The Gunsmith Shop in Colonial Williamsburg is a working historic trades shop where gunsmiths hand-build flintlock longrifles with 18th-century tools.
Don’t miss
- Hand-forged barrels and locks made with period tools
- Flintlock American longrifles, pistols and fowling pieces built in the shop
- Sand-cast brass furniture and hand-cut maple stocks
- Live talks from the master gunsmith and apprentices
Our notes
In Colonial Williamsburg’s Gunsmith Shop, gunsmiths build rifles, pistols and fowling pieces with 18th-century tools and methods. Ask how long a rifle takes and the answer is usually around four hundred hours. The shop works out of the Geddy site, where James Geddy and his sons ran a real gunsmithing business in the 1700s.
Timeline
- 1960 Williamsburg designated a National Historic Landmark District
- 2008 Gunsmith Shop moves to the Geddy site
Plan your visit
- When the heat index tops 104 degrees, the gunsmith trade moves to the Art Museums
- A single rifle takes the shop about 400 hours, often spread over a year
Warning: maps are habit forming. Next stop, 2A Maps
Nearby on the guide
More history: All firearm museums · Virginia guide
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