By Drew Foster, Founder & CEO, AllTerra Arms
In the world of long-range hunting, accuracy and reliability are paramount. For the past decade, AllTerra Arms has been on a mission to redefine what’s possible in custom hunting rifles. Our story began with a simple yet powerful idea: to create the most accurate and reliable firearms for hunting and military arenas.
The Early Days: Identifying the Problem
Ten years ago, I set out to address a glaring gap in the rifle market: On one end of the spectrum, there were ultra-accurate competition rifles, meticulously machined for tight tolerances and built heavy to minimize harmonic variation. These rifles excelled on target but were impractical for hunting due to their bulk and potential to seize under dirty hunting conditions. On the other end, hunting rifles were lightweight and portable but often sacrificed accuracy for field reliability due to looser tolerances between critical parts.
The “custom rifle” seemed to offer a middle ground, using high-quality lightweight components to bridge the divide. However, these rifles frequently inherited the drawbacks of competition guns – tight tolerances between the bolt and receiver made them prone to jamming in dirty conditions. It was clear that a new approach was needed.
The Birth of Axial Precision
My journey began under the name Axial Precision, reflecting our core design philosophy: align all critical components axially for superior performance. Early napkin sketches evolved into patented designs, prioritizing tight tolerances while locked and loaded to shoot, yet allowing for generous clearance to prevent dirt and grime from hindering function while cycling the bolt.
To address shortcomings in critical barrel to action alignment, I used a novel mortise-and-tenon system to replace traditional threads for the barrel connection, ensuring the bore remained perfectly concentric with the receiver. After two years of R&D and working prototypes, I had proven the concept’s potential.
The Shift to In-House Manufacturing and Design
With functional designs in hand, the next hurdle was production. Initially we partnered with manufacturing suppliers, but the tolerances we demanded proved challenging for them to maintain. Faced with the choice to either establish in-house manufacturing or compromise on quality, we invested in the equipment and expertise needed to take control of our own production.
Our first acquisition was a wire EDM machine, a specialty tool requiring unique expertise. This was followed by a CNC lathe for precision chambering – a crucial factor in creating concentric chambers for accuracy. Highly accurate machinery combined with skilled labor and our proprietary chambering process, we were able to consistently make the most accurate hunting rifles on the market. Additional CNC mills rounded out our capabilities, enabling full oversight of key component manufacturing. Along with in house manufacturing, we have in house design and R&D capabilities. This allows us to design, test and make changes to optimize almost every part of our rifles as a system, compared to other brands that are limited to buying more universal, commercially available parts and forcing them to work together in harmony.
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