Tactical Rifles sues Snipers Hide, user over forum post of critical review

Sniper’s Hide, the online forum for true rifleman, is the subject of a lawsuit from custom riflemaker Tactical Rifles.net over a critical review by a forum member.

In short, a gent from Georgia bought an $8,602 M-40 rifle in 6.5 Creedmor.

You read that right.  $8,602.

And here’s what he got.

That’s at 100 yards.  1.06″ roughly.

Now, before you say it wasn’t the gun, but the shooter.

The man said he shot a base-line group with another rifle.  The rifle was a .308.  This is at 200 yards… .66″ or roughly three-tenths of a minute-of-angle.

This guy knows how to shoot a rifle.

And he also knows how to document.  The offending post at the Sniper’s Hide is still up.  It’s very detailed.

And it is critical of the brand new, custom $8600 rifle’s issues.  Some of the machining was, to quote Obama, “suboptimal”.  Some of the parts looked like they were used.  Some of the craftsmanship looks like it was done by a kindergarten class.  In short, it wasn’t what you would expect from a company that says this about themselves:

For us at Tactical Rifles, this is not simply work, it is a lifelong passion. We strive to offer the quality of product that is so uncommon today. In a world of compromise, there are still some of us remaining who believe in quality and not mediocrity. From start to finish, all who handle our tactical rifles throughout assembly do so treating them as their own.

Yeah, quality like theirs, as delivered in this rifle is uncommon today because companies that put out such trash usually go out of business.  “In a world of compromise, there are still some of us remaining who believe in quality and not mediocrity”?  If this is their idea of quality, I’d be deathly afraid of mediocrity.

Here’s a video documenting issues over and above the photos in the thread:

It’s got about 14,000 views as of this writing.  We’ll see where it’s at in a week or a month.

So, after seeing the post at TSH, Tactical Rifle did what many would consider the unthinkable.  Instead of contacting the owner and making things right, they retained a law firm and sued.  How’s that for customer service?

They sued The Sniper’s Hide forum, its owner and the person who posted the critical review.

The were served with the suit last week.

The owner of the forum has publicly announced there will be no settlement.

We are going to fight the lawsuit filed by TacticalRifles.net out in Federal Court of Florida.

This Federal case was filed against Me, Sniper’s Hide & Marc Soulie, at present I have spoken to several lawyers on the matter and feel rather than try to settle it, we are gonna fight it and protect our ability to post the truth in any matter. We feel fighting this and winning will send a message to companies that were are here for a reason and do in fact provide a service to the members, not only what we can say, but how and where our money will be spent.

This fight is about you the end user, and the ability to talk about problems with a company’s product or service. Without defending this suit, a win tells all of you, if you voice a negative opinion or review of a product or service, you can and will be sued for Libel / Slander / Assault. They feel the negative reviews are an assault on their company and not a problem to be addressed and fixed.

Help us defend our freedoms by supporting the site in this effort. Our initial retainer will be $7500… that is just the first step. Marc will more than likely have to defend his efforts to correct the problems found with his clients rifle. I encourage you to support Marc Soulie as well.

Current Goals are Reached ! Thanks

Please support Marc Soulie

Everything Helps, this is a Federal Case.

Thanks to Everyone for supporting the site

Amen to that, brother.

They have already raised the $7500 needed to retain counsel to defend against the suit.

More monies will be needed.

IF you would like to contribute, here’s the info.

marcsoulie@yahoo.com can be used for Paypal. If you’d prefer to use check or M.O. send to Marc Soulie, P.O. Box 185, Saratoga, CA, 95070.

We’ll be watching this case closely.

As for Tactical Rifles.net?  If you work there, you might want to start looking for a job.  Your employer just made himself a pariah.

If you’re looking for a custom “precision” rifle assembled by half-trained orangutangs using basic hand tools and spray paint, you might be at the right place.