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Magpul Industries is the Apple of the firearms world. Everything they touch turns to gold, from the Magpul Masada (now the ACR) to their AR-15 accessories. I can’t walk into a range without seeing their stocks and magazines in use all over the place. The reason for their success is equal parts awesome design work and fantastic marketing through their Magpul Dynamics series of videos where Chris Costa and Travis Haley teach weapons handling classes and have a chemistry that makes their videos more fun and approachable than any other series available. But all that is changing…

Earlier this year Travis Haley declared that he was leaving Magpul to start his own training organization, but still came back for the Precision Rifle videos that are slated for release sometime soon. Then the news came that Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co., a private investment firm, made a “significant investment” in Magpul. Now Chris Costa, the face of Magpul Dynamics and their President, has resigned due to “family issues,” the standard reason for leaving a company when you don’t really want to say what’s going on. When asked about why he quit, Costa reportedly said “I’m leaving because the time is right”according to the Military Times website.

There’s no news about how this will impact Magpul Dynamics, as Travis Haley and Chris Costa were the driving force behind their success. As the VP of Marketing and Sales for Magpul said, “Replacing Chris is not plug and play.” This news comes as the Precision Rifle video, which features both Travis Haley and Chris Costa, continues to have its release date delayed for unknown reasons.

Also mentioned in the article is that four new videos are slated for release including the already announced Precision Rifle. Added to the list of upcoming topics is Automobile training and two undisclosed subjects.

Here’s the full press release:

Chris Costa to Branch Out On His Own in 2012

Since 2007, Magpul Dynamics has trained thousands of professional and civilian shooters, and reached countless more through a comprehensive collection of instructional DVDs. With an emphasis on real world techniques, consistency, and efficiency, Magpul Dynamics has brought tactical instruction to the forefront of the shooting community. The application of these philosophies to high quality multimedia productions has helped propel the entire firearms training industry to new heights, garnering the attention of a larger audience than ever before.

The entire instructor cadre has been instrumental in the success of these endeavors, not the least of which has been Chris Costa. Chris will be moving on in early 2012 to pursue new projects within the industry, including his own training company. Magpul will continue to explore future opportunities to work with Chris, and looks forward to these projects. It has been a privilege to work with Chris for the last five years, and Magpul wishes him the best of luck in the future. The fundamentals of Reality, Consistency, and Efficiency that Chris helped instill are central to the entire Magpul Dynamics instructor cadre, and will continue to drive their training philosophy and mindset.

[Militarytimes via Reddit]

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8 COMMENTS

    • Do you have to post the same lame joke on every board about Costa leaving? Or did you just copy it from someone else?

  1. I hope this doesn’t signal the beginning of the end of Magpul’s innovation and excellent quality. They’ve been a consistent performer for several years, and I’ve become an unabashed fan since I’ve gotten into ARs.

  2. Sad days for Magpul. I’m a firm believer though that this is a company not based around the mind of just one, but several equally as creative and innovative as the next. That said, hopefully there are no major inn rumblings that forced him out. I guess time will tell.

  3. I am glad Costa is leaving, in those training videos he wore his pants way too high…like my gramps.

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