With any piece of equipment I always like to know information about the creator of said equipment and the reasons for the products design. See my previous article about my installation of his tactical mount system.
Obviously some things are proprietary information, but not often is it hard to find a bit of information that you wouldn’t know unless searching deeper. Hakan Spuhr, yes his name is that cool, was able to give some info on his background and other well known items that you may not know he engineered.
Background
When you know you know, and Hakan knew that he wanted to become a gunsmith at 10 years old. Before deep diving into guns he went to tradeschool and worked as a tool and die maker for about 8 years.
Think about that. Deciding a dream at 10 years old, studying and working, then still at a young age having background knowledge and going into the gun industry. Many folks don’t even begin a career until the age of 30 and can be considered “an expert” within 10 years. Spuhr has been an expert on gunsmithing for triple that.
Engineering
The definition of engineering is “the design and manufacture of complex products” Spuhr does just that. He has been contacted by numerous LARGE companies both CONUS and OCUNUS to engineer multiple pieces of equipment to be developed and tested for large military entities. Most items that he did engineer are due to being contacted by the specific entity and engineering them for a purpose. Someone in that entity took the time to see a need, and Hakan took the time to engineer something to satisfy that need.
That then bleeds down to the public, and we are then fortunate to be able to purchase these public facing engineering marvels.
Customer Specified Products
Purpose
Being in this kind of industry you need to wear a lot of hats. Being a small arms repairman I have had to learn both the operation of a weapon system and also how to employ it to help the operator use the gun as efficiently as possible. Spuhr has put on those other hats. A gunsmith in the industry is not “just a gunsmith” anymore. They work closely with those who employ their equipment to learn how to build it better. He created the largest tactical mount system with 95 different configurations all designed in ways that the operator needs to employ his accessories. He introduced me to the concept of 12 o clock mounted dots on top of precision rifle scopes. These are all things that a gunsmith who stays in the shop, who doesn’t ask these questions, who doesn’t work in that manner for his customers, won’t do.
Shooters Needs and Recoil Management in Product Design
The Ideal Scope Mounting System (ISMS) knows the shooters needs. Spuhr designed his ISMS rings to have 45 degree cuts enabling the shooter to see his adjustment knobs without moving from his natural shooting position. This saves time on follow up shots and staying on the target.
The same mount also includes a bubble level that is visible from the left eye for a right eyed shooter. Many users like this due to not having the level covered by their hand if they grip their gun or optic a certain way in certain shooting positions. Useability under ‘off-hand’ conditions is reality.
Engineering products for guns is a different ball game due to recoil. Across the board, Spuhr mounts have shown that they have the most engagement surface on the rail. If mounts become loose due to recoil the mount will end up hitting the rail repeatedly causing damage. So not only do you now not have a zeroed and tight optic, you also have to replace an upper receiver due to damage. The ISMS shows engagement surface throughout the entire mount.
Thanks to Hakan Spuhr for the time taken to inform users of his products the why and the how of those products
You can see and purchase his items at https://www.spuhr.biz/
And if you don’t get giddy over mounts..
Spuhr designed rail and stock upgrades for some HK Guns
