My adventures during a recent trip to Europe and some gun shops I was fortunate enough to visit I thought I’d share.
Prior to leaving I had contacted Beretta, Benelli, Peter Hofer, Johann Fanzoj and asked if they allowed tours of their facilities. Never heard a word back from either Beretta or Benelli
, the two smaller more exclusive shops of Peter Hoffer and Johann Fanzoj were more than happy to accommodate however .
http://www.hoferwaffen.com/
http://www.fanzoj.com/
Both shops are located in the town of Ferlach in Austria, a town that has been producing guns since the 16th century, there’s an interesting history of the town on the Fanzoj website that is worth reading. This is also where the top notch Höhere Technische Bundeslehranstalt Ferlach gunsmith school is located along with a number of other boutique gunmakers.
First stop was Peter Hofer’s shop, they have a handful of employees and produce around 20 or so guns a year. What had initially drawn me was their tiny .22 Hornet/.17 HMR double gun they produce. We were greeted by the head gunsmith Andreas who was kind enough to show us some of their fine firearms. The first gun in hand was the tiny double rifle, what a delight, you’d expect something so petite to feel awkward but it shoulders like a little wand. In the white they start at E100 000, all hand made from scratch, beautiful. Andreas then showed us some of their combination guns, the hand work was incredible, artwork of the highest degree. I asked Andreas what he thought of North American “gunsmiths” to which he gave a wry smile, it wasn’t arrogance, the work they do is high functional art as opposed to gun plumbing which is mostly what we’re exposed to in N.A. Apparently to become a gunsmith it’s a 3-5 year commitment between schooling and apprenticeship, and then your real learning starts ……., in the US you can do a 6 week course and call yourself a gunsmith. That’s not to disparage our smiths, they’re called to perform a different level of work, it’s just a very different skill requirement in Europe and that’s reflected by the quality and type of guns and clients they work with. Andreas then quietly left the room for a short moment and to our surprise returned with a 4 bore double rifle over his shoulder! Holy Cow….. this thing was a monster, it weighed in around 13kg if I recall, and had barrels big enough to stick your thumbs in for cartridges, cartridges that fire 2000gr bullets. The only way to keep the sights on target once shouldered is letting off a round I assume, it’s that heavy. I can’t find a practical use for this gun, but I need and want one, this wins the “mine’s bigger than yours” argument hands down every time, it’s a ridiculously awesome gun!
Tiny .22 Hornet double rifle
Huge 4 bore double rifle
World’s biggest and smallest double rifles together
Some other works of art
Swiss watch type action
Probably 1.5-2 million of rifles in the rack
Next stop was Johann Fanzoj’s shop, once again a smaller specialized shop that turns out small volume custom rifles. We were greeted by Daniela, Johann’s daughter who led us to their gun room for a look at some of their work. We got to handle Daniela’s personal single shot which is a production gun they produce, very svelte with elegant low key engraving and case colouring, a working gun that retains the functional aspect by not overdoing the embellishments, one of Fanzoj's core values, this beauty is a more reachable E36 000. The gun in the photo is of the slightly larger action, not her personal rifle. Fanzoj also does one off theme guns for clients where they push the envelope in creativity, there was one example of a bolt gun that had the action finished to mimic the hide of an elephant, The Ivory Hunter, a very unique application of engraving. I wish I had taken more photo’s but honestly Daniela was so engaging and passionate about their work I spent most of my time just chatting and listening to her, neither photo’s or text can convey the pleasure of that, she truly was the pearl of the gun shop visits. After the gun room we took a quick walk through one of the workshops with various pieces being put together, amongst them a new titanium action they’re working on. I asked Daniela what happens if an apprentice makes a mistake, she said they don’t make mistakes, they’re just not given a task they can’t perform, and they start with the most basic of tasks, one fellow’s project being to make himself a hammer to work with before he went any further. They also had a very nice tapered octagonal barrel with rib on the bench, exactly what I was looking for, Daniela suggested I contact our very own Martini and Hagn as they had occasion to work with them and did excellent work in her opinion.
Fanzoj singe shot action
A custom bolt rifle they’re working on
The shop walk through
The Ivory Hunter (stock Fanzoj photo)
Last, and most unimpressively, was my “visit” to the Benelli factory which was literally 400M down the street in Urbino where we stayed for a couple nights. I though nothing ventured nothing gained by walking over and inquiring about an impromptu visit. No surprise they declined, apparently some students were being walked through, so the fellow who had travelled from Canada and spent money on their product was given a bag of swag and sent along his way. Honestly it left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, I don’t need a hat/pens/decals/catalog of their products, they can keep that rubbish. I rather just a little personal time like the two smaller gunshops in Austria provided, and all that to someone obviously without the intention or means of buying their product. If I’m ever in the position to afford something custom I know where I will be going.
Lastly, many thanks to both shops, Andreas, and of course the ever charming Daniela for taking time out of their day to entertain the interests of a fellow gun enthusiast.
Prior to leaving I had contacted Beretta, Benelli, Peter Hofer, Johann Fanzoj and asked if they allowed tours of their facilities. Never heard a word back from either Beretta or Benelli
, the two smaller more exclusive shops of Peter Hoffer and Johann Fanzoj were more than happy to accommodate however .http://www.hoferwaffen.com/
http://www.fanzoj.com/
Both shops are located in the town of Ferlach in Austria, a town that has been producing guns since the 16th century, there’s an interesting history of the town on the Fanzoj website that is worth reading. This is also where the top notch Höhere Technische Bundeslehranstalt Ferlach gunsmith school is located along with a number of other boutique gunmakers.
First stop was Peter Hofer’s shop, they have a handful of employees and produce around 20 or so guns a year. What had initially drawn me was their tiny .22 Hornet/.17 HMR double gun they produce. We were greeted by the head gunsmith Andreas who was kind enough to show us some of their fine firearms. The first gun in hand was the tiny double rifle, what a delight, you’d expect something so petite to feel awkward but it shoulders like a little wand. In the white they start at E100 000, all hand made from scratch, beautiful. Andreas then showed us some of their combination guns, the hand work was incredible, artwork of the highest degree. I asked Andreas what he thought of North American “gunsmiths” to which he gave a wry smile, it wasn’t arrogance, the work they do is high functional art as opposed to gun plumbing which is mostly what we’re exposed to in N.A. Apparently to become a gunsmith it’s a 3-5 year commitment between schooling and apprenticeship, and then your real learning starts ……., in the US you can do a 6 week course and call yourself a gunsmith. That’s not to disparage our smiths, they’re called to perform a different level of work, it’s just a very different skill requirement in Europe and that’s reflected by the quality and type of guns and clients they work with. Andreas then quietly left the room for a short moment and to our surprise returned with a 4 bore double rifle over his shoulder! Holy Cow….. this thing was a monster, it weighed in around 13kg if I recall, and had barrels big enough to stick your thumbs in for cartridges, cartridges that fire 2000gr bullets. The only way to keep the sights on target once shouldered is letting off a round I assume, it’s that heavy. I can’t find a practical use for this gun, but I need and want one
, this wins the “mine’s bigger than yours” argument hands down every time, it’s a ridiculously awesome gun!Tiny .22 Hornet double rifle
Huge 4 bore double rifle
World’s biggest and smallest double rifles together
Some other works of art
Swiss watch type action
Probably 1.5-2 million of rifles in the rack
Next stop was Johann Fanzoj’s shop, once again a smaller specialized shop that turns out small volume custom rifles. We were greeted by Daniela, Johann’s daughter who led us to their gun room for a look at some of their work. We got to handle Daniela’s personal single shot which is a production gun they produce, very svelte with elegant low key engraving and case colouring, a working gun that retains the functional aspect by not overdoing the embellishments, one of Fanzoj's core values, this beauty is a more reachable E36 000. The gun in the photo is of the slightly larger action, not her personal rifle. Fanzoj also does one off theme guns for clients where they push the envelope in creativity, there was one example of a bolt gun that had the action finished to mimic the hide of an elephant, The Ivory Hunter, a very unique application of engraving. I wish I had taken more photo’s but honestly Daniela was so engaging and passionate about their work I spent most of my time just chatting and listening to her, neither photo’s or text can convey the pleasure of that, she truly was the pearl of the gun shop visits. After the gun room we took a quick walk through one of the workshops with various pieces being put together, amongst them a new titanium action they’re working on. I asked Daniela what happens if an apprentice makes a mistake, she said they don’t make mistakes, they’re just not given a task they can’t perform, and they start with the most basic of tasks, one fellow’s project being to make himself a hammer to work with before he went any further. They also had a very nice tapered octagonal barrel with rib on the bench, exactly what I was looking for
, Daniela suggested I contact our very own Martini and Hagn as they had occasion to work with them and did excellent work in her opinion.Fanzoj singe shot action
A custom bolt rifle they’re working on
The shop walk through
The Ivory Hunter (stock Fanzoj photo)
Last, and most unimpressively, was my “visit” to the Benelli factory which was literally 400M down the street in Urbino where we stayed for a couple nights. I though nothing ventured nothing gained by walking over and inquiring about an impromptu visit. No surprise they declined, apparently some students were being walked through, so the fellow who had travelled from Canada and spent money on their product was given a bag of swag and sent along his way. Honestly it left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, I don’t need a hat/pens/decals/catalog of their products, they can keep that rubbish. I rather just a little personal time like the two smaller gunshops in Austria provided, and all that to someone obviously without the intention or means of buying their product. If I’m ever in the position to afford something custom I know where I will be going.
Lastly, many thanks to both shops, Andreas, and of course the ever charming Daniela for taking time out of their day to entertain the interests of a fellow gun enthusiast.
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