Athens Gunsmith Service

Athens Gunsmith Service LLC is Paul Smeltzer's operation—a gunsmith who actually knows what he's doing. This isn't a parts-swapping service where they bolt things on until something works. Smeltzer is an FFL Licensed Gunsmith, Certified NRA Instructor, and holds AGI Master Gunsmith certification. He works on everything from general repair to full custom builds, but restorations are his specialty.

Metal Finishing & Restoration: - Traditional rust bluing and hot bluing (matt to high polish) - Nitre bluing and parkerizing - Stock refinishing and re-checkering - Cerakote finishing

Specialization: - M1 Garand and M1 Carbine work - 1903 Springfield restorations - Custom Mauser builds (tailored to your needs) - Custom 10/22 rifles (target, plinking, hunting variants)

Technical Work: - Scope mounting (drilling/tapping) - Trigger jobs and stock bedding - Barrel work and machining - Metal work and design

He's written extensively on M1 Carbines and published technical articles in Gun Tech magazine. His passion for functional military firearms means he understands the why behind each design change and part variation—knowledge that matters when restoring a WWII-era weapon. He's not interested in surface-level work; he'll get your gun back to original specifications or build something that actually works.

"We do most everything from general repair, to rebarreling and custom builds. We are not a parts changing service."

Location: 5477 Athens Ave. (Hwy 9/Hwy 518), Athens, LA 71003 Off I-20 (between Minden and Ruston) — Exit 67, north 8 miles to Athens

• •Contact: 318.469.4621 | [email protected]
• •Hours: By appointment only