I tell you my good friends, if Jason aka MilsurpShooter is not one of your good friends or soon to be one by the time you finish reading this MOM write up, then I’m at a total loss for words. Not that he needs more friends, but my goodness, this guy is one of the most down to earth, true-blue, knows what he wants, independent chaps I’ve ever met. There is no ego B.S. “wannabe” with Jason.

Let’s start with how Jason got his HDF User Name. It is a combination of “Military Surplus” and “Shooter.”

Jason enjoys history, in particular small arms and how they are engineered. The details behind what you see. His game is finding an old beat-up relic, taking it apart, cleaning, repairing, polishing, and putting the firearm back together, and then sending one downrange. It is a long-time hobby of M-Shooter’s going back to when he was a teenager.

M-shooter is not, has not, and likely will not be married. He values and enjoys his solitude, and living life on his own terms. When he is not working, the “quiet time” is his and his alone. Doing whatever he wants, whenever he wants. And without having to run his plans, preferences, or anything else by another person. He is truly as free a soul as they come.

To the best of his knowledge, he does not have any children that he knows of.

Job-wise, when it comes to security and safety, he’s your man. For Jason, it is “Been there, done that.” For almost two decades. Here is how it lays out.

He has worked:

1. Inner City Libraries

2. Local County Airports

3. Pharmaceutical Companies

4. Tenement Buildings

5. Abandoned Hospitals

6. Operational Hospitals

7. Gated Communities

8. Office Buildings

9. Music Festivals

10. And a variety of other places that he either does not remember or does not want to remember.

11. He has been tasked with the job of making sure no one falls into construction holes in parking lots, and everything else all the way up to working with the FAA guarding private jets.

12. At one point in his career, he was protection for a CEO/HR with a very large pharma company. He would drive with the CEO and accompany him on business trips. Some days he would go into the office where they were communicating with their headquarters. Other times he would get a phone call and be told to “Be ready in 20 minutes, you are driving me to the airport and we are taking the private jet to Texas or California for meeting.”

This job was particularly amazing because he was once considered the “…punk 18-year-old kid” on the job he was working at the time. Most of the other guys on the job with Jason had a side bet on how long he would last, considering he was so young. Even as a young guy, the jobs that Jason were interested in and hired for were typically given to retired law enforcement officers. Most of them were breaking Jason’s ***** about being so young and doing such high-level security work.

Thing is, Jason has a very strong work ethic and amazing stamina. Over the next two years, he outlasted almost every other guy in the company he was working with. And he was winning bet after bet after bet.

13. In the last decade and a half, he has been taking care of the safety and security work for off-site locations of large company research and development divisions. Counter corporate espionage, physical security, and safety training for employees who work in laboratories to make sure they remain safe as they handle chemicals and maneuver about. The menagerie of work has been a blast.

M-Shooter has been riding for about a dozen years now. You would never think he would venture into riding motorcycles considering how many accidents he had on a bicycle and while dirt biking with friends through the woods in his younger years. (It is no wonder he went into the safety field.) But nonetheless…

Late in 2010 Jason walked into a Harley-Davidson dealership to pick up parts for a friend’s bike he was working on. While there, he spied a Crossbones sitting on the showroom floor and thought, “Oh, now that's a nice bike." Three months earlier, he had finished paying off a car loan. And now, here he was, eyeballing a Crossbones and thinking about how it would fit into his budget.

Huh. Looks good from the front. Sides? Check. Rear? Check. I wonder what it feels like to slide into the saddle. Whooooosh…………oh yeah………that dunnit.

Can I swing a loan for this bike, he thought. Huh. There M-Shooter stood, staring at the bike and salivating. A 24-year-old, still in his shoddy “off the rack” polyester suit from work, wondering if he could handle the payments of an impulse purchase. And a rather sizeable one at that.
Pondering this purchase while he was waiting for the parts to come to the counter, a salesman saunters by. M-Shooter pops the question over to the salesman who looks him up and down and says, "Yeah ok kid, fill out these forms and I'll get back to you." A week later, the Crossbones was Jason’s. And as a finishing touch, he ordered saddlebags.

That bike my friends is what he rides today. A 2010 Crossbones. It would have been a 2011 but in 2011 HD discontinued the flat black with the pinstripe paint job.

That particular day and that particular Crossbones was the only one to ever jump out at him. Sure, he eyeballs the new ones all the time. But until he sees one that pops out at him, he’ll just keep on looking.

As far as his all-time favorite bike, it has to be the 1943 WLA. In Jason’s own words… “I swear that bike is why I brought my Crossbones, closest I'll ever get to the 1943 model unless I hit the lottery. I'm a history nut been that way since I was about 5 or 6 years old. Watching documentaries and seeing what those guys could do with those bikes, the terrain they could cross and cover, and the Tommy Gun in the fork mounted scabbard? That's just the epitome of a workhorse bike that will get you wherever you need to go regardless of the conditions in my opinion.”

M-Shooter averages a minimum (minimum) of 60 hours a week working and is on call 24/7 which puts a major crimp into his riding lifestyle. The long-haul overnight rides will absolutely and without question happen. The really long “weeks at a time” ride that make up many “epic” rides, will need to remain on hold for now.

But that does not stop Jason from waking up early on a Saturday morning, straddling his baby and heading out for lunch 115+ miles north. Well, that is if you go in a straight line, but he never does. He likes riding through the farmland north of him.

If he sees a sign saying “beef this way” he heads in that direction. And when he eyes a lake somewhere along his travels, he pulls over and casts a line into the water. Gotta love those collapsible fishing poles that fit beautifully in the saddlebag, he says. Every weekend, he has no clue where he is going to wind up. And that my friends, is half the fun.

Sometimes, it’s a leisurely 160-mile ride to one of the renowned trout fishing streams in Beaver Kill, New York. He spends the day fishing, then packs up and moseys back home on his Crossbones, without a care in the world. Now, that is the life.

Sometimes it’s merely, wake up, hop on the bike and north we go to Lake George. Plop down on a rock with an orange soda in hand. Later, whenever, it is a slide back into the saddle, a KSU, and back home on a leisurely route.
Aaaah, the life. Gotta love the freedom.

Going north through the farmland is highly valued. Heading south to the middle of downtown Manhattan? Not gonna happen… well…… hmmm….. as with all rules, there is always the proverbial “exception” as you will see next.

In the not-too-distant future, Jason knows for certain that he is going to throw his tent on the back of his bike and head toward Virginia. Just ride around the entire state visiting all of the Civil War battlefield locations. And Virginia downtowns; well, they are the exception to the rule. They sure beat Manhattan.

Two weeks vacationing and purposely getting lost around the state of Virginia. That will necessitate a sissy bar. No problem. More tie downs. No problem. As you will see in the photos below, the saddlebags of a Crossbones do not hold a whole lot. Take particular note regarding where he is putting 20 pounds of brisket and two 6-packs of beer to bring home.

This kind of planning and lifestyle are most enjoyable. Hard to beat. Those of you who have done it know exactly the kind of joy Jason bathes in. For the others; well, there is no way to explain the joy and spiritual delight that follows this type of riding.

The military was out of the question for M-Shooter. He wanted to serve. Even showed up to be inducted but the military tossed him out of the building.

You see, when the infamous September 11 became a date to remember, Jason was in junior high school. When he heard the news, he and a few friends went to the roof of the school and looked southward. There it was, the smoke rising up high and thick into the sky above Manhattan. The impact on the small town where he lived (as many others felt) was immensely strong. Most everyone had someone or knew someone who worked in the Twin Towers.

Jason and four of his friends decided then and there that when they graduated, they would go down to the recruitment office, sign up, and do their part. And they did just that. Well, almost. When the recruiter took a look at Jason’s medical records, he immediately followed with, “Sorry son, this is not going to happen for you.” You see, back when Jason was playing varsity football, he busted up his knee pretty badly. Badly enough to make entry into the military a “no go.”

Hobby-wise, Jason keeps himself busy with knife sharpening, hunting, gunsmithing, long-range shooting using World War II and earlier firearms, and cooking on his pellet smoker. Jason is a frequent poster in the Food and Grill Forum. One of his more enjoyable activities. He also likes to write for his own personal enjoyment, usually historical fiction.

In in the Harley Davidson Forums, the “Food and Grill Forum” is one of his favorite places to visit. He does not claim to be the best BBQer but he sure has a lot of fun BBQing.Though he frequently peruses the Mechanical Forums, he stays clear of posting anything since the techies there have far more knowledge than him. But he does take advantage of hanging around the techie dungeons, always picking up great ideas and wonderful tips. In Jason’s own words “…they've [the techies] forgotten more about the subject than I ever knew.”

When it comes to firearms, in the “Gun Enthusiast Forum” he can hold his own.

Jason is often amazed and always enjoys looking through the seemingly never-ending forums and sub-forums. There is a wealth of people with different backgrounds, experiences, and great educational tips and tricks in every conceivable category. As Jason said, “Those forums have a wealth of knowledge and an even bigger wealth of people who will help out and do all they can for you. HD forums has helped me a lot over the years since I joined. Information, tips and tricks, where to put the gas cap and where to get a nice white, fringed leather jacket... The important things you know.”

Back to M-Shooter being one of your good friends…….. he likes bikes and shooting, he finally figured out where to put his gas cap, he’s safe to be around, likes BBQing big time, and has nothing to prove to anyone. He is truly his own man. “Comfortable in his own skin.” Awesome! That qualifies him to be a friend of mine. The only thing left is tying him down to a time to ride with him. Or maybe it is just best to meander the northern farmlands of NY, looking for a chap on a Crossbones with a fishing pole sticking out of his saddlebag, eating BBQ and enjoying life to the fullest.

 

Congrats 'Jason on MoM award and again, great write up Buzz.

 

Congratulations to the newest MoM!!!!!

 

Congratulations, Milsurp! That's some MIGHTY FINE looking smoke! I vote he cooks when we get together! I'd like to get together with you and OOH and AAH over your collection; I'll bet you've got some really nice iron. Congratulations!

 

Congratulations Jason. You are a worthy addition to the MoM list.

Nice write-up Buzz.

 

Congrats, Milsurp!! You've been a help to me before, and I'm sure you will be again. We'll have to swap stories about Lake George, sometime.

 

Congratulations Jason. And another great write up by The @BuzzCap7 . Enjoy your moment in the sun here at HDF, Jason.

 

Congrats Jason, nice ride and interesting career to say the least. Welcome to the MoM club, the secret password and handshake will be provided soon by @BuzzCap7 . Great write up again Buzz man!

 

Congrats Jason. The write-up confirms my suspicions - "here's a guy I could like". Perhaps some time in the near future we can meet up at my buddy's hunting camp in chenengo county and knock down a few deer with one of our Mosin's or Garand's.

 

Another well-deserved addition to the MOM club. Congrats, Jason !!!