Gun Trade Insider (GTI): When was DB Gunstocks UK founded, where are you based and who is your typical customer?
Doz Bree (DB): DB Gunstocks UK opened in January 2024 and we are based at Stour Valley Business Centre in Sudbury, Suffolk. Our experience to date suggests that the one thing we do not have is a typical customer. We’ve been amazed at the diversity of our client base, with all age groups and backgrounds represented, and many new customers coming from casual chats outside of the workplace where people have surprised us by revealing a passion for airguns.
GTI: What services do you offer?
DB: We are primarily focused on selling new, legal limit air rifles and accessories, being agents for SMK Sportsmarketing, AirMaks UK and Hawke Optics, with ambitions to take on more. We also trade in used air weapons of all types, with a particular interest in “classic era” spring guns.
We offer all types of servicing, from seal replacement to modified internals for spring guns, component polishing, tuning, power and accuracy testing, setting up and zeroing guns and sights for customers, RFD despatch and collection.
We also restore old and cherished airguns or heirlooms, refinish stocks as needed, remove corrosion and polish and refinish metal components. We started out by making bespoke custom stocks in the early days.
GTI: What was your professional background in airgunning before you started your business?
DB: My professional background is as a cycle technician (and we run another business doing this, though it’s now very much taking a backseat). My airgun experience is informal and self-taught, but dates back over four decades, during which time I learned my way around the intricacies of hundreds of guns, including the infamous three ballbearing Original/Diana trigger unit.
I also collected BSA Airsporters and Mercurys for many years, with the collection numbering 39 at one point. Every one was stripped, cleaned, polished, and modifications were tried, tested, developed or discarded according to what worked and what didn’t.
GTI: What kind of tuning or modification work do you carry out? Is the work generally standard, or do you regularly receive unique requests?
DB: Tuning is mostly focused on spring guns. At its most basic, this involves a strip and degrease, careful inspection, polish and deburring of moving parts and cocking slots, cylinder drillings and so on, followed by a rebuild with standard springs.
At the other end of the scale, my particular specialism is with Airsporters and Mercurys. We’ve developed a range of options for these, including parachute seal conversions teamed with lighter springs, to get them running in the “sweet spot” for power, while being under-stressed and pleasant to shoot.
We also have extensive experience with the SMK QB78 range of gas rifles. These come with poor quality seals and valving, but can be made to perform very well indeed. Most requests are fairly standard, but we welcome unusual work too.
GTI: What kind of stocks do you manufacture, and how long does this type of work typically take?
DB: We started making stocks as it was something we could do commercially without needing an RFD in place. We have inlet details for numerous classic rifles and blanks in beech, mahogany, poplar and walnut. The last couple of stocks we made were display items for customers to handle and took around six hours each, spread over several days.
With the growth in other parts of the business, we are not actively pushing stocks due to the time-consuming nature of the process. That said, we have three under way that we hope to finish over the winter: a mahogany thumbhole for an Original 45, a popular sporter for an HW35, and a walnut semi-target stock for an HW99S.
GTI: What have been the biggest internal and external challenges you’ve faced since starting, and how have you overcome them?
DB: An excellent question, and answered easily in three words: licensing, insurance and e-pay.
There was a significant delay between applying for and receiving our Registered
Firearms Dealer (Air Weapons) licence. This meant we had to keep the stock-making and cycle repair business running, as the premises must be secured at the time of application and we had no other income. After six months, we contacted the Commissioner of Police, who got the inspection underway. We passed, but then another four months passed with no update and things became financially difficult.
We then reached out to our local MP, who responded immediately and had everything sorted within a week. He even visited us in person and promoted our business on his Parliamentary webpage. We also experienced some “de-banking” issues from insurance and card payment providers, but overcame this through trade recommendations.
GTI: What’s the biggest change you’ve noticed in the airgun world since starting your business, and does it worry or excite you?
DB: We’re really encouraged by the increase in younger participants in the sport. This is something we’ve seen in our business, our local Field Target club, at shows, in print, and in growing sports like target sprint. It’s a change we’ve not seen in quite some time and it bodes very well for the future of airgunning.
GTI: How would you describe the health of the second-hand airgun market right now, and have you noticed any trends in 2025?
DB: The second-hand airgun market is very buoyant at the moment. We’re seeing high turnover of well-priced guns, and prices are definitely trending upwards across the board.
Post-Brexit increases in import and raw material costs, as well as rising global logistics prices, have driven up new gun prices significantly. This has increased demand for good, used guns of all types.
GTI: What has been your proudest achievement in business or a project you’ve worked on to date, perhaps a rare or classic airgun that was challenging to restore?
DB: We’ve restored many guns others couldn’t repair and completed some stunning restorations from unlikely beginnings. But honestly, our proudest achievements are every satisfied customer. They’re our best advertisements.