RD Guns now open for business in Copperas Cove
By BRITTANY FHOLER
Cove Leader-Press
There’s a new family-owned business offering gunsmithing and laser engraving services to the Copperas Cove area.
RD Guns is owned and operated by Raelyn and Daniel McIntyre, David Potter and Ralph Peragine and officially opened for business on Wednesday, Sept. 1.
The business originally started as R&D Gunsmithing by Raelyn and Daniel McIntyre in their garage two years ago, but as the business grew bigger and bigger, the need for an actual storefront emerged.
With the change in location, the McIntyres also brought on two business partners and were able to expand their services.
Daniel said that firearms are his passion and he loves working with them, but his wife loves them just as much.
“When she moved in with me, she had more guns and more motorcycles than I did,” Daniel said. “Together, it's kind of a passion, something we both love, and we love working together. We get to spend time with each other at work and at home.”
Raelyn was driving by when the building was put up for sale, and they called the number that night. The next morning, with their two new partners, they placed an offer.
They’ve spent the last couple of months working on the inside and outside of the building, making sure it has a homey feeling, Daniel said.
“This is a family business, and it's the hometown gun store, so we want to keep it that way,” he added.
There is a coffee bar with free coffee for customers. The purpose is to create an inviting environment for customers to come in and feel at home,
RD Guns offers gunsmithing services, with two gunsmiths on duty. They also specialize in Cerakote ceramic coating for firearms and also offer powder coating. The other half of the business is the laser engraving.
Daniel said they can laser engrave guns, dog tags and anything else that is metal. They also have added a CO2 laser and can engrave drink cups, cutting boards, flasks, glasses, leather wallets.
“If you can think of what material, I can probably engrave it,” Daniel said, adding that he can even engrave cardboard for personalized boxes.
“We added that service to try to widen our services we can do, not just firearms,” Daniel said. “We can do a little more, and bring other customers in the door too.”
RD Guns is a veteran owned business, with Daniel having served in the Army for 17 years before working for the railroad for six years, and his business partner, David, served for 22 years. Their other partner, Ralph, was a civilian contractor in Afghanistan for 10 years.
Finally opening the store has been a dream come true and something the group has worked hard on.
“It was scary because [Daniel] was with the railroad,” Raelyn said. “That’s a great job, but so much has come together, and then to see the response that we got just this weekend.”
RD Guns held a soft opening last Saturday, and the response was beyond what was expected, according to Raelyn.
The official opening was on Wednesday, but there are plans to have a larger grand opening around Oct. 1, complete with a ribbon cutting.
RD Guns hopes to begin offering free classes on youth handgun safety classes in the spring of 2023, according to Daniel.
“We're firm believers of the old school method of if you teach them about it and you take away the curiosity of it, then they’re not going to play with them, and if I can teach the courses and save one child, and one child doesn't get hurt because of it it’s worth doing, with all the time we put into it,” Daniel said.
Raelyn said she also wants to begin offering a Ladies Only Night for women to come and gather and talk about firearms later this year.
For more information on RD Guns and their offerings, visit their website at https://www.rdguns.com/. They are also on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/r.dgunsmithing and https://www.facebook.com/RDLaserandCerakote as well as on Instagram under username @rdgunsmithing.
RD Guns is open Tuesday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. It is located at 2128 E. Business 190 in Copperas Cove.