about

About Bozeman Trail Arms Mfg.

Who is it, and to where, are you thinking of sending your guns to?

y name is Tom Sargis Jr. I operate a one-man business/shop here in Livingston MT. (Park County), about 60 miles north of Yellowstone National Park, 20 miles east of Bozeman, and 11 miles west of Livingston proper (and about 2 miles from Mike Venturino). I live on the Bozeman Pass, right "on" the Old Bozeman Trail (of course the Bozeman Trail is now I-90!), with my wonderful wife Natasha (also an NRA Life Member), son Tommy the III and daughter Remi (yes, as in Remington). I have a little over 10 acres here and have a 15 yd. pistol range, a 25yd. gong, a 50 yd. gong and a separate 100 yd. rifle range set up, so I can test my work (and my own toys!). Click the image right below to see my "short" range right behind the shop. You can't see the 100 yd. range in this view.

If I need to, I can pop over to Mike Venturino's place and use his 200 and 300 yd. setup and fancy new shooting house.

started my adult life (after graduating from LANE TECH H.S. in Chicago, Il.) as a Design & Detail Draftsman, then became a Mechanical Engineer (Automated Machinery Design). My father (Tom Sr.) was a Tool & Die Maker, which made a big difference with "things" for me. As a young kid growing up, I always had access to a lathe and a milling machine and my Father taught me a lot. Not only can I thank him for teaching me metal working and things "mechanical" in nature, but also for my love of guns (and of my country). We have family movies (8mm!) that show he and I shooting .22's at tin (real tin) cans MANY, MANY years ago, I must have been about 5 years old! Just think of that radical behavior nowadays. Hmmm, now that I think of it, I wonder why I never thought of shooting any of my classmates? Thanks Dad!

started working on guns around 1975, by working on MY OWN. I'm not satisfied with anything unless I take it apart first, whether it needs it or not. Since it seemed to come natural to me, I started "branching out" by working on my Dad's, and my Brother Dave's guns. After I met and became friends with Mike Venturino in 1993, the availability of guns to work on increased at least 10 fold! And for some strange reason he trusted me with his prized possessions. I never did him wrong, but I think the job that really sold him on my mechanical abilities was the little broken Colt Lightning I got functioning again. After fixing one of his, and then one of my own, I learned my lesson. No more Lightnings for me! I had, by then seen a couple of guns he had action jobs performed on, and told him I could do that too. Now, HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS of action jobs later, all his new guns hit my bench after he shoots them first to check point of impact to see if they need adjusting. And that's the only reason he is willing to brag on me in print, because of all the "tests" he gave me first! Since meeting Mike, I have done work for my friend Steve Garbe, now head honcho of Ballard Rifle Co., Hank Williams Jr., John Taffin, Sanford Strong of "America's Most Wanted" fame, and I even had the pleasure to 'customize' a set of loading dies for Clint Smith, Director of the famous "Thunder Ranch" . I've also built up a Law Enforcement "Tactical" .308 Remington PSS 700, rebarrelling it, truing the action, lapping the bolt, etc., I've built several AR-15 weapons, HK 91's, FN-FAL's and MANY Kalashnikov variants from parts kits. And after becoming a Reserve Deputy over eight years ago with the Park County Sheriff's Office and the department's armorer (now "retired") I've had the opportunity to work on our many Colt M16 family of rifles, and Remington 870's (and some other "goodies"). AND I'm also a Certified Glock Armorer, since the majority of the department carried Glock 22's in .40 S&W. Many SIG's have also been on my bench. Personally, for duty, I carried a HK USP in .45 ACP, and for off-duty carry either (depending on my mood and intended application) a customized (by me) Colt 1911 Lightweight Officer's Model .45 ACP, HK P7-PSP, a SiG P225 or P228 or sometimes even a Beretta 950B in 25ACP. Anyway, you get the picture. More "toys" to play with, and even more experience and things I've learned........... ;-)

n addition to all that mechanical stuff, as you may know Mike Venturino LOVES fancy wood grips. Anybody who reads his articles and books knows that! So he started bugging and pestering me to try making him some. Devious guy that he is! He'll tell you, I didn't want to do it. I like metal, not wood. But after about 10 or so attempts at it, I started getting it "right". I can't tell you how happy HE was. He now has at least 10 to 12 (or more) guns wearing my grips, of Rosewood, Regular Walnut, and X-tra Fancy Walnut. So after he kept telling me how nobody was really "out there" making custom grips and I should start offering them for sale, I caved in. That was 4 years ago, and I've probably made HUNDREDS of them now, and have even gotten better at doing it over time.

ince I started paid advertising in the summer of 1999, my business has grown enough to where I could quit my 'day job' (that was VERY scary!), and gunsmith full time with a current turnaround of 6 to 8 weeks. For that, I thank Mike Venturino, John Taffin, and all YOU PEOPLE out there, the "Cowboy Action Shooters" of America. Their magazine articles and books, and your word of mouth, and the desire to have your guns be "the best that they can be", have kept me goin' and growin'........THANK YOU for your continued patronage and trust. I know what it's like to ship a gun away somewhere! You can feel confident in sending your guns here to my shop in Big Sky Country. They'll be in good hands, and come back to you better than when you sent them. And soon, they will be able to come back to you LOOKING better too. I have just finished building my "old fashioned damp box" for rust bluing and browning of barrels just like in the "old days". I also have my set up ready for fire-bluing screws and such.

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little historical side note about my alias of "Kid Yates"; I just didn't think Kid Sargis sounded quite right and thought at the time (1993 ~ 94?) that all the good ones (like Wyatt Earp, Wild Bill or Billy the Kid) were taken. According to a relative of ours in Colorado who does research into these things, a distant (by years) relative on my Mother's side of the family was Capt. George W. Yates. He was the Captain of F Troop under Lt. Col. George A. Custer in the 7th Cavalry, and died at the Little Big Horn a few miles away from here in Montana back on 25 June, 1876. So I figured Kid Yates would work just fine for a S.A.S.S. alias! I wear it with pride!