Jim,
It doesn't even have to be an Internet forum. Word of mouth still works.
Recently I got a call from a barrelmaker and gunsmith, asking if I knew a guy we'll call Bub. It seems Bub used to live in the gunsmith's town in another state, and the gunsmith built him a .338 Lapua. Bub then moved to my part of Montana, and all of a sudden the gunsmith started getting phone calls from this part of Montana about getting one of his "magic" .338 Lapua barrels that get 3200 fps with 250-grain bullets. The gunsmith kept telling them that he did not make magic .338 barrels, that
So I asked around and yes, Bub had become the long-range hunting expert in my local rod and gun club, which has a 1000-yard range. I do one of the members, who owns the record for the smallest 1000-yard benchrest groups shot in competition, but hadn't yet met Bub, who had indeed been bragging about the magic barrel on his .338 Lapua. But I also out that the action on his .338 Lapua had disintegrated a week or so before, while he was shooting at the range with several other people.
All of a sudden the calls to the barrelmaker/gunsmith for magic .338 barrels ceased, but I wonder how many of the other shooters actually believed Bub's BS?
But see, the barrel was magical it was the action the disintegrated. The only thing missing is a magical action and magical brass.
