October 12, 2024 • 31 mins
In this episode of Gun Talk Hunt, Jeff Bradley of Christensen Arms joins KJ to chat about lightweight hunting rifles and new technologies that improve today's rifles. If you like lightweight hunting rifles, you won't want to miss this one.
This Gun Talk Hunt is brought to you by Ruger, Timney Triggers, Range Ready Studios, Silencer Central, Vortex Optics, Savage, Franchi USA and RCBS.
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Copyright ©2024 Freefire Media, LLC
Gun Talk Hunt 10.12.24
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/gun-talk--6185159/support.
This Gun Talk Hunt is brought to you by Ruger, Timney Triggers, Range Ready Studios, Silencer Central, Vortex Optics, Savage, Franchi USA and RCBS.
For more content, subscribe to Gun Talk at guntalktv.com, on Gun Talk's Roku, Apple TV, iOS app, Android app, or find Gun Talk on YouTube, Rumble, Facebook, Instagram, X and guntalk.com. Listen to all Gun Talk Podcasts with Spreaker, iHeart, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you find podcasts.
Copyright ©2024 Freefire Media, LLC
Gun Talk Hunt 10.12.24
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/gun-talk--6185159/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
How light is two light for a hunting rifle. We're
talking with Jeff Bradley of Christiansen Arms right now.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Hey, I'm kJ, dedicated lifelong hunter. Here. If you've got
an interest in all things hunting, you're in the right spot.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Whether chasing quail across the plains of Oklahoma or in
pursuit of belk in the back country of British Columbia,
you'll always find.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Me on the hunt.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
This episode is brought to you by Ruger, Timney, Triggers,
Range Ready, Vortex, Savage, Frankie and cz Usa. All Right,
welcome in gun Talk, hunters. I'm your host, kJ, and
today we've got a great guess.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
I won't lie to you.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
He kind of roasted all of us writers who went
up to christians In Arms. Pretty good, super funny guy,
super knowledgeable. It is mister Jeff Bradley. How you doing
a bud.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
We're doing really well today, Kevin, how are you, sir?
Speaker 1 (00:59):
And I'm doing good what probably far better than I deserve.
I can guarantee you that. But no, it's been it's
been solid.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
It's been busy.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
I've been gator hunting, I've been dove hunting, I've been
duck hunting, so the hunting season has opened up for me.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Don't I don't know how you handle the pressure. In
you're Kevin kJ I don't know how you handle the pressure.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
See, I told you.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Must have to take you must have to take a
lot of Try.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Acting try acting like a man.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Yeah, take two of these and try acting.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Like yes, exactly. Oh, but yeah, it's been you know
it is. It's tough. Sometimes. The other day we woke
up and we went duck hunting out like Lake Charles area,
like real far south to kind of all the southwest Louisiana.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
And I don't know.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
So I have a hard and fast rule, Jeff. Here's
my rule, and this is good. This has been a
standard rule for me. And I broke it, and I
ruled never do it again. Duck hunting after deer hunting.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
That's that's been my rule forever. Yeah, and I broke it.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
And I remember why I kept that rule, because my
alarm clock.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Went off at one thirty in the morning.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
That's the stupidest thing anybody can do.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
I'm telling you right now, don't do that.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
We need to We need two different alarms, one for
waterfowl and one for big game, right, so at one
thirty in the morning, we can make an informed decision.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Right.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Well, I'm telling you it was just Yeah, I woke
up like fine, and I was sitting there and I
was brushing my teeth, and I was going, why am
I brushing my teeth at one thirty in the morning.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
I'm not that mad at these ducks?
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Yeah, yeah, but yeah, that's pretty funny.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Yeah, it's not funny at all. It's pretty depressing.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
But a good day in the blind is a good
day in the blind, right, It's a lot of fun,
especially if you're with a bunch of guys that you
get along well with and the birds are in the air. Yeah,
it's it's a thing. However, I don't know I would
trade that for a good day in a deer blood Never.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
I would never.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
That's why.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
That's why my rule is absolutely like, no ducks before deer. Yeah,
and I'll remember that next time I'm I get a
call saying, hey, you want to go duck hunting?
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Well, is it's still deer season? So yeah, no, I'm
not going to do that.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
A lot of us, a lot of us use we
use waterfowl hunting like salads. If there's not a steak,
then we'll go ahead and fill in the in the
blanks with that salad. But and there's a lot of
guys that love duck hunting and waterfowl hunting, and good
for them, you know, the ducks unlimited. Guys do great work.
And I'm glad you're there. But I share your perspective
as far as priorities go.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Yeah, I'm telling you, and you know, Jeff, why don't
you just give him a rundown kind of on your
background real quick, because I do think that's it's a
key piece of this story.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
And what we're going to do is we're going to talk.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
A little bit about lightweight rifles and different technologies that
are going into these lightweight backcountry rifles. And it really
all kind of it all started with Christians and arms.
That's really where I mean the ground floor was laid,
and you have been there quite some time.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Absolutely. I was fortunate. I went into the military right
out of high school. So I served thirty years in
the military. And while I was there in a town
adjacent to where I lived, I was aware of a
business starting up the Christiansen family. They had some prosthetics
and some aerospace applications, so they were doing work with
composites even before they started to work on a carbon
(04:39):
wrapped barrel, and so I was aware of the family.
I knew what they were doing, and then I started
to become aware that they were actually putting composites on
a rifle barrel, and I thought that was very intriguing.
I kind of followed along with them for a while,
but at this time I'm still in the military right
about my military career, so I was conscious of it,
but not really involved in it. And at some point
(05:01):
I retired from the military and Jason Christiansen knew a
little bit about me, and he thought maybe I would
be a good fit. So he called me and had
me come down to the factory and introduced me through
the factory and I got the up close and personal
with the manufacturing and some of the products and stuff,
and he actually emailed me an offered to work for
him before I even made it home half hour, and
I was really excited to accept that offer based on
(05:23):
what I'd seen and what I saw kJ was a
lot of what you saw when you came to the
factory and do it. There's a lot of cutting edge
technology with normal firearm manufacturing coupled with the application or
the incorporation of synthetics of composites, and that's what really
intrigued me. So it's been a really good match. The
(05:43):
initial application of carbon wrapped barrel, the interface between stainless
steel and carbon was a challenge. There's a learning curve there,
and so those guys kind of survived that in the
early days. I've been here about ten years and the
company is almost thirty years eight years old, So as
a gun company goes, we're really young. But we've made
(06:04):
a lot of progress and grown a great deal during
that short time, and a lot of it was because
we were on the tip of the spear of lightweight,
accurate hunting rifles well.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
And kind of how I view that is is that
smaller companies, and it's always been this case whenever I
look at these, you know, big gun companies, it's it's
harder to steer the ship, whereas like with a company
like Christians and being a little bit more nimble, they
can change like on a dime, and they can really
(06:34):
dial in what they want to succeed at. And it
seemed like that happened early on with the different uh,
you know the carbon fibers that you guys started using.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Yeah, we were able to pivot very quickly and with
everything under our own control. Eventually. When we initially started,
we were buying a Remington rifle and just contouring and
wrapping the Remington barrel, and there were disadvantages to that.
It kind of got going, but we didn't have control
over tolerances, you know, in tolerance, staffing and the quality
(07:06):
of that stuff. And so when we brought all that
in house about ten or twelve, fourteen years ago, that's
when it really started to get real for us. And
at that point then we had control over our own
destiny and we could pivot and make changes, monitor quality,
and try new things. And it was really really a
great event for us to bring it all in house.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Yeah, and I remember, like, this is a gun like
a Christiansen rifle means today what it meant back in
the day.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
I think, I really do.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
I think this is a rifle that a lot of
people aspire to, and man, it just seems like they
keep getting better every day.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
And I guess one of the things that I wanted to.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Kind of touch on is is and get your perspective Jeff,
is is.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Are we have we maxed out on how light we
can go?
Speaker 1 (07:57):
I mean, because it seems like we're we're just at
that point where it's like, man, I mean, are we
going to be able to get under you know that?
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Are we shooting for four pounds? Are we shoot? What
are we shooting for? What? What is our litmus in
where we are headed? Well?
Speaker 3 (08:14):
And that's a that's a great question, Kevin, And I'm
going to use the gun right in front of you
there as an example. A ridge line in front of
you that you built when you were here for the
writers we have incorporates a stock using flash Forge technology
for the carbon fiber. And so if we take that
stock in front of you and compare it to the
legacy ridge line of a few years earlier, that technology
(08:36):
allowed the company to take sixteen full ounces right out
of the stock. And that's huge, you know, when you're
talking about just a few pounds, you come up with
a one pound weight savings. That's that's that's that's significant,
you know. And so we've been able to do a
few things like that, but I almost feel like you
do at some point it's going to be without a
(08:56):
without some kind of new technology. We're not a not
we don't have available today. We're getting close to where
it's just about as light as you can get them.
And you know, the truth is, at some point, I
think a gun can be too light for the intended purpose.
And I'm going to use F class shooting for example.
F class guys don't shoot a two pound rifle four
(09:17):
pound refle right, and even hunters need a little bit
of mass to the rifle that they're carrying for it
to be a functional and accurate rifle. So, but we're
always going to be trying. We're always going to be
looking for little things we can do, not just weight savings,
but even quality too, in accuracy.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Yeah, and maybe I mean, maybe that's maybe that's maybe
we're just going to be refining our practices rather than
like trimming, you know, maybe that's I think that with
the flash forwards technology that you guys are using, I mean,
I guess that's one example of it.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
It is. Yeah, and we, as you're aware, we even
make some receivers out of titanium, so there's a little
bit of weight savings using it. And then the brakes
receivers and brakes out of titanium. So there's a few
little things like that we can do, but at some
point it almost is going to be what it is,
at least for the foreseeable future. And then, like you said,
refinements and stock dimensions, bolt function ammunition, new calibers, maybe
(10:18):
we'll get a ballistically advanced caliber and we'll be able
to roll that brand new caliber into a lightweight hunting
platform like that ridge Line.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Well, I mean I think like like I mean, since
we are talking about the ridge Line right now, I
mean this rifle when you start to look at it,
I mean, it's about as light as I honestly, it's
about as light as I'd like to have it.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Like any any backcountry like hunting.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Rifle that I'm going to take out, you know, you
now need to start looking at where you're going to
save space, save weight. It's going to be in the bipod.
It's going to be in the suppressor, it's going to
be in the optic. I mean, those you know, more
accessory pieces that you're going to attach to the rifle
are going to make they're going to have to catch.
It's almost like you guys have outpaced everybody else, Like
(11:07):
all the accessories and everything. It's like you've gone, all right, well,
if you want us to make it light, we've made
it as light as we can go. Let's see what
you got.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
And you know what's been interesting is you as you
bring up a point now, you see a lot of
suppressors being made out of titanium, and you see a
lot of instead of the older all metal bipods, we're
seeing some now that have carbon fiber legs on them.
And optics manufacturers are weight conscious. You see some of
those folks have gone out of their way to try
and make a little bit lighter optic for a lightweight
(11:38):
hunting package. And it makes a difference if you're going
to carry your rifle on your back in the Wrangell
Mountains looking for a sheep for eight days. Ounces made
you know, I'll never forget. I was watching the show
one time and Jim Shockey showed his toothbrush. He cut
his toothbrush in half to the other half of the
handle lake because he didn't need it. And that was
(11:58):
if you get down to the point that you're saving
that kind of weight. All of this stuff really does
that up to make for a better hut man.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
I'm going to tell you right now, I bet Jim
Shockey in the back country is probably the stinkiest dude
out there.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Because you know, he only brought one pair of draws.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Yeah, he's pretty weight conscious, but.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
He's an animal and he gets it done. He believed.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
I mean, he does it right for sure, But man,
eight days in the back country with him, I bet
it is almost untolerable.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
If you look at his body of work, he's hard
to equal it, you know, with so he's whatever he's
doing works for.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Him, absolutely, it does. Well, let's jump in here.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
We're going to jump in here with a little break,
and when I come back, let's talk about what I'm
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(16:18):
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(17:47):
of Christians and Arms and we spend a little bit
of time talking new technologies and lightweight rifles, but really
kind of I want to kind of shift in what
I'm going to do with this rifle.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
So Christensen had.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
A group of media members up to their facilities in
Utah and I'm telling you what, you guys couldn't have
chosen a more beautiful setting to establish a lightweight like
rifle building company.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
And you know, that's one thing that's evident. As you
toured the factory, you became aware of some of our workers.
One guy had a limited entry ELK tag right above
the factory. Yeah, the other guys were headed out on
the desert to hunt antelope. We've got hound guys here.
We've been got a few waterfowl guys mixed in here too.
But the area that we live in affords a great
(18:36):
deal of really good access to long range shooting, both
hunting and precision long rain shooting. And that's one of
the areas in our business that we paid attention to.
That's a fast growing demographic. So where the factory is
located has certainly not hurt our ability to succeed.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Oh no, absolutely not.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
And so this rifle So they allowed us to actually
put hands on rifles and build like we were part
of the family and part of the you know, the
family of Christiansen Arms, which was a great it was
a great honor to be able to do that.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
So we assembled these guns.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
You know, they were built by they were really built
by professionals up there at Christiansen, But we were just
fortunate to be able to lay hands on him and
assemble them with the tutelage of guys like Jeff and
I sat here and I was like, and he's gonna
make fun of me.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
I know he is, and I love him for it.
I love him for it.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
But we had guys like you could pick like a
seven PRC or you know, six or five creed More,
you know, three hundred win mag we had in there,
and I went with a six y five creed More
because I have a boatload of him. I've got a
lot of them, but my son does not have his own,
like big game hunting rifle. And I was like, man,
(19:53):
there is no finer gun to give to a kid,
and I'm fortunate to be able to to do this,
to give him something of this magnitude and hand it
over to him and let him use this through.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
His entire life.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
And so we are a month away from you season,
and he has gotten he has spent. I don't know, Jeff,
it's probably been three or four hours since we got back,
just dry firing this gun.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Oh good.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Every night, every night he goes out. You know, he
sets the gun up on the bipod and everything and
he just dry fires. That's what he's working on. He's
learning that trigger, he's learning the operations and everything. So breathing, man,
breathing is big. I tell him, I'm like, hey, here's
what you need to work on. And I'll sit out
there and I'll watch him for a second. I go, Okay,
you got it, And him and his brother they sit
(20:47):
there and they train each other.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
So it's pretty cool to see.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
But this gun is going to spend a full season
getting some work in from a sixteen year old, which
I cannot wait to film.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
But it'll you know, it's pretty special.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
It's it was pretty really special for me to be
able to build this uh and and hand it to
pass it along to him.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Yeah. Sure, And what a perfect caliber that that. I
know I gave you a hard time about it, Kevin,
but I'm gonna give you hard time anyway. But what
a perfect choice for first time big game hunters in
North America. It's genetically predisposed to accuracy. There's a lot
of great commercial ammunition available for it. It's got a
ton of downrange energy and with the new water designed
(21:31):
hunting bullets. We can actually get better performance out of
a slower, smaller bullet than we used to be able to.
You know, so with all the advancements we've made, that's
sixty five creed more is just cash money for young
youth hunters. And ultimately you and I I know feel
the same way about this. It's okay for us to
get together and tell hunting stories and stuff. Yeah, but
(21:53):
the future of North American big game hunting and hunting
in general lies with the youth and younger people coming on.
It really the voice, the choice that you're going to
give them to shoot. You do want to send them
to the field with the three hundred Ultra. You know,
I haven't had a negative experience, so I applaud your choice.
I would have made the same choice, but I'm still
gonna take advantage of every opportunity to give you.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Our I'm glad you did.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
It was funny because you know, when he was, you know,
passing out range cards when we went to the range
and shot these, he was going through and you know,
he got to the six five creedmore guys who built
those guys? And he was I think you said, the
guys who are who are just do exactly as their
wives tell them to.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
And I said, I said, now, the crowd that chose
the sixty five creed More is their caliber of choice.
Obviously you haven't had an original thought for a number
of years.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
That's it.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
They're just one with the crowd, you know that. But
those six five creed Wards shot extremely well on the
range of that day. So the caliber spoke for itself, right.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
And I tell you, and it's and it's and it's
what is really cool because you see these you know
PRS guys and and you see a lot of these
guys with these rifles that weigh you know, eighteen to
twenty pounds, and they're they're big, and they're they're carting
them around and putting them on barricades and shooting out
to you know, twelve hundred yards in these competitions, I
would venture to tell you that this gun will do
(23:15):
that exact same thing with the right shooter behind it.
This gun can absolutely perform at the highest levels of
competition and hunting conditions.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
It was impressive to.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Go out there and I'm I was the very slow
one who's like, all right, I'm gonna get my dope
at the you know, at four or six eight, one thousand,
and then I'm gonna back it down and I'm gonna go,
you know, nine seven five. And it did not take
long at all to really get this sucker dial then,
And that's a that's an attribute to you guys over
(23:49):
at Christians and Arms and for building such fine rifles.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
Well, and when I was a little worried when we
started that exercise because without actually having a few miles
on the guns, it's just kind of a scientific wild
guess as to data, yep load, you know, ballistic, the
blistic solution. So we got pretty close on that. And
I noticed when you walked out and then walked back
as far as ranges go, you were very deliberate. Oh yeah,
(24:14):
you didn't just run down range and run back. I
noticed you were careful about making small tweaks to that
prelimited data. And I noticed you were keeping track of parallax,
and so you did the right thing with your rifles.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Yeah, it did a good and I'm telling you they
what's funny about it is, you know the data that
you gave us, and there's some kind of hard and
fast rules that you can stick to. Within six y
five cre more. But I can't believe how accurate that was.
I mean, you were maybe most of the times within
three tenths there were were three three dials of being
(24:49):
exactly where it needed to be, which so how did
you get that formula?
Speaker 3 (24:56):
So the advantage we have with modern stuff now is consistency.
Back in the day, ten twenty years ago, ammunition was
not nearly as consistent as it is now with the
with the kind of the standard barrel anks and rates
of twist and then kind of the center of the
road as far as velocities and bullet weights. It's a
lot more standardized and a lot more consistent now than
(25:18):
it used to be. So it's really not that difficult.
And the other advantage we have, Kevin, and you're aware
of this as well, the ability to incorporate all the
factors in a bullet flying down range. The ballistic solution
software that's available now is better than it's ever been before.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Yeah, Oh, it absolutely is. And in hand, Hey, what
ballistic software do you prefer?
Speaker 3 (25:42):
Gosh, I used quite a bit of it. What we
did for rings Day for you guys, was the Hornity
for uh yeah four O F or DF four Yeah, yeah,
they ah, yes, Sirtain.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Yeah, that stuff's good.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
That man, that little program works. The ballistic applied ballistics.
I mean there's there's a bunch of them out there
that will really do work. And you know, I always
I always wanted to try it, and I haven't tried
it yet. Actually I did try it, but it's the
whatever your yardage is, subtract two from it. Like so
if you're at eight hundred and you've got a you've
(26:17):
got a mill optic.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
We've got MOA on this one.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
But if you've got a mill optic and you're sitting
at eight hundred yards, dial to six and that that'll
get you pretty dang clothes and it it will it
and it does kind of work. But I mean you're
off a little bit, but not a whole lot.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
But some calbers better than another. It would work better
on the thirty odd six, yep, that it would a
three away or a thirty thirty for example.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
You're right, so yeah, yeah, So what haunts do you
have coming up?
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Gosh, I made a really good choice way back as
a young man in Utah. They would allow you to
buy a lifetime license and I did that and I
paid a five hundred dollars up front payment, and I
have a lifetime license now, so every year I get
a deer tag, a small game license, a fishing license,
all of that wrapped in so in Utah, the deer
hunt basically is a draw, okay, And so I get
(27:08):
deer tag every year. I'm an a mule deer above
the house with the rifle, and then I do Texas
with my sons in the later in the year. We're
going to go down and chase whitetail and the out
down in Texas by Del Rio really, so yeah, I
got those two months coming up.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Hockey Man od Dad is one of those hunts that
that I think it's poor man's sheep hunt, but man,
they are.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
They are skittish.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
There and they've got really good eye sight. They're a
pretty good trophy. You know. If you're on food stamps
like I am, you can't afford it to work on
a grand Slam. It's a good alternative. Yeah, it's a
lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Yeah, I see if you're on food stamps. I'm lower
than that because I haven't been able to go on
one of those yet. But they are great, and there's
a lot of them out there, especially so near Del Rio.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Huh yeah, so are you are you driving down? Are
you gonna fly down?
Speaker 3 (27:58):
We'll fly down and I'll meet my I've got a
son in Houston. He'll pick us up and we'll we'll
go to the area where we're going to hunt down there.
It's a chance to get the dad and sons and
even a grandson together. Oh really, Yeah, It's been one
of the cool things about having sons that hunt is
the chance to go do stuff like that with We've
we were able to go down to the South Island
and New Zealand and hunt tar oh and we've done
(28:22):
a few things like that. So yeah, it's good family
time for us.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Oh yeah, it's you know, taking the suns out. That's
one of the things.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
Like I guess, you know, every stage, there's stages of
this hunting thing. You know, there's the trophy stage and
there's just numbers, and then there's the pass it along stage.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
And I think that's.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
Really kind of where I'm at because you know, I
spent last weekend out.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
At the the the.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Hunting property, and all I did was I was filling
feeders for them and cutting blinds and cutting trails, like
just make sure they can see. Like, so I'm taking it.
I'm chainsawing in one hundred and two degree heat. Not
a lot of fun when you're in Oklahoma.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
It's just brutal. It's just horrible.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
But yeah, it's like, I mean, you've got to you
got to look at them as the future generations of
the hunting because one thing I did notice speaking of
like future generations of hunting was the youth influence in
christians And Arms. Yeah, like there is a ton of
like because usually you go to some of these factories
(29:25):
and I've done tours on firearms factories before, and it's
a lot of guys like our age, like they're aging
and they just you know, it's it's a good job.
They love it and they love guns. But there was
a lot of youth at the Christiansen Arms factory, which
is was a pleasant sight to see.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
Well, and for our part in this little valley that
we're in, the labor demographic that we can draw on.
It's not like a huge metropolitan area. As you were
driving through to and from the factory, you just see
some small central Utah towns and so that's what we
d and I compete with forms and the correction facility
and education. You know, there's a few other options out
(30:05):
there for employment, but a lot of the people in
the valley are aware of the brand. They know what
we do, They're familiar with what we make, and out
of high school, a lot of them are just as
happy as they can be to come up and get
on a machine and start cranking out receivers for us.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
I'm telling you, it is amazing.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
It's a beautiful factory too, and lots of room to
grow for you guys. I think there is, Yes, sir,
well good deal, Jeff well Man, thanks for coming on.
I know we've been trying to set this up for
a while, but after that odd ad hunt, I want
to hear from you because I want to see pictures
and I got to get you on to talk about it.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
Oh great, no pressure there. Yeah, yeah. I've got a
couple so far and they're all about a thirty one
inch ram, so I'm not going to shoot a small
ram just for discussion. But I'd love to have a
success story for you.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
I'm sure you will. Well, at least one of your
sons might or your grandson.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
Yeah, that's right, that's right. Well, if we'll come up
with some kind of story.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
This sounds good, Jeff, thanks for joining me listen.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
Thanks for helping us tell our story. kJ. We appreciate
it very much. It was great to having and I
look forward to doing something down the road.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
Hey man, I can't wait. All right, all you gun
talk hunters, you know the drill.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Keep those muzzles pointing in a safe direction, and always
be on the hunt.
How light is two light for a hunting rifle. We're
talking with Jeff Bradley of Christiansen Arms right now.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Hey, I'm kJ, dedicated lifelong hunter. Here. If you've got
an interest in all things hunting, you're in the right spot.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Whether chasing quail across the plains of Oklahoma or in
pursuit of belk in the back country of British Columbia,
you'll always find.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Me on the hunt.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
This episode is brought to you by Ruger, Timney, Triggers,
Range Ready, Vortex, Savage, Frankie and cz Usa. All Right,
welcome in gun Talk, hunters. I'm your host, kJ, and
today we've got a great guess.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
I won't lie to you.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
He kind of roasted all of us writers who went
up to christians In Arms. Pretty good, super funny guy,
super knowledgeable. It is mister Jeff Bradley. How you doing
a bud.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
We're doing really well today, Kevin, how are you, sir?
Speaker 1 (00:59):
And I'm doing good what probably far better than I deserve.
I can guarantee you that. But no, it's been it's
been solid.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
It's been busy.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
I've been gator hunting, I've been dove hunting, I've been
duck hunting, so the hunting season has opened up for me.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Don't I don't know how you handle the pressure. In
you're Kevin kJ I don't know how you handle the pressure.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
See, I told you.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Must have to take you must have to take a
lot of Try.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Acting try acting like a man.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Yeah, take two of these and try acting.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Like yes, exactly. Oh, but yeah, it's been you know
it is. It's tough. Sometimes. The other day we woke
up and we went duck hunting out like Lake Charles area,
like real far south to kind of all the southwest Louisiana.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
And I don't know.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
So I have a hard and fast rule, Jeff. Here's
my rule, and this is good. This has been a
standard rule for me. And I broke it, and I
ruled never do it again. Duck hunting after deer hunting.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
That's that's been my rule forever. Yeah, and I broke it.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
And I remember why I kept that rule, because my
alarm clock.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Went off at one thirty in the morning.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
That's the stupidest thing anybody can do.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
I'm telling you right now, don't do that.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
We need to We need two different alarms, one for
waterfowl and one for big game, right, so at one
thirty in the morning, we can make an informed decision.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Right.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Well, I'm telling you it was just Yeah, I woke
up like fine, and I was sitting there and I
was brushing my teeth, and I was going, why am
I brushing my teeth at one thirty in the morning.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
I'm not that mad at these ducks?
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Yeah, yeah, but yeah, that's pretty funny.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Yeah, it's not funny at all. It's pretty depressing.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
But a good day in the blind is a good
day in the blind, right, It's a lot of fun,
especially if you're with a bunch of guys that you
get along well with and the birds are in the air. Yeah,
it's it's a thing. However, I don't know I would
trade that for a good day in a deer blood Never.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
I would never.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
That's why.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
That's why my rule is absolutely like, no ducks before deer. Yeah,
and I'll remember that next time I'm I get a
call saying, hey, you want to go duck hunting?
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Well, is it's still deer season? So yeah, no, I'm
not going to do that.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
A lot of us, a lot of us use we
use waterfowl hunting like salads. If there's not a steak,
then we'll go ahead and fill in the in the
blanks with that salad. But and there's a lot of
guys that love duck hunting and waterfowl hunting, and good
for them, you know, the ducks unlimited. Guys do great work.
And I'm glad you're there. But I share your perspective
as far as priorities go.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Yeah, I'm telling you, and you know, Jeff, why don't
you just give him a rundown kind of on your
background real quick, because I do think that's it's a
key piece of this story.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
And what we're going to do is we're going to talk.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
A little bit about lightweight rifles and different technologies that
are going into these lightweight backcountry rifles. And it really
all kind of it all started with Christians and arms.
That's really where I mean the ground floor was laid,
and you have been there quite some time.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Absolutely. I was fortunate. I went into the military right
out of high school. So I served thirty years in
the military. And while I was there in a town
adjacent to where I lived, I was aware of a
business starting up the Christiansen family. They had some prosthetics
and some aerospace applications, so they were doing work with
composites even before they started to work on a carbon
(04:39):
wrapped barrel, and so I was aware of the family.
I knew what they were doing, and then I started
to become aware that they were actually putting composites on
a rifle barrel, and I thought that was very intriguing.
I kind of followed along with them for a while,
but at this time I'm still in the military right
about my military career, so I was conscious of it,
but not really involved in it. And at some point
(05:01):
I retired from the military and Jason Christiansen knew a
little bit about me, and he thought maybe I would
be a good fit. So he called me and had
me come down to the factory and introduced me through
the factory and I got the up close and personal
with the manufacturing and some of the products and stuff,
and he actually emailed me an offered to work for
him before I even made it home half hour, and
I was really excited to accept that offer based on
(05:23):
what I'd seen and what I saw kJ was a
lot of what you saw when you came to the
factory and do it. There's a lot of cutting edge
technology with normal firearm manufacturing coupled with the application or
the incorporation of synthetics of composites, and that's what really
intrigued me. So it's been a really good match. The
(05:43):
initial application of carbon wrapped barrel, the interface between stainless
steel and carbon was a challenge. There's a learning curve there,
and so those guys kind of survived that in the
early days. I've been here about ten years and the
company is almost thirty years eight years old, So as
a gun company goes, we're really young. But we've made
(06:04):
a lot of progress and grown a great deal during
that short time, and a lot of it was because
we were on the tip of the spear of lightweight,
accurate hunting rifles well.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
And kind of how I view that is is that
smaller companies, and it's always been this case whenever I
look at these, you know, big gun companies, it's it's
harder to steer the ship, whereas like with a company
like Christians and being a little bit more nimble, they
can change like on a dime, and they can really
(06:34):
dial in what they want to succeed at. And it
seemed like that happened early on with the different uh,
you know the carbon fibers that you guys started using.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Yeah, we were able to pivot very quickly and with
everything under our own control. Eventually. When we initially started,
we were buying a Remington rifle and just contouring and
wrapping the Remington barrel, and there were disadvantages to that.
It kind of got going, but we didn't have control
over tolerances, you know, in tolerance, staffing and the quality
(07:06):
of that stuff. And so when we brought all that
in house about ten or twelve, fourteen years ago, that's
when it really started to get real for us. And
at that point then we had control over our own
destiny and we could pivot and make changes, monitor quality,
and try new things. And it was really really a
great event for us to bring it all in house.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Yeah, and I remember, like, this is a gun like
a Christiansen rifle means today what it meant back in
the day.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
I think, I really do.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
I think this is a rifle that a lot of
people aspire to, and man, it just seems like they
keep getting better every day.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
And I guess one of the things that I wanted to.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Kind of touch on is is and get your perspective Jeff,
is is.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Are we have we maxed out on how light we
can go?
Speaker 1 (07:57):
I mean, because it seems like we're we're just at
that point where it's like, man, I mean, are we
going to be able to get under you know that?
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Are we shooting for four pounds? Are we shoot? What
are we shooting for? What? What is our litmus in
where we are headed? Well?
Speaker 3 (08:14):
And that's a that's a great question, Kevin, And I'm
going to use the gun right in front of you
there as an example. A ridge line in front of
you that you built when you were here for the
writers we have incorporates a stock using flash Forge technology
for the carbon fiber. And so if we take that
stock in front of you and compare it to the
legacy ridge line of a few years earlier, that technology
(08:36):
allowed the company to take sixteen full ounces right out
of the stock. And that's huge, you know, when you're
talking about just a few pounds, you come up with
a one pound weight savings. That's that's that's that's significant,
you know. And so we've been able to do a
few things like that, but I almost feel like you
do at some point it's going to be without a
(08:56):
without some kind of new technology. We're not a not
we don't have available today. We're getting close to where
it's just about as light as you can get them.
And you know, the truth is, at some point, I
think a gun can be too light for the intended purpose.
And I'm going to use F class shooting for example.
F class guys don't shoot a two pound rifle four
(09:17):
pound refle right, and even hunters need a little bit
of mass to the rifle that they're carrying for it
to be a functional and accurate rifle. So, but we're
always going to be trying. We're always going to be
looking for little things we can do, not just weight savings,
but even quality too, in accuracy.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Yeah, and maybe I mean, maybe that's maybe that's maybe
we're just going to be refining our practices rather than
like trimming, you know, maybe that's I think that with
the flash forwards technology that you guys are using, I mean,
I guess that's one example of it.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
It is. Yeah, and we, as you're aware, we even
make some receivers out of titanium, so there's a little
bit of weight savings using it. And then the brakes
receivers and brakes out of titanium. So there's a few
little things like that we can do, but at some
point it almost is going to be what it is,
at least for the foreseeable future. And then, like you said,
refinements and stock dimensions, bolt function ammunition, new calibers, maybe
(10:18):
we'll get a ballistically advanced caliber and we'll be able
to roll that brand new caliber into a lightweight hunting
platform like that ridge Line.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Well, I mean I think like like I mean, since
we are talking about the ridge Line right now, I
mean this rifle when you start to look at it,
I mean, it's about as light as I honestly, it's
about as light as I'd like to have it.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Like any any backcountry like hunting.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Rifle that I'm going to take out, you know, you
now need to start looking at where you're going to
save space, save weight. It's going to be in the bipod.
It's going to be in the suppressor, it's going to
be in the optic. I mean, those you know, more
accessory pieces that you're going to attach to the rifle
are going to make they're going to have to catch.
It's almost like you guys have outpaced everybody else, Like
(11:07):
all the accessories and everything. It's like you've gone, all right, well,
if you want us to make it light, we've made
it as light as we can go. Let's see what
you got.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
And you know what's been interesting is you as you
bring up a point now, you see a lot of
suppressors being made out of titanium, and you see a
lot of instead of the older all metal bipods, we're
seeing some now that have carbon fiber legs on them.
And optics manufacturers are weight conscious. You see some of
those folks have gone out of their way to try
and make a little bit lighter optic for a lightweight
(11:38):
hunting package. And it makes a difference if you're going
to carry your rifle on your back in the Wrangell
Mountains looking for a sheep for eight days. Ounces made
you know, I'll never forget. I was watching the show
one time and Jim Shockey showed his toothbrush. He cut
his toothbrush in half to the other half of the
handle lake because he didn't need it. And that was
(11:58):
if you get down to the point that you're saving
that kind of weight. All of this stuff really does
that up to make for a better hut man.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
I'm going to tell you right now, I bet Jim
Shockey in the back country is probably the stinkiest dude
out there.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Because you know, he only brought one pair of draws.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Yeah, he's pretty weight conscious, but.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
He's an animal and he gets it done. He believed.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
I mean, he does it right for sure, But man,
eight days in the back country with him, I bet
it is almost untolerable.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
If you look at his body of work, he's hard
to equal it, you know, with so he's whatever he's
doing works for.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Him, absolutely, it does. Well, let's jump in here.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
We're going to jump in here with a little break,
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(17:47):
of Christians and Arms and we spend a little bit
of time talking new technologies and lightweight rifles, but really
kind of I want to kind of shift in what
I'm going to do with this rifle.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
So Christensen had.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
A group of media members up to their facilities in
Utah and I'm telling you what, you guys couldn't have
chosen a more beautiful setting to establish a lightweight like
rifle building company.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
And you know, that's one thing that's evident. As you
toured the factory, you became aware of some of our workers.
One guy had a limited entry ELK tag right above
the factory. Yeah, the other guys were headed out on
the desert to hunt antelope. We've got hound guys here.
We've been got a few waterfowl guys mixed in here too.
But the area that we live in affords a great
(18:36):
deal of really good access to long range shooting, both
hunting and precision long rain shooting. And that's one of
the areas in our business that we paid attention to.
That's a fast growing demographic. So where the factory is
located has certainly not hurt our ability to succeed.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Oh no, absolutely not.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
And so this rifle So they allowed us to actually
put hands on rifles and build like we were part
of the family and part of the you know, the
family of Christiansen Arms, which was a great it was
a great honor to be able to do that.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
So we assembled these guns.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
You know, they were built by they were really built
by professionals up there at Christiansen, But we were just
fortunate to be able to lay hands on him and
assemble them with the tutelage of guys like Jeff and
I sat here and I was like, and he's gonna
make fun of me.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
I know he is, and I love him for it.
I love him for it.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
But we had guys like you could pick like a
seven PRC or you know, six or five creed More,
you know, three hundred win mag we had in there,
and I went with a six y five creed More
because I have a boatload of him. I've got a
lot of them, but my son does not have his own,
like big game hunting rifle. And I was like, man,
(19:53):
there is no finer gun to give to a kid,
and I'm fortunate to be able to to do this,
to give him something of this magnitude and hand it
over to him and let him use this through.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
His entire life.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
And so we are a month away from you season,
and he has gotten he has spent. I don't know, Jeff,
it's probably been three or four hours since we got back,
just dry firing this gun.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Oh good.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Every night, every night he goes out. You know, he
sets the gun up on the bipod and everything and
he just dry fires. That's what he's working on. He's
learning that trigger, he's learning the operations and everything. So breathing, man,
breathing is big. I tell him, I'm like, hey, here's
what you need to work on. And I'll sit out
there and I'll watch him for a second. I go, Okay,
you got it, And him and his brother they sit
(20:47):
there and they train each other.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
So it's pretty cool to see.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
But this gun is going to spend a full season
getting some work in from a sixteen year old, which
I cannot wait to film.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
But it'll you know, it's pretty special.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
It's it was pretty really special for me to be
able to build this uh and and hand it to
pass it along to him.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Yeah. Sure, And what a perfect caliber that that. I
know I gave you a hard time about it, Kevin,
but I'm gonna give you hard time anyway. But what
a perfect choice for first time big game hunters in
North America. It's genetically predisposed to accuracy. There's a lot
of great commercial ammunition available for it. It's got a
ton of downrange energy and with the new water designed
(21:31):
hunting bullets. We can actually get better performance out of
a slower, smaller bullet than we used to be able to.
You know, so with all the advancements we've made, that's
sixty five creed more is just cash money for young
youth hunters. And ultimately you and I I know feel
the same way about this. It's okay for us to
get together and tell hunting stories and stuff. Yeah, but
(21:53):
the future of North American big game hunting and hunting
in general lies with the youth and younger people coming on.
It really the voice, the choice that you're going to
give them to shoot. You do want to send them
to the field with the three hundred Ultra. You know,
I haven't had a negative experience, so I applaud your choice.
I would have made the same choice, but I'm still
gonna take advantage of every opportunity to give you.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Our I'm glad you did.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
It was funny because you know, when he was, you know,
passing out range cards when we went to the range
and shot these, he was going through and you know,
he got to the six five creedmore guys who built
those guys? And he was I think you said, the
guys who are who are just do exactly as their
wives tell them to.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
And I said, I said, now, the crowd that chose
the sixty five creed More is their caliber of choice.
Obviously you haven't had an original thought for a number
of years.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
That's it.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
They're just one with the crowd, you know that. But
those six five creed Wards shot extremely well on the
range of that day. So the caliber spoke for itself, right.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
And I tell you, and it's and it's and it's
what is really cool because you see these you know
PRS guys and and you see a lot of these
guys with these rifles that weigh you know, eighteen to
twenty pounds, and they're they're big, and they're they're carting
them around and putting them on barricades and shooting out
to you know, twelve hundred yards in these competitions, I
would venture to tell you that this gun will do
(23:15):
that exact same thing with the right shooter behind it.
This gun can absolutely perform at the highest levels of
competition and hunting conditions.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
It was impressive to.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Go out there and I'm I was the very slow
one who's like, all right, I'm gonna get my dope
at the you know, at four or six eight, one thousand,
and then I'm gonna back it down and I'm gonna go,
you know, nine seven five. And it did not take
long at all to really get this sucker dial then,
And that's a that's an attribute to you guys over
(23:49):
at Christians and Arms and for building such fine rifles.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
Well, and when I was a little worried when we
started that exercise because without actually having a few miles
on the guns, it's just kind of a scientific wild
guess as to data, yep load, you know, ballistic, the
blistic solution. So we got pretty close on that. And
I noticed when you walked out and then walked back
as far as ranges go, you were very deliberate. Oh yeah,
(24:14):
you didn't just run down range and run back. I
noticed you were careful about making small tweaks to that
prelimited data. And I noticed you were keeping track of parallax,
and so you did the right thing with your rifles.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Yeah, it did a good and I'm telling you they
what's funny about it is, you know the data that
you gave us, and there's some kind of hard and
fast rules that you can stick to. Within six y
five cre more. But I can't believe how accurate that was.
I mean, you were maybe most of the times within
three tenths there were were three three dials of being
(24:49):
exactly where it needed to be, which so how did
you get that formula?
Speaker 3 (24:56):
So the advantage we have with modern stuff now is consistency.
Back in the day, ten twenty years ago, ammunition was
not nearly as consistent as it is now with the
with the kind of the standard barrel anks and rates
of twist and then kind of the center of the
road as far as velocities and bullet weights. It's a
lot more standardized and a lot more consistent now than
(25:18):
it used to be. So it's really not that difficult.
And the other advantage we have, Kevin, and you're aware
of this as well, the ability to incorporate all the
factors in a bullet flying down range. The ballistic solution
software that's available now is better than it's ever been before.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Yeah, Oh, it absolutely is. And in hand, Hey, what
ballistic software do you prefer?
Speaker 3 (25:42):
Gosh, I used quite a bit of it. What we
did for rings Day for you guys, was the Hornity
for uh yeah four O F or DF four Yeah, yeah,
they ah, yes, Sirtain.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Yeah, that stuff's good.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
That man, that little program works. The ballistic applied ballistics.
I mean there's there's a bunch of them out there
that will really do work. And you know, I always
I always wanted to try it, and I haven't tried
it yet. Actually I did try it, but it's the
whatever your yardage is, subtract two from it. Like so
if you're at eight hundred and you've got a you've
(26:17):
got a mill optic.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
We've got MOA on this one.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
But if you've got a mill optic and you're sitting
at eight hundred yards, dial to six and that that'll
get you pretty dang clothes and it it will it
and it does kind of work. But I mean you're
off a little bit, but not a whole lot.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
But some calbers better than another. It would work better
on the thirty odd six, yep, that it would a
three away or a thirty thirty for example.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
You're right, so yeah, yeah, So what haunts do you
have coming up?
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Gosh, I made a really good choice way back as
a young man in Utah. They would allow you to
buy a lifetime license and I did that and I
paid a five hundred dollars up front payment, and I
have a lifetime license now, so every year I get
a deer tag, a small game license, a fishing license,
all of that wrapped in so in Utah, the deer
hunt basically is a draw, okay, And so I get
(27:08):
deer tag every year. I'm an a mule deer above
the house with the rifle, and then I do Texas
with my sons in the later in the year. We're
going to go down and chase whitetail and the out
down in Texas by Del Rio really, so yeah, I
got those two months coming up.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Hockey Man od Dad is one of those hunts that
that I think it's poor man's sheep hunt, but man,
they are.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
They are skittish.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
There and they've got really good eye sight. They're a
pretty good trophy. You know. If you're on food stamps
like I am, you can't afford it to work on
a grand Slam. It's a good alternative. Yeah, it's a
lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Yeah, I see if you're on food stamps. I'm lower
than that because I haven't been able to go on
one of those yet. But they are great, and there's
a lot of them out there, especially so near Del Rio.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Huh yeah, so are you are you driving down? Are
you gonna fly down?
Speaker 3 (27:58):
We'll fly down and I'll meet my I've got a
son in Houston. He'll pick us up and we'll we'll
go to the area where we're going to hunt down there.
It's a chance to get the dad and sons and
even a grandson together. Oh really, Yeah, It's been one
of the cool things about having sons that hunt is
the chance to go do stuff like that with We've
we were able to go down to the South Island
and New Zealand and hunt tar oh and we've done
(28:22):
a few things like that. So yeah, it's good family
time for us.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Oh yeah, it's you know, taking the suns out. That's
one of the things.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
Like I guess, you know, every stage, there's stages of
this hunting thing. You know, there's the trophy stage and
there's just numbers, and then there's the pass it along stage.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
And I think that's.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
Really kind of where I'm at because you know, I
spent last weekend out.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
At the the the.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Hunting property, and all I did was I was filling
feeders for them and cutting blinds and cutting trails, like
just make sure they can see. Like, so I'm taking it.
I'm chainsawing in one hundred and two degree heat. Not
a lot of fun when you're in Oklahoma.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
It's just brutal. It's just horrible.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
But yeah, it's like, I mean, you've got to you
got to look at them as the future generations of
the hunting because one thing I did notice speaking of
like future generations of hunting was the youth influence in
christians And Arms. Yeah, like there is a ton of
like because usually you go to some of these factories
(29:25):
and I've done tours on firearms factories before, and it's
a lot of guys like our age, like they're aging
and they just you know, it's it's a good job.
They love it and they love guns. But there was
a lot of youth at the Christiansen Arms factory, which
is was a pleasant sight to see.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
Well, and for our part in this little valley that
we're in, the labor demographic that we can draw on.
It's not like a huge metropolitan area. As you were
driving through to and from the factory, you just see
some small central Utah towns and so that's what we
d and I compete with forms and the correction facility
and education. You know, there's a few other options out
(30:05):
there for employment, but a lot of the people in
the valley are aware of the brand. They know what
we do, They're familiar with what we make, and out
of high school, a lot of them are just as
happy as they can be to come up and get
on a machine and start cranking out receivers for us.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
I'm telling you, it is amazing.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
It's a beautiful factory too, and lots of room to
grow for you guys. I think there is, Yes, sir,
well good deal, Jeff well Man, thanks for coming on.
I know we've been trying to set this up for
a while, but after that odd ad hunt, I want
to hear from you because I want to see pictures
and I got to get you on to talk about it.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
Oh great, no pressure there. Yeah, yeah. I've got a
couple so far and they're all about a thirty one
inch ram, so I'm not going to shoot a small
ram just for discussion. But I'd love to have a
success story for you.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
I'm sure you will. Well, at least one of your
sons might or your grandson.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
Yeah, that's right, that's right. Well, if we'll come up
with some kind of story.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
This sounds good, Jeff, thanks for joining me listen.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
Thanks for helping us tell our story. kJ. We appreciate
it very much. It was great to having and I
look forward to doing something down the road.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
Hey man, I can't wait. All right, all you gun
talk hunters, you know the drill.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Keep those muzzles pointing in a safe direction, and always
be on the hunt.
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