THE BACKWATER STORY

I have spent most of my life working in various types of machine shops. My father was a machinist, so it helped that he had a small shop in our backyard. Throughout high school and college, I worked in automotive machine shops performing tasks, such as resurfacing heads, boring engine blocks, reworking cylinder heads, and all other related machine work.

In addition, I worked with my older brother in the manufacture and design of parts in the automated food processing industry. Along the way, I earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in science education and counseling. While teaching Biology, Chemistry, and Physics at the high school level for 13 years, I still did machine work during the summers.

As a native Alabamian, hunting, fishing, and shooting have always been part of my life. I started shooting a few local matches with factory rifles. Those matches quickly demonstrated the need for something better. They also helped me see a way to combine my machine shop experience, science background, and gun knowledge into a full time custom rifles business. I now have clients throughout the country.

At Backwater Custom Rifles, I do all work in-house. With the current addition of a 4-axis CNC mill, I now manufacture my own line of muzzle brakes. I also do bolt fluting, and mini-16 extractor installation. Cerakote finishes and stock painting are also handled in-house. This way, I can assure customers that the fit and finish of my rifles are second to none.