I seem to recall that Montana's current government claims that ammo and
guns manufacture within the state are not subject to BATFE, DHS, or
other federal regulations which restrict the Second Amendment (because
these locally produced guns and ammo don't cross interstate lines).
More power to them.
http://www.dailyinterlake.com/news/local_montana/article_7173317e-35b6-11e2-8b1c-0019bb2963f4.html
Posted: Saturday, November 24, 2012 10:30 pm | Updated: 4:15 pm, Fri Nov
23, 2012.
By MELISSA WALTHER/Daily Inter Lake | 1 comment
When it comes to high-end weapons, there's a new company in town that's
changing the way people think about rifles.
Founded in 2010, Proof Research of Kalispell specializes in creating
lightweight, accurate weapons using carbon-fiber barrels and stocks
unlike anything else on the market.
“Large gun manufacturers know we have the technology and we're being
courted by some big names,” said Pat Rainey, chief executive officer of
Proof Research. “We've changed the gun industry, just like the polymer
pistol did. The cool factor of our weapons is off the page.”
Joining forces in the Flathead
While Proof Research may only be two years old, it is made up of four
companies that have years of rifle-making experience, according to
Rainey. Proof is actually a merger of Lone Wolf Riflestocks of
Kalispell, Jense Fabrication of Missoula, ABS out of Lincoln, Neb., and
Lawrence Rifle Barrels of Lewistown.
“Lots of people have tried to do this for many years,” Rainey said. “The
idea of a carbon-fiber barrel has been around for 20 years. We're just
the first to crack the code.”
Although only one of the core companies was from the Kalispell area,
lead investor Mike Goguen said it made sense to locate Proof in the
Flathead Valley.
“The Montana work ethic and quality is outstanding,” Goguen said. “When
you look at firearms, so many of the parts in the best ones, the ones I
really admire, come from Montana, from small, mom-and-pop places that
maybe don't have the capital to go big. So it made sense to take
advantage of that. There are a lot of really amazing craftsmen here, and
we have the opportunity to bring them together.”
Goguen said he became involved in Proof while looking for a lightweight
hunting rifle, and got more than he bargained for when his custom rifle
was finished.
“I love Montana, I love hunting and guns, and I love technology and
small businesses, and this checked all the boxes,” he said. “I was
skeptical at first, but they built me a gun, and I fell in love with it
and just had to be a part of what they were building.”
In addition to folding several manufacturers under the Proof umbrella,
Goguen said the company still contracts out certain parts, such as
trigger assembly and receivers, to local companies such as Defiance Machine.
“The Flathead is a very unique community that is very firearm-friendly
and -centric to core groups of clients we're looking for,” Rainey said.
“It just made sense to locate here.”
A growing business
With the four founding companies coming together to form Proof, the
company needed a home in the Flathead. A new, state-of-the-art
manufacturing, research and design facility was built on U.S. 2 between
Kalispell and Columbia Falls. The grand opening was held Nov. 16.
Although the company had been producing weapons and courting larger
contracts for the two years since its founding, Rainey said the owners
and investors were very careful about making sure the business was
strong before opening its doors to the public.
“We wanted to build a strong foundation first,” Rainey said. “We wanted
to have everything in place, so when we opened, we could have that
strong start we wanted. We're in it for the long haul, and we don't have
to race to target our market. The market is coming to us, so we could
take the time to do it right, right from the beginning.”
Currently Proof employs 29 employees, and Rainey said the company still
is hiring. Goguen said there is great potential for job growth.
“One of the things we're doing is partnering with Flathead Valley
Community College to get some of those trade skills we need, like CNC
[computer numerical control] machinists,” Rainey said. “We've got ads in
the paper now, and we are getting people from all over.”
“It's a slow, measured growth that we're aiming for; we've got a tight
budget and we have faced challenges every single day, but we're
overcoming them,” Rainey said.
Game-changing technology
The barrels Proof manufactures are not completely made of carbon fiber,
rather they are traditional steel cores, machined down and wrapped with
carbon fibers. According to Rainey, this results in a lighter-weight,
more effective barrel of the same or similar overall dimensions and
strength as more traditional all-steel barrels.
Although the technology for carbon-fiber barrels may have been around
for the last 20 years, the big problem to overcome was failure due to heat.
In a typical rifle, the heat of extended firing will cause the barrel to
warp slightly, and this can lead to a “fairly large” dispersion pattern.
This means that what started out as shots in a dime-sized grouping on a
target can expand to shots that could completely miss the point of aim.
In some weapons, like the fully automatic M249 squad automatic weapon
used by the military, the heat is so detrimental that multiple barrels
are carried to prevent jams and increase accuracy.
When carbon-fiber barrels first came on the scene, the heat dispersion
was not much better than that of a standard steel barrel, and it wasn't
until recently that the problem was solved by Advanced Barrel Systems.
“Heat causes failure, and failure causes death, and we want to prevent
that,” Goguen said.
Many of the weapons Proof produces are for military and peacekeeping
operations where accuracy matters most.
The other big benefit to carbon-fiber barrels and stocks is a
significant weight reduction.
“One of the sweet spots for us is to lighten the soldier's load,” Rainey
said. “You can only take so much weight off a gun, and the best place to
do that is the barrel and stock. Our barrels are lightweight and
extremely accurate, and the soldier has a heavy gun to carry, so if we
can take some of that weight, it makes a huge difference. We make the
weapon a lot easier to handle.”
Rainey said that weight reduction can be very significant, whether it is
for a soldier in the field or a hunter out for the weekend.
“We can take a 19-pound barrel off of a .50-caliber sniper rifle and we
can make it 2.2 pounds, so the heaviest thing on the gun is the glass
from the sight,” Rainey said. “That's a huge weight savings, and in the
past you'd have guys jump in and have to leave the barrel behind because
it was just too heavy to get out easily. Now it's no big deal to pack it
out, too.”
No job too big or too small
While much of Proof's focus is on filling larger contracts, Rainey said
the company also makes high-end custom hunting rifles.
“We do steel and carbon barrels for high-volume manufacturing, and we
supply barrels to some special forces and long-range weapon systems, but
we also do an exclusive line of high-tech hunting weapons from 7 mm to
.338. We can completely customize a weapon in about six to seven
months,” Rainey said.
He noted that although custom hunting rifles are only a small part of
Proof’s business, there will always be a market for “very nice,
extremely accurate, lightweight weapons.”
“All of us at Proof like to hunt and we all own very nice guns,” Rainey
said. “Proof was born out of making high-tech hunting rifles, and we'll
always have that line of weapons,”
Despite starting as a custom firearms manufacturer, Rainey said Proof is
capable of filling much larger orders.
“We're geared for mass production, and we can scale up or down as
needed,” Rainey said. “We looked at what the government needed as far as
production numbers go, and we built to suit that.”
Part of the manufacturing process includes quality control, and
according to Rainey, each barrel is inspected inside and out to ensure
there are no flaws. The facility also has a three-target, 30-yard indoor
firing range for testing.
“We didn't choose the name Proof by accident,” Rainey said. “We invested
a lot of money into testing and research facilities, and we can prove
every claim we make.”
For more information go online to
http://proofresearch.com.