thing they do is supply many parts, tools and the information needed to do all types of gunsmithing. They supply a huge variety of factory and custom parts from many manufacturers. The major- ity of their tools and equipment come with instructions on how to use them properly. They stock many books and DVDs that gunsmiths and interested individuals use to learn all aspects of gunsmithing and gun related informa- tion. This includes my own Extreme Accuracy Series of instructional DVDs. Their gun techs, which I men- tioned earlier, are a number of tech- nicians with experience in different gunsmithing fields whom you can call and talk to on the phone. You can ask for their advice on a problem or on a job you are working on and generally they can walk you right through it. One interesting page in their
catalog is a shop price survey that lists many of the common jobs that are done by gunsmiths and the price range that is commonly charged for individual services. Knowing how to price my work was a big help for me when I first started out.
Brownells promotes training by listing a complete list of in-residence schools and correspondence schools. They have a professional association directory in their catalog that lists vari- ous associations that will be of interest to shooters and gunsmiths. Once a year they sponsor a career fair where gunsmiths who are looking for jobs will meet with various companies in the industry who are looking to hire gunsmiths and good employees. They also sponsor scholarships for students at gunsmithing schools and graduates get gift certificates to help them get started. They are big supporters of the NRA and every time you place an order you almost always have a chance to donate to the NRA through the “add- a-buck” or “rounding-up to the next dollar” programs.
Brownells in recent years has built a very nice range facility near Searsboro, Iowa. This Big Springs Range is just a few miles from the Brownells head office. They conduct a lot of shooting sports there with rifle, shotgun, and handgun. Law enforcement uses it for training, and they have many youth programs and youth shoots there. Brownells even worked with me
for a while in a plan to set up a 1000- yard range facility adjacent to their Big Springs range. We had been forced to shut down our Iowa 1000 Yard Ben- chrest range because of the unexpected death of the property owner, and we thought it would be good for both Brownells in the long term and our Iowa 1000-yard shooters in the short term to set up a 1000-yard range as part of Big Springs. This ended up not working out, but I appreciated Brownells efforts in this. I hope someday they will be able to put in a 1000-yard range in their facil- ity to accommodate the many different long-range venues and training op- portunities that could benefit from this. Brownells frequently donates
prizes to matches of various sorts around the country. I experienced this first-hand since Brownells donated many prizes over the years to the Var- mint Hunter Jamboree and to our 1000- yard shooters when I was operating the Iowa 1000 Yard Benchrest club. This really helps smaller clubs like ours when we can pass on these benefits to our shooters.
In closing, I just want to get across
how beneficial it is to use a company like Brownells when doing anything related to gunsmithing. Brownells is one of the very best and most helpful companies that I have dealt with in all the years that I have been in the gunsmithing business. They are to be commended for their devotion to the gunsmithing profession as well as for helping hobbyists learn more about something they truly love.
CONTACTS Brownells, Inc.
200 South Front Street Montezuma, IA 50171-1159 800-741-0015
www.Brownells.com
Sinclair International Inc. 200 South Front Street Montezuma, IA 50171 800-717-8211
www.sinclairintl.com Gordy Gritters
Kansas City, MO (formerly Iowa) 641-780-5085
www.ExtremeAccuracyInstitute.com www.varminthunter.org
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