Mad Mountain Science: West Virginia’s Boutique AKs

Tucked away in the southernmost corner of West Virginia is a seemingly small operation. It has no flashing lights, no neon, no massive ego stroking edifice that blares music and smells like gallons of cologne leaving you with a screaming headache like leaving the mall in the ’90s or the hangover after the first night at SHOT. Its owners are humble, down to earth, and in the truest sense partners who created a high impact operation built upon competence, vision, and a strong work ethic. This is JMac Customs, the brainchild of Justin and Ash McMillion.

This story does not start where one might imagine it would, but then again, the path is more common today. Neither Justin nor Ash grew up in a particularly “gunny” household. Justin’s family were outdoorsy and hunted and fished. They had guns, as many (if not most) do, useful tools that get a job done, and occa – sionally serve as recreation. Two things drew Justin into the AK and AR community, the first was video games. Years of FPS action is entertaining, but it ultimately leaves one wanting the real thing. 

The second was the Sword of Damocles that seems to hang over the firearms community at every moment, domestic politics and elected officials that would rather deny people their rights rather than deal with deep seated cultural and social issues. The result was Justin’s first pair of MSRs, an early Romy AK and a budget AR. 

Trained as an electrical engineer, and at the time working in a coal mine, Justin was a consummate thinker, looking for solutions to problems or simply a better way to do things on a daily basis. Eventually, his eye wandered to his increasing interest in firearms, and a frustrating amount of tinkering with an uncooperative AK. One day, Justin looked at Ash and simply stated “Quit your job, let’s start a business.” That was the beginning of JMAC Customs. 

JMac started with a few small parts and is now more properly described as a firearms engineering firm.  The vision was multi-faceted. On one hand, the AK market needed innovation. On the other hand, there were opportunities in the broader firearms market and key gaps in supply that were waiting for the right firm. JMac chose to embrace both.

JMac is most definitely an AK-centric company. While the United States is almost literally swimming in aftermarket AR accessories, the AK parts and accessories market from a domestic point of view is a little slim. JMac stepped in a big way and did an excellent job in embracing the broad spectrum of the AK market.

The AK market is, by its nature, a bit eccentric. While in the late ’80s and early ’90s, the AK was a cheap rifle with even cheaper ammo that was ubiquitously available until restrictions and legislation became increasingly common beginning in 1986, the AK market became increasingly niche as time went on. 

If one takes the time to listen to some of the old-school AK gurus such as Jim Fuller, the pain becomes apparent: few people wanted to work on AKs and even fewer people knew how to do it. Problems be damned, the American Way kicked in and determined individuals figured it out. The cheap Chinese $300 AK has now given way to several thousand dollar custom jobs. Events such as Kalash Bash exhibit this crowd like a heavily armed Texas version of Burning Man, and JMac fits snugly into that market.

JMac has intentionally released lines that appeal to those looking to improve the performance of the AK in a practical sense.

Rails, mounts, and grips that are outside the realm of normal and mundane recasts, remolds, and flat-out copies, offer the AK operator significant product improvements that make the AK an effective platform for the twenty-first century and push the AK’s ergonomics from the late 1940s to the 2020s, solving such problems as effective optics mounting, lightweight and compact stocks, and rails that are designed specifically for the platform and work well from an ergonomic perspective rather that slightly reverse engineered concept that often don’t meld well with the geometry and engineering inherent in the AK.

Art also comes into play on occasion, as does a certain amount of self-indictment with the advent of products such as the shovel adapter. Whether it’s art or function, JMac has tried and succeeded in covering all bases.

However, JMac has an impact on the suppressor market as well. JMac is currently the go-to source in the United States for suppressor mounts and adapters and serves as a manufacturer for multiple platforms. Their manufacturing facility supports parts and accessories for multiple suppressor firms, and it is likely if you shoot suppressed, you’ll eventually need a product they produce.

In speaking with Justin and Ash, two things are clear: Innovation is key, and hard work and know-how are the solutions. The newest product from JMac, the BANKA suppressor, is designed from the ground up to be a suppressor custom built for the AK, not an existing design force fitted to AKs resulting in problems from increased shooter discomfort, to increased wear, to increased cyclic rate. JMac “lives” AK in a way few western firearms accessory designers do. Further, there are some extremely exciting things on the horizon that have the potential to fundamentally alter some of the long-established beliefs associated with the platform.

There are multiple take-aways from JMac’s work and success, and these are what Justin and Ash stress. First, if you do a job right, success will follow. Second, the American Dream is not dead, you just have to work for it. Third, you can do that here in West Virginia, perhaps the most gun-friendly state in the U.S. Last, but definitely not least, the right partners make everything work.