First of all, Bigvern was asked to sit this one out because he was making some pretty disparaging comments before he even had the rifle in question. It seemed fairly obvious he had an axe to grind with an industry supplier. A supplier that had taken the time (and patience) to answer community questions and concerns.
This is a technical forum, where users are encourage to have civil and reasoned dialogue (and debate) about things, not some bar room brawl where they can sling whatever shit they want at someone, thinking they can do so with impunity from the vendor or this site.
In case you haven't noticed, a LOT of vendors no longer have as much dialogue here as they used to. Mainly because of people who get butthurt about something, and then proceed to disparage a vendor, often times without even having the product in hand. This has happen more times than I can count. These people, and these comments diminish us all, and limit our ability to communicate (respectfully) with vendors to offer suggestions to improve products, as well as garner information about what is in the delivery pipe.
There is no cancel culture here. There is however, no tolerance for bashing vendors, as they reach out to the very community they are trying to support. If you have a gripe or a bitch, state it, professionally and respectfully. If you can't do that, then take it to PM. If you can't do that, then follow the old advice "If you don't have anything nice to say..."
People, you need to understand that you are shitting in the yard that we all play in, and when you do so, it affects us all. Tom (and others) have long supported getting information to and from this community, that benefit us all. Venting on a vendor, just because you disagree or are disappointed is just bad behavior. You become "THAT GUY", but worse, you paint the rest of us as the same ilk. This is not ARF.com This is not Longrangehunting.com. This is The Hide.
If you can't understand that, or abide by that, your stay here will be short. The Hide has served the community in supporting vendors and users alike, as well as calling out those that were flat out frauds (Tactical Rifles anyone?), so don't think this is some cancel culture crap that you can label on the Hide. It's common fucking sense behavior, that requires we all put on our big boy pants, and act accordingly. If you can't be civil, then so be it, the hammer will fall.
JMTCW