Frank R. Brownell III, former President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Brownells, died on June 18, 2025. He succumbed to a lengthy illness in Grinnell, IA, only a few days before his 86th birthday.
He was born in Montezuma, IA, on June 24, 1939, to Bob and Lois Brownell. A year before he arrived, his father—who owned a gas station and sandwich shop in the city—turned the first profit in his spare-time gunsmithing hobby and officially established what Frank would help build into the retail legend Brownells is today.
The firearm industry and gunsmithing were an integral part of life as Frank grew up. His interest began at a young age, and it wasn’t long before he was involved in the family business. In 1961 he earned a degree in advertising from the University of Iowa, graduating magna cum laude. Afterward he joined the U.S. Navy as a reserve and served on the USS Caliente (AO-53).
His full-time employment at Brownells began in 1965, where he helped lay out the company’s Big Book Catalog #18—a mail-order annual his father launched in 1947 to address growing demand for firearm parts and gunsmithing tools. In 1969 Frank, under the name F. Brownell and Son, was an integral contributor to the first published “Gunsmithing Kinks” book.
Frank took over the helm of Brownells in 1983 as company president. In 2007 he assumed CEO duties, followed by his position as Chairman of the Board in 2012. He helped steer the company for more than four decades, successfully navigating it through a turbulent period in which online purchases began to dominate the market and dozens of mail-order catalog legends vanished.
In 2014 he was awarded NRA Publications’ Golden Bullseye Pioneer Award in honor of his dedication to protecting the Second Amendment and service to firearm owners across the globe. Gunsmithing today commands the respect it deserves partly because of his unfading efforts.
For nearly 60 years Frank was a mainstay at the NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits, the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show and dozens of others gatherings. His mere presence attracted long lines of friends—new and old. “Frank was the kind of person who made you better just by being around him,” Pete Brownell, Frank’s son and CEO of Brownells said.
Frank is survived by his sons, Bob, Pete and Matt, along with their families. Final arrangements are not available at this time, but Shooting Illustrated will share details as they become available. The family is asking friends, colleagues and customers to honor his memory by spending time in a few of the pursuits he loved most—investing time at the bench, supporting young gunsmiths or simply sharing special memories with the ones you love.
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