About Us

Aquilla Custom Gun Works is owned and operated by myself, Ryan Flynn, in a little town called East Bend, located in the foothills of North Carolina, where I grew up on a tobacco farm. Hard work was a way of life at an early age. In high school I competed on the shooting team, which is where I my passion for firearms grew. After high school I attended Montgomery Community College’s Gunsmithing program and graduated with an Associates Degree in Applied Science with gunsmithing as my major.

After college I proceeded to work for a Gunsmith of 20 plus years experience for approximately one year. This position allowed me to get very familiar with the repair and restoration side of the trade, which led to a position with Ingersoll-Rand as a machinist, while still practicing my trade on the side. At Ingersoll, I was responsible for making and machining air compressor rotors, which must hold tolerances of +/- 0.003 microns, while also gaining loads more experience in manual and CNC machining.

After two years with Ingersoll-Rand I was offered a position with Ionbond LLC as the head gunsmith and manager in charge of their new custom shop. This position gave me the opportunity to become very knowledgeable on the technology of the most advanced metal finishes available today, including melonite, plating processes and PVD/ DLC as well as to gain a solid reputation within the firearms industry and form good ties with many good folks.

After two and a half years with Ionbond I left to start my own operation. This has given me the freedom to work with people and customers on my terms; with respect, honesty, and fairness, and the opportunity to do what I love the most, working on firearms full time, using all aspects of the trade, not just a few. One of my sole beliefs is that if a man chooses to learn a trade, he needs to learn all aspects of that trade in order to call himself that tradesman, and must always be willing to learn something new.

A little over a year after starting up my business, I was contacted by Montgomery Community College, as they were looking to hire two new full time gunsmithing instructors. After a panel interview, I was selected as one of the instructors to continue the top notch education of future gunsmiths at MCC, which to me was an honor. I instructed students in riflesmithing, stockmaking, machining, and metal finishing. I continued to run and build my business during this time as well. I taught at MCC for 4 years before coming back to my business full time again. It was an experience I am grateful for and very humbling to teach others the trade.

Which leads us to today. With 15 years experience in gunsmithing, Aquilla Custom Gun Works, is a small company with hopes to grow and expand, God willing. We are very confident in the fact that we have enough experience and knowledge to provide our customers with the best gun work to be had. While we don’t know everything in the trade, if we come across an issue that does stump us, we will go to great lengths to find the right answer. Our goal is to provide our customers with a service that will conclude with complete satisfaction, and nothing less.

All the best,
Ryan Flynn