Where legend meets performance: Taylor’s & Company honors tradition with high-end, historically accurate single-action revolvers and lever-action rifles.
Outlaw, sheriff, cowboy, or soldier — one likely common denominator among gunmen in the Old West was the quality of their weapons.
Whatever the occupation, it’s probably safe to say our forefathers knew a thing or two about guns, and their time-tested craftsmanship is still proving itself today. Taylor’s & Company honors that tradition and time-tested craftsmanship with its high-end, historically accurate reproductions of single-action revolvers and lever-action rifles. These iconic guns so precisely resemble the originals that they might as well be a time machine back to the 1800s.
Let’s say you were taking a Taylor’s firearm with you as you traveled back in time. You’d have quite the advantage. The company’s tagline — “Where legend meets performance” — carries the implicit promise that its products deliver a piece of history with a modern touch.
In its over 30 years in business, Taylor’s has been committed to preserving the allure of the Old West, while taking customers into the New West with products that up the standard of manufacturing using today’s technology and expertise. Founded in 1988 by Sue Hawkins McFarland, Taylor’s & Company was built on the need for 100-percent accurate reproduction weapons. Their initial clientele? Civil War reenactors. The company has evolved and expanded to include a variety of firearms for every type of shooter.
Taylor’s has multiple lines of product, explains Rob Girard, vice president of sales and marketing: the Trailblazer Series for customers new to the scene, the Lifestyle Series for those who want to live the authentic cowboy lifestyle, the Performance Series for competition shooters (such as in the sport of cowboy mounted shooting), the Master Series for those who prize historical correctness, and the Black Powder Model Series for getting back to the historical firearm foundation that started Taylor’s.
“It’s something for everybody,” Girard says. “I’m proud of the fact that we’ve helped a lot of people get into shooting, whether it’s in any of these segments. And I’m proud of the fact that we’re going to continue to grow the company in some traditional ways, and some nontraditional ways.”
Perusing the company’s yearly catalog offers a taste of the vast collection of special weaponry. The options are seemingly endless, from durable finishes to intricate tooling, a variety of smooth grips like walnut wood, and many different frames of guns with varied coloring known as “case hardening.” In addition to the wide-ranging possibilities, there’s also what the catalog calls a “secret menu” of limited collections and one-of-a-kind guns on offer.
We go above and beyond to service our customers. We go out of our way to make sure they are happy — it’s one of the things that got Taylor’s to where it is today. – Rob Girard
The top-notch quality Taylor’s is known for is achieved through a dedication to perfection that begins with sourcing their high-end products from Italy. Then the company improves upon the guns through a process they dub “Taylor Tuning,” with in-house gunsmiths who have 20 years of experience.
It’s much more than a matter of importing a gun from Italy and slapping their name on it, Girard explains. “We’re taking the time and care and effort to really make it a Taylor’s gun,” he says. “We do specific things to the guns that make them Taylor’s. The guns get improved components — things like trigger pull strings that are basically lifetime adds to the guns. We rarely see something come back once we’ve touched it or modified it. [Everything we do] improves the performance of the gun. It improves the customer satisfaction, and it sets us apart from other importers.”
Given the caliber of shooters using the old-fashioned firearm, the resulting performance of the gun is critical, even for the most tactical of them. “[The shooters of the past] didn’t have a magazine of 17 shots to get it done. And it was a revolver, which is a completely different style of shooting than the automatic. If you can shoot well the old-fashioned way, then you can definitely do it with newer technology. In a lot of ways, it takes more skill, and it’s a different way of shooting than just holding a semiautomatic pistol.”
Catering to customers who meticulously adhere to this type of pastime demands a new level of customer service, too. “We go above and beyond to service our customers. We go out of our way to make sure they are happy — it’s one of the things that got Taylor’s to where it is today,” Girard says. And in rare instances when there might be a manufacturer’s error, the company is committed to doing whatever it can to make it right.
When it comes to the quality of products and customer satisfaction, Taylor’s plans to keep upping the ante and aiming for the bull’s-eye. The company is teasing some exciting new product launches that will continue to set the company apart.
“We’re definitely a ‘find a way’ type of company,” Girard says. “I think you get out what you put in, and we put a lot of hard work into it.”
For more information and to view the firearms, visit taylorsfirearms.com
From our April 2022 issue
Photography courtesy Taylor’s & Company
