I love my dad. He's a simple man, raised on a farm, fought in Vietnam, returned home and worked at General Motors for 30+ years, raised a family of four, attends church regularly and volunteers most of his time now that he's retired helping older folk with chores and duties. I owe him a lot, as he played a major role in making me the man I am today.
As I mentioned before, he's what many would consider a "religious" man. He loves God and does his best to be Christ like to those in need, often fore going his own needs. And although he taught me about guns and raised me to hunt and fish, he's not much of a "scary black plastic" gun guy. He's more the traditional, wood and blue metal style gun. You'd typically see him with a Marlin 30-30 or a bolt action 22 mag. In fact, since Vietnam, he's never owned much less handled an AR-15 style gun. I wanted to change that this Christmas. So I spent some time thinking what would be the best rifle to get.
I quickly landed on a rifle my bro Ben "Mookie" Thomas designed at Spike's Tactical, the Crusader rifle. This is honestly one of the best built rifles I've ever handled. Spike's has really become one of the premier upper echelon of rifle makers. This rifle was perfect for my dad because it has a "Biblical" spin having a cross on one side and Psalms 144:1 inscribed on the other. Sure, the cross and the Bible verse is a gimmick, but it's something that matches my dads's persona well.
So I have the rifle selected, and now I wanted to make it unique and special just for him. I wanted it to be new world meets old world. To do that, I shipped it off to my friends in Las Vegas, Montactical. I shared my vision and heart with them and gave them complete freedom to do whatever they wanted or needed to do to do their magic.
Montactical took a few months brainstorming and going back and forth with ideas and designs. They finally came up with what became the final design. They started by giving it a retro Colt Grey look with some Battleworn highlights. It truly looks like a gun from the 60's and 70's. After that they talked out of retirement and enlisted the help from an O.G. gunsmith and woodcrafter known as "Mr. McCracken". After talking to him about their design, he had the solution. He had a piece of 80+ year old piece of beautiful hard walnut that he had been sitting in his shop, that he knew now what he was going to do with it.
Mr. McCrackin carved rail covers, a cheak weld and an exact replica of a Magpul grip, all out of walnut. And it turned out amazing! Over the next few days and weeks, you will see more photos pop up all over the internet of this amazing rifle.
I presented it to my dad early and he was moved with emotion. Best gift I've ever given was giving him this rifle.
Rifle by: Spikes Tactical [Crusader]
Optic by: Black Spider red dot
DuraCoat by: Montactical
Wood furniture by: Mr. McCracken
As I mentioned before, he's what many would consider a "religious" man. He loves God and does his best to be Christ like to those in need, often fore going his own needs. And although he taught me about guns and raised me to hunt and fish, he's not much of a "scary black plastic" gun guy. He's more the traditional, wood and blue metal style gun. You'd typically see him with a Marlin 30-30 or a bolt action 22 mag. In fact, since Vietnam, he's never owned much less handled an AR-15 style gun. I wanted to change that this Christmas. So I spent some time thinking what would be the best rifle to get.
I quickly landed on a rifle my bro Ben "Mookie" Thomas designed at Spike's Tactical, the Crusader rifle. This is honestly one of the best built rifles I've ever handled. Spike's has really become one of the premier upper echelon of rifle makers. This rifle was perfect for my dad because it has a "Biblical" spin having a cross on one side and Psalms 144:1 inscribed on the other. Sure, the cross and the Bible verse is a gimmick, but it's something that matches my dads's persona well.
So I have the rifle selected, and now I wanted to make it unique and special just for him. I wanted it to be new world meets old world. To do that, I shipped it off to my friends in Las Vegas, Montactical. I shared my vision and heart with them and gave them complete freedom to do whatever they wanted or needed to do to do their magic.
Montactical took a few months brainstorming and going back and forth with ideas and designs. They finally came up with what became the final design. They started by giving it a retro Colt Grey look with some Battleworn highlights. It truly looks like a gun from the 60's and 70's. After that they talked out of retirement and enlisted the help from an O.G. gunsmith and woodcrafter known as "Mr. McCracken". After talking to him about their design, he had the solution. He had a piece of 80+ year old piece of beautiful hard walnut that he had been sitting in his shop, that he knew now what he was going to do with it.
Mr. McCrackin carved rail covers, a cheak weld and an exact replica of a Magpul grip, all out of walnut. And it turned out amazing! Over the next few days and weeks, you will see more photos pop up all over the internet of this amazing rifle.
I presented it to my dad early and he was moved with emotion. Best gift I've ever given was giving him this rifle.
Rifle by: Spikes Tactical [Crusader]
Optic by: Black Spider red dot
DuraCoat by: Montactical
Wood furniture by: Mr. McCracken
