Philippe Graff, gunsmith: wood and steel shaped in Niederfeulen

In Niederfeulen, Philippe Graff devotes hundreds of hours to bespoke hunting guns. His career sheds light on a rare manual craft and the framework in which it is practised.

In Niederfeulen, Philippe Graff crafts hunting guns in which wood, steel and engraving demand hundreds of hours of work. His career tells the story of a rare profession in Luxembourg, at the crossroads of manual craftsmanship and a strictly regulated activity.

A broken guitar, and the discovery of a craft

Before making it his profession, Philippe Graff discovered gunsmithing by an unexpected route. As a teenager, he saw the neck of his guitar break. His father took him to a gunsmith, who managed to repair the instrument. In an interview with RTL, Graff recalls this meeting as the moment he realised what skilled hands could achieve.

He grew up in a family of hunters, but it was this repair that turned his curiosity about guns into an interest in the craft. He then went to Ferlach, Austria, where he completed four years of training as a gunmaker, before obtaining his master craftsman’s certificate. According to RTL, he has worked at Armurerie Frauenberg since 2021 and became its owner in 2026.

This career makes it possible to distinguish between two aspects often brought together under the word “gunsmith”: commercial activity and repairs, on the one hand, and bespoke manufacture, on the other. The workshop in Niederfeulen offers these services, but RTL’s profile focuses mainly on pieces designed for a specific customer.

A piece designed with its future owner

Customisation begins before the workshop gets to work. The customer and the craftsman discuss the desired appearance, the intended use and how the gun should sit in the hand. The wood is fitted to its owner’s measurements; the steel components are worked and the surfaces finished. Engravings can complete the piece, with hunting scenes, animals or more personal motifs.

The time involved gives an idea of what this manufacture entails. Philippe Graff tells RTL that a project takes an average of around 300 hours in the workshop. Engraving, entrusted to outside specialists depending on the motifs and level of detail, can take an additional 100 to 400 hours. These times therefore vary according to the commission; they do not describe a single model or a guaranteed production time.

The price reported by RTL — 10 000 to 15 000 euros, or even more — reflects this bespoke approach. It is not an official or necessarily fixed price: it is the price range cited for a gun handcrafted by Graff. The craftsman also explains that not all the hours invested are necessarily paid for. The price of a customised piece is therefore not just the cost of the materials: it includes a long succession of adjustments and finishing work, as well as the possible use of specialist engravers.

Manual skill as a choice

According to RTL’s interview, the workshop does not use computer-controlled machines for this manufacturing work, favouring manual methods instead. This choice does not mean that the craft is stuck in the past: the project Graff describes combines a modern gun with traditional construction methods and classical engraving. Here, tradition lies in the way the work is done, rather than simply in reproducing an old object.

This hands-on aspect is also part of a particular relationship with the commission. The customer does not simply choose from standardised options: they must specify what they want, then discuss it in light of what can be made. The wood, dimensions, surfaces and motifs form a coherent whole. The resulting object is functional, but its creation also involves an aesthetic and personal dimension.

RTL reports that the workshop sells a few dozen customised guns each year. Philippe Graff also estimates that between 10 and 20 people still work in this profession in Luxembourg. This is his estimate, not an official census. These two orders of magnitude suggest a niche activity, but are not enough on their own to measure the sector as a whole or its evolution.

A profession within a legal framework

Artisanal manufacture does not change the regulated nature of the product. In Luxembourg, buying, keeping a gun at home or using one for leisure may require authorisation from the Ministry of Justice, depending on the circumstances and subject to the exceptions provided for. The official Guichet.lu information page states that authorisations granted are renewable every five years and may be revoked at any time.

The rules depend on the stated reason and the individual’s circumstances. Hunting, target shooting, collecting and inheritance are among the common reasons cited by the administration. For an additional firearm, Guichet.lu specifies that prior registration is also required for people who already hold an authorisation. These rules provide context for the work of a gunsmith; they do not replace the information that should be checked with the relevant services for an individual application.

RTL’s profile also discusses the place of hunting in Graff’s life. He says he seeks calm and contact with nature through it, but also takes responsibility for the origin of the meat he eats. These are his personal motivations, as reported by the media, not a general definition of hunting or its practices.

In Niederfeulen, the work described is therefore less about mass production than about a commission developed patiently within a precise legal framework. Wood and steel become the medium for manual craftsmanship; the hours devoted to fitting and engraving give a measure of this specialisation.