I recently met Rost Martin CEO Chris Toomer at the 2024 Outdoor News America Gun Writers Conference hosted by Josh Sykes at the Texas Gun Experience, a top-notch facility located in Grapevine, Texas. While I am an uncurable revolver guy, this striker-fired pistol caught my attention.
The story of the Rost Martin company is as intriguing as their pistols.
The following is a Q&A with Mr. Toomer, I think you will find it interesting.
I think readers would be interested to hear the story behind the name, “Rost Martin.”
The name Rost Martin is a combination of family names — “Rost” is my wife’s grandfather’s middle name, who is credited for beginning their family in the firearms industry. (Her grandfather, Bob Reese, started Springfield Armory in 1974 alongside her dad, Dennis Reese.)
And “Martin” is my great-grandmother’s maiden name. She was a wonderful influence on my life, and she also raised my mother. She was a powerful woman and a formidable force — and as I like to say, she was a pistol in her own right. We loved the idea of honoring both sides of our family with the name Rost Martin.
Who is the company Rost Martin? (owners, employees, facility)
My wife, Stefany, and I started Rost Martin together in 2020 and officially launched to the public last year at SHOT Show 2024. Since then, we’ve grown out an incredible team here in Dallas. Most (if not all) members of the Rost Martin team wear a few different hats, and we’re so grateful to have such talented people willing to start with us at the very beginning.
Can you tell us a little about your background and what you have done to get to this point in your life?
I served as a Captain in the Marines with 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines. After completing my time in the Marines, I attended business school at the University of Michigan and worked in the finance/tech space for JP Morgan.
However, my most recent job experience prior to starting Rost Martin was working at Springfield Armory. My time at Springfield laid the groundwork for providing me with the tools to start Rost Martin. My experience at Springfield working across multiple departments gave me a hands-on sense of what goes into running a gun company daily. I learned so many elements on the business side during my time at Springfield Armory, and I am forever grateful for my experience working there.
What decisions steered you toward the goal of developing a new striker-fired pistol?
We really felt like this is what customers are consistently asking for. We know it’s a highly crowded market, but we felt very strongly that we could differentiate ourselves enough to impact the striker-fired space.
You previously mentioned a research process in designing your handgun. Can you go into detail on that process and its duration?
We spent several years studying the market and trying to understand the different preferences shooters prioritized in their handguns. Our goal was to introduce a pistol with as many of these features as possible right out of the box, thus eliminating the need for someone to upgrade their pistol continually.
Starting a gun company from the ground up must be a daunting task. Can you give some insight into that process?
This is an incredible industry to be part of, and we don’t take anything for granted. So many things need to be in place before you can even start manufacturing.
The biggest thing we learned is that you must have an abundance of patience, as no part of this process can be rushed. I think going through this process creates a deeper appreciation and admiration for the companies that have been doing this for decades.
As a native Texan, I was proud to learn that Rost Martin is located in Dallas. What made you choose this location?
Stef went to SMU and fell in love with Dallas during her time there. And I first visited Dallas briefly several years ago and fell in love with it then. After both of us lived in about 8-9 cities (between the two of us) when we were deciding where to “plant roots,” Dallas was the obvious first and best choice.
Texas is so pro-business. The Second Amendment and gun culture are woven into the fabric of society here. It’s been a fantastic place to start a firearms company and raise our family. It’s the best of everything you could want and hope for in a place to live. Texas is now our forever home.
Is every part made by Rost Martin here in Texas, or are parts outsourced?
No, not every part is made here in the U.S. We have a great partnership with AREX based in Slovenia. Our flagship RM1C is based on the initial design of the AREX Delta Gen2, and they’ve been a great, trusted design partner and supplier for certain parts of the pistol. We have a great relationship with them, as we do with all our suppliers. While we do source parts of the gun from overseas, we are proud to manufacture this pistol in Texas.
What made you decide to have the guns manufactured here in the United States? Would it be more cost-effective to have them built overseas?
We’ve always had the American consumer in mind while building our firearms. It’s also extremely important to us that we support and invest in our local and U.S. economy, so it’s been crucial to us from the beginning that we produced the RM1C in America.
We also want to build the highest quality handgun possible for our customers, so we’ve been strategic about partnering with companies and suppliers that we feel are the absolute best — sourcing these partners is one of the reasons why it took us almost four years to launch. This collaboration with companies that are a unique combination of both foreign and domestic suppliers allows us to achieve the most competitive price while still delivering the premium reliability, durability, and exceptionally high quality you’ve come to know in our Rost Martin pistols. We feel it’s one of the most important attributes of our company.
My experience on the writing side of the firearms industry is that most people are very kind and willing to help you in any way they can. As a new firearms manufacturer, is the industry supportive of your endeavors?
Yes, we agree entirely. This industry is exceptional. Everyone (and I really do mean everyone) we’ve encountered so far has been welcoming, helpful, and supportive.
I’ve always felt like the firearms industry is such a family-like environment. We ultimately are all fighting on behalf of the same team and the preservation of our Second Amendment and personal freedoms. It’s an honor to be a part of it, and we look forward to supporting new brands that emerge in the future with the same encouraging mindset.
Some say there can be a stigma associated with a lower-priced firearm. The RM1C has a MSRP of $459.00, meaning shooters can likely buy one from their dealer somewhere between there and $400.00. What do you say to the customer who is skeptical of your pistol with a cheap price tag?
I would say there’s only a stigma associated with it because there hasn’t been a brand that has achieved the balance between high quality and competitive price until now.
I encourage anyone who is deterred by the price to experience the gun in person. Although the price is competitive, I would put Rost Martin up against any brand within the industry from a features, quality, accuracy, and reliability standpoint. The price tag is just a nice bonus added to an already excellent platform. It’s a premium pistol. And that’s exactly the kind of disruption we hoped to achieve with our company.
The striker-fired pistol is extremely popular among shooters. What sets the Rost Martin handgun apart from the others?
Our ergonomics and accuracy are what sets us apart from other striker-fired handguns. The comfort and ease of “shootability” with the RM1C is something we focused on throughout its development. I also love the super short reset on our trigger, which also lends to its shootability.
We knew that, in order to make headway in the extremely crowded handgun market, we had to earn our way into your safe and, ultimately, your holster. So, we wanted to focus on the features and engineering that make you better as a shooter. We also knew that if it weren’t comfortable to shoot, you wouldn’t enjoy it, return to it, train with it, and thus choose to trust it. Comfort and accuracy were key, and I think we’ve accomplished that goal.
What does the future look like for Rost Martin? Any new calibers or pistol configurations on the horizon that you can tell us about at this time?
We are excited to introduce two new pistols at SHOT and plan to introduce several additional models over the next 12-18 months. The RM1C is just the beginning, and we are excited to expand the Rost Martin family of pistols.
