About Us

In 2004, fresh out of college with a degree in machine tool technologies from NDSCS, I went to work for Goodrich Aerospace in Jamestown, ND. I was young, single, and worked a lot of over time. Between hunting, fishing, and shooting I enjoyed all things outdoors.  And this meant that buying firearms and shooting firearms was pretty much how I spent my money.  This is how it all started for me. 

I started AD Arms in early spring 2009 as simply a home based FFL doing sales and firearms transfers.  But, with my expertise in machining and an analytic mind, I decided to take my hobby to a professional level and apply my machining skills to my firearms.  Therefore, I expanded eventually to actually build my own guns rather than have someone build them for me.  This is when I expanded and added ‘Custom Rifles’ to my business.  Machining isn’t just a job for me it’s my hobby and building and repairing things not related to firearms is also a hobby. So making the jump to Rifle building wasn’t all that big.  

Between 2009 and 2012 when I added Custom Rifles to my business,  I got married to my lovely bride, I bought a house and was also focused on acquiring machine tools and building an ever more awesome shop.

To continue to hone my skills, I traveled to Kansas City, MO to attend Gordy Gritters rifle-smithing classes. The class was great and really got me pointed in the right direction. I built great shooting guns out of my little 2 stall garage for 2.5 years.

Then, in late 2015, my wife and I decided to relocate to the SW Michigan area, moving to a small acreage just west of Kalamazoo, MI. I continued as a machinist and joined a medical device manufacturer as my day job, but I also built a new shop (too small I might add, haha) and this was the new home to the rifle building business.

Since the move, the shop has grown to include 2 CNC milling machines and a CNC lathe along with the manual machines I brought with me during the move.  This ever expanding equipment quiver allows me to offer all of the services you will find available on this site.

My goal is simple, to provide high quality products and services at a reasonable cost. Earning a living is hard, we all know that.  And when anyone spends their hard earned money with me, I want you to know you got what you wanted and paid for and then some.  That is how I’ve been successful so far, and it is a core value which will never waver. 

All along the way there has been much more learned from trial and error than from any book you could find, but every machinist will tell you that. I’ve been blessed with a community of shooters and gunsmiths which I’ve come to know along the way that have also been extremely instrumental to my journey.  Thank you to each one of you (you know who you are) and I’m sure my customers will benefit due to the time and effort you have invested in me.

Thank you visiting and I am sure that you will find a product on here now (or soon, I’m constantly testing new things all the time) that will make your shooting experience even more memorable.  I can’t wait to delight you with my products and services very soon.

Andrew Delikat