Best way to become a gunsmith?

[357mag]

I am looking to learn the art of gunsmithing. Could anyone recomend the best way for me to learn this trade. I am looking to specialize in pistols, with basic knowledge of long guns. I don't want to get into build custom rifles, but scope mounting and drilling and tapping or basic repairs I want to learn. Are the at home courses thorough enough to teach this or is it better to go to a school for it, or should I just try to get an apprenticeship with a local smith.

[PA-Joe]

Check the NRA's webpage they have some starter classes.

[John Traveler]

375mag,

If I could somehow crank the clock back 30-something years, I would do this:

1.  take high school and vocational school training in metal, wood, drafting, welding, and machine shops.  Your local community colleges should have at least some of these.  Join the NRA.  They provide a wealth of gunsmithing resources.

2.  Acquire, read, and study every gunsmithing book I could get my hands on.  It's never too early to start building your reference library.  Order catalogs from Brownells, Dixie Gun Works, etc.

3.  complete the 2-year residency training at an established gunsmith trade school: Colorado School of Trades, for example.

4.  Locate a gunsmith willing to hire you on an apprentice basis.  Usually this requires a couple years of valid gun work experience or the training in (3).

5.  Decide early what to specialize in.  There is little demand for general purpose gunsmiths except in small, rural, isolated communities.  Study and pPrepare for the Federal Firearms License requirements.

The study-at-home video courses are useful for hobbyist training, but are not adequate substitutes for instructor training.  For specific short subjects (drilling & tapping, mounting sights, boresighting scopes, etc) they are good.  For anyone even exposed to the basics of machine shop training or gunsmithing practices, they are too basic.

[Big Paulie]

I am not a gunsmith, so sorry for commenting.  But I asked this same question a few years ago, and a surprising number of gunsmiths (especially those who specialized in rifle work) gave me the following advice:


       Do not think of becoming a "gunsmith."  Recognize that a gun is a machine made of metal, and a very complicated and dangerous one.  Go to a well-recognized  school and become trained and certified as a "machinist."  This training will cover everying in general that you will ever need, including blue prints, drawings, measurements, the lathe, drill press, metal craft etc.

     Then, go to work as a true machinist in a machine shop for two to three years.  (Especially learn the art of the lathe.)  If you find that you are good and that you like it, then you are all set with the solid background skills that you will need to become a gunsmith.
   
     Then and only then, go to gunsmithing schools to learn the basics of gunsmithing.  The community college in Trinidad, Colorado has many excellent courses during the summer, running from 1 to 2 weeks each, taught by nationally recognized experts, on everything from the most generally rules of gunsmithing to the most detailed type (such as re-barrelling, or rebluing or pistol craft etc.)

     After you have taken the basic courses, and the detailed courses in the area that you choose to specialize in, then you are ready to go to work as a gunsmith apprentice.

  I just thought that I would pass this along.

Big Paulie

[John Traveler]

Big Paulie,

That is EXCELLENT advice you are passing along, and I am sorry that I did not word it that way myself.

Most gunsmiths that I know gravitated into machinist's training out of necessity, rather than becoming qualified in the machining trade first.  

What you suggested makes terrific sense.  A young fellow can always earn a living as a qualified machinist while fostering interest in firearms.  That way, if gunsmithing does not work out, or his interests change, he can always fall back to his skilled trades training for income.

[gunnut69]

B.Paulie--  Well said indeed!!  That advise would surely have made many things a lot easier...
gunnut69

[savageT]

gentlemen:
I agree with what you have said, but I find one issue troubling.  Learning to become a competent machinist is admirable but in this day and age finding a job in industry must be VERY difficult.  There are jobs in industry but since manufacturing is fading away so quickly in these United States, where will the young apprentices find work?

I say that because as a graduate of a technical school back in the late 50's, I could comfortably use lathes, milling machines, drill presses, grinders, etc. but I just wasn't that thrilled with the thought of spending my life working in those conditions.  Turns out in the northeast... NY region, manufacturing first moved out and south and finally totally off-shore.  Where does that leave the skilled tradesman?

Jim

[John Traveler]

SavageT/Jim,

Your points are valid, I agree.

As a former vocational teacher, I can understand the employment anxieties brought on by US industries going to off-shore manufacturing in recent years.

We always taught our students to develope a broad base of skills and to specialize in demand areas.  A trained machinist doesn't have to limit himself to manufacturing.  He can do prototype work, modeling, and small job-shop contract stuff.  He can work out of his own home shop.  He can direct his abilities to related fields like CAD/CAM engineering, and he can go back to school to pursue an engineering degree.  Many of us have done just that to remain viable with our employment skills.

I've known many people that studied trades first, worked in industry part time, and got their technical degrees in illustration, design, engineering, etc.  None of this is easy in a slow economy, but the fact remains that skilled trained workers have a better chance in the job than unskilled labor.  I managed to remain continually employed in aerospace/defense during the last couple decades and believe me, it wasn't always easy.

It is still my recommendation to young people (including my kids) to learn a trade/trades as a basis for further education.  As bleak as the industrial job market is recently, a trained machinist is still more employable than a liberal arts major.

John

[savageT]

Mr. Traveler,
That was my father talking.....word for word!.......which was the reason I attended a technical high school.  When it was time to serve my country, the Air Force offered me just about anything I wanted (except languages, which turned out to be my weakness)....ie. maths and science and English not good!!!!!!  Ah well, when you are hauling missile cables and guarding flightlines with an M1 carbine, you say to yourself, "Is that all there is"?
GET an EDUCATION!!!!!

I pray the boys and girls over there in Iraq will come home safely!

[Big Paulie]

Dear Guys,

   Again,  I apologize for talking about this stuff, since I have no first hand experience in it.   But the comments made about the fact that there are machinist jobs that exist outside of manufacturing again ring true from the advice that other gunsmiths gave to me.

    Many of the gunsmiths who were machinists first said that they did most of their machining work in custom automobile shops and custom motorcycle shops.  Apparently, these shops are good because they stress the lathe, and they require precision work, and they involve practical problem-solving on a daily basis, using a broad range of other machine tools and many different types of metals.

    As one smith told me, after he custom built motorcycles for five years, doing custom rifle work was really pretty easy!  It was just a matter of carefully selecting the components, keeping very close tolerances, checking and rechecking the gauges and measurements, always double checking for safety, and never rushing through the job.

    The other thing that these guys told me was that another big benefit of working in the auto and cycle shops was that you really really learned how to weld, using all types of welding equipment, and you got a real "feel" for different techniques and heat tolerences of different metals.
 
     Another theme that I heard over and over was that the Lathe, the Lathe, the Lathe, is what separates a good gunsmith from a jack-leg tinkerer.   Master the Lathe and all else follows.

   I sure hope that this second hand information is some help.

Best Regards,

Big Paulie

[Big Paulie]

And P.S.- Always always marry a woman who has a professional or semi-professional occupation, such a nurse, a paralegal, an accountant,  etc.    A woman like this can easily add $45,000 to the till every year, and can get you and your family through hard times.

     Nurses aren't hard to find.  They are everywhere!

      This is serious advice, no joke!

Big Paulie

[John Traveler]

Ah, Big paulie!

GREAT MINDS indeed think alike!

When I finally met my son's "serious" girlfriend, I advised him to try and stay on good terms with her.  She is a pharmacy major.  Hmmm.... Pharmacisits make excellent salaries and are always in high demand.

I happen to know a few shooters/gun collector's who's wives are nurses, and they gladly helped finance the hubby's hobies!