Firearms Manufacturer and Gunsmith Insurance

Building firearms and working on them sit on the same line, and where a business falls on it decides how it is rated. Manufacturing is the highest-risk work we write, and products liability drives the premium. Gunsmithing sits between service and manufacturing, depending on how far the work departs from factory specification.

Manufacturers

The distinction underwriters care about most is whether you manufacture receivers or buy them, and whether your name and serial number end up on the finished firearm. Ammunition manufacturing carries its own property surcharge for the obvious reason: powder and primer storage change the fire load of the building.

If you assemble from purchased components, say so plainly and be ready with unit volumes, who made the receivers, and whether you pay federal excise tax. Those answers place the risk correctly, and placing it correctly is usually cheaper than the alternative.

Gunsmiths

Simple repair is one risk. Rechambering, trigger work and custom builds are another. Customer property is the exposure people underestimate: firearms in your care for service are not your inventory, and they need to be addressed explicitly rather than assumed into business personal property.

If you use gunsmiths who are not your employees, you need their certificates of insurance and, ideally, additional insured status. If they do not carry their own coverage, that exposure lands back on you. Underwriters will ask, so it’s worth sorting before renewal.