Do not deal with The Hogs Den

[Jrb572]

I have already posted this in another thread but I am putting it up so if someone looks hopefully they see this.


Stay away from the hogs den, Twomanattach or whatever they are calling themselves nowadays

I read several places he did a good job on builds. So I contacted him and we agreed to me trading a Unertl for a build. The build was to include the barrel, log books (which he talks shit on builds without them) all correct markings I want.,clip slot, bedding the stock, and a simrad cap for my mount and any additional stuff to finish the build. We discussed everything and I included a note with the rifle when sent what we had talked about. Rifle is a Six digit action.

After a year of having it I text him and I got that he was waiting on screws for the scope mount he could not get. Ok no big deal. Things are fucked up because of COVID. Get the call rifle is coming back to me. Great news I can’t wait to get my hands on it. Open the case and at first glance I’m happy. Then I notice there is no US stamp above the serial. The I see the barrel is marked PWS and I wanted the RTE-P. Get ahold of him and he complains and says not all rifles are built to spec like the internet say. I tell him I get that is possible but not what we agreed on. He complained and said send it back. Send back Rifle.

Rifle is gone for a few months and I get a text saying hey had to spin a new barrel the PWS would not come all the way out. I say thanks for the update. Rifle comes back. I instantly am disgusted when I open the box. Finish looks like total shit. My short shroud is somehow a long one now and the bolt lift totally sucks now. So I go to cleanup the rifle and where the action and barrel were marked the finish wipes right off. Back down to bare steel. Look closely at the barrel and you can still see PWS lightly under the now marked RTE-P. Get back in contact and was told it was a legit repair and I should be happy. At this point I am fuck this guy even if he would repair it correctly I would not even send it back to him.

So I had LRI fix the bolt lift and cut the shroud down to correct length. They did an excellent job and quickly turned it around. I had touched up the barrel and action with some wipe on black oxide. It drove me crazy because I thought it looked like shit. Raven Rifles hooked me up and redid the black oxide for me and it looked awesome. Once again great guy and turn around was super quick.

Finally get it back together go to the range and shoot it. Fuck found another issue. Should have known better and probably had LRI or Raven look at it but I figured it was fine. There is a ring around the shoulder of the brass. Get the handy dandy bore scope out. Guess what. There is a huge burr in the shoulder of the chamber. It is back out being taken care of.

Oh never got log books or my SIMRAD that was part of the deal either.

Stay far away from the Hogs Den , TMA or whatever the hell they call themselves.

To add more to the story. Just got this from the smith taking care of it.


Joe I got a chance to look over your rifle today. Below or the things I found, does not include the barrel issue.
1. RTE-P stamp stinks
2. U.S. stamp wrong
3. Wrong screws in base.
4. Clipslot for base incorrect.
5. Screw for front of trigger guard broke off or cut to short.
6. Wrong box mag and not welded.
7. Bedding is subpar.
8. Not 100% sure but I don’t think recoil lug has proper modification

Also forgot the first time the rifle was sent back to me it was just thrown in a box with bubble wrap and by the time it got here the barrel was sticking out of the box even though I had sent it in a hard case.

 

[Zigjib]

100% , i didn't have a good experience with them either.

They have had $1000+ USD of my money since November 2021.

I paid for items "in stock" and was even contacted with additional parts that were "over runs" which, like you, included a SIMRAD cap.

Multiple emails went unreplied to.

When i was replied to, it was all excuses, they hadn't forgotten about me etc etc.

I eventually asked for a refund. That was back in September last year. Still no cash back. Still no parts. Still no updates.

Huge chunk of change to lose, especially in this day and age

 

[MK20]

100% terrible experience with them too. Don't go near them!

They have had $1000+ USD of my money since November 2021.

I paid for items "in stock" and was even contacted with additional parts that were "over runs" which, like you, included a SIMRAD cap.

Multiple emails went unreplied to.

When i was replied to, it was all excuses, they hadn't forgotten about me etc etc.

I eventually asked for a refund. That was back in September last year. Still no cash back. Still no parts. Still no updates.

Terrible customer service and never delivers.

Don't waste your time and money. At this point, they are scam artists. Promises that never get delivered, money that is never returned.

Huge chunk of change to lose, especially in this day and age, so learn from my mistake and don't transfer them a fucking dime!

Small claims court is a very good option in most states.

I just got $922 in owed wages and compensation from a shitbird who refused to pay me thanks to small claims court.

 

[Zigjib]

Small claims court is a very good option in most states.

I just got $922 in owed wages and compensation from a shitbird who refused to pay me thanks to small claims court.

Love it, i'll be pursuing this if i'm not refunded in 48 days.

I've sent a nasty gram today.

I've already spoken to my bank who has an international fraud department and they are going to escalate it for me as i'm international

 

[Jrb572]

They have an eBay store that sells junk parts just so people are aware of that also. The shitty thing is that is one of the only If not only scope base anyone makes as a repo for a Unertl base. Some fit some don’t and I understand rings just break off. I have seen people say the SIMRAD does not even fit even though he sells both parts

 

[Zigjib]

They have an eBay store that sells junk parts just so people are aware of that also. The shitty thing is that is one of the only If not only scope base anyone makes as a repo for a Unertl base. Some fit some don’t and I understand rings just break off. I have seen people say the SIMRAD does not even fit even though he sells both parts

I got got through the ebay store.
I emailed about postage to Aus and they were all helpful until they got my money, then it was radio silence.

 

[RTH1800]

Guy is a piece of (work).
He would criticize folks builds and parts here then try to buy them under different name. Had some young girl call me about a scope (USMC) “she was buying for her dad”
Constant bullshit from the guy. Surprised he is not in prison or a grave.

 

[Jrb572]

Guy is a piece of (work).
He would criticize folks builds and parts here then try to buy them under different name. Had some young girl call me about a scope (USMC) “she was buying for her dad”
Constant bullshit from the guy. Surprised he is not in prison or a grave.

Maybe the mods would make it a sticky so others don’t get burnt by the guy. I’ve heard plenty of horror stories about him. Or I’ll just do my best to keep any eye on it and I’ll bump it up if it gets on the second page

 

[tokiwartooth]

TWOMANATTACK is usually a good guy, I’ve dealt with him numerous times in the past. We all go thru hard times in our life. Work with him, I’m sure he’ll make it right. He’s not an easy guy to get along with, but if you respect him, he will give that respect back. Girl is his daughter, she has also been reasonable with me. Good college kid looking to help her dad out. That’s unheard of these days. Give it time, and deal with people right. I’m sure he’ll work it out with you. I also would not trust anyone’s feedback but an impartial 2112.

 

[USMCSGT0331]

He's never been a good guy, he's always been shady as fuck. Just because you had a few good deals doesn't mean that he hasn't screwed with other people. He still advertises that he has rifles built at PWS, even though he's been blacklisted there for years. Here's the truth, PWS is a military installation, not a commercial gunsmithing shop, no one is monetizing rifles being built at PWS! It's a complete lie and he isn't having any one there build rifles for him.

He lies about everything, his garbage M40A1 Unertl mounts are held together by shitty welds because THEY HAVE MAGNETS IN THEM! And when someone started a thread on them, he lied and said someone else used his base and other rings. Who the fuck would do that?! Seriously, if you have one of his mounts, put a small piece of steel like a staple or small paperclip (has to be steel/magnetic) on the ring bases or bottom of the mount. Guess what, it will be held to the mount with magnets. He always said that he intentionally "flawed" the mounts, so this is what he did to "flaw" them. I have photos and videos of friends sticking pieces of metal to their TMA mounts as proof.

If anyone here has one of the mounts, try it out and post photos or a video. I challenge anyone here to do so.

No one should ever support this guy, he's done a ton of harm to this community and needs to be avoided at all costs!

 

[acudaowner]

and pre cooked pork .

 

[Jrb572]

TWOMANATTACK is usually a good guy, I’ve dealt with him numerous times in the past. We all go thru hard times in our life. Work with him, I’m sure he’ll make it right. He’s not an easy guy to get along with, but if you respect him, he will give that respect back. Girl is his daughter, she has also been reasonable with me. Good college kid looking to help her dad out. That’s unheard of these days. Give it time, and deal with people right. I’m sure he’ll work it out with you. I also would not trust anyone’s feedback but an impartial 2112.

No he’s screwed tons of people. I respect you but he’s a crook. He take’s people’s money and gives them nothing what he promised in return. If he’s such a a great guy I want my money back he can reach me here and send me a check for the shit he’s fucked me on.

 

[Stevo86]

Guess I’ll have to agree with Toki on this… I’ve got 4 rifles and quit a few parts from him and never had an issue. He even fixed a broke ass unertl I bought once.

 

[Jrb572]

Guess I’ll have to agree with Toki on this… I’ve got 4 rifles and quit a few parts from him and never had an issue. He even fixed a broke ass unertl I bought once.

Good for you. I’m getting out there to not deal with the guy. Glad he didn’t screw you over like he has done to so many.

 

[USMCSGT0331]

Guess I’ll have to agree with Toki on this… I’ve got 4 rifles and quit a few parts from him and never had an issue. He even fixed a broke ass unertl I bought once.

If you got rifles 7+ years ago from him, they might be built at PWS. If it's anything recent, it doesn't stand a snowballs chance in hell of being a PWS build, no matter what he claims.

 

[Stevo86]

If you got rifles 7+ years ago from him, they might be built at PWS. If it's anything recent, it doesn't stand a snowballs chance in hell of being a PWS build, no matter what he claims.

All of mine are around 2014-15. All are top notch quality rifles. Just stating my experience man. Not here to argue with anyone.

 

[Jrb572]

Mine was claimed to be PWS built. And it wasn’t. Unless they lost the knowhow to build them correctly.

 

[USMCSGT0331]

All of mine are around 2014-15. All are top notch quality rifles. Just stating my experience man. Not here to argue with anyone.

This was a different era, before a lot of shit went down. No one at PWS is building him rifles right now or in the past 5 or so years. Right now TMA is building everything himself or possibly with the help of a local friend in California, nothing is coming out of PWS for him, even though he claims that his current builds are from PWS. The list goes on and on and on. Getting a real PWS built rifle from almost a decade ago isn't what this thread is about.

 

[corsairpilot62]

I can validate @USMCSGT0331 claim about the magnetic mounts and simrad caps. I just tested the one i bought of his ebay store thehogsden. He actually claimed i was buying an original and not one of his reproductions. Unfortunately, I bought is in 2020 so I guess I will be trying to find an actual original.

 

[Zigjib]

Come on man, don't be a tease, give us the full story!

 

[corsairpilot62]

looks like @TWOMANATTACK hasn't been on here since 2019! hard to believe 4 years more or less. kinda reading posts on here and m40rifle seems he had a good reputaion 2014-2018 or so than 2019-2020 something happened and then post 2020 tma reputation/quaility/attitude lawndarted faster than a doctor flying a v-tailed bonanza.

also sounds like @USMCSGT0331 has a story to tell more akin to an adventure time episode. do share.

 

[RTH1800]

He was always a crook. It took a while for some to figure it out. Nothing changed.

 

[USMCSGT0331]

I can validate @USMCSGT0331 claim about the magnetic mounts and simrad caps. I just tested the one i bought of his ebay store thehogsden. He actually claimed i was buying an original and not one of his reproductions. Unfortunately, I bought is in 2020 so I guess I will be trying to find an actual original.

Please post a few photos of a small piece of metal stuck to the sides or bottom of your mount! My photos and video are from other people, so I can't share them without permission. Please post some photos to document these magnets and show people what to look for, it would be a great service to the community!

 

[Baron23]

lawndarted faster than a doctor flying a v-tailed bonanza.

Ain't dat da' trut, right there ^^

There's even an article with that as the subject! haha

The Doctor Killer — General Aviation News

generalaviationnews.com

 

[Stevo86]

Ain't dat da' trut, right there ^^

There's even an article with that as the subject! haha

The Doctor Killer — General Aviation News

generalaviationnews.com

Forky tail Dr killer

 

[macethetemplar]

lawndarted faster than a doctor flying a v-tailed bonanza.

Hahaha I’ve wanted a 64-65 Bonanza for years! With all the magnesium tail decay though now I’m looking more towards the Columbia 400’s…

 

[corsairpilot62]

Please post a few photos of a small piece of metal stuck to the sides or bottom of your mount! My photos and video are from other people, so I can't share them without permission. Please posg some photos to document these magnets and show people what to look for, it would be a great service to the community!

Technically not a paper clip but a piece of those butterfly like clips. Last photo is the bottom of an olight showing that the clip piece is attracted to a magnet. The cap itself looks pretty well made (he was trying to say it was the real thing) so i cant really see weld marks. Now the black oxide finish is literally rubbing off….so…yeah…

Hope this helps

 

[USMCSGT0331]

Come on man, don't be a tease, give us the full story!

also sounds like @USMCSGT0331 has a story to tell more akin to an adventure time episode. do share.

No. Just flat out no, I'm done with this. I just wanted to post a warning to people so that they don't get ripped off.

 

[corsairpilot62]

Hahaha I’ve wanted a 64-65 Bonanza for years! With all the magnesium tail decay though now I’m looking more towards the Columbia 400’s…

I’m probably gonna do a kit build in a few years. Or hopefully I can afford Stearman.

 

[corsairpilot62]

No. Just flat out no, I'm done with this this. I just wanted to post a warning to people so that they don't get ripped off.

 

[corsairpilot62]

@USMCSGT0331 Joking aside, I’m sure you have your reasons. Just thankful you and @Jrb572 and others are getting a warning out.

 

[pmclaine]

I got my rifle from him back 2014 or earlier.

It’s been great. I will have to try the ferrous metal test on the mount.

Won’t say the transaction wasn’t without its conflicts but none involved the rifle itself.

Interesting thing is that the signatures in the tube book were sharpies out, you can see signatures under the sharply unsure why it would be blacked out.

 

[USMCSGT0331]

I can validate @USMCSGT0331 claim about the magnetic mounts and simrad caps. I just tested the one i bought of his ebay store thehogsden. He actually claimed i was buying an original and not one of his reproductions. Unfortunately, I bought is in 2020 so I guess I will be trying to find an actual original.

What did he tell you was an original Unertl part? The mount, the simrad cap or both? How much did you pay for the part? A few hundred dollars or a few thousand dollars?

There's a lot of new guys on here who have recently started collecting USMC M40xx items. If someone offers you a "real" Unertl mount or simrad cap for a few hundred dollers, it's too good to be true and it's a fake. Do you guys want to know what high level collectors are currently paying for those 2 Unertl parts? The last real USMC Unertl mount I've seen for sale was sold for almost $4,500, with the average price being about $3,500 to $4,000. The last USMC Unertl simrad cap I've seen sell was sold for about $3,500.

These items are very rare and you need an expert on them to authentic them. No one is hooking a stranger up with one of these original parts for a few hundred dollars, unless they're faking them. I truly wish more of these pieces of history could have been saved, but unfortunately almost all of them were destroyed. It truly hurts knowing that USMC history, some of it my history, has been destroyed. That's why I'm writing a book on this subject, I want to document and preserve this unique part of USMC history for future generations.

I also hate seeing people get scammed, and these Unertl parts are ridiculously rare and expensive. That's also why I've given away dozens of original Redfield 700SA scope base/ring sets to many people in this community (on this forum and other forums). I want people to know that they have options and that they aren't stuck with a stupidly expensive Unertl mount for their build.

I'm out of the original Redfield base/ring sets, but if any of you need help tracking down these parts, please shoot me a message and I'll be more than happy to share some ebay links with you and help find you the correct Redfield parts! I'll start another thread on this topic if I have to, I want everyone to know that there's other options that are 100% correct for their build and will cost under $100 for a Redfield 700SA scope base/ring set.

 

[USMCSGT0331]

I just tried to find an older thread over on the M40rifle.com site and I see that the OP has started a thread on this topic over there. I clicked on it and there appears to be a guy posting as my username, but has one number different in the MOS portion of the username (0311 as opposed to my 0331). I want to make it very clear to everyone that I have not logged onto that website since about 2018 and have an agreement with the owner that we go our separate ways. The person over there with the 0311 username is not me. I don't have different aliases, I'm on dozens of forums, gunbroker and ebay with 1 username, which I'm posting from right now (USMCSGT0331). The other guy with my username also claims to have done deals with TMA in the past. I have never even talked to TMA (phone call, text, email, etc., absolutely no contact with him). The other guy can do whatever he wants, it's a free country, I'm just informing everyone that the person using that account on the M40 forum is not me (the owner of that site has my contact information, he can reach out to me if he wants further verification).

Besides that, I was able to locate a thread you will all find interesting (I did not have to log in to any account over in that site to retrieve the link to this page).

https://www.m40rifle.com/forum/m40a1/48017-broken-scope-mount

Notice the magnets in the rings and why the large shitty welds nee to be there on the sides. Those spot welds are the only thing holding these mounts together, unlike the original USMC Unertl mounts that had the lower portion of the rings extend into the base and was brazed in place. The original Unertl method of attaching the rings was strong enough that they didn't need welds, that's why you don't see welds on the vast majority of USMC Unertl mounts. Sometimes the rings might come slightly loose and a 2112 would have to apply a miniscule tack weld, as seen in some of my photos in my M40A1 thread. This was a very rare modification and is only seen on a handful of USMC Unertl mounts.

Alao, notice how nonchalant TMA is about blatantly lying to that everyone on that website. You all mean nothing to him, you're all marks as far as he's concerned. Seriously, someone took his mount, pulled the rings off and then replaced them with new rings with magnets in them and then they replicated his shitty welds to hold the rings to the base? And whoever did that also did it to his simrad caps and dozens of other scope mounts that people have proven to have magnets in? Let's get fucking real, this guy is a straight up liar and we have documented proof. A lot of documented proof. Even guys who bought their mounts directly from TMA, not a 3rd party, documented proof.

You've all been warned.

 

[corsairpilot62]

What did he tell you was an original Unertl part? The mount, the simrad cap or both? How much did you pay for the part? A few hundred dollars or a few thousand dollars?

I bought just the simrad cap from him. it was listed as $650 and after sitting for a few months i made an offer for $500. this was on his ebay store. the ad doesn't even appear in ebay anymore just the purchase details. looking back it had red flags. i can't remember the whole ad but something to the effect of "genuine USMC!" 100% Mil-spec" and so on and so forth.

when I made the offer on ebay. it took a day or two, and was accepted. shipping about a month or two later. when I asked about the offer he said he had just gotten back from a deployment. I didn't press because the delayed shipping actually worked for me. the company i was working for at the time experienced crazy high volumes of freight and we had to fly double or triple runs. I worked rotational and they kept asking me to stay. I love OT so yeah.


NOTE: this next part is asking and speculating on the use of magnets.

why would he put a magnet in the simrad cap itself though? (I know I'm probably asking for a rational answer for an irrational problem) The rings and base sorta make sense. instead of a rotating dovetail like Leupold or brazing the base of the rings, he used a magnet dowel centers acts like a pillar and welds give it structural support (in a manner) Its not right or correct but the use of a magnet is at least better explained than in the simrad cap.

I hope this information helps.

comment on the edit. fixing typos.

 

[Jscb1b]

What are the magnets for? Never mind.

 

[USMCSGT0331]

I bought just the simrad cap from him. it was listed as $650 and after sitting for a few months i made an offer for $500. this was on his ebay store. the ad doesn't even appear in ebay anymore just the purchase details. looking back it had red flags. i can't remember the whole ad but something to the effect of "genuine USMC!" 100% Mil-spec" and so on and so forth.

when I made the offer on ebay. it took a day or two, and was accepted. shipping about a month or two later. when I asked about the offer he said he had just gotten back from a deployment. I didn't press because the delayed shipping actually worked for me. the company i was working for at the time experienced crazy high volumes of freight and we had to fly double or triple runs. I worked rotational and they kept asking me to stay. I love OT so yeah.


NOTE: this next part is asking and speculating on the use of magnets.

why would he put a magnet in the simrad cap itself though? (I know I'm probably asking for a rational answer for an irrational problem) The rings and base sorta make sense. instead of a rotating dovetail like Leupold or brazing the base of the rings, he used a magnet dowel centers acts like a pillar and welds give it structural support (in a manner) Its not right or correct but the use of a magnet is at least better explained than in the simrad cap.

I hope this information helps.

comment on the edit. fixing typos.

Yeah, a $3,500 simrad cap for $500 definitely isn't going to be the real deal. Is there anyway you can dispute the purchase with ebay and get a refund? If so, please go that route and get your money back. File complaints with ebay, dispute the charges with your bank or credit card if ebay won't refund you. If this is a recent purchase, there shouldn't be any reason for you to be stuck with it. I hate seeing good people get ripped off, I hope you're able to send the simrad cap back and get your cash back!

Also, you're looking at the magnets in the completely wrong way, but that's not your fault, that's my fault for not explaining it in greater detail.

He puts the magnets in every in order to "flaw" the piece. He thinks that his repros/fakes are so good that no one can tell the difference between them and the original Unertl mounts/simrad caps, and he needed a foolproof way of telling them apart. There is absolutely NOTHING structural about it! In fact, rare earth magnets are quite brittle, so it would be a terrible idea to use them structurally. That's why his mounts require him to use the nasty welds, because the magnets post give absolutely zero support whatsoever.

He puts the magnets in everything so that he can tell if it's one of his mounts/simrad caps or an original Unertl piece. That's it, no more no less, no speculation. This is the actual reason for it. And I use the word "flawed" quite a bit because it's the exact word that he used to describe his mounts when he was posting about them years ago on the M40rifle.com forum. I can't find his old posts where he talks about this, but if someone searches the old posts long enough, they might find his posts. He never said what the "flaw" was. There was a lot of speculation that it was pat of the dimensions. We now know that the "flaw" is the magnets in everything and possibly flawed dimensions (this would explain why some of his simrad caps don't even fit his own mounts).

 

[corsairpilot62]

Unfortunately, I didn't do my responsiblity to properly research the simrad cap and determine true value. All I really compared it to was the Badger Ordnance simrad cap and seeing a Badger at $190 and a "genuine USMC" cap at $650 and offer accepted at $500. And just looking at pictures, I hadn't joined on here yet so no asking or talking to experienced folks.

To other reading this and determining products to purchase I will recommend the Badger Simrad cap.

@USMCSGT0331 thanks for clarifying TMA use of magnets.

 

[corsairpilot62]

What are the magnets for? Never mind.

Lol, I deserve it, ...asshole.

 

[USMCSGT0331]

Unfortunately, I didn't do my responsiblity to properly research the simrad cap and determine true value. All I really compared it to was the Badger Ordnance simrad cap and seeing a Badger at $190 and a "genuine USMC" cap at $650 and offer accepted at $500. And just looking at pictures, I hadn't joined on here yet so no asking or talking to experienced folks.

To other reading this and determining products to purchase I will recommend the Badger Simrad cap.

@USMCSGT0331 thanks for clarifying TMA use of magnets.

The thing with TMA is that his listings have ALWAYS been shady. I remember when a former Navy SEAL (trident six) used to frequent these forums and provide us with some really good information and really great photos. I'm not going to say who he is, but other guys on here might know who I'm referring too and may have also done deals with him. Anyways, one of the very first threads on the M40 forum was this SEAL calling out TMA for his shitty sales listings. This was back when TMA was making the fake/repro M24 flash hiders and he didn't mark them in any way that was different than the ones that were issued by the military.

 

[Mongoose0311]

@USMCSGT0331 I would be the individual with the similar username on M40.com. As you saw the account is almost 6 years old, so it’s not as if I was trying to take your name to make it appear as if you had shared your story. I can talk to an admin about updating that name anyways, a few numbers and rank have changed.

Anywho, here is my story from M40.com.

I'm not surprised, honestly. I had him build my M40A5 after nothing but absolute stellar reviews from the entire community on the Hide. I provided every single part minus the bedding compound and the logbook. This story is from memeory, but I still have the cell phone with messages i can charge and pull from if needed. My story starts February 2020.

Now, after first reaching out to TMA he very quickly texted me back and said he could build the gun and gave me an address to wire the funds. I receive a three month turn around. We covered some other things like sending him a copy of my Driver's license and a sanitized version of my basic orders as the gun would be coming back to me in a different state than I possess a driver's license. I had friends at the time who had rifles done by him and they came out great, as well as all the information from the Hide validating him as a credible source for clone gun assembly. I believe I paid somewhere around $1,200 for my build. I wired the funds to him that night but wasn't able to get the components out for another few days, when I noticed, I was shipping to California. I reached out to TMA and he said it was fine, the components come to him to be inspected and then forwarded to PWS to be assembled. Seems like a waste of money to me, as it's a lot of money to ship coast to coast (four times), but I listened to my friends and the Hide and mailed it. Upon receiving the components, he was quick to message me letting me know that my PGW EFR wasn't "Correct" for an A5, and then rambled on about how Badger actually stole his design for the lugged scope base or something I ignored. I told him to move forward with the build as I had already compared all the components to a real A5 and knew they were correct.

Three months after he received the gun is where issues started. I reach out to him asking for an update on my gun. He tells me that everything is assembled and is just waiting for bedding and oxidizing. Not a problem, those are easy things. Another month goes by, another message asking about my gun. Same status. Another month. Same status. Now this is where things get interesting. I have multiple friends that were on the USMC and Army shooting team, at the time some of them were doing something down at PWS, and none of them saw my A5 being assembled, and when asking around they found that no armorer was working on that for anybody, so I can confirm without a shadow of a doubt that TMA is full of shit and his guns are not built at PWS. This frustrates me pretty badly, so I reach out to TMA and tell him that I want my gun back, and I want it back now. TMA proceeds to tell me that the gun is at PWS and due to snow or something that Quantico is closed, and the armorer can't get to my gun to mail it to me, as well as the fact its "not finished". This is when I tell TMA that I have a friend on Quantico who can take possession of my gun and bring it to me, or I can take special leave and drive up myself from Camp Lejeune. TMA tells me no, it's not possible, which now throws another red flag for me. This is when I ask TMA if it's because my gun actually isn't in the PWS armory like he said it was, because I had somebody look and it wasn't there.

This is where even more trouble with TMA started. He now starts to ignore my messages, calls, emails, texts, ETC. I'll get random texts giving me some dumb update like its done being bedding, or its waiting for black oxidizing. I tell TMA that I have orders and will be leaving the country, and I need my gun in hand before I leave. He assures me I'll have my gun. Around the 10 months mark I am about execute orders and move oversees. I tell TMA to just stop all work and mail me what is done and I'll pick it back up with a more trustworthy shop when I get back. He ghosts me. I believe I had mentioned at this point I was getting the family lawyer involved, but it may have been a little after. anyways, I move overseas. No gun. I tell TMA it's time to figure shit out because I'm about to post on every single forum across the internet about our deal and how absolutely fucked it's gone. Magically, the gun is now down. I get a crude picture of the gun taken on what could only be a 2008 Samsung razor. I calm down a little bit. He tells me it will be going out as soon as he is done with his "quality assurance" test. I agree to this as he told me it would only take a day or two and then I would get tracking. Great. I give TMA an address to mail the gun since I no longer own the house I was in when this whole ordeal started. Probably two weeks later I finally get tracking, only to my horror the destination state is not what I gave him. He mailed the rifle back to the address that is on my drivers license. Thankfully the address is still a house owned by a family member, but the fact that it's not where the gun should have gone, it was 5 states away, and to a super antigun family member was extremely frustrating.

To sum this post up, I got my gun back, it was actually all correct, had the data book (stamped PWS, even though it was never there) and it shoots extremely well. I'm Very happy with the gun today, but I would absolutely NEVER recommend TMA/Thehogsden to ever touch anything you own, and this post is nothing but a warning of what you WILL inevitably go through if you use his services. Between the shady business practice, the absolute nightmare of what must be against 50 ATF rules mailing guns all over the place, and his overall attitude, I could care less what the community that had good dealings with him 6+ years ago, He's absolutely trash now.

if you don't mind letting me know where you posted this, i'll also cross post my comment.

 

[USMCSGT0331]

I'm not surprised, honestly. I had him build my M40A5 after nothing but absolute stellar reviews from the entire community on the Hide. I provided every single part minus the bedding compound and the logbook. This story is from memeory, but I still have the cell phone with messages i can charge and pull from if needed. My story starts February 2020.

Now, after first reaching out to TMA he very quickly texted me back and said he could build the gun and gave me an address to wire the funds. I receive a three month turn around. We covered some other things like sending him a copy of my Driver's license and a sanitized version of my basic orders as the gun would be coming back to me in a different state than I possess a driver's license. I had friends at the time who had rifles done by him and they came out great, as well as all the information from the Hide validating him as a credible source for clone gun assembly. I believe I paid somewhere around $1,200 for my build. I wired the funds to him that night but wasn't able to get the components out for another few days, when I noticed, I was shipping to California. I reached out to TMA and he said it was fine, the components come to him to be inspected and then forwarded to PWS to be assembled. Seems like a waste of money to me, as it's a lot of money to ship coast to coast (four times), but I listened to my friends and the Hide and mailed it. Upon receiving the components, he was quick to message me letting me know that my PGW EFR wasn't "Correct" for an A5, and then rambled on about how Badger actually stole his design for the lugged scope base or something I ignored. I told him to move forward with the build as I had already compared all the components to a real A5 and knew they were correct.

Three months after he received the gun is where issues started. I reach out to him asking for an update on my gun. He tells me that everything is assembled and is just waiting for bedding and oxidizing. Not a problem, those are easy things. Another month goes by, another message asking about my gun. Same status. Another month. Same status. Now this is where things get interesting. I have multiple friends that were on the USMC and Army shooting team, at the time some of them were doing something down at PWS, and none of them saw my A5 being assembled, and when asking around they found that no armorer was working on that for anybody, so I can confirm without a shadow of a doubt that TMA is full of shit and his guns are not built at PWS. This frustrates me pretty badly, so I reach out to TMA and tell him that I want my gun back, and I want it back now. TMA proceeds to tell me that the gun is at PWS and due to snow or something that Quantico is closed, and the armorer can't get to my gun to mail it to me, as well as the fact its "not finished". This is when I tell TMA that I have a friend on Quantico who can take possession of my gun and bring it to me, or I can take special leave and drive up myself from Camp Lejeune. TMA tells me no, it's not possible, which now throws another red flag for me. This is when I ask TMA if it's because my gun actually isn't in the PWS armory like he said it was, because I had somebody look and it wasn't there.

This is where even more trouble with TMA started. He now starts to ignore my messages, calls, emails, texts, ETC. I'll get random texts giving me some dumb update like its done being bedding, or its waiting for black oxidizing. I tell TMA that I have orders and will be leaving the country, and I need my gun in hand before I leave. He assures me I'll have my gun. Around the 10 months mark I am about execute orders and move oversees. I tell TMA to just stop all work and mail me what is done and I'll pick it back up with a more trustworthy shop when I get back. He ghosts me. I believe I had mentioned at this point I was getting the family lawyer involved, but it may have been a little after. anyways, I move overseas. No gun. I tell TMA it's time to figure shit out because I'm about to post on every single forum across the internet about our deal and how absolutely fucked it's gone. Magically, the gun is now down. I get a crude picture of the gun taken on what could only be a 2008 Samsung razor. I calm down a little bit. He tells me it will be going out as soon as he is done with his "quality assurance" test. I agree to this as he told me it would only take a day or two and then I would get tracking. Great. I give TMA an address to mail the gun since I no longer own the house I was in when this whole ordeal started. Probably two weeks later I finally get tracking, only to my horror the destination state is not what I gave him. He mailed the rifle back to the address that is on my drivers license. Thankfully the address is still a house owned by a family member, but the fact that it's not where the gun should have gone, it was 5 states away, and to a super antigun family member was extremely frustrating.

To sum this post up, I got my gun back, it was actually all correct, had the data book (stamped PWS, even though it was never there) and it shoots extremely well. I'm Very happy with the gun today, but I would absolutely NEVER recommend TMA/Thehogsden to ever touch anything you own, and this post is nothing but a warning of what you WILL inevitably go through if you use his services. Between the shady business practice, the absolute nightmare of what must be against 50 ATF rules mailing guns all over the place, and his overall attitude, I could care less what the community that had good dealings with him 6+ years ago, He's absolutely trash now.

if you don't mind letting me know where you posted this, i'll also cross post my comment.

Thanks for posting your story. I also assume you're the guy who made the USMCSGT0311 username on the M40 forum. I don't know why you want to use a name that's almost the exact same as what I've been using for over a decade (it's weird), I just want people to know that this is indeed 2 separate people. I don't want anyone thinking that I'm posting over on the M40 forum if they skim the username quickly and don't catch the change in 1 number. That's all I have on this, sorry everyone for the slight thread derail.

Just saw your edit, I remember when you created that account on there back in 2018, one of my friends told me about it (it was after I left that site). I figured it was just someone joking around, probably another Marine. I've never seen you try to imitate me or claim to be me or anything else, that's why I've never said anything about it. I just wanted people to know that it was someone else with a username that's very close to mine, that's all. I appreciate you clearing everything up.

 

[USMCSGT0331]

Apparently it's up to the buyer to know if the item is legit or not, based on what the seller says. Unless TMA specifically says that an item is "genuine" "authentic" "real deal" "USMC issued" "government issued", it's up to you to know that all the other words he's using is describing a reproduction. After all, he flat out says that you should "assume they are all repro items unless specified as legit." There were other threads that dealt with this shit and he edited his posts multiple times. I clearly remember these arguments from back in 2015, it just wasn't good at all. Go search his posts on the M40 forum, some are still there (I took these screen shots a few minutes ago).

 

[Jscb1b]

Lol, I deserve it, ...asshole.

No shit intended. Serious question. I did not know that he used the magnets to prove that he made them.

 

[USMCSGT0331]

No shit intended. Serious question. I did not know that he used the magnets to prove that he made them.

Well, now you do. But it's not just you, I think a lot of people are going to be learning stuff in this thread. This is stuff a few of us have known for a long time, but it always seems like TMA has a ton of loyal followers and I've been ignored/disregarded by some of them when I tried to bring up these issues in private conversations.

I just hope TMA moves on to something else with his life. Payback the people he owes money to and then leave the M40 community alone. We don't need him for anything. Do you guys want repro Unertl mounts? I have an original new in box USMC Unertl mount, I can easily have correct repros made, but I'd need to know that there's an actual market for them.

 

[corsairpilot62]

No shit intended. Serious question. I did not know that he used the magnets to prove that he made them.

ah, my bad then i miss read it. thinking you might be throwing a little shade.
If you're cool, I'm cool.

The magnets inside the mounts is pretty messed up!

 

[deltawiskey]

I bought the scope mount/rings for my M40A1 secondhand years ago, no clue who made them but I'm relieved to see they are NOT magnetic!
Great info on here, thanks all!
DW

 

[40Gang]

Had no idea about the magnets. Im gonna have to check mine when I get home. I despise TMA and if its his mount ill throw it in the trash.

 

[USMCsean]

The one thing that kept this guy safe for years was the fact that everyone was trying to protect the supposed guys at PWS. It wasn't because we didn't want to see this asshole burn. It was because we didn't want to rain down hate upon the guys at PWS. Those that knew about his bullshit would not recommend him to people whenever they were asked or he was brought up. I'm glad that this is all coming to light. While I have not had a rifle built by him personally, I know people who did and either now know the story or had their rifles completely broke down and rebuilt by a known 2112.

 

[Jrb572]

The one thing that kept this guy safe for years was the fact that everyone was trying to protect the supposed guys at PWS. It wasn't because we didn't want to see this asshole burn. It was because we didn't want to rain down hate upon the guys at PWS. Those that knew about his bullshit would not recommend him to people whenever they were asked or he was brought up. I'm glad that this is all coming to light. While I have not had a rifle built by him personally, I know people who did and either know the story or had their rifles completely broke down and rebuilt by a known 2112.

I almost let it slide because everyone makes mistakes. But when I got the last bit of news about the remaining things that were not correct I thought before anyone else got burnt I was going to say something. I am very sorry I did not sooner.