MEET JEFF

My name is Jeff Hankins.  I have lived my entire life in northern Kentucky.  Kentucky is an excellent environment to enjoy the outdoors, and from my early childhood, that's exactly what I have done. I'm an avid outdoorsman.

The early Kentucky years were challenging.  On our small farm, we had very few of today's household amenities.  No furnace, just a well stoked wood burning stove that kept us warm and cozy.  We raised much of our food---poultry, beef, a few hogs and of course there was the vegetable garden. 

We also raised tobacco as a cash crop.  When we weren't working on the farm, we were in the woods hunting or fishing in the creek.  Life was perfect!

During my teens, I learned from my Dad how to fix and build things on the farm.  We had little alternative.  If we couldn't fix a piece of equipment or build a new shed, it just didn't get done.  We went without! 

I soon realized that I was very mechanical minded and possessed good analytical skills.  I could fix, build or rebuild just about anything.  Today, I'm still practicing and honing those skills.

After high school, which was very much focused on mechanics, and then college, which was focused on business management, I continued my learning experience in a machine shop.  I learned to operate manual mills and lathes.  This is where I learned the science of manufacturing component parts to blue print specifications.  Zero tolerance was the expectation!

This machine shop experience launched my rifle building career.  I always had an interest in center fire rifles, and experimented with some accurizing work on my Remington 700.  I soon realized I wanted to   build my own Hankins Built Rifle.  The shop owner encouraged me and permitted me to stay after hours to pursue my passion.

That was more than 20 years ago.  Today, I have that same passion.  That same burning desire   to create precision bolt action rifles.  After years of building custom rifles only for friends and family, I have decided to offer my products to you.