LIFE IS SHORT AND NO ONE MAN OR EVEN AN INSTITUTION CAN HAVE SEEN IT ALL. EVEN THEN THOSE WHO HAVE SEEN MORE THAN MOST PEOPLE WILL HAVE DIFFERENT OPINIONS BASED ON THEIR WAY OF THINKING AND ON THE REFERENCES AND PEOPLE THEY LEARNED FROM. SOME ARE MORE OPEN MINDED AND OTHERS WILL REQUIRE A LARGE AMOUNT OF IRREFUTABLE PROVENANCE TO BE CONVINCED. MANY MORE WILL NOT COMMIT TO EXPRESSING THEIR OPINION AT ALL. IT WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE OLDMAN, OAKSHOT,CAMERON STONE AND THE MANY OTHERS WHO SPENT THEIR LIVES STUDYING AND BUYING AND SELLING WEAPONS AVAILABLE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS. THEY AND THE MANY DEALERS HAVE HANDLED MANY MORE ITEMS THAN THE AVERAGE COLLECTOR AND OVER THE YEARS WOULD HAVE PICKED UP A LOT OF KNOWLEDGE IN THEIR SPECIALTY'S AS WELL AS MOST EVERYTHING ELSE. THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR HANDLING LOTS OF REAL EXAMPLES OF ANYTHING, REFERENCE BOOKS ARE GOOD BUT YOU ONLY LEARN TO PARROT WHAT SOMEONE ELSE HAS WRITTEN RIGHT OR WRONG. THIS FORUM HAS MANY VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE PEOPLE THAT EXPRESS THEIR OPINIONS AND ADD PICTURES OF ITEMS PERHAPS NEVER PUBLISHED BEFORE.
THE FORUM IS A PLACE TO SHOW OR FIND THAT NEVER BEFORE SEEN ITEM AND A PLACE FOR ALL FUTURE SCHOLARS TO LOOK THRU A LARGE AMOUNT OF ITEMS AND INFORMATION. BEING ALIVE THE FORUM IS NOT JUST THE SAME BOOK THAT EVERYONE STARTS WITH ON HIS SEARCH. AND HERE QUESTIONS CAN BE ANSWERED AND OPINIONS EXPRESSED. THE FORUM ALONG WITH THE GOOD REFERENCES AND ACTUALLY HANDLING A LARGE VOLUME OF WEAPONS WILL LEAD TO OUR FUTURE EXPERTS. SO THESE FORUMS AND POSTS ARE FUN BUT ALSO IMPORTANT AND BENEFICIAL TO DEALERS AND FUTURE COLLECTORS ALIKE.
