Company history
Service and trade of weapons and equipment Arms Service and Trading Established in 1987 Velika Gorica
First of all, a brief review of the not-so-distant history of Croatian gunsmithing is needed.
Bez obzira na vrijeme i društveno ustrojstvo, održavanje oružja i opreme je zahtjevna grana društvene i privatne djelatnosti.
In Zagreb after World War II, there were four gunsmithing workshops and arms stores. The owners were Kočanda, Borownik, Vidović and Politz. The companies operated at the beginning of 1948 until the Nationalization Act came into force. The aforementioned companies entered the system of companies of war invalids under the name "Vepar". Around the same time, the Croatian Hunting Association opened a store selling hunting weapons, accessories and ammunition under the name "Lovac". In the early 1950s, these two working organizations merged into a single organization under the name "Lovac", which still has two stores in Zagreb today - in Nikola Tesla Street and Varšavska Street. The workshop, which successfully repairs weapons and makes stocks, is located at the same address in Nikola Tesla Street, on the first floor in the courtyard. At that time, two other workshops operated in the city of Zagreb. The "JELEN" social workshop in Dubrava, which produced shot and the famous diabolo ammunition for air guns. The second workshop was a private craft shop owned by Ilija Tomašević in Maksimirska Street. However, Tomašević's workshop was closed in the 1960s because the owner moved into the social sector.
In the next twenty years, the number of hunting clubs in Croatia increased rapidly, not to mention shooting sports clubs. The number of weapon users also increased rapidly. There was a real need to open new quality workshops for the maintenance and repair of all types of weapons. At the beginning of 1987, a workshop for the repair of hunting and sports weapons was opened in Velika Gorica, under the name "JELEN". The founders were two experienced master gunsmiths. The first was BRANKO IGNAC KONČIĆ (born 1947), a trained military gunsmith and a master specialized in metal parts of weapons, and the second was ZDENKO SEVER (born 1957), a master gunsmith specialized in wooden parts of weapons who learned the trade at the RO "Lovac". It was an excellent combination for the successful performance of this necessary and sought-after activity.
"Jelen" soon became known throughout Croatia for its quality of service and reasonable prices. In addition to servicing, the company also engaged in the retail sale of hunting and sporting weapons, ammunition and equipment, and in the late 1980s "Jelen" moved to Rakitovec in Turopolje. During the Homeland War, the employees of "Jelen", a total of five employees, were actively involved in the production, modification and repair of several types of weapons, not only sporting and hunting.
For three full years, from 1991 to 1994, the employees of "Jelen" spent their time on the front lines as weapons experts. The owners, Sever and Končić, joined the reserve forces of the Ministry of Interior. However, "Jelen" will remain in the records of the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Defense as the organizer of several weapons exhibitions, including:
Review of members of the special police and weapons of the Sisak police department, which was held on January 18, 1992 at the Segesta stadium. The review was conducted by the commander of the Special Units of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia, Mr. IVAN JARNJAK
Exhibition of weapons and ammunition in Velika Gorica, which was held at the Juraj Kokot Cultural Center on February 12, 1993, and opened by General ANTUN TUS
Exhibition of weapons entitled "How Croatia was defended". Co-organizers were the Croatian History Museum and "Jelen", under the auspices of the Ministry of Defense. The exhibition was held at the Croatian Army Hall on May 30, 1994 in Zagreb. The catalog items were excellently and professionally processed by Professor JANKO JELIČIĆ.
"Jelen" is also a co-founder of the Croatian Guild of Manufacturers, Traders and Servicers of Hunting Weapons, Ammunition and Equipment.
The "Jelen" workshop is proud of its students who have completed their apprenticeship and become respected employees in the judicial police, army, Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as gunsmiths in the private sector. One of them is MIROSLAV KAVUR, who continues the tradition of the "Jelena" workshop under the name "Service, trade and production of weapons and equipment KAVUR" - Velika Gorica.
The main activity of the "Kavur" weapons and equipment service is repair, alteration, renovation, restoration, burnishing, anodizing, silver plating, nickel plating, gilding, custom-made stock making, sheath making, wood and metal engraving, mounting of sights and optical devices, firing and certified Cerakote ceramic applicator. In addition to the above-mentioned main activity, the "Kavur" workshop, as a contracted external associate of the Croatian Restoration Institute, also performs the restoration of historical Alkar weapons.
Gunsmith
Branko Ig. Končić
