01/05/2026
you haven't heard already, the antique gun community lost one of its most dedicated champions last week - Phil Schreier, curator of the NRA's National Fi****ms Museum, passed away last week at the age of 63.
Any gun buff/ history nerd growing up in the '90s and '00s would have been very aware of Phil Schreier. As a kid, I remember watching his segments on History Channel's "Tales of the Gun", and later on "American Rifleman TV". I read the articles he published, and bought the books he co-authored. I looked up to guys like Phil, who got to play with old guns for a living and thus had the coolest job ever.
In the early 2010s, I got to meet Phil at one of the shows. I was star-struck. Over the years that followed, Phil and I became further acquainted and became good friends. I even had the honor of building him a few guns, and always enjoyed talking with him at gun shows. Anybody who knew Phil can attest to what a great story-teller he was. I remember one time in particular, when he stood in my booth at N-SSA Nationals and recounted the story of Samuel Walker's personal Walker C**t Revolvers, and how three different guns over the past 100 years had been claimed as having once belonged to Sam Walker, yet only one could be proven as the genuine article. By the time Phil had finished his story, complete with names, dates, and historical facts all pulled effortlessly from memory, a small crowd had gathered, hanging on his every word. That ability to take the mundane and make it interesting is a skill that few people possess, and nobody had mastered it quite like Phil Schreier.
Phil's impact on the antique gun world is hard to overstate. He's personally helped preserve countless historical artifacts through his work at the National Fi****ms Museum, and helped to inspire countless others, like myself, to get involved in the collection and preservation of old guns. His loss is a tough blow to our community and he will be missed.
