When you ask Steve about where this all started, he will tell you it actually began with his grandfather. Vern Nowling had a love of wildcat cartridges. “As far as I know, we never shot factory ammo through any of grandpa’s guns… and back then, the more it kicked, the better the gun was… It was all about pushing the bullet as fast as possible.”

Vern was having health problems, and seemed to know he wouldn’t be around much longer. They had a 7mm Rem Mag that Vern and his sons had all used to harvest deer. Vern wanted to see his grandson take a deer with that same rifle before he was gone, so at age 9 Steve took down his first deer with a 160gr bullet out of a 7mm Rem Mag. “Grandpa got to see that and experience it with us. That was a big deal.”

Just a few years later, as Vern was on his deathbed, the .30 Herrett barrel he had ordered showed up. Steve took over the project. “This was back before the Internet was popular. I just based everything off what I could find, what grandpa had taught me, and his notes. So at age 11, with a beam scale and a spoon, I was reloading my first wildcat. Did my parents know what I was doing? How did they let me do that?”

As time went on, Steve started helping family and friends with load development for their rifles. “That’s how it progressed into what I do now. That’s what I love doing - using the knowledge I have to make people successful. It’s fun.”

Steve went on to get two degrees, Machining and Gunsmithing. He has a passion for precision, detail, and empirical results. Since Steve has been working as a machinist to support his family, but his real passion has always been making the most accurate rifles possible. In , Dark Arts Precision began its official transformation from a dream into a reality. This shop is the culmination of decades of shooting, reloading, machining, and gunsmithing experience all directed at the singular goal of making components that make people successful.

This is a mission to build the best precision rifles.

So this is where we start talking about your story. What brought you here? What made you read this whole page? What are your goals and objectives?

Are you a PRS competitor looking for a rifle that won’t hold you back?

Are you looking for a rifle to harvest Elk?

Maybe you just have a passion for precision, and you need a rifle that shoots amazing just because. This is America - that’s our God given right.

You might be perfectly happy with the rifle you have. Check out our parts and tools. There might be something you’ll find useful.