Warwick Firearms & Militaria

About Us

In 1968, Michael Warwick left England on a boat as a 10 pound Pom, to travel the world starting in Australia and to be home in 2 years! Well, he met Judy on the boat, spent all his money and never went back. On landing in Melbourne, he stepped off the boat to be greeted by a Commonwealth bank clerk to open a bank account, on the dock, right there and then. He had nothing to put in it and no job but what the heck, I think the bank starts it off with a dollar. He knew of a Dive shop in Adelaide so he headed over to get some work, but Judy was based in Melbourne, so he came crawling back over to Victoria on a bended knee. He worked as a mechanic in St Kilda, as an industrial radiographer inspecting welds on pipelines all over Australia, across Bass Straight and in Africa while now Judy Warwick was a private secretary. While this is happening, Michael's interest in collecting Militaria started growing. It’s tough to collect with only minimal money but things were easier to obtain back then, still they bought their first house in Noble Park in the South East of Melbourne. The year is about 1970. As the collecting grew, he needed to raise the stakes. He built a small safe in the back of his shed to keep the ‘gems’. He now starts buying 2 of everything, selling one. Of course it didn’t stay at two for long, soon he was buying 3, 4 and 5, keeping none and getting more. In roughly 1974 the business name Warwick Firearms and Militaria is created. Selling fine antique Militaria, Firearms and surplus. I (Scott Warwick) am born in 1974 , then dad joins the Army Reserve artillery in 1975.  You can’t run a business out on the oil rigs so he gets a job at Luke and Singer, night shift shoveling non-ferrous metals into a furnace. Dad scrapes together all the money he possibly can and is proud to place his first and biggest order ever with Century Arms in Canada.  In 1976 they sell Noble park and buy a house in Springvale South. Out the back Dad and his mates build his first shop, it's really starting to look like a business now. Some older readers may remember it, I think it's about 1976/77 at this stage. For 8 years he works night shift at Luke and Singer and runs the business during the day. An amazing effort to establish himself with a lot of support from mum. I am just a kid running around, but I do remember the old shop with Dad's homemade shelves made from scraps of redgum and his desk in the middle. It was cramped. Early 1980’s he rents a shop at 123 Station Street, Malvern, just where the Princess Highway curves under the railway bridge. My earliest memories of “helping” in the business come from here. Learning how to use a drill, watching the security go in and I guess my most vivid memory is spilling a tin of yellow paint into a full box of 07 pattern bayonets. Dad was very calm about this as you can imagine!!! This may well be the start of him telling me I should do something else with my life. To this day I am not sure if it’s my most vivid memory because he keeps reminding me of the incident that seems to have scared him or because of how he yelled at me at the time!! I liked meeting the characters of the business back then and hearing mum and dad talk about these people. Two customers called Bill, one would buy on the spot and the other would take several visits to decide on his purchase. Of course, the latter is still known today as ‘slow Bill’. Dad would make his own catalogue on a small printer at home. He would turn the handle on the side and crank out page after page then place them all around the table in neat piles. Then, the family of minions, would walk around the table in circles taking one page from each and at the end they would be stapled. For heaven’s sake don’t grab two of one page! Gradually more and more people from the local film/TV industry are requesting to hire items. One clothing rack is put aside for hire for the Film industry. Dad secures the TV series Anzacs and supplies uniforms, equipment and firearms. The Film Armoury business has started. After Anzacs finishes in about 1988 mum and dad buy their first commercial building at, 608 Warrigal Rd, East Malvern. Dad say’s “we will never fill it”. Most collectors from Melbourne have been into the old shop at Warrigal Road. At 17 I start with the business when I finish high school at the end of 1991 and at the same time dad drives me down to the Army Reserve unit in Dandenong. I was in for a shock, 2 Commando Company made all of us recruits start running and training straight away. It was tough but after about a year and a half I got my green beret. This held me in very good stead for all my future Armoury work in the Film Industry that would come years later. I recommend this unit to any young man reading this, my greatest regret is getting out to soon. Esprit De Corp. Slowly now over the years the internet took over and collectable Militaria shops became a thing of the past. But the film side of the business got bigger and bigger Warwick's becoming the biggest supplier in Australia. As import border restrictions got tighter and tighter it is now getting very hard to supply modern looking films when all you have is old WW2 vintage type firearms. In the early 2000’s we start to collect parts with a view to manufacturing Colt M4 carbines for film work. Its about 2007 that my partner Teresa starts with the business, all of a sudden there is a new boss in the office!! But then gets pregnant and takes time off. (Interesting times!!!!) The light of my life is born my son Will and now my dad becomes my second best mate. In 2014 Michael & Judy sell Warrigal Road as we are bursting at the seams and we buy our new and current factory in Dandenong. “we will never fill it”. While it's an exciting time buying a new building and setting it up, unfortunately dad starts to feel less motivated to be here with us. I struggled with this for a bit, we always new what the other would do in a situation. I could put something down 3 months later it would still be there. Thankfully, we laugh at each other’s jokes because not many do.  We have been working together for almost 25 years, I guess my apprenticeship is over. Retiring at his property in Maccelsfield in Victoria. He still comes in tells me I have stolen some of his tools, I owe him money, drops of stuff from his shed and that I owe him storage fees. Inspects the place, sees what we are up to. Undermines me to the staff, gets me in trouble by telling lies to Teresa but it's always good when he and mum visit. We now have 6 staff working with us I am extremely in debt to dad for his military collecting as I would not be here today.