Christopher Schatz

Competetive Shooter

Christopher Schatz is a Weapons Technician at GLOCK, Inc in Smyrna, GA. His career in the Firearms Industry started 34 years ago as an Gunsmith apprentice in Vienna, Austria.

During his apprenticeship he attended the Gunsmithing school in Ferlach, Austria where he acquired the theoretical knowledge to become a Master Gunsmith which included subjects like internal and external ballistics, metallurgy and many others. As an apprentice he learned the fine art of transforming steel and wood using primitive tools into fine firearms from Master Gunsmith Martin Kruschitz.

However, his interest for guns started in his very early years since he grew up as a Master Gunsmith’s son. During Christopher’s childhood he often visited his Father Rudolf Schatz in the shop to watch him perform simple repairs like making a screw or installing a recoil pad to complex restorations of priceless firearms. The smell of hot linseed oil and mineral spirits drew him there regularly.

Since his father did not want him to become a gunsmith as well Christopher went to a technical college for electrical engineering in Vienna, Austria first. This gave him a good foundation for his future jobs. However, he did not complete the five years, instead he convinced his dad to let him become a Gunsmith after all.

After finishing his apprenticeship he went to the Austrian Military to fulfill his compulsory military service in the armory (where else?). Because there was hardly any work for a Gunsmith in Vienna (listen to your dad!) Christopher worked for a short time as a electrician in a Office building where he also was responsible for the access control system. This was the time when he purchased his first dream car, a Porsche 944.

On April 1st 1998 Christopher was hired on by GLOCK GmbH as Gunsmith in Deutsch Wagram, Austria. He took a lot of joy in developing and testing the product.

Shooting always counted to one of Christopher’s favorite hobbies, so in 2001 he started to compete in IPSC. He quickly incorporated drawing from a holster and shooting on the move into his already well developed shooting skills.

In 2002 Christopher came to the US working on a project for GLOCK Austria at the NYPD at which point his sport shooting career temporarily ended. That same year he married his fiancé Daniela in Las Vegas. Shortly after he took on a job offer from GLOCK Inc. in Smyrna, GA which presented new challenges and responsibilities. His background in mechanics, hydraulics, pneumatics as well as electrical and technical understanding in addition to weapons technology benefited him in his new carrier.

After a 10 year shooting brake Christopher learned about IDPA. He started competing in spring of 2013 and made ESP Master by September of the same year, SSP Master only a few months later at the IDPA Indoor National Championship. Then, at the 2015 IDPA World Championship in Tulsa, OK he became Distinguished Master in the CCP division. In 2017 he accomplished the next short term goal of making Distinguished Master in SSP at the National Championship in Texas.

He is continuing to climb the ladder of success in his shooting career fast ...