Autrey's Armory, on Ga.

Highway 314 in Fayetteville, has been open for just over two months. So

far, so good.

Owner Ben Autrey has seen his

business take off by providing a service that wasn't previously in

the area and by receiving good word of mouth.

"Business has been good,"

said Autrey. "It's been busier than I expected."

Autrey's Armory is part

retail store, part gunsmith shop and part indoor shooting range. It is

where hunting and gun enthusiasts can find what they are looking for and

receive assistance from a knowledgeable staff. The store has a staff of

eight people, two of whom work full-time. One employee only does gunsmithing

and the rest of the staff does a little bit of everything. There is also

an NRA Certified Instructor who teaches classes on Saturdays.

Autrey has a long history with

guns and has enough knowledge and experience to almost guarantee a successful

business. He attended Auburn University on an Army ROTC scholarship and

was an engineering officer in the Army at Fort Stewart after graduation.

He followed his stint in the military by doing some construction management

in Fayetteville and then worked at Adventure Arms on Ga. Highway 54 for

several years.

When Adventure Arms closed,

Autrey decided to open his own business. Autrey's Armory is the result.

Like Adventure Arms, Autrey's

Armory provides gun sales and smith work, but it is a larger location.

The larger amount of space enabled Autrey to put in a classroom in the

front and an indoor gun range in the back. The range is two bays with

six lanes each and all 12 lanes are 25 yards in length. Visitors can either

purchase a daily or annual membership to use the range and one can either

rent one of 20 guns on the premises or bring their own gun to the range.

In the future, Autrey hopes to offer league nights and competitions and

believes there will be more guns available to rent in the future as well.

The classes that have already

been offered have been very successful and Autrey stated that there will

be more classes offered in the future. So far, the only class offered

has been a beginner's handgun safety course, which is targeted at

people who are shooting a gun for the first time. Students learn the difference

between different guns and how the gun works before getting some time

on the range. Afterward, the students learn how to clean and maintain

the gun. The course, which runs on two Saturdays a month from 8-11:30

a.m., has been very popular with couples and families and now the students

are ready for more advanced training. Future classes will teach personal

protection and defensive shooting.

Safety is a high priority at

Autrey's Armory and it is achieved by providing a state of the art

range and an experienced staff. Autrey's Armory is open Tuesdays-Fridays

from 11 a.m.-7 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Sundays from 1-6

p.m. Phone 770-719-2454 or visit www.autreysarmory.com for more information.