Firearm collection at Adihex, looking for a new home

The 20th Century Collection features 431 handcrafted and engraved firearms from different countries.

Olivier Leclercq explains to a visitor at Adihex in Abu Dhabi yesterday the different guns made by Rigby, the London-based gunsmiths. Mona Al Marzooqi / The National

ABU DHABI // According to Ulf Olsson, it would take 250 years’ worth of man-hours by gunsmiths and engravers to create the 431 rifles and shotguns that comprise one of the world’s largest handmade firearm collections.

The collection, said Mr Olsson, a gunsmith exhibiting at the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition, tells an important story in the history of firearms. Mr Olson was manning the booth for his friend, who owns the 20th Century Collection, as it is called.

The collection was on display at the expo in catalogues, with the workmanship coming through in studio photos and a written description of the model number, maker, year of manufacture and the country of origin. Bringing in the original collection, without a specific buyer, would be impractical, he said.

“Taking into account Austrian guns alone, [my friend] has the biggest collection of Ferlach guns. With only this collection, it would take the entire Ferlach village 10 to 12 years to build this collection,” Mr Olsson said.

Ferlach is a famous ironworks and forging site in the Carinthia region of Austria and its southernmost town. It is world famous for its handcrafted firearms.

The collection now holds work from 10 of the great gun-manufacturing countries and as a whole illustrates a story of fine firearms. The collection is meant to be sold as a unit, all 431 rifles together, for US$7.4 million (Dh27.2m).

“I told [my friend] if you have an offer and you begin to pack the guns in the gun cases, will you actually leave them?” Mr Olsson said.

The owner is selling the collection because he is relocating to a country that will not allow the weapons. “We are looking for someone to uphold a tradition, to continue building on this legacy and grow the collection,” Mr Olsson said.

The collector was born in Copenhagen in 1947 and developed a keen interest in guns and hunting during summer holidays in the countryside. He began his collection in 1961 at the age of 14, when he had saved enough money to buy his first shotgun.

“It’s his life’s work, but it’s OK, because when I went to him the last time, he said he has another hundred that he will never let go of, they are too important for him,” Mr Olsson said.

As a gunsmith, Mr Olsson well knows the workmanship, hours and skill necessary to make a handcrafted rifle. Running a company with his father, he works on small custom but high-quality rifles for gun collectors and special orders commissioned by buyers.

He exhibited at Adihex with his father in 2005 and the duo were met with great encouragement. It spurred them to create something exclusive to the UAE.

They came back with a UAE Edition rifle that featured intricate metal engraving and portraits of Sheikh Zayed etched into the firearm.

“Nine of his sons came in person to see the gun,” Mr Olsson said. “People were driving from all around the country just to see the gun.”

It sold for Dh2.1 million.

Their company, VO Vapen, works exclusively with a network of gun makers and engravers to produce custom rifles.

“Gunmaking, hunting, collecting and gunsmithing – it is not just about guns,” Mr Olsson said. “This is a way of life.”

Olivier Leclercq, 25, has dedicated his life to gunsmithing.

“I graduated from high school and I said, ‘Yeah OK, I think this is my life’. I enjoy it the most,” he said.

In the Adihex Rigby Gunmaker booth, Mr Leclerq has a workbench set up to display the skills he learnt during five years at the Ecole d’Armurerie Leon Mignon, a gunsmithing school in Liege, Belgium.

Mr Leclercq said he fell in love with hunting and guns as a boy. He played Airsoft, a sport in which participants eliminate each other using soft pellets. But as he got more involved, he began to question what it was about guns that interested him.

“It is difficult to say what makes a gun great,” he said. “So many things, but I think it is the feeling when you hold the gun more than anything.”