W.S. Glodzik

**zgate** · October 7th, 2007, 12:15 PM

Did anyone ever hear of a gunsmith by the name of W. S. Glodzik? I think he is/was from the PA area.

I just picked up a pair of his of his rifles, a sporter weight .220 swift and a varmint weight .220 AI. Both are built on 1917 Remington actions and the craftsmanship is some of the best I’ve seen. I’d like to find more information about this shop but Google didn’t turn up anything.

Thanks

ValGlo · November 17th, 2007, 12:19 PM

W.S.Glodzik was my father-in-law. I stumbled on your post via Google when I was looking for my children's names, and then just "glodzik". Your post was near the top and grabbed my eye. He was a gunsmith although he made only a few. He did have a shop in his home in Reading, PA, but mostly bought guns retail and resold them. The shop closed maybe 30 years ago. He died in '98. My husband will contact his brother or mother today to see if there are any more of his guns. Most of his stuff was discarded/sold after his death.

**sspiff22** · November 17th, 2007, 12:30 PM

Wow! How cool is THAT?! Small world...

ValGlo · November 17th, 2007, 01:09 PM

To zgate: My husband talked to his mother. All the guns were sold 30+ yrs. ago when she and W.S. moved. My husband adds that when he was a kid, he helped make the guns - he did the sanding.

**icp4life162005** · November 18th, 2007, 04:38 AM

Thats pretty cool.

**redcat41** · November 21st, 2007, 06:15 PM

Hi zgate,

I saw that my sister-in-law replied to your post. I had to write to correct a few things and maybe give a bit more info. (I'm into genealogy and that's how I came across your post...)

I saw a post on another gun site complimenting my late father's work, and wrote back with some info I got together from my mom. It's a little lenghthy, and I have to update it. I will work on it and send you the updated 'story' about my father's great passion about guns.

I will get back to you asap! Thank you for the kind words!

Cathy Glodzik
Reading, PA

PS. His name was Walter S. Glodzik, and his business was the "Southern Gun Shop" in Reading, PA.

**Tomcat088** · November 21st, 2007, 08:18 PM

This makes me really happy to see some of his family randomly come across this post and are able to answer this question. I was actually thinking that this question might never get answered. This just makes me smile

**ChamberedRound** · November 22nd, 2007, 11:44 AM

ValGlo,

Welcome to the forum. I was watching the thread(s) here on your father-in-law, and it's cool that we were able to find some more information on him, and actually connect with his family. I hope you enjoy the site; you'll find a good community of people here, as well as lots of great information on firearms, the law, and constitutional rights.

**redcat41** · November 22nd, 2007, 07:33 PM

Hello again,

I would like to thank not only zgate but also Tomcat088 for the very kind words. Chamberedround, I saw that you addressed my sister-in-law & brother. I hope that you read my earlier post, concerning the misinformation that was supplied. I had been in contact with a gun-owner on another website this past summer who wrote very kind words about the craftsmanship of a rifle that had my dad's name stamped on it. I wrote a basic page-long 'biography' about my father and his gunsmith business. I am now completely updating it with more info from my mom.

My father never made just 'a few guns'...he made too many to count in over 40 years. It is false that 'he mostly bought guns retail and resold them.' and that any were ever 'discarded'. ( yes, I'm a little bothered about the 'info' that was supplied )

His specialty was doing custom work for customers, and also repairs. He sold many of his guns to sporting goods stores in the area. I have to respond and supply the correct info - I loved and respected my father too much for his reputation to be messed up even a little bit. He was incredibly passionate and dedicated to his work, and was very multi-talented, esp. considering that he was basically self-taught. I couldn't begin to tell you how much I miss him, and today on Thanksgiving, I am thankful that he was my father.

Thank you to everyone for your kindness and interest! 'Pop' would be very flattered!

Cathy Glodzik

**jbhd** · November 22nd, 2007, 11:21 PM

Hello Forum Members!

I am the gentleman that Cathy spoke of that posted praise of her father and his work on another forum. I own a spectacular 30-40 Krag that was modified and completely reworked by Walter S. Glodzik. Not only is the rifle an incredible piece of craftsmenship and workmanship, it is an actual historical piece of art from those days past. From the finely inletted and shaped stock with silver inlays of a moose and deer to the deeply blued action and barrel of top notch fit and finish, this rifle is a joy to hold and shoot. I can only say that I hope I have chance to purchase yet another Walter S. Glodzik rifle someday. I collect hunting and target rifles of the late 40's through the late 70's and among my Johnson Automatic (yes Melvin Johnson made top notch military conversion sporting rifles in his retirement), Johnson-Gartman, Conlin, Saturn, and many others that I have, Walter's work was among the best when compared with these makers. Cathy was definitely lucky to have Walter as her Dad and she has every right to be proud of his life and hard work.

Regards, Jeff Bergstrom