C. Falls company building high-end weapons

The proof is in the shooting, and a new company called PROOF Research Inc. is building a new firearms research and manufacturing facility in Columbia Falls to produce high-end weapons.

Company personnel put on a product demonstration at an impressive 690-yard shooting range on a ranch north of Whitefish this week, inviting media personnel who had never fired weapons at long range to give it a go with one of the company’s .308 rifles. All three shooters were able to hit a 2-foot diameter steel “gong” target at 500 yards with a video camera recording the hits.

“The name PROOF is just such a natural,” said KK Jense, the company’s chief executive.

And it’s a name that wasn’t arrived at easily, he said, explaining the importance of product branding and marketing in the firearms industry. Developing those aspects of the business required considerable time and effort.

The company is actually currently manufacturing products at temporary facilities, but the opening of the new 25,000-square-foot building at the intersection of Hodgson Road and U.S. 2 in Columbia Falls, possibly as soon as October, will mark the full launch of PROOF Research.

The facility’s price tag will be in the “millions,” Jense said. “Everything will be brand new, state of the art.”

The company currently employs about 13 people, and Jense anticipates adding 10 more over the next year, followed by future growth.

“If this does half of what we want, there’s going to be expansion. ... There’s the going to be the need for more bodies,” Jense said.

PROOF will be the latest of several local firearm manufacturing businesses, along with even more small custom firearms operations.

“This is a unique valley for the firearms industry,” said Jense, a Great Falls native who has started out slowly building unique weapons but has been fully immersed in building guns for the last five years through a business called Jense Precision.

All of the local firearms manufacturers pursue their own niches, and PROOF will be no different.

The company recently acquired Lone Wolf Rifle Stocks, a business that has been operating in Columbia Falls for about 30 years. PROOF’s products will involve a combination of the Kevlar and carbon fiber Lone Wolf stocks with Jense Precision barrels that are built with a patented carbon fiber barrel wrap process.

The company’s goal is to be the leader in lightweight, accurate, durable, customizable weapons for hunting, the military and target shooting.

The lightweight carbon graphite barrels make a big difference.

“We’re getting the same accuracy out of a barrel that weighs 3 pounds as one that weighs 8 pounds,” Jense said.

Greg Hamilton, who is involved with the company’s barrel manufacturing, once placed three rounds in a 3-inch circle cluster from 1,124 yards.

Hamilton said the lightweight guns, selling for $4,900 on up apiece without optics, will be an attractive product.

“People are investing so much money into their hunts, it’s kind of like insurance for them” in having a quality weapon, Hamilton said. “They want to have pride in what they are carrying.”

The company’s new building will also house a state-of-the-art test facility with a thermal imaging camera, a million-frame-per-second high-speed ballistic camera and a specialized ballistic lab.

“We don’t want to just talk about our technology,” Jense said. “We want to give you proof.”