© 1969 by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Wallace Gusler - Gunsmith Voice of the gunsmith - William Devane Narrated by - David Brinkley

The hobby of one of the machinists there was designing and building one-eight scale working models of steam locomotives. You could usually find him standing in front of a lathe or mill making parts for one of his "live steamers." This isn't to say he didn't give SLAC their money's worth. It's just that most of the machine shop managers felt that a happy machinist was a productive machinist. So, if it wasn't busy, they let them make chips out of their own material.

One day he came in with a can of 16mm film and said he was going to have a lunch-time showing of "The Gunsmith of Williamsburg" in the auditorium. A lot of the machinists were either hunters or sport shooters and most wanted to see the movie. I don't know if any of us knew about Colonial Williamsburg or why they had a gunsmith. But if the "live steamer" thought we might like it we'd be there.

Soon it was lunch time and we filed into the auditorium, taking our seats and unwrapping our sandwiches. Then the projector filled the screen and the shrill tone of fifes introduced the film. The familiar voice of David Brinkley announced "The Gunsmith of Williamsburg" and we were off.

For the next hour we sat in the dark and watching and listening with an intensity men usually reserve for championship football games or live exotic dancers. Even though I wasn't into black powder then I sat fascinated by images on the screen. So were the machinists in the audience with me. These were master machinists from Germany and Switzerland as well as America. Yet we all sat in slack-jawed amazement as Wallace Gusler worked his magic. With little more than a hammer, files and the heat of his forge he made a beautiful flintlock rifle before our eyes from iron bars, sheet brass and a maple plank.

I left the auditorium with an unabashed admiration for the skills of this "Gunsmith of Williamsburg" and a strong desire to see the film again.

I sought, on and off for the next two decades, a copy of this film. When I entered the sport of black powder shooting a few years ago I searched with renewed interest, always without result. Then, a few months ago, I began writing this Web site for myself and others interested in history and black powder. While working on the links page I stumbled, by chance or design, on the Web site of the Log Cabin Shop. There, nestled among their other wonderful wares, was a video tape of "The Gunsmith of Williamsburg."

I couldn't believe it. After all these years I found it. I called their number right away and ordered it along with their catalog. Within a week I had them both. That night I dropped it into the VCR and pressed play.

The sound of fifes as they introduced the film brought memories flooding back. I was transported back to that long-ago auditorium and that lunch-time of discovery. The film was everything I remembered it was. And more. I saw Wallace Gusler transform raw materials into a beautiful flintlock rifle.

This is simply a must-see film for anyone interested in living history, colonial craftsmanship or firearms in general. We watch Wallace make the barrel, forge and file the lock, cast the brass fittings and assemble them to the rough stock blank. Then he shapes the stock, makes the patch box and engraves the metalwork. After carving and staining the wood work he fits the pieces into a completed rifle.

The sixty minute journey back to a simpler time concludes with Wallace firing his new creation. And it shoots as good as it looks.

I watched my newly rediscovered treasure several times in the next few days. It's lessons becoming clearer with each viewing. If you only have one video of colonial techniques in your collection it should be "The Gunsmith of Williamsburg." Check our links page for the Log Cabin Shop and order this wonderful film today.---JBW