Two decades of systems thinking. From the first purpose-built long-range rifle to a vertically integrated shooting ecosystem: a record of the machines, methods, and people that redefined ethical long-range hunting.
Scroll the timeline
A legacy of innovation
“From the beginning, Aaron Davidson envisioned more than just a rifle. He set out to create a complete system that redefined long-range hunting.”
Gunwerks was established in January 2006 with a mission to revolutionize long-range shooting through integrated, precision-engineered rifle systems. That founding vision still governs every action, barrel, optic, and ballistic solution that leaves Cody.
Serial GW-JOURNEY · Cody, WY 82414
January 2006 · Founding
Aaron Davidson founded Gunwerks to treat long-range hunting as a system problem: rifle, optic, and ballistics engineered together. That decision set the company apart from manufacturers who sold components and left the rest to the shooter.
Systems
May 2007 · Systems
The LR1000 arrived with a proprietary stock designed for stability and consistency. It was not a custom rifle with accessories. It was a purpose-built solution for hunters who needed repeatable precision past conventional ranges.
Systems
July 2007 · Training
Hands-on instruction in ballistics, rifle setup, and ethical hunting. LRU became the Ivy League of long-range education, with methods forged in real hunts rather than paper targets, and remains the standard for owners who want to shoot the system as it was designed.
Training
February 2009 · Ballistics
The G7 Ballistics program gave shooters firing solutions they could actually carry. It made Gunwerks rifles more usable in the field and established the company as a pioneer in applied ballistic software, not only hardware.
Optics & ballistics
July 2010 · Ammunition
Designed by Aaron Davidson for heavy, high-ballistic-coefficient bullets with recoil a hunter can manage. The 7mm Long Range Magnum became a cornerstone of Gunwerks ammunition and a statement that the cartridge belongs in the system, not beside it.
SystemsIn-house machining of precision components. The first hard step toward vertical integration: control over quality, and less dependence on outside suppliers.
Intellectual property around long-range firing solutions. A public marker that the science inside the system was original, not borrowed.
January 2011 · Media
Hosted by Aaron Davidson and the Gunwerks team, the show taught technique, ethics, and system performance with unusual technical honesty. It became one of the most effective ways the brand reached hunters who had never seen a complete long-range system at work.
Media
August 2011 · Optics
Laser ranging and real-time ballistic calculation in one instrument. The BR2 collapsed a complex firing solution into a device hunters could run under pressure, and it cemented Gunwerks’ reputation for electro-optical firsts.
Optics & ballistics
November 2013 · Optics
A subsidiary dedicated to optical systems worthy of Gunwerks rifles. Scopes and rangefinders designed as part of the same ballistic language, not third-party glass asked to keep up after the fact.
OpticsThe Gunwerks Long Range action brought the receiver under the same roof as the rest of the rifle: tighter quality, more customization, less dependency.
Production consolidated in a community that shares the work. American manufacturing, aligned with the landscape the rifles were built to hunt.
August 2017 · Optics
Integrated ballistic calculation and environmental sensors in the riflescope itself. The PMR automated aiming adjustments that used to live on a card, a phone, or in a shooter’s head. Another step toward a system that thinks with you.
OpticsClymR, Magnus 2.0, Verdict and more: lighter, more durable, ergonomically tuned stocks produced under Gunwerks control.
Recoil, signature, and muzzle blast treated as part of the rifle system, not an aftermarket afterthought.
Vertical integration
2018 · Manufacturing
SIX TI, SIX.5 TI, and EIGHT TI: titanium cans marked Cody, Wyoming, built to live on Gunwerks barrels. Quieter, softer, and fully part of the shooting system rather than a bolt-on compromise.
Manufacturing
November 2018 · Optics
An enhanced point-mass algorithm, profile management, and Bluetooth sync with Revic devices. The app made the optical ecosystem as portable as the rifle.
OpticsConversation on hunting, ballistics, and the work behind the rifles, a second channel for a community that had outgrown television alone.
The last major rifle component comes in-house. Precision, consistency, and accountability from blank to muzzle.
June 2019 · Systems
The FireStarter rifle opened a program for experimental, customer-facing innovation. Skunkwerks is where Gunwerks tests ideas that are too specific, too limited, or too new for the core catalog.
Systems
July 2020 · Cody
A purpose-built campus with a 100-yard range and advanced manufacturing under one roof. The building made faster delivery and deeper integration possible, the physical expression of two decades of growth.
Manufacturing
June 2, 2022 · Systems
More than two years of development. Nexus is not an evolution of a legacy action. It is Gunwerks’ most advanced, feature-rich rifle, designed from a blank page after the company had already learned to make every part itself.
Systems
July 2024 · Optics
Glass and ballistic calculation in the same instrument a hunter already raises to glass an animal. The BLR10b extends the Revic language from scopes and rangefinders into binoculars, another sensor in a system that is still being written.
Optics
The journey continues
Twenty years in, the work is the same: a complete shooting system, built in Cody, proven in the mountains. The next milestone is still on the bench.
Two decades of systems thinking. From the first purpose-built long-range rifle to a vertically integrated shooting ecosystem: a record of the machines, methods, and people that redefined ethical long-range hunting.
Scroll the timeline
A legacy of innovation
“From the beginning, Aaron Davidson envisioned more than just a rifle. He set out to create a complete system that redefined long-range hunting.”
Gunwerks was established in January 2006 with a mission to revolutionize long-range shooting through integrated, precision-engineered rifle systems. That founding vision still governs every action, barrel, optic, and ballistic solution that leaves Cody.
Serial GW-JOURNEY · Cody, WY 82414
January 2006 · Founding
Aaron Davidson founded Gunwerks to treat long-range hunting as a system problem: rifle, optic, and ballistics engineered together. That decision set the company apart from manufacturers who sold components and left the rest to the shooter.
Systems
May 2007 · Systems
The LR1000 arrived with a proprietary stock designed for stability and consistency. It was not a custom rifle with accessories. It was a purpose-built solution for hunters who needed repeatable precision past conventional ranges.
Systems
July 2007 · Training
Hands-on instruction in ballistics, rifle setup, and ethical hunting. LRU became the Ivy League of long-range education, with methods forged in real hunts rather than paper targets, and remains the standard for owners who want to shoot the system as it was designed.
Training
February 2009 · Ballistics
The G7 Ballistics program gave shooters firing solutions they could actually carry. It made Gunwerks rifles more usable in the field and established the company as a pioneer in applied ballistic software, not only hardware.
Optics & ballistics
July 2010 · Ammunition
Designed by Aaron Davidson for heavy, high-ballistic-coefficient bullets with recoil a hunter can manage. The 7mm Long Range Magnum became a cornerstone of Gunwerks ammunition and a statement that the cartridge belongs in the system, not beside it.
SystemsIn-house machining of precision components. The first hard step toward vertical integration: control over quality, and less dependence on outside suppliers.
Intellectual property around long-range firing solutions. A public marker that the science inside the system was original, not borrowed.
January 2011 · Media
Hosted by Aaron Davidson and the Gunwerks team, the show taught technique, ethics, and system performance with unusual technical honesty. It became one of the most effective ways the brand reached hunters who had never seen a complete long-range system at work.
Media
August 2011 · Optics
Laser ranging and real-time ballistic calculation in one instrument. The BR2 collapsed a complex firing solution into a device hunters could run under pressure, and it cemented Gunwerks’ reputation for electro-optical firsts.
Optics & ballistics
November 2013 · Optics
A subsidiary dedicated to optical systems worthy of Gunwerks rifles. Scopes and rangefinders designed as part of the same ballistic language, not third-party glass asked to keep up after the fact.
OpticsThe Gunwerks Long Range action brought the receiver under the same roof as the rest of the rifle: tighter quality, more customization, less dependency.
Production consolidated in a community that shares the work. American manufacturing, aligned with the landscape the rifles were built to hunt.
August 2017 · Optics
Integrated ballistic calculation and environmental sensors in the riflescope itself. The PMR automated aiming adjustments that used to live on a card, a phone, or in a shooter’s head. Another step toward a system that thinks with you.
OpticsClymR, Magnus 2.0, Verdict and more: lighter, more durable, ergonomically tuned stocks produced under Gunwerks control.
Recoil, signature, and muzzle blast treated as part of the rifle system, not an aftermarket afterthought.
Vertical integration
2018 · Manufacturing
SIX TI, SIX.5 TI, and EIGHT TI: titanium cans marked Cody, Wyoming, built to live on Gunwerks barrels. Quieter, softer, and fully part of the shooting system rather than a bolt-on compromise.
Manufacturing
November 2018 · Optics
An enhanced point-mass algorithm, profile management, and Bluetooth sync with Revic devices. The app made the optical ecosystem as portable as the rifle.
OpticsConversation on hunting, ballistics, and the work behind the rifles, a second channel for a community that had outgrown television alone.
The last major rifle component comes in-house. Precision, consistency, and accountability from blank to muzzle.
June 2019 · Systems
The FireStarter rifle opened a program for experimental, customer-facing innovation. Skunkwerks is where Gunwerks tests ideas that are too specific, too limited, or too new for the core catalog.
Systems
July 2020 · Cody
A purpose-built campus with a 100-yard range and advanced manufacturing under one roof. The building made faster delivery and deeper integration possible, the physical expression of two decades of growth.
Manufacturing
June 2, 2022 · Systems
More than two years of development. Nexus is not an evolution of a legacy action. It is Gunwerks’ most advanced, feature-rich rifle, designed from a blank page after the company had already learned to make every part itself.
Systems
July 2024 · Optics
Glass and ballistic calculation in the same instrument a hunter already raises to glass an animal. The BLR10b extends the Revic language from scopes and rangefinders into binoculars, another sensor in a system that is still being written.
Optics
The journey continues
Twenty years in, the work is the same: a complete shooting system, built in Cody, proven in the mountains. The next milestone is still on the bench.