Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters changes @ Dakota

Dakota Arms, LLC, manufacturer of custom sporting arms and components, announces the first closing in an equity round of financing which will provide additional capital for day-to-day operations. An investor group led by Patrick Gilligan, an avid sportsman and conservationist, will receive shares of Dakota Arms, LLC and two seats on the Dakota Board of Directors as a result of its investment. Gilligan, who will play an active role in the strategic direction of the company, is the new Chairman of the Board.

Gilligan?

*Insert corny jokes*

An "avid sportsman and conservationist". Hmmm, doesn't say anything about "hunter"....

Is Kokesh still involved?
If you can say anything nice...Oh yeah, beautiful looking guns.

As a point of grammatical precision, a "sportsman" is a hunter or sport fisherman. The term gets misused by being extended to other "sports", which are really not sports, but games, such as tennis, baseball, football, etc. Sports have basis in hunting and warfare. Horse racing and steeplechase are sports, and their owners, trainers and riders are also "sportsmen".

In the interest of my friends who work at Dakota, I'd rather have an honest nonhunter than a crooked hunter running that company. Hope that's the case.

Here is more of the press release from this morning's The Outdoor Wire:

Gilligan, a former Chairman of the Board of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, said, �We are delighted to become a part of the Dakota Arms legacy. Dakota Arms is an industry icon that has earned an outstanding reputation over the last three decades, and we believe that we can build on that history at the same time that we improve production and increase revenues. We also see this as an investment in the men and women who work for Dakota Arms. Their dedication and talent are the real keys to the company�s success.�

I expect a guy with RMEF leadership experience is a hunter.

jim

Board of directors? How many chairman is there? That's probably why Dakota is losing its ass: charging a butt-ton to sell a rifle and paying too much money to people who don't do anything....

Can somebody briefly explain why this company has had so many problems?

Or give me a link.

Seems I just catch tidbits here and there on their finance problems.


Travis

Ain't that the darned truth.

Steve

Exactly, to many bad stories came out of the original sale from Allen's to the crooks.

If Kokesh is still involved, I wouldn't trust them with one dime of my money.

Thanks for the info, HunterJim!

Stay away from Dakota! Had too many BAD dealings with them.

They have definitely had their ups and downs over the past few years, and the word has gotten out. You should have seen their big booth at the Safari Club show. Hardly any customers in it, and the other gun booths were crowded. But it would be good to see them reorganize and start producing good guns regularly.

I'd much, much rather give my business to a small, independent custom riflemaker who has low overhead and performs and oversees all of the work himself, and puts the best components and the best quality and workmanship he possibly can into what he produces. He then shoots and proves the finished product before he sends it out to the client. This sort of riflemaker deals with the client one-on-one himself, and he has no board of directors, group of investors, or front office staff to appease, pay, and answer to. Your money goes into the skill, experience, and labors of the gunmaker himself, and into the components that comprise the rifle, rather than fluff and excess.

I've always felt as though Dakota was more about the form and imagery of the classic custom rifle, rather than the substance thereof. It's also my opinion that custom rifles simply can't be even semi-mass-produced..........

AD

I agree with allenday- I'd rather deal with a custom gunmaker than a corporation.

Running a search on Dakota Arms+Bankruptcy shows Dakota filed for bankruptcy reorganization 7/06, and is winding up. A successor corporation acquired all of its assets as of 2/28/07, and is now known as Dakota Arms LLC. Charlie Kokesh, still there as President and/or Chief Executive, stated all orders placed before 7/06 would be filled by year end 2007. Only the people with old, unfilled orders can say whether that happened. Looks like whoever has now put money into "New" Dakota installed Gilligan as Chairman of the Board to keep tabs on things, and maybe that would put a leash on Kokesh.

I don't know of anyone in the firearms industry that is more vilified by customers, suppliers,workers and contemporaries than Charley Kokesh. He seems to be known for his arrogance, ignorance, scheming, and total untrustworthiness.

He appears to be the prime example of an elbow hole( an azz hole who does not know his azz from his elbow)

Steve