Bill Heckman has been correcting "barrel misfortunes" and improving shotgun performance for about 12 years. He has studied with gunsmith extraordinaire William Nittler. Heckman's bore work and shotgun barrel modifications have been enthusiastically sought after by competition trap and skeet shooters as well as sophisticated double gunners.
    Heckman designed and manufactures a barrel honing machine which is the only precision device made solely for interior bore modification. His eighteen month tenure at Krieghoff International was involved with improving and streamlining their repair facility at Ottsville, Pennsylvania. A large percentage of Heckman's work comes from return clients and personal referrals.
    Heckman Specialties manufactures shotgun barrels as well as providing restoration and repair of fine guns. Always searching to achieve a better repair, Heckman Specialties often diverges from traditional methods. As an example, consider the current technique for sleeving double guns. (Sleeving is the installation of new barrels using the original lumps, ribs, extractors, etc.) The traditional method would be for the gunsmith to buy a pair of stock barrels from the barrel maker and then make them fit the gun as best he can, often without the benefit of proper machinery. The end results vary greatly. Heckman Specialties makes new barrels copied from the originals, so the weight, balance, and appearance are unaffected. Using correct machining practices, the results are new barrels on your gun without objectionable joints and ill-fitted ribs. These departures from traditional techniques are not acts of hasty rebellion. "My goal is not to be a renegade," says Heckman. "I am simply open to an idea that will give a cleaner repair".
    Heckman Specialties is located in Livingston, Montana near the Paradise Valley in the heart of some of America's best fly fishing, wingshooting, and big game hunting. Surrounded by four mountain ranges, Heckman continues to offer quality repair of fine double shotguns and rifles.