Turnbull Restoration

What Turnbull Restoration does

Turnbull Restoration Co., Inc. is a privately-held specialty firearms restoration company headquartered in Bloomfield, New York, in continuous operation for over 40 years. The firm provides historically accurate restoration, custom finishing, in-house engraving, master woodworking, and conversion/upgrade services for antique and classic American firearms—including Winchester lever-action rifles (models 1873, 1886, 1892, and 1894), Colt Single Action Army revolvers, Colt 1911 pistols, and American side-by-side shotguns. The company serves individual firearm collectors, heritage preservationists, and shooting enthusiasts seeking period-correct aesthetic and mechanical fidelity, with distribution limited to a single Bloomfield showroom (Monday–Friday, 10:00 AM to 3:30 PM EST), the company website, phone-based quote requests, and FFL-mediated firearms shipping.

The business is built on mastery of traditional metal-finishing techniques—most notably bone charcoal color case hardening, charcoal bluing, rust bluing, and nitre bluing—which replicate historical finishes that modern salt-bath processes cannot match. Capabilities extend in-house to engraving (led by Tom McArdle, who has engraved hundreds of vintage and new firearms) and to period-accurate woodworking using a reference library of American and European walnut buttstocks and forends, finished with hand-applied oil and hand-cut checkering. The technical foundation is handcraft and metallurgy; there is no software, digital platform, or AI component, and proprietary knowledge resides in craftsman expertise and proprietary temperature and chemistry protocols. A public restoration gallery documents 275+ completed projects across Winchester, Colt, Marlin, Parker, and other historic manufacturers.

The company monetizes primarily through professional services—quote-based restoration and finishing with approximately six-week quoting cycles, a one-third deposit to begin work, and balance due within 30 days of completion notice—and secondarily through direct retail of Turnbull-finished new firearms (priced $2,850 to approximately $11,000 per piece), restored firearms, pre-owned classics, standardized engraving configurations, and merchandise. Sub-brands Turnbull Finished, Turnbull Restored, and Turnbull Manufacturing structure the offer, and a standardized engraving library offers tiered coverage patterns. Logistics partnerships with ShipMyGun.com, Borderview International, and Simpson Ltd. facilitate shipping and international exports. The business has no disclosed external institutional investment, M&A activity, or funding rounds; it operates as an independent specialty craft enterprise employing 11–50 staff.

Name

Turnbull Restoration

Legal name

Turnbull Restoration Co., Inc.

Website

https://turnbullrestoration.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Turnbull Restoration is a privately-held specialty firearms restoration company providing historically accurate restoration, period-correct metal finishing, engraving, and master woodworking for vintage American firearms—including Winchester lever-actions, Colt revolvers, and 1911s—to collectors and shooting enthusiasts for over 40 years.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Bloomfield

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Firearm Restoration Services: Full restoration of antique and classic firearms to original factory condition, including metal working, woodworking, engraving, and upgrades. Customers ship firearms with completed work request forms. Quoting takes approximately six weeks. Projects require one-third deposit to begin work.
2. Custom Gun Finishing Services: Application of period-correct metal finishes to newly manufactured firearms, transforming them to look like pristine vintage heirlooms. Same expert craftsmen as restoration services apply bone charcoal color case hardening, charcoal bluing, rust bluing, nitre bluing, and hand engraving.
3. Sale of Restored and Finished Firearms: Direct sale of previously restored firearms, Turnbull-finished new firearms, pre-owned classic firearms, and merchandise through the showroom and website. Prices range from approximately $2,850 for finished rifles to $11,000 for restored firearms.
4. Conversions and Upgrades: Barrel work including new barrels up to 30 inches and extra length to 30+ inches, big bore caliber conversions (.45-90, .470 Turnbull, .475 Turnbull, .50-110), metal work (pistol grip conversion, takedown conversion, tang safety conversion), and custom stock work.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Turnbull Restoration provides historically accurate restoration and finishing of antique and classic American firearms, returning them to factory-new condition through period-correct metal finishes (bone charcoal color case hardening, charcoal bluing, rust bluing, nitre bluing), in-house hand engraving, master woodworking, and performance upgrades such as barrel and caliber conversions. The company also sells Turnbull Finished, Pre-Owned, and previously Restored firearms through its showroom and website, priced from approximately $2,850 to $11,000.

Product overview

Turnbull Restoration is a specialty firearms restoration company with over 40 years of experience offering comprehensive restoration and finishing services for antique and classic firearms. The company operates as a service-based business organized around three core offerings: Restoration Services (metalworking, woodworking, engraving, and conversions), Finishing Services (applying period-correct finishes to new firearms), and a Showroom (selling Turnbull-finished, restored, and pre-owned firearms). Key metalworking techniques include Color Case Hardening, Charcoal Bluing, Rust Bluing, and Nitre Bluing. The company maintains a Standardized Gun Engraving Library with patterns in A, B, C coverage levels, and offers comprehensive woodworking with gunstock wood grades ranging from Field Grade to Exhibition Grade in American and European Walnut. Finished inventory includes models from Winchester (1873, 1886, 1892, 1894), Colt (SAA, 1911), Marlin, Ruger, and other historic manufacturers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Turnbull Finished: Factory-new firearms that have been finished using Turnbull's signature old-world metal finishing methods and wood treatments.
• Turnbull Restored
• Turnbull Manufacturing

Products and services

• Restoration Services

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• ShipMyGun.comminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTurnbull Restoration is a verified dealer for ShipMyGun.com, an online firearm shipping service that helps facilitate secure firearm shipments for FFL dealers and individuals. This partnership provides customers with a convenient option for shipping handguns to the restoration facility.
• Borderview InternationalminorOthersExport partner for international shipments of firearms restored or finished by Turnbull Restoration. Used when customers require firearms to be shipped outside the United States.
• Simpson Ltd.minorOthersAlternative export partner for international shipments, working alongside Borderview International for customers shipping firearms outside the United States.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• Rock Island Auction Company: The world's largest firearms auction house, regularly handling the vintage Winchesters and Colts that Turnbull restores. Adjacent ecosystem participant that influences valuations, customer liquidity, and the flow of restoration-grade pieces into the market.
• James D. Julia Auctioneers: Major auction house specializing in firearms and militaria. Many Turnbull restoration clients buy and sell collector firearms through Julia, making it a complementary channel peer that shapes customer acquisition and pricing benchmarks in the vintage firearms market.

Broad incumbents

• Colt's Manufacturing: Original manufacturer of Colt Single Action Army, 1911, and other classic American firearms. Turnbull regularly restores Colt products; as the OEM, Colt represents both a source of authentic parts/knowledge and a broader-incumbent peer in the premium American firearms market.
• Holland & Holland: British luxury gunmaker offering bespoke rifles and shotguns with hand-engraving and proprietary finishes. Comparable positioning as a heritage craft brand serving ultra-high-net-worth customers, though focused on best-quality new builds rather than restoration.
• Winchester Repeating Arms: Original manufacturer of the Winchester 1873, 1886, 1892, 1894 lever-actions that are central to Turnbull's restoration and finishing business. As the historic OEM, Winchester is a foundational peer shaping the addressable market and product authenticity.

Direct peers

• Taylor's & Company: Imports and distributes reproduction black powder and Old West firearms, including Winchester and Colt replicas. Targets the same collector and cowboy-action-shooting market that buys Turnbull Finished firearms.
• Cimarron Firearms: Specializes in replicas and reproductions of Old West-era firearms, including finished lever-action rifles and single-action revolvers. Overlaps directly with Turnbull's Turnbull Finished product line in both customer base (Western/cowboy action shooters, collectors) and aesthetic positioning.
• Pedersoli: Italian maker of high-quality historical reproduction firearms, including Sharps, Winchester, and Martini replicas. Competes for the same customer seeking period-correct aesthetics and historical accuracy.
• Uberti USA: Italian manufacturer of high-quality reproductions of 19th-century American firearms (Winchester 1873, 1876, 1892; Colt SAA). Many of Turnbull's Turnbull Finished firearms are Uberti-made and then finished by Turnbull, making this a close upstream/downstream relationship.

Emerging players

• Griffin & Howe: Boutique custom gunmaker and restoration house based in New Jersey offering high-end custom rifles, shotguns, and restoration services. Comparable premium positioning and craftsmanship-led model for an elite collector clientele.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/TurnbullRestoration
• Facebookfacebook.com/TurnbullRestoration
• Instagraminstagram.com/turnbull_restoration
• Xx.com/ShootHistory

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Turnbull Restoration