Gill Land Company sold a rural home with acreage near Firesteel, SD, to Jeremy & Jennifer Holien in October 2021. We followed up with them in early 2023 to see how the move is working out for their family and their business, Deadeye Custom Weapons LLC.
GLC: Tell me about what your business. What products or services do you offer?
Jeremy: I am a gunsmith and a bladesmith. A gunsmith builds and repairs guns. A bladesmith builds knives. We are called Deadeye Custom Weapons LLC and operate out of Firesteel, SD, or more locally known as ‘the old Stoudt place’. I have been around guns my whole life, growing up as a kid and then also in the military. I am a retired Air Force veteran. As our name says, we can do just about any custom job, from simple maintenance like cleaning your gun and sharpening your knife, to building a complete one-off custom gun or knife. I can troubleshoot why a gun isn’t firing correctly or can restore a family heirloom to like new condition. I have my FFL (Federal Firearms License), so I can sell guns and ammunition as well. I can also provide value estimates of weapons for folks who may need that information for insurance purposes or maybe have inherited something but don’t know its worth.
GLC: Where are you from originally?
Jeremy: I grew up in Granite Falls, MN and Jennifer grew up in Sioux Falls, SD. We moved out here in 2021 from Sioux Falls.
GLC: What made you want to move to this area?
Jeremy: We were growing the gunsmith business and needed space for a gun range for testing and troubleshooting. Space was hard to find in the Sioux Falls area and especially at an affordable price. Jennifer was looking around online and found this place. We didn’t know much about the area initially. When we first came to have a look, I was sold at the end of the driveway. It’s just so peaceful out here.
GLC: How has your family adjusted to the move from city life to country life?
Jeremy: It has really been a pretty easy adjustment for all of us. Even the kids enjoy the peacefulness of the country. Jenn & I have 6 kids and 1 grandchild, with 3 kids still at home. We recently were approved for the foster care system and received a 3 month old baby girl who adds a lot of joy to the household. Yes, the kids sometimes miss the conveniences of city life but that just means we look forward more to the trips to town or the larger cities.
GLC: Is this the first business you’ve owned or started?
Jeremy: My wife, Jenn, has owned her own daycare business in the past. We also owned a food truck in Sioux Falls that we sold before moving out here. We featured deep fried grilled cheese sandwiches and had several add-on options to that, such as bacon & cheese, ham & cheese, or crab rangoon during Lent. Our most popular item was called Smoked & Smothered, and featured baked beans, whiskey smoked pork and coleslaw on top of the grilled cheese sandwich. It was a fun business and a growing industry. The gunsmith work started out as smaller projects on the side. As that demand grew, though, it got to be a lot to do both. We decided to focus on the gunsmith business, which is what brought us out west.
GLC: Walk me though the process of what a person could expect if they called you with a question about a gun?
Jeremy: I first ask if the gun is in a safe position with no ammunition in it, and then would ask for the make, model and serial number. Then I would ask what they are looking for. If they want it fixed, I’ll ask what the issue seems to be. If they want it restored, I’ll want to know if they want it restored like new or just to operating condition. Once I have a better idea the scope of the project, I’ll offer some options for them to consider. If possible, I’ll request that they bring the weapon to the shop for me to inspect in person.
I get calls for all kinds of things and I’m happy to help answer any gunsmith-related question. Even if it’s just what kind of ammunition should I be using? That would depend on the gun and also your intended use – will you be using it for hunting or self defense, for example? I recently received a call from the local 4-H shooting sports club asking if I could rebuild all their bb guns which I did at no charge. It was a great opportunity to work with my youngest son, Max, who is in 10th grade and kind of apprentices with me on the gunsmith work.
GLC: What kind of challenges have you encountered since starting this business?
Jeremy: The supply chain has been one of the biggest hurdles. Ammunition availability has improved for some of the simpler items, but many things are still hard to find. The same is true for parts. They can still be tough to find and get, depending what you need.
GLC: What are your future plans for the business?
Jeremy: We have started work on a shooting range that will allow me to test firearms. I hope to get that finished after the snow melts this spring. I recently received my suppressor license and am very excited to be able to start building those for people. (For those non-gun savvy folks, a suppressor is also known as a silencer as it suppresses sound and recoil of the gun when shooting.) We have been working on some government contracts as well and have talked about possibly getting into safety training. Mostly, though, we just want to grow the word of mouth of who we are and what we do in the custom gunsmith and bladesmith business.
GLC: How can a person find you or get ahold of you?
Jeremy: They can find us on facebook at Deadeye Custom Weapons LLC or call me at 605-381-8897.
