Brockfeld’s Gunsmithing and Firearms in Truesdale is celebrating its grand reopening this month.The Brockfeld family opened for business in Truesdale in 1883. In the 1920s it opened in a different building as a gun shop. A fire in January of 2016 forced a rebuild of the store.“We’re still offering the same merchandise as before but we did increase our square footage by 25 percent,” said Paul Brockfeld, owner. “We have a new look. It has a hunting lodge look with natural wood.”The shop still offers firearms, gun accessories, firearm repair and custom built rifles. They sell ammunitions too.“We have the largest collection of ammunition,” Brockfeld said. “We specialize in hard to find ammunition.”Brockfeld is the fourth generation of his family to own and operate the store. His dad, David, owned it before him. His grandfather and namesake, Paul, owned it before David. The founder was Brockfeld’s great-grandfather, J.R., an immigrant who had served in the Prussian army reserves.J.R. settled in Truesdale because he knew a family who had already made the town their home. Soon after he arrived, he opened a business.“There’s been some confusion about when in fact the business started,” Brockfeld said.He explained that his great-grandfather’s obituary claimed the story opened in 1880 but he knows that J.R. was discharged from the Prussian army reserves after that. He said 1883 is when the store first opened in Truesdale, and it wasn’t selling firearms either.“(J.R.) was into paint and wallpaper. He was also a contractor. it was my grandfather who started the gun shop,” Brockfeld said.Grandpa Paul, he said, was a well-known hunter, trapper, and all-around outdoorsman in the 1920s.“He’s the one who took us in the direction we’ve gone,” he said.Firearms, custom sales and ammunition is what they will stick to. “I put myself through college by painting. I have no desire to pick up a paint brush again,” Brockfeld said.For more information, call Brockfeld’s Gunsmithing and Firearms at 636-297-0750.

Brockfeld's Gunsmithing and Firearms kicked off its grand reopening with a ribbon cutting. The shop was rebuilt and expanded after a fire in 2016. Submitted photo.