Anyone got info on Michael Bay from Trident Precision Mach.?

According to Mrs. Swenson there were -NO- apprentices including Wayne Novak, who was originally hired to finish thumb safeties, is what she told me recently in a phone call. If there was an apprentice, I suspect John Jardine is the only one that can claim that title and he makes a point not to. Irene Swenson was very involved in her husband's work and his records.

I am just relating what I was told first hand. Swenson did have a long connection to the SEAL community in Southern California but you have to realize Swenson stopped working almost 10 years ago now.

From the Trident web site:

"Master Gunsmith - Michael C. Bay - Former Navy SEAL, Class 125. Mike was trained by the late, great, Armand Swenson of Fallbrook, California and has been building custom guns for over 15 years.

General Manager - Kent Dillingham - Former Navy SEAL, Class 106. Kent has recently returned to the U.S. where he has been working in various countries in South America as a Corporate Security Manager and Security Instructor. "

With a long history of Swenson working for SEAL Team #5 and the other teams I suspect Swenson took any number of them under his wing.

My bet is Mr. Bay is the real deal, has mentioned a relationship that was important to him and turns out a damn nice gun. Hard to go wrong with that combination.

Hi everyone. I noticed some of these threads go back a long way but some are more recent. Ironically I was searching for Mike today, I had his contact information a few years ago but lost it when I switched phones some time back. No worries though, we have mutual friends. I have one of Mike's first, not the first but one of them that he did after he purchased Armends lathe back in 1990 or 1991 timeframe. He set his shop up in his garage where he lived in Clairemont. I can personally attest to his work as the gun he made is still a tack driver with the smoothest trigger I've ever shot. I was shooting some steel yesterday and realized it finally needs a tune up. Mike was a SEAL because I went through BUDS with him and served with him at ST-5. He and another SEAL named Bill S. trained with Armend so they could refurbish all of ST-5's 1911's that were in disrepair at the time and Mike decided to get out of the military and become a gunsmith. I actually had the pleasure of drinking a few beers with Armend when he was at Mike's house for parties and other gatherings. I will attach a picture of this gun if I can figure out how to do so or someone can tell me. Sorry for the long thread. Hope this helps.