At a 1960 National Rifle Association tamale dinner in Austin I met an interesting gentleman named Jack McBride. His knowledge of firearms was fascinating. He invited me to a weekly ammunition reloading session in his garage. McBride also said he was opening a gun shop soon and hoped I would become a customer. That also fascinated me.
Austin had several small gun shops then. Davis Hardware, Sears and Montgomery Ward also sold guns.
McBride soon opened McBride’s Guns in his modest house facing 30th Street, near Lamar Boulevard. I became one of McBride’s first customers, and one of its last. The gun shop closed earlier this year after serving the community for more than 65 years.
As McBride’s firearms stock increased, the family dining room became a showroom with glass gun display cases. The hardwood floors reeked of spilled Hoppe’s No. 9 gun cleaning solvent — a welcoming fragrance to anyone who had ever cleaned a gun. McBride owned the house next door where his 10 kids slept. The entire family participated in the gun shop’s operation.
As “big box” stores moved into Austin, a customer is said to have asked McBride why his prices were higher than those of the big box stores. He smiled and replied, “Because they don’t have 10 kids to feed!”
All 10 McBride kids worked there at one time or another. Some, like Joan, Johnny, James, Jay, Jacqui, Janice and Joyce, spent their careers there. Judy left to marry, and Jeffrey passed away early in life. All family members became my friends and friends of countless customers.
Joe McBride — Jack’s son — worked at Montgomery Ward after graduating from the University of Texas but returned to the shop. He and his sister Joan worked there until the gun shop closed on Feb. 28, 2026. Jack McBride’s grandchildren and relatives worked there at times, too, as did several loyal non-family sales associates.
That family factor was no doubt significant in the gun shop’s unique atmosphere. Each family member employed owned a piece of the business. It was personal. That gave customers a feeling not found in other businesses.
Practically every serious shooter in Central Texas came to trade there. Hank Williams Jr. made McBride’s his first stop when in Austin. Gov. Rick Perry was often there. The shop soon became the go-to place for guns, repairs, parts, ammo, advice, conversation … and free coffee.
One group known as the Westward Ho bunch — a band of prominent Austin businessmen — met at McBride’s many mornings to drink coffee and make hunting plans.
I bought an Army surplus Swedish Mauser 6.5-mm carbine at Montgomery Ward, and Jack helped me “sporterize” it. That carbine became a handsome and highly accurate deer rifle.
After declining Montgomery Ward’s offer to work outside Texas, Joe moved to the family gun shop. As his father, Jack, was aging, more of the day-to-day operation became Joe’s job.
Jack moved the business to a new two-story location around the corner and ran it successfully for years until stepping down. He passed away in 1993.
Joe became the “managing brother.” He saw the value of goodwill created by contributing to conservation and sporting organizations that involved kids in the outdoors and shooting sports. Jack had supported several organizations, and Joe followed suit by helping new conservation groups get off the ground.
When Joe himself realized that the shadows were getting longer and that running one of the busiest retail gun shops in America was taking its toll, he planned ahead for the future of the business. Joe had managed it well. One year, Winchester Ammunition recognized McBride’s as America’s leading seller of its ammunition.
An accident kept Joe at home much of 2025. He arose from that, though, and along with his family, considered offers on the business. Soon, a contract was signed.
The hunting, fishing and shooting communities were saddened and disappointed, although they knew Joe McBride had honchoed McBride’s Guns past retirement age and had battled ammo shortages, business tax issues and several robberies of the gun shop.
A recent robbery illustrates the overall public support for McBride’s. An unidentified woman driving home early one morning noticed vehicles parked suspiciously in the dark in front of McBride’s. She called 911. An officer a few blocks away heard the radio alert and observed a speeding car. He stopped the car; the back seat was full of new pistols.
On March 10, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department held an appreciation ceremony for the McBride family to recognize the selfless support McBride’s Guns had given to the community and TPWD through contributions to Operation Game Thief, the game wardens and others. TPWD officials commended McBride’s support over the past 60-plus years, reflecting the legacy and values that Jack McBride and his wife, Mildred, instilled in their children.
The Austin Woods and Waters Club was among the many conservation groups that attended. The club, which created the McBride Conservation Fund Foundation, thanked the McBrides for years of contributions. The fund has awarded over $850,000 to worthy organizations supporting getting youths outdoors. One man said Joe told an organization member seeking contributed firearms to “Start pulling things (guns) off the wall” and he’d tell him when to stop. Other groups had similar experiences.
One of the new owners of the gun shop, J.J. Gustafson, was the last speaker. He made it clear the name McBride’s Guns would remain. He spoke of maintaining as much of the family atmosphere as possible. He ended by saying, “You got something there you don’t get anywhere else.”
His appreciation for that indescribable attitude helped settle the dust … and the tears.
