ADM Gun and Rifle Makers
Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 10:26 pm
The night before last, my wife pointed out an article in a free circular we receive called "Impact News." It was about ADM Gun and Rifle Makers located in Southlake. Here is the article: http://impactnews.com/grapevine-colleyv ... fle-makers.
Anyway, this business was founded by Andrew Mcfarlane. The picture of him in the article looked familiar to me, so I read on. Turns out, he's Rhodesian born and raised, but more lately from South Africa. He is a former employee of E.J. Churchill Gun Makers in London, with a history of hand fabricating classic side by side and over and under shotguns, and side by side safari rifles. I had no idea that there was such a craftsman locally located, and the South Africa angle was interesting, so I phone up our own AndyC and proposed that we go over there together and see what this guy was all about.
It turns out that Andrew Mcfarlane and AndyC had much in common and knew many of the same people back in South Africa. They were high school rugby adversaries, and they used to hang out in the same gun stores. Listening to the two of them swap stories was very interesting. Not only did his picture look familiar to me, but Andrew said I looked familiar to him, so I asked him if he had ever worked at the Bass Pro in Grapevine. It turns out that he used to manage the gunsmith shop there, and he left when it turned out that the management wasn't really committed to having a first class gunsmithing service. In any case, I had met him when he worked there, and I had seen a sample of his work on a Holland & Holland takedown rifle in .375 H&H Magnum that belonged to a customer. I later ran into that customer at Elm Fork and asked him about the rifle. He had taken it on Safari in Africa and had a successful hunt with it.
Andrew showed us a side-by-side rifle action in .303 British which he had carved from a single billet, by hand, the old fashioned way, using files and other hand tools instead of machines. It was beautifully engraved, but beyond the engraving, it was a true example of the classic gunmaker's craftsmanship. In my opinion, this item was a museum piece in its own right. I had never held anything like that in my hands before. Leaning against the wall in one room, there were a half dozen raw uncarved walnut stock blanks, with the outlines of the stock drawn on the side, and the customer's name. These were beautiful pieces of the highest quality wood. Scattered around the place were various shotguns in various stages of assembly/disassembly. Andrew assured us that he is not picky about brand or price point regarding customer guns that need work. He also offers a stock fitting service for clays shooters which I might avail myself of for my Stoeger Condor Competition O/U shotgun.
ADM Gun and Rifle Makers also builds from scratch custom 1911 pistols, FN FALs, and other tactical firearms. Their website can be found at: http://www.admgun.com/, and their phone number is (817) 442-4861. If you live in or are visiting this area, drop in and check them out. They will be moving to an expanded facility soon, still in Southlake, so I don't know how much longer the current address will be valid.
AndyC and I pronounced the visit a profitable one, and I will be availing myself of ADM Gun & Rifle Makers' services when I can.
Anyway, this business was founded by Andrew Mcfarlane. The picture of him in the article looked familiar to me, so I read on. Turns out, he's Rhodesian born and raised, but more lately from South Africa. He is a former employee of E.J. Churchill Gun Makers in London, with a history of hand fabricating classic side by side and over and under shotguns, and side by side safari rifles. I had no idea that there was such a craftsman locally located, and the South Africa angle was interesting, so I phone up our own AndyC and proposed that we go over there together and see what this guy was all about.
It turns out that Andrew Mcfarlane and AndyC had much in common and knew many of the same people back in South Africa. They were high school rugby adversaries, and they used to hang out in the same gun stores. Listening to the two of them swap stories was very interesting. Not only did his picture look familiar to me, but Andrew said I looked familiar to him, so I asked him if he had ever worked at the Bass Pro in Grapevine. It turns out that he used to manage the gunsmith shop there, and he left when it turned out that the management wasn't really committed to having a first class gunsmithing service. In any case, I had met him when he worked there, and I had seen a sample of his work on a Holland & Holland takedown rifle in .375 H&H Magnum that belonged to a customer. I later ran into that customer at Elm Fork and asked him about the rifle. He had taken it on Safari in Africa and had a successful hunt with it.
Andrew showed us a side-by-side rifle action in .303 British which he had carved from a single billet, by hand, the old fashioned way, using files and other hand tools instead of machines. It was beautifully engraved, but beyond the engraving, it was a true example of the classic gunmaker's craftsmanship. In my opinion, this item was a museum piece in its own right. I had never held anything like that in my hands before. Leaning against the wall in one room, there were a half dozen raw uncarved walnut stock blanks, with the outlines of the stock drawn on the side, and the customer's name. These were beautiful pieces of the highest quality wood. Scattered around the place were various shotguns in various stages of assembly/disassembly. Andrew assured us that he is not picky about brand or price point regarding customer guns that need work. He also offers a stock fitting service for clays shooters which I might avail myself of for my Stoeger Condor Competition O/U shotgun.
ADM Gun and Rifle Makers also builds from scratch custom 1911 pistols, FN FALs, and other tactical firearms. Their website can be found at: http://www.admgun.com/, and their phone number is (817) 442-4861. If you live in or are visiting this area, drop in and check them out. They will be moving to an expanded facility soon, still in Southlake, so I don't know how much longer the current address will be valid.
AndyC and I pronounced the visit a profitable one, and I will be availing myself of ADM Gun & Rifle Makers' services when I can.
