My Story
For now I may be the smallest design, manufacturing and sales company in existence with a single employee, myself. I grew up in manufacturing. After high school I spent a year as a welder and press operator and then 7 years building semi-trailers. During this time, I married the love of my life and started a family. I knew it would be best for them and my body to look for a better career. I always had a passion for designing, whether it was homemade go-carts with dirt bike engines on them or better processes for completing simple tasks. I wanted to turn that passion into a career. I took night courses at the local tech school for every engineering type course available and eventually found a company that would take a chance on a very inexperienced designer and give me an opportunity to succeed.
Throughout my professional career, I had a chance to do what I loved, and I was involved in every function of manufacturing and business operations. Also, during this time, I watched manufacturing jobs being sent overseas and, consequently, the overall manufacturing environment declining. This deeply bothered me and pressed me towards a dream that I always had which was to design, manufacture and sell my own product made in the USA by people and for people that share my passion for our traditions, while also rebuilding the manufacturing skills that have been lost and giving the next generation the same opportunity to succeed that I was given.
For years I burned the candle at both ends designing, prototyping and writing patents. I gradually created a sustainable business model that was self-funded, and in 2020 I made the first leap and began to industrialize my manufacturing of the Locked Stock & Barrel. I converted a rundown sheep barn into my “factory,” purchased a lathe, vertical mill and a saw, and worked with companies in the Midwest to make the injection mold tooling and produce my components, extrude and anodize the aluminum. I also procured all of my raw materials, hardware, packaging and marketing materials from here in the Midwest. I began to sell to friends and family and felt a relentless urge to take the next leap. In early 2024 I fully committed to my dream and passion with a goal of not just creating a great product but a bright future of manufacturing jobs here in the USA.
The end for now and with God’s grace and your support, this is just the beginning.
Thank you,
Keith Bradley
100% Made in the United States of America!
Family owned and operated
Independent Armory® HQ and Manufacturing
Rural La Farge, Vernon County, WI