Stumbled into a local fun store. Great shop, great dudes (and the owner's wife is sometimes there too)...anyhow, I was looking at a couple cans when I caught the glimmer of a unicorn dancing atop one of the display cases. Light shone down upon her. She was perfect and I didn't even know what the hell she was...
Sitting on top of this display case is a black barreled action, resting inside a McMillan A5. I could see the "Remington 700" from several feet away, but when I got closer, the "Tactical Operations...M40A1" really caught my attention. I've been doing this precision rifle thing for around 12 years now, and have read about Mike R and Tactical Operations, but I had never known anyone who possessed any of the hardware where I could handle it myself. Obviously, Mike's rifles look amazing in pictures, but putting hands on this rig was an entirely different experience. This thing is not a rifle, it is a work of art. It's insanity. Now, although I knew of Tac Ops and how bad ass their rifles are, I only knew of the Tango's, Sierra's, etc...I never knew they made an M40A1, so I told the shop dudes I wanted to go home and do some research and would possibly be back to grab it.
Now, if I am being 100% honest, I didn't really have the money, but just knowing over these 12+ years about Mike and Tac Ops, I couldn't let that sucker fall into someone else's lap, so the following day, I pulled the trigger. Here is where things get super cool...
Although Mike builds M40A1's, I knew this one was not correct 100% only because it was in an A5 and not in an HTG, so I reached out to a few dudes here on the Hide who I know are the Tac Ops gurus. I knew @MikeRTacOps was on the Hide, but I figured he was going to be too busy to talk, let alone talk to a dude who did not even buy the rifle directly from him, so I refrained from messaging him. At the time, those two gentleman, @kthomas and @OutlawTen5, were both gracious enough to contact me and speak with me about the rifle. We discussed the fact that it was probably going to be a great rifle, but that Mike most likely would not have built an M40A1 and put it in an A5.
Fast forward 3 hours and I'm driving home from work. I glanced down at my phone and had a missed call from Beverly Hills, CA. That is not a part of the world where FALex gets calls from, and there's not many telemarketers in Beverly Hills, so I called the number back. @MikeRTacOps answered that bad boy and said, "I heard you might have bought a rifle I built..." from that conversation forward, Mike has been 1000% dedicated to helping me learn the history of the rifle, informing me on things to check to see if the rifle has much wear and tear on it (on it's face, the rifle was in damn good condition), and he also advised me on things my local smith could check to see if she's been shot to shit or not. And of course, he offered to have me send it down to him and he would look it all over himself.
I know all of the more premier rifle builders are beyond busy these days, especially given the dramatic rise in popularity of the precision rifle shooting sports, but I gotta admit, the amount of time Mike has spent on the phone with me; answering my questions, analyzing pictures of various parts on the rifle, explaining certain processes, is nothing short of amazing. Here's this guy, one of the best gun builders on the planet, talking to some dork who bought a rifle of his secondhand, and yet he has gone way out of his way to ensure this thing is going to be the shooter he knows it can be. Mike will forget more about rifles in 5 minutes than I will ever know in my lifetime, but he was more than happy to convey his expertise on this build. The precision rifle community has many, many great people in it, but Mike's level of customer service is astounding. Shit, the simple fact he answers the phone a lot of the time is pretty fucking nutty. I don't even answer my phone as often as he does and I get less than 1% of the volume of calls! HAHAHA!!
Longer story getting shorter, I just wanted to hop on and put a post up about Mike and his company, because we need to give credit where and when it is due. Mike and I's adventure is far from over. I gotta get the rifle out and stretch it's legs, see how she does, but having the comfort of knowing that Mike is willing to assist if there are any issues, definitely alleviates a lot of "what if's." And to answer everyone's question, no, Mike did not initially build an M40A1 and put it in an A5 stock. LOL.
If there is anyone out there who is contemplating a Tac Ops build, give Mike a call. I promise you, after that phone call, you'll be holding that sweet, sweet rifle system, and you will have zero regrets. This dude is so solid, you could end up not even buying a damn thing from him, not even a t-shirt, but you'd still have a friend for life.
I figure Mike's going to read this, so cheers to you, my friend, words won't do justice how much I appreciate your help. You're more than a credit to this community and your profession.
Sitting on top of this display case is a black barreled action, resting inside a McMillan A5. I could see the "Remington 700" from several feet away, but when I got closer, the "Tactical Operations...M40A1" really caught my attention. I've been doing this precision rifle thing for around 12 years now, and have read about Mike R and Tactical Operations, but I had never known anyone who possessed any of the hardware where I could handle it myself. Obviously, Mike's rifles look amazing in pictures, but putting hands on this rig was an entirely different experience. This thing is not a rifle, it is a work of art. It's insanity. Now, although I knew of Tac Ops and how bad ass their rifles are, I only knew of the Tango's, Sierra's, etc...I never knew they made an M40A1, so I told the shop dudes I wanted to go home and do some research and would possibly be back to grab it.
Now, if I am being 100% honest, I didn't really have the money, but just knowing over these 12+ years about Mike and Tac Ops, I couldn't let that sucker fall into someone else's lap, so the following day, I pulled the trigger. Here is where things get super cool...
Although Mike builds M40A1's, I knew this one was not correct 100% only because it was in an A5 and not in an HTG, so I reached out to a few dudes here on the Hide who I know are the Tac Ops gurus. I knew @MikeRTacOps was on the Hide, but I figured he was going to be too busy to talk, let alone talk to a dude who did not even buy the rifle directly from him, so I refrained from messaging him. At the time, those two gentleman, @kthomas and @OutlawTen5, were both gracious enough to contact me and speak with me about the rifle. We discussed the fact that it was probably going to be a great rifle, but that Mike most likely would not have built an M40A1 and put it in an A5.
Fast forward 3 hours and I'm driving home from work. I glanced down at my phone and had a missed call from Beverly Hills, CA. That is not a part of the world where FALex gets calls from, and there's not many telemarketers in Beverly Hills, so I called the number back. @MikeRTacOps answered that bad boy and said, "I heard you might have bought a rifle I built..." from that conversation forward, Mike has been 1000% dedicated to helping me learn the history of the rifle, informing me on things to check to see if the rifle has much wear and tear on it (on it's face, the rifle was in damn good condition), and he also advised me on things my local smith could check to see if she's been shot to shit or not. And of course, he offered to have me send it down to him and he would look it all over himself.
I know all of the more premier rifle builders are beyond busy these days, especially given the dramatic rise in popularity of the precision rifle shooting sports, but I gotta admit, the amount of time Mike has spent on the phone with me; answering my questions, analyzing pictures of various parts on the rifle, explaining certain processes, is nothing short of amazing. Here's this guy, one of the best gun builders on the planet, talking to some dork who bought a rifle of his secondhand, and yet he has gone way out of his way to ensure this thing is going to be the shooter he knows it can be. Mike will forget more about rifles in 5 minutes than I will ever know in my lifetime, but he was more than happy to convey his expertise on this build. The precision rifle community has many, many great people in it, but Mike's level of customer service is astounding. Shit, the simple fact he answers the phone a lot of the time is pretty fucking nutty. I don't even answer my phone as often as he does and I get less than 1% of the volume of calls! HAHAHA!!
Longer story getting shorter, I just wanted to hop on and put a post up about Mike and his company, because we need to give credit where and when it is due. Mike and I's adventure is far from over. I gotta get the rifle out and stretch it's legs, see how she does, but having the comfort of knowing that Mike is willing to assist if there are any issues, definitely alleviates a lot of "what if's." And to answer everyone's question, no, Mike did not initially build an M40A1 and put it in an A5 stock. LOL.
If there is anyone out there who is contemplating a Tac Ops build, give Mike a call. I promise you, after that phone call, you'll be holding that sweet, sweet rifle system, and you will have zero regrets. This dude is so solid, you could end up not even buying a damn thing from him, not even a t-shirt, but you'd still have a friend for life.
I figure Mike's going to read this, so cheers to you, my friend, words won't do justice how much I appreciate your help. You're more than a credit to this community and your profession.
