On Target with Del Whitman

Nationally-renowned gunsmith serves worldwide clients in Benzie County

By Art Bukowski | Nov. 2, 2024

There’s almost too much for gunsmith Delbert “Del” Whitman to love as he settles into another job in his rural workshop near Lake Ann.

Even a short time spent with Whitman reveals a man with a Zen-like connection to every aspect of this craft, from its history (he may go off on a tangent about the working conditions for young gunmaking apprentices in early 20th century Britain, for example, or the way archaic patent laws led to multiple permutations of the same firing mechanisms) to the ins and outs of how woodworking and metallurgy have matured over the years.

“One of the really interesting things about my work is I get to see firsthand a lot of those older guns that show some of the evolutionary changes of how guns came to be,” he says. The [shotguns] we see today are basically the end result of 250 years of evolution and change.”

Then there’s the art. The melding of gorgeous blued steel and sturdy English walnut. The intricate engravings and lively, dancing patinas on certain models. The deep appreciation for techniques and skills that are in danger of becoming functionally extinct.

“I love impressionist paintings, but you just sit there and look at them,” he says. “Here you have something that’s not only absolutely beautiful, but it’s functional. And function is always going to be paramount, but it’s hard to not appreciate the beauty of these things…they’re little works of art.”

One of a Kind

While there are thousands of gunsmiths in the country, there are only a handful that do what Whitman does.

While he completes repairs, restorations, and other relatively basic work, he’s known across the country for custom gun fitting. This means he alters or completely builds various components—particularly the wooden stocks—so the gun is a perfect physical fit for its owner.

“I really like helping clients be as successful as they can and enjoy themselves, and a big part of hunting is your equipment,” Whitman says. “Gun fit means the gun is tailored specifically to you, just like a suit, so when you mount the gun properly, you’re 100 percent aligned with the line of sight.”

He works almost exclusively on shotguns used for upland bird hunting (think pheasants, quail and the like), and does very little rifle or handgun work. He’s well respected enough to work on collectible guns worth north of $100,000, and high-end hunting operations around the country bring him in to work with their clients. He also attracts many clients of all stripes to northern Michigan.

‘I get guys who fly into the Traverse City airport all the time or that drive up to see me,” he says. “These are usually people who are either competitive shooters or very serious upland hunters.”

Born for This

Whitman grew up in Olivia, Minnesota, where his dad was an industrial arts teacher at the local high school. Formative years among the lathes and welding torches gave him the lifelong itch to tinker, build, and repair.

“I grew up in that environment,” he says. “I don’t even know what it’s like to not be in a shop working on stuff.”

He also grew up immersed in the outdoors in a hunting and fishing family, competitively shooting shotguns by age 13 and gaining a deep enjoyment for bird and other hunting.

Whitman went on to get a gunsmithing degree from Pine Technical College, a Minnesota school known for training in a variety of highly specialized vocations like taxidermy and locksmithing. After some time spent in California, he decided to relocate to northern Michigan after a visit here. D.C. Whitman Custom Gunsmithing officially launched in 2001.

A big part of the reason he’s excellent at what he does, Whitman says, is that he’s completely immersed in the sport of shooting itself. The best way to apply the science and art of his work is to get out there and shoot, then take those experiences back to the shop.

“To really be good at this, you have to love it. It has to be a lifestyle,” he says. “I still recreationally shoot professional levels of sporting clays. I hunt incessantly because I love it.”

He also takes a great deal of pride in continuing the legacy of those that came before him. While gunsmithing will always survive, those with his talents and depths of knowledge are a dying breed.

“One of the scary things to me is I’m the youngest guy I know that does this professionally and I’m 47 years old,” he says. “There’s just not very many of us.”

A Perfect Fit

Whitman’s shop oozes character, the kind even pictures can’t adequately capture. It’s here where the magic happens, and for many years most of that magic was repairs, renovations, engravings, or custom work. While that still happens, over the past five or so years, he’s leaned heavily into expanding his fitting business.

“I kind of decided that I had a big enough client base, and I really wanted to get away from the piddly restoration stuff that isn’t very high margin and … pivot towards doing more fitting,” Whitman says.

Ultimately, this work allows a client to become one with the gun in a way that’s not possible without a custom fit. A well-executed fitting facilitates instinctive, fluid movements that greatly improve success in the field or on the shooting range.

“It’s much like golf or martial arts or instinctive archery where you don’t really actively aim the gun—you get to the point where your body’s just doing it,” Whitman says. “The gun fits you and you focus on the target.”

And fitting makes sense, he says, when you consider the very wide variations in the human body.

“Just grab five random people off the street and see how different they are. And under the American philosophy, guns were mass produced and everybody was expected to alter them,” he says. “So it’s almost like Americans have a different philosophy on how to shoot because we’re always altering and having to aim, and you can’t have that thoughtless, dynamic shooting style.”

For this process, he built a fully articulated “try-gun” that he uses to gather nine data points from his clients, and from there he either modifies their stocks or builds a complete custom gun. Many clients subsequently send all of their guns to Whitman for this work and maintain a working relationship that lasts a lifetime.

For now, Whitman will continue to toil away and do the best work he can from his headquarters in the heart of northern Michigan.

“One of the things my dad and college instructor instilled in me is that the first thing you have to do is educate yourself on what makes quality work,” he says. “If all you ever focus on is maintaining the quality of your work, everything else should come.”