Doc on the Riley & Joe in the Morning Show

We’re excited to announce that Doc, the proprietor of Smokin Gun Worx, will be a regular guest on the Riley & Joe in the Morning show!

Doc has established what Riley hails as the “coolest firearms facility in Northern Illinois, possibly even the Midwest.” In this engaging conversation, Riley, Joe, and Doc delve into the unique features of Smokin Gun Worx, emphasizing its unwavering commitment to safety, cleanliness, and customer satisfaction.

Tune in to 1440 WROK every second Monday of the month as Doc joins Riley O’neil and Joe Dredge to share his expertise and passion for firearms.

Read the transcript of the initial interview from July 8, 2024:

Joe: We got somebody in the studio.

Riley: We do have somebody in the studio. I’m very excited about this. You know me, if you want to bring up the topic of firearms and all that, I’m your guy.

Joe: You’re the guy.

Riley: I’m ready to plop down, and let’s have a little chat about it. I got to tell you guys about a place that I went to visit last week that absolutely met and exceeded every expectation I had for it. That place is called Smokin Gun Worx.

Joe: You were literally giddy when you came back.

Riley: I was.

Joe: You could not wait to talk to me about it.

Riley: You didn’t even get the brunt of it. My wife and my son got the brunt of it.

Joe: I’m sure they did.

Riley: I came home and talked their heads off about this place because I had such a great time. Heather and I made the drive over to Forreston last week and spent some time at Smokin Gun Worx. It wasn’t enough time, but for me, I don’t know as I will actually hit that barrier where I’ve spent enough time there. The proprietor of Smokin Gun Worx, a guy we’d like to call Doc, he’s here in the studio with us.

I’m embarrassed to say, Doc, I only know you as Doc. I couldn’t give your proper name if someone forced me.

Doc: Well, that’s all right. Good morning, guys.

Riley: How are you?

Doc: Very good. Thank you. Yes. Dr. Keith Ruter from Forreston, Illinois.

Riley: Okay. You don’t mind being referred to, then, as Doc because I hear everybody else doing it, and some of the people who are doing it are armed?

Doc: Oh, no. Being in medicine for 35 years, I rarely hear my first name.

Riley: Okay. You’re a guy in medicine for 35 years, but now, you run, and I don’t even think there’s an argument, the coolest firearms facility, probably in Northern Illinois, might be in the Midwest.

Doc: Well, thank you very much.

Riley: Smokin Gun Worx is the name of it, if you guys want to Google it, W-O-R-X, outside Forreston.

Doc: Yes.

Riley: Where did the idea come from?

Doc: Well, I had a small gun shop downtown Forreston. Due to the interest and the lack of a place to shoot and having an indoor range in the area prompted me to come up with the idea of an indoor range in Forreston.

Riley: You’ve come up with that indoor range times100.

Doc: Well, thank you.

Riley: Now, first off, it’s not indoor range. It’s plural.

Doc: Yes. We have an upper and lower range. It’s actually the first in the nation to ever be designed like that.

Riley: Yeah, up above and down below. You gave me an extensive tour and explained these ranges to me, and they’re fascinating, and their construction for- safety is your top priority. In no place is it more evident than in those ranges.

Doc: Oh, by all means, safety is paramount at Smokin Gun Worx. First off, we have a range safety officer on deck at all times.

Riley: You will not find that everywhere. For people who think that “Well, that’s commonplace,” No, it’s not.

Doc: No, it is very uncommon. It’s sad because we’re there to help with malfunctions. If they have any questions, we’ll give them a little input if they’d like. The range is sealed off. Every stanchion is protected by AR metal. You can literally fire off a BMG 50-round point blank, and it won’t go through the stanchion separations to the next shooter.

Riley: Safety at top of mind with everything you do there.

Doc: That is true, including the air ventilation system that goes on there.

Riley: Which I don’t mind telling you, I was absolutely blown away by that. I’ve been in a range or two, and normally, the scent of gunpowder, especially if someone has just left, it’s still floating in the air in a lot of cases.

Doc: Oh yeah. It gets on your skin. You smell it when you walk out.

Riley: When you go home, it’s a shower, it’s get rid of the clothes, you get all that stuff scrubbed off. You have a filtration system unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.

Doc: Well, it’s called a purge ventilation system. The air is pressurized behind the shooter. It actually moves through the entire volume at 74 to 78 cubic feet per minute. The air exchange in that area, it’s roughly 25 feet wide and 110 feet long, the air is exchanged about every minute and a half.

Riley: Keeps it fresh and clean, and then the air that then goes outside is three times cleaner than the air that you pulled in, to begin with.

Doc: Well, it truly is. It goes through 20 paper filters first and then through 20 HEPA filters. The air we pull in from the outside is literally purified before we put it back out into the atmosphere.

Riley: You want some place that smells fantastic, is spotlessly clean. For those who have been to different ranges, that isn’t always the case, either. Here, you could dine off the range floor. You guys keep everything absolutely spotlessly clean.

Doc: Being in the medical field taught you how to be clean and neat and tidy, no doubt about it. What we do is we have a regular mopping schedule, a cleaning schedule. We actually use a chelating agent to chelate or render inert, is the term, or any of the heavy metals, the copper, the lead, the gunpowder, all that kind of stuff, that will actually render it inert, it’s mopped up and disposed of.

Riley: It’s truly amazing. You guys have got to make the ride over to see that and so many other things. Let’s talk about the newer person, newer to firearms.

Doc: Oh, yes.

Riley: Your place is extremely, exceedingly welcoming. I discussed this with my wife, and my wife instantly said, “Well, that sounds like a kind of place I’d like to be at. That sounds very comfortable.” You have lots of women who work there, who know their stuff inside and out.

Doc: Yes, they do. I’m very proud of them for that. I truly am. We’re geared toward a new shooter and experienced shooter. What I don’t want to do is have the new shooter come in and be propelled by my staff or the lack of cleanliness, that type of thing, lack of organization.

Riley: It’s not a boy’s club atmosphere.

Doc: No, not at all.

Riley: It’s not you better know everything there is to know about firearms. Don’t come in here, we’ll make fun of you. You couldn’t be more welcoming.

Doc: Well, we want to inform new shooters. We want them to enjoy the shooting safety, the shooting sports, whatever case it might be, whether it’s handgun, long gun, shotguns, whatever, and we want them to get used to handling it safely, being told all the accolades that they can accomplish through the shooting sporting skills. They really can.

Riley: You’ve got classes for every skill level, including someone who barely knows where a trigger is.

Doc: Well, we have those called first shots, actually. It’s the first shooter. They come in, they’re trained on it, they have a little proficiency exam afterward, get a little certificate, and that’s just the beginning for many people. We can go on increase up into the concealed carry classes, we have those available, and we have many advanced classes, as well.

Riley: Concealed carry renewal?

Doc: Yes, concealed carry renewal. We also have a specialty training, one-on-one training that we can do, as well. One of my employees is a competitive shooter. I always learn something from him as well. I truly do.

Riley: And, you’ve got leagues, as well, too.

Doc: Exactly, men’s and women’s league.

Riley: Bowling might not be for you, darts might not be for you, golf isn’t for you.

Doc: Yeah, shooting might just be your forte.

Riley: It might be. You have men’s, women’s leagues of differing skill levels.

Doc: Yes. The women’s league, actually, it was my wife’s idea, who was a novice shooter, and she decided, “Well, hey. How about we have this?” It has turned out fantastic. We have the ultimate beginners to very proficient shooters. We have all kinds of competitions we’ll run for them, shooting skill tests. It’s been a wonderful league. It really has.

Riley: Before we let you go, you’re going to go back and visit. We’ll flush more things out in future visits, but one of the things I think is so cool about what you do at the range is you offer gun rental for people who aren’t sure what it is they want.

Doc: Well, the worst thing you can do is go in, and, “Well, my buddy told me I need to buy this gun.” You purchase a firearm, and then you don’t like it.

Riley: I hate this thing.

Doc: Yeah, exactly. I do not want that to happen.

Riley: Been there.

Doc: First off, does it fit your hand properly what you were told? Well, okay. Have you ever shot anything like this? Well, if the answer’s no, we have at least 50 different handguns alone that you can try out.

Riley: And see if this one works for you. When your buddy told you it doesn’t work, guess what? This other one you tried is the magic one.

Doc: Exactly. We may not have exactly what your buddy has told you would be a great gun, but we have something very close. Is the caliber right for you? Is the size of the firearm good for you? Will you be conceal carrying it? Is it just for home protection? I have a litany of questions that we always ask the customer.

Riley: It isn’t just, “Hey, here’s a box with a gun in it. Give me the money. Here you go. On your way.” You want to make sure that they are set up with the right one.

Doc: Exactly. I want to make sure you get the right firearm for the right application that you’re seeking.

Riley: For people who want to know more, I would wholly recommend going to your website, smokingunworx.com. It is a wonderful website. Samantha, on your staff, put that together.

Doc: Oh, she does an outstanding job.

Riley: Killer job with this. Soul full of information. Your videos are on there. Everything you want to know about Smokin Gun, including reaching out and making contact, “Hey, I’d like to join this class. Hey, I’d like to learn more. Hey, I’d like to do that,” you can find all that.

Doc: It is available online. Yes.

Riley: You do Facebook, you do Instagram, you do all that?

Doc: Facebook and Instagram have been… actually, Facebook has decided to go against the firearm industry.

Riley: Of course, they have.

Doc: They’ve shut most of us down with Facebook. We’ve launched a new landing page on our website that will keep you up-to-date with specials that go on at the gun shop, special events, that type of thing.

Riley: All right. SmokinGunWorx.com. You’re going to want to check that one out. For people who’ve been looking for just the right spot to go, you want to go where you’re accepted. You want to go where you feel welcome. You want to go where you know there’s pros there, who are going to show you the best way of going about not only firing that weapon but selecting the one that you’re going to go with. You’ve got it all at one spot.

Doc: Well, I appreciate the accolades, and we will do our very best to make sure everybody gets a firearm they’re looking for and is comfortable with.

Riley: Yeah. You’re going to love the staff there, start from Doc. When working all the way down, everybody there is personable, nice, and know their stuff. It’s a beautiful ride over, too.

Doc: Thank you. Yes. We really like the little phrase, “We’re well worth a trip.”

Riley: It is absolutely worth the trip. Smokingunworx.com. Doc, you’ll come back again and see us though, right?

Doc: I’ll look forward to it.

Riley: So do we.