Contemporary Makers Portraits: Chuck Edwards

There is an article on gun builder Chuck Edwards in the Winter 2013 issue of Out Here magazine.

Chuck Edwards, of Bloomfield, Mo., is among a handful of elite American craftsmen who make historic long rifles, the kind of black powder weapons used by the early colonists and by western mountain men who hunted and trapped into the 1800s.

He’s crafted some 150 of these historically-accurate long guns for customers that appreciate them not only for being the exceptionally beautiful works of art that they are, but as flawless, precise, well-tuned firearms.

He learned freehand engraving from the late Ron Ehlert, a Tennessean known for his beautiful and ornate engraving style. “He was probably one of the best engravers in the United States,” Edwards says.

Now, Edwards is happy to do what Ehlert did for him. “I teach people for free because I was taught for free,” he says.

He’ll add anything a client requests — and something that they don’t necessarily ask for. “I put a Bible citation on every rifle,” Edwards says. “I believe that this talent I have been given is a gift from God and I try to use it by giving thanks to Him.”

The Lord's Prayer Gun can be found here.

Chuck for David Wright can be found here.

Copy by Carol Davis and photos b Mark Mosrie from Out Here Magazine. Read the entire article here. Photos of Chuck's guns by Jan Riser.