ownership of the domain name, and I may throw together a simple wordpress site to keep the articles and reviews on and maybe post something new once in a blue moon if I get the itch. If I do that, the site will still be down for a while depending on if/when I decide to do it. I have all the articles and associated images on the main site backed up on my PC and burned to CD so they won't be lost (yes, I still have a functioning optical drive for my PC as unusual as that is in this day and age). Time will tell on that one. I do plan on keeping the FaceBook page and discussion group going, so if you're on Facebook and aren't currently following the page or a member of the group here are the links as I will post any updates there when the time comes.

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/SavageShooters

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/savageshooters

As I noted in my announcement post, the biggest driver is simply that the site isn't profitable enough to warrant keeping and updating it at this point. Ten years ago when it peaked we had nearly 1,000 paid members, now we don't even have 100. From 2016 to 2018 we also lost a big chunk of our ad revenue from Google AdSense due to their policy changes and from separating from Carbon Media after they made some stupid changes to their ad partnership program. Combine that with a very significant drop in paid memberships during the same timeframe and you'll start to understand why new content on the main site was coming out far less frequently and in lesser volume. When the money's not coming in you don't have it to spend on things to create content, and for a website to survive it needs new content being posted regularly to keep people coming back and to stay relevant with the search engine algorithms.

Regarding content, in the early days - the first 10-12 years or so - we had a great group of probably 15-20 people who would submit a couple of articles or reviews each year. That not only provided additional content outside of my own, it also provided different perspectives and viewpoints. Not only was that great for content, but it also provided a real feeling of comradery or team work. As tends to happen to all of us eventually, their interests and motivations changed with time and they each eventually moved on as other interests took priority in their lives. Unfortunately as they each faded away into the internet ether there was never anyone willing to step up and fill the voids they left, and by 2016 or so it was down to just me. The last 10-12 years we haven't had that disparity in content shy of a couple random submissions or good posts I promoted to articles from the forum.

Today with inflation the way it's been this site would have to bring in 6x the revenue it's made in each of the last few years to put it back at 2015 levels and justify the expense to update it properly with new software and the like. I just don't see that happening given how forums of all types have been slowing down or dying off completely in recent years. We currently have roughly 100 to 150 "regulars" posting here on the forum at least a few times a week, and even if every single one of them were a paid member it's just not enough. Companies across the board are also cutting way back on their advertising budgets, and a lot of the smaller businesses have stopped advertising all together as everyone's been tightening the purse strings due to inflation and market uncertainty. Even Savage has cut back on the number of guns they're willing to send out for reviews, so it's not just the smaller companies being affected.

The other big factor is that after 24 years I just don't have the interest and motivation that I did the first 15 or so years of running this circus. Most reading this will probably notice I don't post on the forum much anymore, mainly because after 24 years there's very little new or interesting to peak my interest enough to get me to chime in. When I do post, it's usually in response to someone asking about an older gun or to correct some incorrect historical information someone else had posted. At 50 years young I'm not chasing after the latest bolt-on doo-dads or the so-called latest greatest cartridges, nor am I drooling over the newest lipstick Savage is slathering over the same old pigs ala new metal finishes, camo patterns, laminate colors or fluting patterns. I have what I want and have all my bases covered for my needs, so short of needing to replace a worn out barrel or needing reloading supplies I'm just not spending money on guns or interested in keeping up with the latest new things to hit the market. Heck, it's been over a year since I last stepped foot in a "proper" gun shop short of wandering through the Gun Barn at the local Rural King.

Times change, people and their interests change, and I've apparently finally hit that point in my life. If nothing else, it was an interesting ride and I got to meet a lot of great people!

[Nor Cal Mikie]

Well said BUT, know that you WILL BE MISSEED!!

[Smokey262]

Its been a lot of fun Jim, and we have shared and learned a lot. Some of the guys have been around for a long long time, and some great guys have left. I have a fair amount of spare parts and other crap only a guy here would want, I better get off my butt and post it so it goes to a good home.

Wonder if Hammer will shine around one last time? :)

[pdog06]

Man how times have changed! And WTH was going on at 6am on 9/4/19? That’s a ton of traffic and not really that long ago!

[shoots100]

It was a great run and your dedication to helping and keeping Savage firearms enthusiasts educated is truly appreciated.
Savage should give you a medal and fund the website after all you've done for them.
Thanks and a I hope the future treats you well barrel nut brother.

SJC
Steve Carey, NY

[J.Baker]

Man how times have changed! And WTH was going on at 6am on 9/4/19? That’s a ton of traffic and not really that long ago!

Bots or a DOS attack.

Our best year was 2013 where we had just over 7 million page views for the year and over 2m unique visitors. That was the year following the Sandy Hook shooting and Obama and Congress were really pushing for new anti-gun legislation. Was the same year NRA memberships ballooned to exceed 5m members.

[NF1E]

Thanks for being here for all that time Jim. I have enjoyed learning a great deal ,in the short time I have been aboard, about my Savage rifles that I have had for 30 plus years and their capabilities, with some effort. Finally got the pair of 110s in .308 and .223 down to sub 1/4 moa thanks to this forum. At 76 going on 77 there aren't many places I feel comfortable to ask questions. This had been a wonderfully accepting place to reside. Whatta Hobby!