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The small, furry kind

Hi, my name is David Moore. As creator and manufacturer of the Ferret50 I thought you might like to know a little about me, and how I have become a gun manufacturer.

I was born into a family of inventors, machinists and mechanics who also have a love of firearms. At an early age I learned that any obstacle can be overcome through persistence, education and thinking out of the box. And that challenge is the path to creation.

Having an affection for cars, I began a career in the automotive industry. After a few years of learning the basics of mechanics, I landed a job at a race shop. There we built cars for drag racing. I taught myself all I could, and closely watched the experts, gleaning every secret that they held. And man was that a fun time in my life! There is nothing like having a part in building a car, and watching it blast down a track at over 200MPH. But there was little money in it, so I moved on to repair shops.

It didn't take long for new car dealers to find me, seeing that I had great potential. Working in GM and Chrysler shops, they sent me to every available school there was. I quickly became expert in every field of repair. But after becoming a master technician, there seemed to be no challenge in it anymore.

I have always valued the right to own firearms. And I love to shoot, especially large caliber firearms. After many years of collecting and shooting, I was looking for something bigger.

That's when I found 50BMG. I thought to my self, holy shit is that big (with a huge grin)! And something inside recognized the challenge in building my own. I didn't want to build a kit, I wanted to design something myself.

So for months I did research and designing, and then went out and bought all the things to do my project. Frankly I spent enough to buy two Barret semi-autos, but I was happy with my new challenge. So I went to cutting metal, and talking to anyone who would listen. Talking to a friend who is a gun dealer, we began to wonder if a bolt action AR-15 upper could be done in 50BMG. I think he might have been yanking my chain, but I thought it really could be done. So I began working on the idea and making parts.

I have to say, it wasn't easy. And the promise to my wife to make it as safe as possible made it harder. By Feb 2001 I had a rough prototype that a friend wanted to see. So we agreed to meet at a machine gun shoot. Much to my surprise, I stood in one spot for over an hour as people came to see what this thing was. My heart was racing, and I was very pleased of my creation, in spite of its rough form.

So with both inspiration and challenge I had the fuel I needed to build a better prototype and improve on what I had. It was only then that I realized that people might want one too. So I packed my tool box, and waved good-bye to the auto industry and set out to offer the Ferret50 to the shooting community. The rest will become history.