I will not be buying from Attero Arms.

I noticed this morning that a lot of the traffic lately has been from this thread at TheHighRoad.org where the Attero Arms interview and Twisterx44 statement is linked.

Let me give you some behind the scenes information. I was skeptical at first about the Twisterx44 reviews of course since they were plastered all over the gunboards. I contacted Attero through their contact page and Twisterx44 through private messaging on my local gunboards, INGO. I was also able to find through Google some background on Twisterx44. At one point on the night of the July 27th and morning of the 28th, Twisterx44 through PMs had me convinced that he was a young, uninitiated, local buyer of an Attero Arms SBR. He told me that he had made a mistake, was hurting Attero, and wanted me to edit my blog post. I also received an email from Attero Arms on the 28th stating:

"We have taken care of the issue on the majority of major forums. At this point, your blog post is sort of the only remaining controversy regarding the topic, so unfortunately I am going to have to ask you to at least remove the portion of your post regarding Twisterx44 or our involvement with it.

Thanks for your cooperation and your interest in the matter."

I was initially very angry about this email. However, I gave it some time and gave them benefit of the doubt. I also wanted to be as factual as possible and not inflammatory to a new company if they were actually on the up and up, so I did edit out a few lines that stated that some people would need more evidence to believe it. I now regret that edit as it makes me seem to unwittingly support a possible guerrilla marketing campaign. The whole time if I had just went back to that THR.org thread, I believe I would have seen the compelling evidence that I was looking for and has now been removed.

I now feel that there is enough coincidences and circumstantial evidence that I personally have made the decision not to buy from Attero Arms.

Please, make up your own minds if you are interested in their products. You may believe that Attero and Twisterx44 are one in the same or that they are as they have stated here separate entities. Even if you believe it was a guerrilla marketing, you may also have it in your heart to forgive what seems to be a new business ran by young people. If decide to buy from them let me know what you think, especially their mount. But I will be buying a Midwest Industries T1 mount instead and a Primary Arms micro red dot to go with it as soon as I can afford it.

I feel that I need to make a full disclosure to clear my name if possible. I understand that the similar I time restarted this blog may make it seem that if you believe Attero Arms was guerrilla marketing that I may have been part of their campaign. I mostly definitely was NOT a part of a campaign. I did at one point offer my blog as a place to get their statements out since it seemed Attero Arms specifically didn't have public statement out. I also offered for them to link any of my blog posts if they wanted. Other than the email exchanges for information on the situation and product offering, I have had no other contact with Attero. I was just trying to get out more information overall of what looked to be an interesting product. I feel that I may have been used to help their guerrilla marketing campaign in that process.

Unlike pages and forum registrations that have been disappearing after this incident, all of my forums registrations have been and will continue to be maintained as will my Photobucket account. I am MattCFII on most boards. If you've seen some of my pics that I've hosted through Photobucket you'll see that my account there is under Snake122 which may seem unusual. It was my flight sim username and the first google hit at glogster on that is not mine. However, just about anything else flight sim related that you'd find with that username is mine.

My real name is Matt. I live in Indianapolis, IN. I am married with daughters and in my 30s. I am not naive enough to think that someone could find out more about me but right now that is all the info I want to release. I have learned a lot with this incident and feel like I will be a better blogger because of it. I apologize for any offense I have caused my readers due to this controversy. Please feel free to air out an concerns you have in the comments.

UPDATE:

That thread has expanded and I think most people will now agree that Twisterx44 is Nate from Attero Arms. I have seen other evidence that completely convinces me of this as well. Again, it is a young soldier with a startup company that made a very bad decision. You may my be able to forgive him and try their products. Personally due to the ride he took me on, I cannot.

Attero Arms and Twisterx44 Responses

-AKMatt (Me)" What is your lead time on the Draco and Saiga? Obviously the Draco buyers will have to wait for the tax stamp transfer as well.

-Attero Arms (AA): The Attero AK SBR can actually be created and ready to go in about 2 weeks. Yes, the buyer must wait for their tax stamp transfer, but the weapon can be completed far in advance. The Attero S-12 can be shipped out approximately 1.5 - 2 weeks from ordering as well.

-(Me): Are your mounts currently shipping?

-(AA): We are currently shipping the Attero AK Micro Optics Mount.

-(Me): Any plans to add protective "ears" or "roll cage" like the Burris upgraded mount or the LaRue AK Iron Dot?

-(AA): We have considered the protective ears, but it will raise the cost of the mount and detract from the no-snag profile. Right now we are trying to keep it simple.

-(Me): I'm sure your mount is going to be compared to the LaRue Iron Dot which was liked but most usually felt like it was limited by the original Fast Fire and the Fast Fire II should fix some of those problems. Do you have any thoughts on what sets your product apart from LaRue's discontinued one? It looks like it shouldn't effect take down that much, correct (the dust cover can be popped off with out removing the mount)?

-(AA): What sets our product apart from LaRue's? First, LaRue didn't have very good replacement BUIS (Back Up Iron Sights) on their mounts. Second, it forced you to use a particular optic. Ours works with the three most common micro optics which can be found on our website in the description for the mount. Our mounts are also shorter in length, so take down and cleaning is even easier.

-(Me): Does each mount support all three optics or do you have to get a new one each time?

-(AA): Each mount supports all three optics. (Burris Fast Fire II, Leupold Deltadot, Trijicon RMR)

-(Me): Do you have a lot in stock from this first run or it is a on individual demand basis?

-(AA): We have enough mounts in stock to fuel what has been the consistent demand, but order volume is increasing, so we will be increasing our production.

-(Me): Comments on the apparent Guerrilla Marketing campaign by Twisterx44 on the gunboards? What is Twisterx44's relationship to the Attero Arms?

-(AA): We have been notified of the apparent marketing attempt by that user, however we have absolutely no affiliation with 'Twisterx44'. We may take steps to contact the board administrators to notify them that this was not an Attero Arms endorsed action. The problem is locating all of the boards that were posted on - there seem to be a lot. Twisterx44 has no relation to Attero Arms other than they were one of the first customers to purchase our SBR.

Interview via email with Nate of the Attero Arms Sales Team,

According to their website, Attero Arms holds a Type 7 FFL as well as a Class 2 SOT, issued by the BATF.

Twisterx44 was accused of guerrilla marketing by several board Admins with his review of Attero Arms SBR awith their mount.

EDIT: Statement from Twisterx44: "I wanted to clear the air with everybody here because I think I have been misunderstood slightly. I know I have been on other forums.

I posted a review of an SBR I finally got on this forum. I also posted my review on many other gun forums. My main reason for doing this was to show off my new toy, but one of the products my SBR came equipped with was a replacement for the Larue AK IronDot mount that I know everybody has been looking for since Larue discontinued them. I figured just about anybody with an AK would want to see it. Unfortunately, I got mislabeled as a 'guerilla marketer' which I had never heard of before, but on this forum and a few others I was accused of having an affiliation with the company that made my SBR.

I want to clear the air with that. I have no connection to them, I was just sharing my new gun. "

Attero Arms SBR review incident

If your a member of just about any gun forums/board you've might have seen the Twisterx44 review of the Attero Arms Draco SBR which seemed to be a guerrilla marketing campaign. I'm in communication with Attero Arms and Twisterx44 and will have comments shortly.

No matter what you think of the posts, I really think the mount is interesting, obviously like the discontinued LaRue Iron Dot.