Nineteen years ago, when my father died, it really made me see how fragile life was. I decided then and there that I was going to do something with my life. I did not want to just have a normal job; I wanted to do something great, and I wanted my dad to be proud of me. I made a commitment to myself, my father, and God to make something meaningful of my life. This realization prompted me to evaluate my talents, and though I initially hesitated, I recognized that my expertise in firearms could be my avenue to greatness. That is when I decided to start a rifle manufacturing company—Desert Tech.

I was in an MBA program at the University of Utah at the time, so I began crafting a business plan as a class project. After receiving positive feedback from my family, I dove headfirst into designing the first rifle—the Stealth Recon Scout (SRS).

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   SRS Precision Bullpup Bolt-Action Rifle

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Armed with little more than passion and a basic understanding of firearms, I sketched out the rifle's design on large sheets of paper. I took the idea to my brother-in-law, a mechanical engineer, in the hopes that he could help me bring the idea to life. But I was met with rejection and a bit of mockery. He told me, “Well, if it was a good idea, someone else would have already done it.”

This was my first major road block. An engineer - a mechanical engineer - couldn't build this gun, and I'm not even an engineer! How in the world was I going to make this work?

Though I faced challenges in getting engineers and machine shops to take me seriously, like with my brother-in-law, I persisted. I took my drawings to some machine shops, and asked if they could help make the parts. But they just started laughing and told me they needed way more detail. They went to push me out the door when I asked what they would need, which turned out to be 3D models, clearance on parts, and dozens more items written out on a list. I left and bought the cheapest 3D program I could find and spent the next six months learning how to use a 3D modeling software.

 
I turned at Roy and told him, “Roy, look, I don't want to put you out. We've been here all-day, you can go home.” 
 
He looked at me and, to my surprise, answered, “Are you kidding me? This is the coolest thing I've ever been a part of, I ain't going to leave ‘till these things are together!” I didn't realize that he was just as excited as I was. At 2:00 in the morning finally we got the rifles together, and they were just perfect. They felt better than we thought they would; They looked better than we thought they would. The balance was insanely awesome, like right smack in the middle. 

The next day we went out to accuracy test the rifles to make sure they worked. We were shooting little quarter inch groups, and these were the first shots that we fired out of these guns; these things worked! And with the multi-caliber barrels, we wanted to see if they would return to zero, so we would shoot, pull the barrel out, put it back in, repeat; and they did return to zero.

Every time you put the barrel back in it, it hit in the same place, and we were just ecstatic, we could not believe how awesome these rifles were. The magazines functioned, the accuracy was there, the return-to-zero was there, the fit, functionality; everything was just awesome, and we were super excited to show them off at Shot Show.

Myself, my wife, Roy, and an investor went to the 2008 Shot Show to our small booth, clear out away from everybody else. We had no employees, no production shop, not even a company. We only had the prototype rifles to speak for themselves. Despite having no formal company or employees, our booth ended up attracting the attention of military personnel we discovered were in the same aisle as us. Once they stumbled across our booth they went into a complete frenzy, sending guys over left and right, including a general from the Army Marksmanship Unit. They all loved the rifles! 

Before we knew it, orders began to come in, which left us thrilled and nervous about fulfilling them. We returned to the shop owners, ready to start production on our successful prototypes; However, after seeing our major success at Shot Show, our original prototype manufacturers doubled their production prices in the hopes of taking advantage of our new found success. In response, I turned them down and took a bold step to rent a warehouse to start our own production facility. 

Hiring our first machinists and purchasing equipment and machinery, we managed to deliver our first SRS rifles, with a significant portion going to a military contract with the country of Georgia; this achievement marked the beginning of Desert Tech.

Looking back, this journey taught me that overcoming hardships leads to growth. I encourage others to believe in themselves and push past any naysayers. You don’t need formal qualifications to achieve your goals—determination and persistence are the keys to success.