Bad luck was the impetus for the founding of Brownells, the largest supplier of gunsmithing tools, firearms accessories and specialty equipment in the world today.
In the mid 1930s, Bob Brownell wanted nothing more than to run a resort in Minnesota – so he took a stab at living his dream. Only one winter passed, however, before Brownell decided his vision was misguided. Undaunted by his resort experience and ever the opportunist, Brownell quickly identified his “new” future.
The first cement highway was built into Montezuma, Iowa, (circa 1937) where Brownell’s relatives resided. There were no gas stations along the entire 60-mile length of roadway. Brownell’s epiphany honed his focus on a full-service, 24-hour gas station, which he opened complete with a companion Maid Rite, a mid-Western, franchised hamburger sandwich shop.
After a year of opening car radiators that used alcohol, Brownell became seriously ill. Trips to numerous medial specialists confirmed that Brownell suffered from an allergy to alcohol that develops into a syndrome that greatly affects balance – to the point that those stricken actually fall over.
Brownell ended up flat on his back with a business to run and a wife and three kids to support. He had no income from the gas station because he had to use his salary to pay the hired help who replaced him.
“As a result, Dad started pistolsmithing — on his chest,” remembers Frank Brownell, Bob’s son. “Dad had started pistolsmithing as a child, at about 12 years old. He was always a tinkerer, assembling and disassembling everything, and he particularly loved handguns.
“Then World War II hit and times got even worse. There was no gas, there were no tires, everything was rationed. The family depended on him, and he was sick. He was forced into doing more and more gun work.”
Because there were no parts during the war, everything had to be repaired. That played right into Brownell’s genius. He understood firearms mechanisms innately. He could just look at a gun and understand how it worked, Frank remembers. During the war, Bob also got into bluing firearms.
Brownell’s bad luck, his allergy and illness, turned his Shell Station into a pistolsmithing business. And, as time passed, medications helped Bob conquer the affects of his illness. He got back on his feet and aggressively led his fledgling company to success.
During the early days, Brownell wrote about gunsmithing, primarily as a way to promote his business, the Gunsmith’s Mart. The business name changed several times before becoming simply Brownells.
There was little doubt that the family business would transcend the generations. Bob’s son Frank worked doing whatever he could in the business as a youngster. However, he wasn’t allowed to apply officially for work at the company until he finished college and a stint of at least three years at another job. The same rule applied to Bob’s grandsons. Frank’s son, Pete, spent five years after college outside the business before returning to Montezuma and Brownells.
Today, Frank and Pete, CEO and President, blend the same mixture of ingredients — a concoction of business 101 laced with a heavy dose of old-fashioned ethics — that made Bob Brownell’s early business recipe so palatable to consumers.
“Dad’s philosophy was straight forward,” Frank explains. “He was focused on three key elements, offering a wide array of products, getting the products to customers quickly and unconditionally guaranteeing every product sold. Selection. Service. Satisfaction. That was his formula for success.”
Bob Brownell died in 1991, but he lives today through Frank and Pete. They don’t waver from Bob’s original business recipe but occasionally add a few spices of their own, to satisfy their customers’ ever-changing tastes.
The addition of toll-free numbers for both orders and tech help, an expanded technical department, the addition of almost 2000 new products every year, a commitment to the future of shooting and American youth, and a sharp focus on new technologies that help get orders out the door faster are just a few contributions.
“We constantly check with our customers about their online shopping experience with us,” Pete explains. “We’ve identified numerous ways to improve our Web site. We completely overhauled the site in 2003, incorporating the newest, most powerful and fastest Web technologies. We’re working on another overhaul right now that should make it even better. The search function definitely will be better, which is critical when selling tens of thousands of parts.”
The current search engine allows customers to find products by keyword, product category, brand, factory part number, Brownells stock number, or by catalog page number. In addition, a searchable archive of articles from Brownells BenchTalk and WebBench newsletters, the FAQ’s area that provides quick answers to commonly asked gunsmithing questions and the Ask a Question service are great resources for technical help.
Online Cheat Sheets also provide info on shotgun sight bead threads, nominal barrel groove diameters, calibers, twists and more. Most impressive is the site’s online Schematics Section. It offers 576 different firearms schematics. Within each schematic, customers can click on the firearm parts to see the items Brownells stocks for that application.
The Web fills Bob’s wish to be open 24-7 — to serve customers better — especially when the customer is tinkering at midnight and the Brownells shop in Montezuma is closed. However, the Web site isn’t a replacement for Brownells trademark product catalog with its unique, recognizable, horizontal format. The catalog is published annually, and has grown to 576 pages in 60 years.
The company also started producing specialty catalogs for the 1911 auto pistol and the AR-15 rifle. Folks only interested in those guns quickly and easily can find what they need.
“While services like the Web and catalog site are terrific, we haven’t forgotten the importance of having professionals available, by phone, to help with everything from orders to technical questions,” Frank adds. “That’s why we added a toll-free order line and expanded our team of gunsmiths. Now, we have nine experienced gunsmiths with a combined 160-plus years of gunsmithing experience. They’re our customers’ best source for expert advice in component selection, installation and problem-solving.”
Selection. Service. Satisfaction. Yes, that was and is Brownells, but the three S’s should actually be four. The missing element is support. Support for the shooting sports, the Second Amendment and America’s youth.
The Brownell Family Foundation is supporting NRA’s youth programs to the tune of $500,000. The Brownell family became a permanent sponsor of NRA’s National Youth Shooting Sports Camp Program. Roughly 90 camps, spread across the U.S., offer approximately 10,000 kids each year a chance to learn all aspects of the shooting sports. The total dollars to support the NRA and its programs exceeds $3,000,000.
“I’ll never forget, as a little kid, sitting with Dad, my Stevens single-shot rifle on my knees, his flintlock on his, waiting in the glorious fall sun for a squirrel to appear amidst the rustling foliage. Or all the hours plinking, or the big game hunts. Those experiences are a part of who I am.
“The opportunity for our kids to share similar experiences cannot be allowed to perish. Programs like the NRA’s Youth Shooting Sports Camps are critical to giving kids the chance to hunt and shoot. They continue the culture, the traditions, in which you and I were raised.”
Selection. Service. Satisfaction. Support. That is Brownells.
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