Jon Laubach was born on April 28, 1946 and grew up in Allentown Pennsylvania. Laubach became interested in firearms as a teenager. In 1970 Laubach received an Associate Degree from Trinidad State Junior College with a major in Gunsmithing. He relocated to Williamsburg Virginia and apprenticed under Wallace Gusler in the Colonial Williamsburg Gunshop. In 1974 Laubach finished his apprenticeship
under than Master of the Gunshop, Gary Brumfield. He worked in the shop as a journeyman until 1988, then transferred to his current position as Tool-maker for the Historic Trades Program at Colonial Williamsburg. Laubach continues to build guns on his own time. He works within the bonds of traditional schools but does not make copies of originals. There are few who have mastered the process of making an entirely handmade rifle using only 18th century technology and processes,
and Jon is one of them.