McBride’s Guns began in 1960 as a small mom and pop business by Jack McBride and wife Mildred in three small houses on San Gabriel Street and Lamar in Austin, Texas. Initially, the family ran a physical therapy shop in the front of one house with a small gun reloading and collection business from the back. They eventually made a choice to go full time into the retail sporting goods business, constructing a modern building in 1962 on the original San Gabriel location that continues to serve the business today.
McBride’s is a family affair where company president Joe McBride is joined by brothers and sisters and other family members in a tradition instilled by founders Jack and Mildred. They taught all ten children a trade and stayed on top of things to make sure they and the business grew together. Today, the business employs over twenty people, of which ten or so are family members.
Loyal, long-time customers testify that service is a hallmark of the business as staff makes each customer feel well attended, often remembering their name after the first or second visit. In the mid-eighties, the McBride family sought to give back to the community that had supported the business so steadily. They endowed the McBride Conservation Foundation Fund, asking the Austin Woods & Water Club to administer it. The 501c (3) actively supports outdoors hunting sports activities through grants to projects teaching young people hunting and safety skills.
For many central Texans, “McBride’s is where the hunt begins” serving Texas with the finest in firearms, archery, hunting and fishing gear.
