Author’s Foreword: I grew up in the 1980s during the heyday of action movies. Before I hit puberty, I watched multiple action heroes utilize shotguns with folding stocks in unforgettable action sequences. Rambo on the boat in Vietnam, Sarah Connor in the iron factory against the T-1000, and the Punisher (Dolph Lundgren) in the fun house.
When I was old enough to afford accessories for my 870 shotgun, I tried a couple folding stocks and was lukewarm about them. They looked cool but the performance was sub par. I wrote them off for many years. It wasn’t until I spoke to a representative from Beretta USA at the Western Hunt Expo a few years ago that I considered one again.
The Beretta rep explained the construction, solid lockup, and how Beretta was planning on offering them as OEM. If they were good enough for a near 500 year old company, they were worth looking into. I put one on a shotgun of mine and became a believer in the folding stock again.
I reached out to Chisel Machining for an interview and one of the founders, Chad Russell, obliged.
Safariland CADRE Dispatch Blog (SCD): How did Chisel Machining come to be? Who founded it, what was their background and their vision for the company?
Chad Russell (CR): We were founded by Jason Chipley and Chad Russell. Little known fact, Chisel is actually a combination of CHIpley and rusSELl. Jason’s background is in shooting, machining, engineering, and paintball guns (CCP – Chipley Custom Paintball). Chad’s was in military, law enforcement, and shooting. The vision was to fill a lot of gaps and correct some mistakes in the market. Most of our products are the first of their kind
Safariland CADRE Dispatch Blog (SCD): I heard CM had an opportunity to pitch their shotgun stock to Beretta and CM didn’t flinch when given the size of the orders needed. What is the production capability of the company?
Chad Russell (CR): Beretta was amazing, and took a chance on a relatively unknown company at the time. Kudos to them for seeing the vision and being willing to take a chance. We owe a lot of our current success to their early gamble.
Mossberg was next to step up and have invested heavily in our products. We always say our production capability is unlimited. We will do what we need to do to keep up with production. To date, we have invested in new buildings and machines to keep up with the demand for both our OEM customers and retail customers alike.
Safariland CADRE Dispatch Blog (SCD): In terms of users, who is currently using your stock? In other words, are the stocks being sold primarily to manufacturers, hunters, individuals for home defense?
Chad Russell (CR): Our sales are pretty evenly split between OEM and dealers/retail, with the majority being home defensive users. There has been a large influx for anti-drone capability as the battlefield evolves. Shotguns are making a big resurgence.
Safariland CADRE Dispatch Blog (SCD): What does the research and development process look like for building a shotgun stock like the Remington 870 stock your company made and sent me?
Chad Russell (CR): Everything (now) starts off being 3D printed, fitted, refined, then machined, one at a time to refine the shape and feel. Then we manufacture 10-20 production prototypes, run a few thousand rounds of our own through the firearm, send them to some trusted testers (including firearms manufacturers), take their feedback, implement changes, figure out fixturing, and go into production. We have summed it up short and sweet here, but this process can take months.
Safariland CADRE Dispatch Blog (SCD):In terms of sales, what items are the most popular? Is levergun furniture as popular as we think it is? Or are shotgun stocks the top seller
Chad Russell (CR): Our shotguns stocks as a whole are the largest selling class of product, however our single largest selling SKU right now, is the Beretta handguard. The fact that it is the only handguard on the market that can be used on both the A300 AND 1301, interchangeably, as well as being the strongest, most versatile, best looking handguard on the market, has helped us sell thousands of these in a very short period of time.
Weird fact about our lever guns, we have sold more so far this year, than we did all year last year. As more people discover them, the more people want higher quality and heavy duty builds, over cheaper, lighter-weight versions.
Safariland CADRE Dispatch Blog (SCD): Would Muldoon have survived the velociraptor attack on Jurassic Park if his SPAS 12 was equipped with one of your stocks?
Chad Russell (CR): They actually filmed an alternate version with a shotgun equipped with our gear, but it was so unfair for the dinosaurs, they were afraid PETA would complain.
Safariland CADRE Dispatch Blog (SCD): You offer a couple different options for Beretta handguards and heat shields. What is the advantage of choosing carbon fiber over aluminium? Vice versa?
Chad Russell (CR): We do offer both a carbon fiber top and an aluminum top for both our Beretta AND Mossberg handguards. The advantages of the carbon fiber are looks, sex appeal, and a HUMONGOUS 2 oz of weight savings.
Safariland CADRE Dispatch Blog (SCD): Your stocks stand out for having the ability to use a miniature red dot sight in conjunction with the iron sights. Some people don’t believe dots belong on scatterguns. What do you say to the naysayers?
Chad Russell (CR): There will always be “fuds” in every generation. People said the same thing about optics / RDS on rifles and handguns. Now they are the standard. Same for shotguns, people that argue “you don’t need a red dot on a shotgun, because of the ’spread’” have either never never shot a slug, or don’t want to improve their target acquisition time.
The beauty of our red-dot set ups is, it RETAINS iron sights as a back up or to “check zero”
Safariland CADRE Dispatch Blog (SCD): You currently offer products for Beretta, Benelli, Mossberg, and Remington. Any truth to the rumor I just made up that you’ll be making a stock for a single-shot shot? In all seriousness, where do you plan to expand your line next?
Chad Russell (CR): We are currently in talks with other manufacturers. Just know this, we will never be happy with what we already have. We will continue to lead in firearms innovation, releasing new products, refining old products, or collaborating with manufacturers who want to design the absolute best version of their product.
Safariland CADRE Dispatch Blog (SCD): Typically in an interview, the host gives the guest the final word. That’s what I’m doing here. What would you like to share about your company that hasn’t been brought up with the readers of the Safariland Cadre Dispatch Blog?
Chad Russell (CR): We understand that our customers are the reason we get to do what we love, for a living. We truly do set out to bring our customers new innovations, features, and modularity. We appreciate everyone who has spent their hard-earned money on our products. You deserve the best.
