Michael Petrov grew up in Colorado and after a three-year stint in the U.S. Army he packed-up and moved to Alaska in 1967. He was employed on an offshore oil production platform in Cook Inlet, Alaska for most of his working career giving him plenty of time to pursue his avocation; researching pre-1940 American custom gunmakers. 'Since retirement he works full-time studying, shooting and restoring old guns for personal pleasure. Petrov's first Springfield sporter had a Niedner barrel and a Shelhamer stock launching his long fascination with them each custom rifles. Since that first rifle he has examined several hundred 1910- 1940 American custom rifles and Petrov is the most widely published authority on the subject. Petrov has never felt comfortable writing about rifles or makers whose work he has not held in his hands. He shot many of those rifles and is thoroughly familiar with the mechanical and performance aspects of the rifles. His first book, Custom Gunmakers of the 20th Century was published in 2005. His articles have been published in American Single Shot Rifle Association, Rifle Magazine, Gun Digest and Precision Shooting. Michael Petrov lives in Anchorage, Alaska with his wife Janet.