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Mesa Tactical · October 17, 2004, 11:01 AM

During research into prior art related to a patent, we discovered the first commercially available AR stock adapter for shotguns (that we know of) was produced right here in Orange County, CA, by a company called Stock Options, in the mid 1990s. The former founder of Stock Options was coincidentally Mesa Tactical's first customer.

After that a number of individuals appear to have produced similar products in their shops or garages. One employee of the US Department of Defense had a couple dozen made in 2000, several of which are said to be in use in Afghanistan right now. ACE Ltd was doing something similar, but has since started OEMing a unit produced in the midwest.

As far as we can tell, Mesa Tactical, Argonaut and Cavalry Arms all started working on products at about the same time, after the introduction of the FN Police Tactical (a Winchester 1300 with a CAR stock, rail, ghost rings and front post). We got the idea from the original Benelli M4 stock (now the law enforcement collapsible stock), and thought we could jump-start things by using the AR-15 form factor. Argonaut was first to market, with Cavalry following soon after. After design, extensive prototyping and testing, toolmaking, foundry work and machining, we finally started shipping in September, a year after the others. At about that time, we discovered yet another vendor announcing a casting.

In the meantime, a number of folks, including big names, have jumped into the fray with cheap plastic variants. We are happy someone is supplying that part of the market that desires cheap plastic shotgun components, since we will never play there.

Based on the response both from the customer base (law enforcement, military, etc) and the industry (all our competitors), this is clearly an idea that has wheels. On the other hand, it's also a pretty simple idea that is easy to copy. This is why our approach is to make the adapter the centerpiece of a complete system for the tactical shotgun. Some of the early components of this emerging system are visible in 45R's photography. There will be more.

October 17, 2004, 11:01 AM	#12
Mesa Tactical Member Join Date: September 28, 2004 Posts: 44	A brief history of AR stock adapters for shotguns During research into prior art related to a patent, we discovered the first commercially available AR stock adapter for shotguns (that we know of) was produced right here in Orange County, CA, by a company called Stock Options, in the mid 1990s. The former founder of Stock Options was coincidentally Mesa Tactical's first customer. After that a number of individuals appear to have produced similar products in their shops or garages. One employee of the US Department of Defense had a couple dozen made in 2000, several of which are said to be in use in Afghanistan right now. ACE Ltd was doing something similar, but has since started OEMing a unit produced in the midwest. As far as we can tell, Mesa Tactical, Argonaut and Cavalry Arms all started working on products at about the same time, after the introduction of the FN Police Tactical (a Winchester 1300 with a CAR stock, rail, ghost rings and front post). We got the idea from the original Benelli M4 stock (now the law enforcement collapsible stock), and thought we could jump-start things by using the AR-15 form factor. Argonaut was first to market, with Cavalry following soon after. After design, extensive prototyping and testing, toolmaking, foundry work and machining, we finally started shipping in September, a year after the others. At about that time, we discovered yet another vendor announcing a casting. In the meantime, a number of folks, including big names, have jumped into the fray with cheap plastic variants. We are happy someone is supplying that part of the market that desires cheap plastic shotgun components, since we will never play there. Based on the response both from the customer base (law enforcement, military, etc) and the industry (all our competitors), this is clearly an idea that has wheels. On the other hand, it's also a pretty simple idea that is easy to copy. This is why our approach is to make the adapter the centerpiece of a complete system for the tactical shotgun. Some of the early components of this emerging system are visible in 45R's photography. There will be more.