SPONSOR PROFILE - Defensive Edge - Shawn Carlock

Len Backus

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Please give me an overview of what your company does and where you are located.

Defensive Edge is located in Rathdrum ID near Couer D' Alene. We are a long range shop specializing in long range hunting and tactical rifles, long range training classes for hunting, competition, law enforcement and military applications. We also produce instructional and entertainment long range hunting/shooting DVD's.

How long have you been in business, how did you get started, and who are some of the key members of your operation?

We have been in business full time for 11 years. I started Defensive Edge part time while I was a SWAT/Narcotics Detective to build competition guns for 3 gun shooting competition and train law enforcement and civilian tactical firearms classes. In 1997 a friend asked me to build him a long range rifle, a heavy barreled 308 on a Remington 700 action. From that day foreward Defensive Edge began a slow transition toward a rifle only building business.

By 2004 the hand checkering 1911's, tactical shotgun conversion, and AR015 builds were pretty much behind me and it was full steam foreward building rifles, mostly long range versions of some kind.

In march of 2009 my dad retired from his job as shop supervisor for the Clearwater Potlatch Timber Protective Agency, where he spent most of his time organizing projects and doing machine and metal fabrication work and came to work for me. This was a huge step for me in several ways, at the time I upside down on work with more work back log than I wanted and trying to get a couple projects started business wise. My dad's strong machining and general building background has been a huge benefit for the business as he is very well rounded in these areas and brought lots of aditional skills to the table.

This relief of some of my work load at the time allowed me to develope the business in a couple of areas I had not had time prior. I started building parts like our ACI/ACD mount, ring/base sets, HD bipod mounts, etc. It also allowed me time to develope our shooting classes and expand into different areas of instruction.

Can you describe and give me a brief history of some of your hot products or services?

Probably our 2 hottest products are the 338 Edge Canyon Rifle and our long range shooting classes.

The Canyon Rifle package came about very naturally for us as we started to build and use long range rifles for long range hunting. We tried and tested most of the options and platforms we could think of over several years. After a while we naturally developed a preference for what really worked for us from those experiences, and the Canyon Rifle was born.

SS Rock Web.jpgTIMBER WEB.jpg

Our long range classes were developed much the same way. We shot lots of LR practice and spent most of our hunting time in a long range application. Our class profile is simply a combination of the lessons we have learned about what works and what doesn't. In terms of instruction we cut a path in a few areas that no one else had. For example we were the first ones to teach and document any kind of instruction on the effects of wind blowing over terrain features. DE PICS 227.jpg

What are some of your company's future goals?

I have started developing long range parts like our ACI/ACD mount and others, but our real driving focus is to advance our long range shooting class profile and develope them more. We have also developed our LRKM rifle that we are starting to produce again. It is a product that comes as a result of our experiences from hunting and our drive to develope better equipment and techinques for it.

What new products or services can we look forward to from your company in the future?

We are going to expand our DVD production to include more instructional DVD's on the different aspects of long range shooting and hunting. We are also developing some other unique firearms platforms for long range shooting.
LRKM 01.jpg

What is your opinion of the future of the long-range hunting and shooting industry?

The long range community is growing by leaps and bounds right now, there are several companies putting a lot of effort into developement and research of better platforms, more accuracy, better reloaidng components etc. It is very exciting to see long range accelerating along like it has the past few years and I suspect it will continue to do so for quite awhile.

Tell me about your (or some of your team's) personal hunting style, location, species, etc.

We are all about long range hunting, since we started filming hunts it has added a new dimension to our hunts. Traditionally we hunt from some kind of ambush position but there is the occasional spot-and-stalk kind of long range hunting going on. We hunt the western states including Alaska for just about any big game species we can - mostly deer, bear, & elk though.
DE PICS 057.jpg

Tell me about your (or some of your team's) long range shooting experience.

With out getting too drawn out, I have been a profesional gunman all of my adult life. I have been a SWAT cop, hunting guide, gunsmith and tactical/competition trainer. I have won over 200 shooting matches in everything from sniper rifle competions to USPSA matches, I won the Precision Rifle nationals in 2006. I am a certified instructor in skeet, tactical rifle, pistol & shotgun, small unit tactics, SWAT team developement, LE precision rifle, and a whole host of others. This back ground coupled along with 22 years of serious long range hunting efforts mostly sums up my experience in long range activities.

What non-hunting and shooting hobbies or activities do you participate in?

I race motorcycles (mostly Endurocross), run 5K races, camp, coach football and basketball (kids teams), and write articles for magazines to name a few. (Pretty busy most of the time)

How long have you been an active member of LongRangeHunting.com and how have you found LRH to be beneficial to you personally or to your business?

Long enough that I couldn't tell you the year. LRH has been a great meeting location and has been a big benefit for my business. Mostly I like LRH for various experiences and the long range family environment it brings.

What hunts or other trips are on your bucket list?

I really want to go to Africa to hunt Cape Buffalo and go to New Zealand to hunt a few things like Red Stag and Tahr.



Shawn


Defensive Edge Inc.
15670 N Ranch Valley Rd. or PO Box 889
Rathdrum Id. 83858
1-208-687-2659
..::Defensive Edge - Custom Gunsmithing::..
 
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