The Gunfather - Family, Freedom & Firearms

AShooting Journal ^ | 1/5/2015 | Frank Jardim

[w1n1]

Outdoor Channel's Most Popular New Series

If you have not yet seen The Gunfather presented by Brownells on Outdoor Channel, you're missing out on some fun family television that brings back the value-oriented programming reminiscent of the Andy Griffith Show. In its first season last year, it won the network's Golden Moose Award for Best General Interest Show, and was renewed for 2016.

The Gunfather is about Louie Tuminaro and his close-knit Italian family, native New Yorkers who moved to Hamilton, Mont., to pursue Louie's dream of creating the best gun store in the West, together. There are three generations of Tuminaros on the show: Louie (51 years old), the Gunfather, and Theresa (48), his wife of 24 years and who is nicknamed T-Bone; Louie's dad Joe (77), who is called Pops; and Louie and Theresa's kids, "Little" Louie (14) and daughters Nicole (20) and Allie (22), round out the extended family. Louie's firearms business, the Custom Shop Inc., is a family operation and we see the Tuminaros in action working together to get things done. Louie is the driving creative force that made the Custom Shop a reality in 2007, but he is quick to tell you that the Tuminaros are a team, and moreover, he loves his team.

Louie's focus at the Custom Shop is mainly buying, selling and restoring high-quality collectible firearms from the 1940s through the early 1980s - where there's strong nostalgic interest – as well as sought-after out-of-production classics like Colt's snake guns: Python, Cobra and the Anaconda. In addition to all of this, he wanted to do for firearm enthusiasts something akin to what custom-car shops do for car buffs. The firearm restoration services he offers are extensive. Louie is particularly passionate about restoration work because, from his point of view, he isn't working on just any gun. The firearms on his workbench are someone’s precious family heirlooms. Clients aren't looking to increase collector value of their restored guns, but rather restore the appearance and function for personal enjoyment.

They bring their treasured guns to the Custom Shop because Louie has a reputation for candid assessment of what can and can't be achieved in a restoration and surrounds himself with exceptionally talented artisans to execute the work. When Louie opened up his shop in Hamilton, which is located in the beautiful Bitterroot Valley of western Montana, he discovered a wealth of local talent that shared his interest in this level of firearms work and perfectionism - people like Pam Wheeler, the checkering queen, who has been hand cutting checkering for 30 years. Read the rest of the Gunfather story here.

[X-spurt]

Everyone knows of course that these “Sportsman/Outdoor” channels charge the shows to be on the air. Not the other way around.

This one is a bigger flop than the Gun Shop jerk from Baton Rogue. At least they demoed some interesting arms.

Gunfather is very uninteresting.

[T-Bird45]

Enjoyed the article - thanks for posting. I need to set up my DVR to check this out.

[BobinIL]

Everyone knows of course that these “Sportsman/Outdoor” channels charge the shows to be on the air. Not the other way around.

I did not know this. That explains the “paid infomercial nature” of some of these shows. I had to quit watching the Flyway Highway because if that knucklehead host hocked his Bradly Smoker one more time I was going to shoot my TV.