Do you think firearm manufacturers ever read forums?

I bet some office folk have and will read some forums, I have came across a few posts on here that powder manufacturers have chimed in on the threads.

I do think if I worked for a firearm company I would definatley read forums to get the scoop on what people are saying about the products

Nah. I’ve found the majority of people who talk about a product are the dissatisfied and you can’t please everyone. Maybe they do, but do they take what they read to heart? Probably not.

From time to time a “what new firearm would you like to see see made” thread pops up. I don’t know where some of these guys come up with their ideas.

Probably one of the most prominent ones I can think of were the super magnum/short magnums that appeared about the same time. Forget which came first, I think the Ultra magnums. For the “my dog’s bigger than your dog” crowd. Average shooters find out the recoil, muzzle blast, and short barrel life are a reality.

So then, it’s the short magnum and super short magnum. Except super short magnum is kinda like saying a super short tall guy. I had a variation of a WSSM for a specific application. Finding brass was literally impossible

AFAIK, these have all pretty much ended up in the trash bin of history. I’m trying to think of anything really new and revolutionary that’s taken off. The Creed and PRC’s are what comes to mind.

I think it's a reasonable assumption that any gun manufacturing company or business that produces firearms accessories has at least a few people working within the company who are gun enthusiasts who probably read various gun boards. If they find something on one they believe might be of interest to their company they would likely pass it along to whoever.

Any company manufacturing anything would be well served to pay at least some attention to what their customers are saying though they may not have employees specifically assigned that task.

Some do. Would a Smith and Wesson rep comb the interwebz? I don’t know. I wouldn’t think so. But you get on the 1911 Forum and you will see several manufacturers actively engaged.

Springfield Armory used to have someone from its customer service on the 1911Forum. As did Colt.

I would think some of the smaller manufacturers would at least occasionally check out what's going on in the real world to see what's happening with their products. Probably not as much, or if at all, with the larger manufacturers.

It's a safe assumption that any firearm enthusiast reads/belongs to a gun forum. Odds are tho, for many major manufacturers, the majority of their stock holders are not gun enthusiasts. I would certainly think that anyone involved with marketing would at least glean these types of forums occasionally just to see what folks are most interested in.

Old Dog said:

Springfield Armory used to have someone from its customer service on the 1911Forum. As did Colt.

Click to expand...

As did CZ/Dan Wesson. Wilson still chimes in occasionally and Alchemy’s Rob Schauland is a regular.

guyfromohio said:

As did CZ/Dan Wesson. Wilson still chimes in occasionally and Alchemy’s Rob Schauland is a regular.

Click to expand...

Sheesh, I forgot about the Alchemy guy. Yep!

There are no doubt a modest number of people on the various forums that work for firearms and related industries. Most are not authorized to speak for their company officially and for that and a variety of other reasons wish to remain anonymous but still actively participate in the firearms related forums.

Interestingly my BIL is a CEO of a manufacturing company. Not firearm related but a manufacturer. They have someone full time in the CS dept searching key words on the web for their products.
After Bushnell bought out Tasco I had a Tasco Pro Point fail. Emailed Tasco , now Bushnell about replacement and was informed Bushnell bought the name and product line not the lifetime warrenty obligation. So I went on several forums and bad mouthed Bushnell CS and the fact I'd never buy another of their products. Now I own a bunch of their products which I figured they tracked down through warranty registrations. A week later I get a phone call from the VP of customer service to follow up on a warranty issue. (?) Was wondering what they could do to make it right. Ended up shipping me a comparable Bushnell Product. I told him I'd make sure I updated my forum postings to reflect the current solution. His response was "and we'd greatly appreciate that" So my take is they are watching and listening.

I was not ever involved in firearms manufacturing, but the company I worked for products were often discussed in aviation forums. Enthusiast employees including myself certainly participated in forums but never in an official capacity nor even let it be known who we were. However, some management at high levels would occasionally drop into forums and read threads of interest and even make official statements behalf the company. The truth, most manufacturers do read the forums but rarely participate as there is much more downside than upside. Forums are too much the wild west.

If they are smart, they would get as close to their customers as possible. If they were smart.

Manufacturers seem to check in regularly on arfcom. PSA has a presence there.

Yes but two-way comms can run them afoul of issues like trade-marks, patents, intellectual property and general liabilities.

Just look at the mess it was for the knife industry at the onset of the internets and they don't even use bulletses.

Todd.

Thats gotta be tough for Taurus.

Case in point. There was a thread about a new Nighthawk having troubles on the 1911 Forum. By post number 7 on the same day as the OP, the nighthawk rep swooped in and gave a direct line to him. Unsolicited.

guyfromohio said:

nighthawk rep swooped in

Click to expand...

Dig it, words are fun!

Todd.

Quite often a thread come up about which gun magazines (the kind of magazines you subscribe to or buy off newsstands) THR members like or dislike. And there’s always a bunch of posts in that thread about how some, or most of the gun writers for those magazines are nothing but pundits, or spokespersons for various gun manufacturers.
Well if that’s the case, it would seem to me that the gun manufacturers those gun writers are working for would be reading the articles the gun writers are writing. Which brings me to my point - just a few days ago I read an article by Massad Ayoob in a gun magazine I bought off a newsstand. The article was about “home carry” (another subject that comes up quite often on THR) of firearms, and in that article, Mr. Ayoob wrote about the various opinions “posters” on internet gun forums have about carrying at home.
Therefore, Mr. Massad Ayoob obviously reads internet gun forums. And if he, as a magazine gun writer, is a spokesperson for gun manufacturers, the gun manufacturers that are essentially paying his wages are reading internet gun forums too - at least by proxy.