How did you get into gunsmithing?

[Shotgun Jeremy]

Hey guys, I'm kinda interested in getting into gunsmithing, but I have no clue how to go about getting the proper training, how much it pays on avg to start out as a helper around a shop, etc...

What can you tell me about it? I have minimal experience with working on guns, but I gotta start somewhere I guess. Any and all info is much appreciated.

 

[ROGER4314]

Jeremy,

RetArmySgt is doing that very thing and he has a line on training. Contact him. He's a great guy and I'm sure that he'll assist you.

Flash

 

[Shotgun Jeremy]

Ok, thanks for the tip!

 

[grasshopperglock]

If your looking at oldschool gunsmithing.....not just slapping parts together like a mail order ar15....here's my hints

Take every firearm you have apart. Put it back together in a condition like it was never touched to begin with. That includes bb guns. Not field striped. But every part layed out. Every spring to every roll pin. If you find something you have no tool for. Look at the Brownells Catalog. See what tool is right for the job. If no tool is listed in there or in the great expand of Google.(even if it is) Learn to Design it, make it. Do that till you have a tool that won't damage the gun, but performs the job. Ask others what tool they use.

Read all you can on firearm design. From roller lock to blow back. What makes a pre 64 winchester different from a modern savage bolt action.

Learn metals. Whats soft. Whats hard. What you can make soft, and how to make it hard again. What parts needs to be softer or harder. Read up on powdered metal parts.

Learn micrometers. Learn how to read them. And take care of them. No go gauges and go gauges included.

All a firearm is, is a metal tube with some clockwork at the end. It contains an explosion to propel a projectile. All the parts have to work together. When one doesn't, that is where the adventure begins.

Whats the part doing, that it's purpose is lost? Wear? Bent? broke? bad design?

Learn wood. What finish. From french polish to linseed oil. Grain to type.

 

[JA_Texas_Pride]

I learned how to do some work on my ak's watching YouTube and if other was a school in Houston TX I would take it in a heartbeat

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk 2

 

[matefrio]

Don't aspire to be a gunsmith, aspire to own a gunsmith shop.

A good gunsmith can make $60k or more a year. Most don't as they stop learning, never develop better skills, don't know how to run a business, don't know when to turn away work they can't do or isn't profitable, or scare away customers.

Take some courses in how to run small businesses. Also machining with a mill and lathe and some welding.

Most important learn what good customer service is and how to practice it..

 

[wakal]

Excellent, Matefrio...and very true, in my opinion.

Personally, I'm a second generation gunsmith. I really didn't intend to get into the commercial gunsmithing (or manufacturing) business until I got sick of "established" shops refusing my projects. All right then, if you won't do it...

My friend Benny (of Triangle Shooting Sports) says that unless you have a pickle barrel full of ruined slides under your mill, you are not a real gunsmith. By that measure, I'm not there yet

As already said, just doing good work isn't enough. There is a reason I'm wrapping up an MBA right now



Alex