[mattd]

Where do gunsmiths learn to be gunsmiths?

[Sunray]

There's one school in Colorado and one in Pennsylvainia, I think. There area couple correspondence school as well. Most smithy's learn it by being machinists that expand a hobby into a business or get lucky and apprentice with an older smithy. Military weapons techs are not gunsmiths in any way, shape or form, but some of them go on to become smithy's.

[Standing Wolf]

Some don't.

[Clark]

I look at it like photographers, rock stars, actors, and professional race car drivers.
There is lots of amateur pressure on the market.

I have paid of $10k in gunsmithing tools and spent thousands of hours doing it, and I don't take money for gunsmithing unless they push the bucks in my face.

[bountyhunter]

I wish you lived next door.

Gunsmiths in **** think they are rock stars. They strut like celebrities and charge like brain surgeons. And it's six months to get anything... even directions to the men's room.

[Kruzr]

I recently had to buy a 1911 recoil spring plug. The only place that had them in stock was a local gunsmith. He charged me $16 for the $8.00 part. I said.....thats a bit steep. His reply was......go ask a plumber what he charges for his services. He then said he had to spend a lot more time than a plumber to learn his trade. I said....a plumber fixes things the same day you call him. :)

[C.R.Sam]

He charged me $16 for the $8.00 part. I said.....thats a bit steep. His reply was......go ask a plumber what he charges for his services. He charge $16 for the part ?
Or $16 for the part, installed ?

First option, he overcharged you and his schooling had nothing to do with the retail sale of a part.

Second option, you got a bargain. He did work and sold a part.

Sam

[Kruzr]

He charge $16 for the part ?

Yes, that was just the plug, the part. I don't need anyone to install a spring plug :). He looked it up in Brownells and said $16. I said...thats for both a guide rod AND plug. He said, nope just the plug. I needed it that day so I paid it. If I ordered it, it would have been 8 bucks plus 3.85 shipping.

I work at a range and, when anyone asks where they can take their gun for some work........guess where I don't recommend.

[mnrivrat]

Kruzer

That wasn't a gunsmith - that was an opertunist !


There are a number of gunsmithing schools including one here in Minn. Many of the practicing smiths however are apprentice or self taught. Like any other profession there are good ones and not so good ones.
The ones I find giving the best service are those who take the most interest personaly in firearms . In all professions we witness those who are good at what they do and it shows in their attitude toward the work and in their interests in life. Gunsmithing is no different - in that some got it and some don't , but those that don't still want to make a living at it so will likely cost you more in the long run. Schooling is a great start for a good smith and a waste of time for a poor one.

:D

[johnnie]

I attended Colorado School of Trades in Lakewood CO.. It was a good school at the time I went, folks tell me it used to be excellent, now I don't know.
What I do know is that a little school in Oklahoma, Murray State College, Tishamingo OK has an excellent program, Dean Arnold is the man in charge. I wish I had checked this place out before.
I go there almost every year (summer) for the NRA courses, most are 1 to 2 weeks in length - a lot of information covered in a short time by very knowledgble folks.

http://www.mscok.edu/acad/aas/NRA/page2.html

I hope I can post this like to them. Again EXCELLENT place to go

[Big_R]

I think sunray hit it on the head. Learn machining first. Good pay, lots of opportunities, great practical skill. As for me, I'm no professional, but I'm proficient. I learned mechanics from doing industrial maintenance for a long time. I learned machining from hanging around machinists and toolmakers. I learned statics and dynamics from a technical college. Put those together, and I make a decent living doing something other than working on guns, but have plenty of time and money to work on guns.

Bottom line: When is the last time you say a gunsmith (or a mechanic for that fact) driving a new car? It's not a high paying profession. You can be a good smith and still hold down another profession.

Ryan

[Sam]

Kruzr,
I think you need to re evaluate your line of thought.
What do you think he paid for the plug? and the shelf he had it on, the lights to see it, and the roof over it. The cost of accounting and pens and ink. Don't forget the interest on it because it was probably bought on account. I doubt if he drives a Jag.

You paid twice the mail order price because you wanted it now!
Not because he is unscrupulous.

Big problem many small business men have, you may see it like "I can get it for $8.99 myself", true but you wait a week and pay postage and handling from Brownells too at $6 a pop. He went to some trouble to get it and keep it on the shelf so you could buy it.
You don't have a lot of room for complaint.

Sam

[Jim K]

NOTE: Unless you are like Clark and willing to invest time and money and then work for nothing, LEARN TO RUN A BUSINESS.

The major problem I have seen with gunsmiths is that they start as hobbyists. They love to work on guns and don't know or don't care that the idea of a business is, after all, to make money. Unless someone else, like a wife, is willing to take over the business end, the gunsmith will not be in business long, and may even be in trouble.

You need to keep books, pay employees and do withholding, deal with all the licensing and zoning laws (the FFL is the easy part), pay taxes, know how to price your work, etc., etc.

Do NOT get into doing favors for friends. Even if they are grateful (few will be), gratitude makes a damn thin soup.

Since you have to have an FFL anyway, combine gunsmith work with a retail gun shop to help pay the bills. Do NOT try to operate out of your basement, even if the law allows it. Do you want to be waked up at 2AM on opening day to fix some idiot's gun?

Jim

[johnnie]

I agree with what Jim Keenan says:

As a relative new gunsmith, I like to work on guns and sometimes I know I do not charge enough for the job (my wife really gives me heck about it too). My thinking (has been) is as a new gunsmith, I needed to be a little easy at first on my customers, just to get the word out and slowly raise prices while doing so. I'm finding fault with this method. it's hard to eat long and slow.
The hardest part with a storefront just starting out is having all the equipment you need, I have just started buying the new equipment I need for the job at hand, sometimes this delays the completion but i get the new stuff (best I can afford).
I found too, that some of the tooling for mills and lathes that I don't have are availble at some Vo-tech's and I have been making gun tooling (barrel vise's and similiar stuff) parts cheaper than I can buy them in most cases.
I'm lucky because my wife does most of the book work and the stock refinishing and a lot of the metal work, and loves to do it.

The thing that has helped me a lot is my library (I believe you can't have enough gun books) and the internet and forums such as this one. There's a lot of information out there.

I have a website, some you veterans, take a look at it, if you like, and give me some feedback - keeping in mind my business is in rural SE Oklahoma.
Thanks

www.localgunsmith.com

[Racegun]

We are a small shop in Collin County, Texas complete with lathe, mills and too many tools to mention to do complete gun work.

My husband, the smith, is a master class machinist who just loves to fix guns. His has customers from coast to coast but still remains a home based business and gives every customer personal servce. He is the armorer for our local PD, does contract work for Target Masters in Garlend, Tx as well as Collin County Gun Range (www.ccgunrange.com) in Mckenny. We can supply references, pictures of completed guns, whatever you need.

[4v50 Gary]

Yep. Learn how to run a business.

Learn how to be a machinst.

Then learn how to be a gunsmith.

And when you run out of money, get a real job.

So I was told by some gun makers whose addage is, "I made guns until I ran out of money."

[Racegun]

The problem with most smiths who go to smith school is that the schools don't teach machining prefering to concentrate on parts swapping.