licenced gunsmith

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

tkthorn

Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2012
Messages
54
Location
west central Ohio
Hi all, I am new to the community and am not sure if I am in the right forum for my question but here goes. I want to become a licenced gunsmith and don't quite know were to start. Going to Colorado to school is not an option with a family and full time job in Ohio. From what I've gathered about online coarses, you are throwing your money away ? I need no training on machining, I have been a toolmaker for 32 years and have set up and ran about every machine tool known to man. I have been doing gunsmithing for myself for years including building from scratch without blue prints a half scale firing .22cal. (1919A4 Browning air cooled SEMI AUTO clone). My main interests are to get into custom-made stocks, muzzle breaks, and the re finishing of gun metals. I would like to be able to do this on the side for others and be legal. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Tkthorn
 
Anybody can apply for a Federal Firearms License as a gunsmith, there is no test of your knowhow or check on whether you had formal training; just do the paperwork and wait until the license comes in. That takes care of the legal side.

I can't help on the training side if you can't attend the schools.

If you want to go self taught, you might could mung up some of your own guns and display them at the local gun show.
 
If you have been a Toolmaker for 32 years you are easily a better machinist than most Gunsmiths. A solid Machinist background is what separates good Gunsmiths from bad ones. The other things you mentioned are pretty easy for someone of your background.

IME the AGI Gunsmithing courses/videos are pretty good, but no substitute for hands on training.

Get your FFL and go to work...GOOD Gunsmiths are few and far between.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr
 
+1

I have had some training on lathes and mills, and have made some things as a hobbyist. I would feel comfortable doing many gunsmithing operations (on my own rifles, of course) at my current level of experience.

If you've got 32 years as a machinist, I'd give you my rifle for work!
Go for it!
 
The FFL is the easy part. You don't say if you have your own machine shop or if you have always worked for someone else. If the latter, you really need some courses in how to run a small business.

Jim Watson says the FFL "takes care of the legal side" but he knows better. You also have to deal with other government agencies, federal, state and local, everything from OSHA to the local zoning board. Those who complain that bureaucracy has crushed small business have a point!

Then there is the bookkeeping, tax records, tax collection, and so on.

Now a bit on the technical. I would not start with stock work. Stock and wood work is an area of its own, enough different in many ways from general gunsmithing that most gunsmith shops will either have a specialist stock maker or farm out that work. For at least at the beginning, I would stick to what you know, machine shop work. If you are good, that will keep you busy.

P.S. One area you should learn if you don't know it, is welding - TIG, MIG, OA and arc.

Jim
 
True, I should have said the FFL takes care of the legal side AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL.
My FLGs have state tax numbers, city business licenses, and do the business taxes. Nobody got nasty about them having small shops in or adjacent to their homes, zoning wise, but they might be harder to get along with in tkhornland.
 
First, I never had a shop in my home, or an FFL for gunsmithing for that matter, as I always worked for someone else. But my caution about a home gun business is based on some things I have heard that I believe are true.

One thing is that once the shingle goes up or the new gunsmith advertises or word spreads, some not-nice folks will figure out that a gun shop might have guns in it, and that they might like to get some. It is one thing to have nasties break into a shop in the business district - it is another to have them break into your home and threaten your family.

The less serious "problem" is the fellow who wants his gun fixed before opening day and chooses to wait until 2 AM on said opening day before hammering on your door. (The gun has been broken since last season, but he forgot about it until now.) Having a lout who has already imbibed a generous amount of warming liquid pounding on the doors in the early morning does not make other folks in the house happy.

(You might say that you will be up yourself to go hunting. Maybe, but if you want to make money, you don't go hunting - you sell and fix the guns so the other guy can go hunting.)

Jim
 
The gun has been broken since last season,
Click to expand...
All of that, plus you forgot to mention:

The guys cheap gun was last made in 1950 something, and parts haven't been commonly available for at least 30 years.

And the hand made parts you have to make will cost more then the gun is worth.

And the guy will cast the stank-eye on you, and bad-mouth your business to all of his friends from now on for over-charging him to fix his gun.

rc
 
Being close enough acquainted with two gunsmiths to look over their shoulders, all of the above applies. General gunsmithing is sometimes just plain aggravating and specialization requires you get noticed somehow in the first place.

Gunsmithing is one of those businesses in which the way to make a small fortune is to start with a large fortune.

But the OP was interested in the legalisms of licensing. Not the hard stuff.
 
There have been some very good points made. As far as running a small business, I have done that for a number of years with a small machine shop in my garage and have been down the zoning and tax road. The one point that's strikes home is the target I would be painting on the family home. Point well taken ! I have given thought to leasing a building or putting up my own away from the family home. I will now give that a lot more thought. When it comes to working on stocks I can make you a pretty nice stock from a block of walnut but what I was wanting to do with stock work is mostly customization of existing stocks like adding machined adjustable cheek rests, spring loaded recoil absorbing butt pads and so forth. I also have taken my ugly mosin nagant and machined an aluminum receiver and stock and gave it a major face lift. It now looks something like a Barrett. Not all stocks have to be wood. If I can figure out how to post pictures here I will post some of my work. P.S. I can weld, I have been MIG and TIG welding for years.
 
My Mosin after a face lift.
Custom_Mosin_2.jpg
 
When you post a picture, you have to delete the "http://" that's already in the box before you paste the URL of your picture in the box. Your URL for the picture was:

Code: 
http://www.myhostedpics.com/images/tkthorn/Custom_Mosin_2.jpg

but when you pasted it into the Insert Image box, it looked like this:

Code: 
http:// http://www.myhostedpics.com/images/tkthorn/Custom_Mosin_2.jpg

which won't work.
 
If that thing in post #14 is built around a MN, you will make friends for life around here and in the Mil Surp is Best community.

The .22 Gatling gun will get oohs and aahs everywhere you show it. I do not know if that means it would be a profitable product. The few Furrs are up to astronomical prices.

An adjustable cheekpiece and spring loaded butt for a MN look sensible.

Everybody should note, muzzleloading cannons are not registered. The naval carriage is somewhat limited versus a field carriage, though. I knew a guy who had a little two pounder "grasshopper gun" as meant to be shifted from a longboat swivel mount to a field carriage for use by a Marine landing party, ca 1812.

I think you have shown that you have the skills to work on guns. Good luck making a business out of it.
 
You can always take a few NRA Summer Gunsmithing classes. If you want to learn fitting wood to metal, you can take a gunbuilding class at Conner Prairie (Fishers, Indiana). They offer them in Oct.
 
I would like to point out that if you are smart enough to make a living doing gunsmithing, you could make a lot more money doing something else.

For amateur gunsmithing I have a lathe, mill, TIG welder, and that kind of stuff. I made some test fixtures for jet engine starters for the new Lear Jet, and in a couple weeks I paid for all my gunsmithing gear and the building.

Sure there are one or two high roller gunsmiths in the world. Like rock stars. But I am an ordinary guy, not some super man.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top