Re: M. Woodbury 308 Medium Tactical build
Garrett and I talk about this often.
Shooting is something I've been involved with in one capacity or another since I was 19 years old. As I'm about to turn 41 here in a few weeks I've realized that shooting doesn't hold much interest in me anymore. Working the Sullivan, Peshmerga, and Olympia ranges in Iraq will give you a full dosage of range operations. It gets interesting when working with indigenous personnel as weapons safety isn't something well understood in the middle east.
--I still say we could of ended the war in Iraq in a week by gathering up all the insurgents/terrorists and sticking them in the Green Zone PX parking lot with weapon's cleaning gear and a full magazine of ammunition. They would have all shot each other in about 10 minutes. (this is where the Iraqi Army would gather to clean weapons. When they did WE scattered like roaches because it was only a matter of minutes before the "BANG" came followed by the sirens of the ambulance(s))
Guns themselves really don't excite me all that much anymore. Some do, but its not very often. I don't sit and pour through magazines or publications researching every new widgit being offered. Most the time I'm searching for new tooling that'll make my job easier.
I do however still enjoy building them. The interest now primarily lies in getting more efficient. Kinking/tweaking the programming and refining processes that get the same results while compressing the time issue. The biggest charge I get out of this is just being able to do stuff that other shops can't. 96hour rotations on barreled action work for instance. In most cases were done within 36 hours. As far as I know that's unheard of.
The surface machined inlets, our bedding, and how we cut floor metals are sort of things we've been able to bring to the masses. It's not that were gods gift to guns. It's because of the equipment assets and due to having a very fortunate "upbringing" with the opportunity to learn how to use them.
It's funny cause more and more guys are coming online with the CNC stuff. It wasn't that long ago that I was being called crazy and a hack because I used this kind of stuff. "Production work" is the term many BR guys used to label me with.
They don't say that anymore.
Business ownership has now opened a whole new set of challenges that go so far beyond just standing in front of a machine. Its a lot of responsibility, but there are intangible benefits that I'll never give up.
Being able to bring my dog to work and take him across the street to shit whenever I want is one little perk that I really like.
This gun started as a box of parts and was completed in about 3 days. That's barreling, inletting, bedding, cleanup work, paint, coating, engraving, test firing, etc.
Not bad, but I'm always looking for ways to reduce the time investment.
C.
