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Since his youth when he made his first "firearm" at age fourteen from a piece of heavy brass gas pipe, a threaded cap, a .50 caliber lead ball, and a firecracker, Doug "D.A." Hanks has always been interested in the building of unique firearms. From one-of-a-kind stocks with hand machined brass trigger guards and butt plates, to exotic adaptations of existing firearms, such as a dual "crank gun" featuring twin Ruger 10/22s fired by a crankshaft, as opposed to the cam action of the commercially produced sets, his projects were always unique. Doug and his father had seen one of the commercially produced crank guns at a gun show, but had neglected to inspect the system to see how it functioned. When Doug lamented to his father the following day that he should have seen how it was made, his father asked why, as he couldn't make one anyway. Doug bet his dad ten dollars he could build one, and without any idea as to how the one they had seen worked, he decided to use a crankshaft with connecting rods to fire the two guns. A week later, Doug tested the contraption against a backdrop in his workshop, and with a big smile, collected the ten dollars from his father. So was born the actual construction of something that safely fired ammunition.

Doug began his experimentation with the Ruger 10/22, as it was fairly lightweight, easy to take apart, and very inexpensive to shoot. His next project involved retrofitting finned aluminum barrels from a prototype .22 submachine gun that never went into production, to fit the 10/22 receiver. Doug then successfully built a pistol version of the 10/22.

This was all well and good, but these were mostly retrofits of completed firearms. Doug needed something that he could actually build from the ground up. Having favored the AR15 for many years, and becoming alarmed at the ever-increasing legislation regarding firearms, he saw the opportunity to create his own AR15 variants that required no paperwork to build and own.

Having adapted his woodworking machinery to machine custom brass accents for several unique stocks, it was only natural to use it for his first AR15 casting. He used no jigs for that first project, and his woodworking equipment sufficed quite well to mill the casting into a complete AR15 lower receiver.

Doug has churned out some unique projects from his workshop over the years, from copper and brass weathervanes, to clocks and furniture, to firearms, but the most rewarding project ever, was the day he took his first casting rifle to a private range and fired 500 rounds through it in rapid succession. May your first rifle bring you the same amount of satisfaction.

Note: Mr. Hanks is a licensed general contractor, legally ordained minister, and the chief conservation officer of an experimental redwood reforestation project in the North Carolina mountains. He is presently an honorary co-chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee's Business Advisory Council, and received an award for environmental protection achievement from the President of the United States. He is currently working on a series of pro-Second Amendment novels.

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