Newbie getting into firearm industry

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PaleRider27

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Hello, brand new member here. I'm a long time firearm lover in my early 20's from Utah. I've had a lifelong interest in firearms, everything ranging from collecting and hunting to competitive shooting. Unfortunately, I was raised in a fairly anti-gun environment so I never had the opportunity for those things leaving me inexperienced for the field i want to build a career in. So, I'm making this thread in hopes that I can get solid advice in how to get a job in the firearm industry, direction towards ideal training, and perhaps some resources for information that make understanding things like the varieties of ammunition, terminology, and more intermediate details of firearms anatomy. I am not entirely new, I've used several firearms rented at ranges and am not stupid when it comes to safety, muzzle and finger discipline, and state laws. Feel free to throw in tips in tricks you were taught when learning firearms, I think I'll enjoy being apart of this online community. Thanks!
 
PaleRider27 said:
resources for information that make understanding things like the varieties of ammunition, terminology,
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I like your post very much. Unfortunately, I don't feel I can give you much advice about a career in the firearms industry.
However, for resources for information about the varieties of ammunition and ammunition terminology, I can suggest a couple of books: first, a good handloading manual (available at most any store that sells firearms and ammunition). A Speer manual comes to mind - there's a glossary in the back that includes a lot of firearms and ammunition terminology. Second, there's a book by Frank C. Barnes called "Cartridges of the World." It tells about more types of ammunition than I ever dreamed existed, and I've been around firearms, ammunition and shooting my whole 72 year-old life. I refer to my copy often, and sometimes I just read it for entertainment.
You can probably find a copy of "Cartridges of the World" at one of the larger guns and ammunition stores, or I'd almost bet you could find it on Amazon.:)
 
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.308 Norma said:
I like your post very much. Unfortunately, I don't feel I can give you much advice about making a career in the firearms industry.
However, for resources for information about the varieties of ammunition and ammunition terminology, I can suggest a couple of books: first, a good handloading manual (available at most any store that sells firearms and ammunition). A Speer manual comes to mind - there's a glossary in the back that includes a lot of firearms and ammunition terminology. Second, there's a book by Frank C. Barnes called "Cartridges of the World." It tells about more types of ammunition than I ever dreamed existed, and I've been around firearms, ammunition and shooting my whole 72 year-old life. I refer to my copy of it often, and sometimes I just read it for entertainment.
You can probably find a copy of "Cartridges of the World" at one of the larger guns and ammunition stores, or I'd almost bet you could find it on Amazon.:)
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for your very informative reply! I thoroughly enjoy reading, so I'll definitely order a copy of Cartridges around the world, I imagine I can pick one up from an online bookseller I frequent for survival and Bush craft books. Thanks for taking the time to help me out!
 
748 said:
My advice is silencers.
The industry has seen triple digit growth over the last several years.
Click to expand...
Haha, I've always thought suppressors were neat and it seems ideal for hearing safety and general courtesy for people around you while shooting. What is the process I should expect for acquiring one? I understand there is a $200 tax stamp, correct?
 
The “firearms industry” is a pretty generic term. What do you actually want to do? Are you interested in working in a gun shop? Building guns? Designing guns? Training people for competition? Training people for fighting? Do you want to own a business doing any of the above?

Each is going to require different skills so it’s helpful to have a bit more of an idea of the direction you want to go. The knowledge isn’t necessarily mutually exclusive, but if you’re looking at working in a gun shop, you’ll want to know sales/business, building guns (depending on the type) you’ll probably want a background in machining. Designing guns, you’d want to have a background in mechanical engineering. If you’re training people for competition you’ll need to be an accomplished competitor in the discipline you’re training for. Likewise if you’re training people for defense, a background in police or military is helpful (though not completely required). To be a high level trainer, you’ll also want to be taking a LOT of classes from other well known trainers. And honesty if you want to own a business in any of the above, a degree in business would be very helpful. The success or failure of the business will be less about your individual firearms knowledge and more about your ability to run a business and make a profit.

As far as general knowledge, my best recommendation is to read as much as you possibly can about a variety of different topics. THR is great and we generally have a wide knowledge base, but don’t discount more specialty forums, especially for more niche topics. Find what type of guns you like and learn about them, and then start slowly expanding to different weapons or types of shooting (if you don’t have anything specific, glocks and/or ARs are a nice place to start).

if you’re interested in gun design, a book called The Machine Gun by George Chinn is great. Volume 4 goes over an “analysis of systems” and has diagrams and explanations over a lot of different operating systems, as well as the mathematics and physics behind how they operate.

NFA stuff would be a great area to get into, but you’ll need a strong background in machining (ever work with a lathe or mill?) and if you’re running your own business, be prepared for some not so fun regulatory stuff. You’ll need an 07/02, and because you’ll have the SOT means you are still responsible for ITAR registration (expensive if you’re planning on a small shop).

Anyway, if you’re just looking to get into NFA from a personal perspective, it’s not really hard but the wait times are killer. Suppressors are a lot of fun, but a transfer is taking somewhere between 9-12 months right now. If you want a quick entry into NFA weapons and have an AR, you can do a Form 1 (application to make a new NFA weapon) which should come back in a matter of weeks. And an AR is fairy easy to change into a SBR by swapping the upper.

Final recommendation is to get out and shoot as much as you can. Go take some classes from good trainers, start shooting in competitions, or just start going to the range more often. I know that’s easier said than done with the cost of guns and ammo right now, but there are some things that just come with experience.
 
Pretty vague. There's a lot of different jobs to be had in the firearm industry. For instance, my neighbor worked at Federal. His job? Inspecting ammo tolerances. He also told me of a position at Federal where you shoot batches of ammo all day long. That guy could buy up ammo for super cheap at the end of the week.
mcb said:
Working in the firearms industry is a perfectly good way to ruin an excellent hobby.
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I imagine this is true. My Mom is still a mail carrier, nearing retirement. She can't even open the mail box at her home without feeling like she's at work.
 
Telekinesis said:
The “firearms industry” is a pretty generic term. What do you actually want to do? Are you interested in working in a gun shop? Building guns? Designing guns? Training people for competition? Training people for fighting? Do you want to own a business doing any of the above?

Each is going to require different skills so it’s helpful to have a bit more of an idea of the direction you want to go. The knowledge isn’t necessarily mutually exclusive, but if you’re looking at working in a gun shop, you’ll want to know sales/business, building guns (depending on the type) you’ll probably want a background in machining. Designing guns, you’d want to have a background in mechanical engineering. If you’re training people for competition you’ll need to be an accomplished competitor in the discipline you’re training for. Likewise if you’re training people for defense, a background in police or military is helpful (though not completely required). To be a high level trainer, you’ll also want to be taking a LOT of classes from other well known trainers. And honesty if you want to own a business in any of the above, a degree in business would be very helpful. The success or failure of the business will be less about your individual firearms knowledge and more about your ability to run a business and make a profit.

As far as general knowledge, my best recommendation is to read as much as you possibly can about a variety of different topics. THR is great and we generally have a wide knowledge base, but don’t discount more specialty forums, especially for more niche topics. Find what type of guns you like and learn about them, and then start slowly expanding to different weapons or types of shooting (if you don’t have anything specific, glocks and/or ARs are a nice place to start).

if you’re interested in gun design, a book called The Machine Gun by George Chinn is great. Volume 4 goes over an “analysis of systems” and has diagrams and explanations over a lot of different operating systems, as well as the mathematics and physics behind how they operate.

NFA stuff would be a great area to get into, but you’ll need a strong background in machining (ever work with a lathe or mill?) and if you’re running your own business, be prepared for some not so fun regulatory stuff. You’ll need an 07/02, and because you’ll have the SOT means you are still responsible for ITAR registration (expensive if you’re planning on a small shop).

Anyway, if you’re just looking to get into NFA from a personal perspective, it’s not really hard but the wait times are killer. Suppressors are a lot of fun, but a transfer is taking somewhere between 9-12 months right now. If you want a quick entry into NFA weapons and have an AR, you can do a Form 1 (application to make a new NFA weapon) which should come back in a matter of weeks. And an AR is fairy easy to change into a SBR by swapping the upper.

Final recommendation is to get out and shoot as much as you can. Go take some classes from good trainers, start shooting in competitions, or just start going to the range more often. I know that’s easier said than done with the cost of guns and ammo right now, but there are some things that just come with experience.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for this post, as it's just what I'm looking for. In terms of career, seeing as that I'd be considered "Entry level" I would have liked to work at a local gun shop till I could afford to get degrees in mechanical and precision engineering to develop and design firearms, although I would also like to expand to things like body armor, optics, and maybe even more experimental things (have you seen those precision gauss rifles?). As far as competitive shooting goes I'd much rather participate as a competitor rather than teach, as I'm horrible at explaining things in person. I'll definitely have to look into a business degree as I very much would like to be a business owner rather than working under someone else. As far as training goes, I want to ensure I'm not blowing my money on a gimmick training session which seems common among most defense training, I dont suppose you have an idea of reputable trainers in the Utah area? I absolutely love the AR platform and I'm very interested in NFA stuff but it seems intentionally tricky to navigate and I want to avoid screwing it up and getting myself into trouble because of ignorance or misunderstanding.
 
Mn Fats said:
Pretty vague. There's a lot of different jobs to be had in the firearm industry. For instance, my neighbor worked at Federal. His job? Inspecting ammo tolerances. He also told me of a position at Federal where you shoot batches of ammo all day long. That guy could buy up ammo for super cheap at the end of the week.

I imagine this is true. My Mom is still a mail carrier, nearing retirement. She can't even open the mail box at her home without feeling like she's at work.
Click to expand...
Shooting ammo all day? You could get paid for that? Sounds like a dream. Any way you could get me details on that?
 
PaleRider27 said:
Shooting ammo all day? You could get paid for that? Sounds like a dream. Any way you could get me details on that?
Click to expand...
Well, the military is one way to get paid to shoot. Lol. I never served but my buddy in the Army said his CO encouraged range time. He didn't drink so while everyone was out partying, he was at the range honing his skills. Anytime they would let him, he was on the range.

As far as details on the Federal ammo job, I really don't know too much. I imagine there isn't too many openings for ammo testing. Seems like you'd almost need an "in" for that type of position. It only takes a guy or two to test batches of ammo. Plus Federal is in Blaine, Mn I believe so you'd have to relocate to your nearest ammo manufacturer.

Edit: Anoka, Mn
 
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PaleRider27 said:
I'm a long time firearm lover in my early 20's from Utah. I've had a...
...build a career in. So, I'm making this thread in hopes that I can get solid advice in how to get a job in the firearm industry, direction towards
Click to expand...

PaleRider27 said:
as that I'd be considered "Entry level" I would have liked to work at a local gun shop till I could afford to get degrees in mechanical and precision engineering to develop and design firearms, although I would also like to expand to things like body armor, optics, and maybe even...
Click to expand...

Echoing what another poster said (post #13). Join the Military. You can specialize in (??), and, get a degree, all while NOT worrying about food etc.
Mil=weapons development=shooting. When you do get out, adds credentials to your resume. And a lifetime of benefits.

Future (firearms related) employer:What did you study in the Army?
Applicant: I studied applied ballistics. Weapons development. Gunsmithing/ armorer. I earned a BA degree in (Xfirearms fieldX). And was on the marksmanship unit. Other etc.
 
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Mn Fats said:
Well, the military is one way to get paid to shoot. Lol. I never served but my buddy in the Army said his CO encouraged range time. He didn't drink so while everyone was out partying, he was at the range honing his skills. Anytime they would let him, he was on the range.

As far as details on the Federal ammo job, I really don't know too much. I imagine there isn't too many openings for ammo testing. Seems like you'd almost need an "in" for that type of position. It only takes a guy or two to test batches of ammo. Plus Federal is in Blaine, Mn I believe so you'd have to relocate to your nearest ammo manufacturer.

Edit: Anoka, Mn
Click to expand...

95% of the people in the military get to shoot live rounds maybe 1-2 times per year. During peacetime anyways.
 
I can’t say I grew up in an anti gun environment but none were enthusiastic about them, they were just tools. I can only remember my Grandfather buying one firearm and that was to replace one that was stolen. My Father only bought two that I remember for himself all the others were for me before I could purchase them on my own.

Just like anything else the best way to get in, is to get in. Personally, I’d start saving for the trip to the SHOT show yesterday. If there is no place for you after talking with everyone there, you are going to have your work cut out for you.
 
Pursue firearms as an avocation, and in the meantime find something else to put food on the table. It's hard to make money in guns, but easy to spend money on guns.

Learn all you can about guns, try working on guns part time, and if it works out you can ease into it full time.
 
Mn Fats said:
Well, the military is one way to get paid to shoot. Lol.
Click to expand...

DoubleMag said:
Echoing what another poster said (post #13). Join the Military. You can specialize in (??), and, get a degree, all while NOT worrying about food etc.
Mil=weapons development=shooting. When you do get out, adds credentials to your resume. And a lifetime of benefits.

Future (firearms related) employer:What did you study in the Army?
Applicant: I studied applied ballistics. Weapons development. Gunsmithing/ armorer. I earned a BA degree in (Xfirearms fieldX). And was on the marksmanship unit. Other etc.
Click to expand...

Duh...Not sure why I didn’t recommend this. I was a Gunner’s Mate Missile (GMM) in the Navy I worked on missile launching systems but I also helped in the Ship’s Armory. Normally that task fell to the GMG’s ( Gunner’s Mate Guns) but I was eager to help and the Gunnery Chief let me help out.

Anyway, there are Armorer positions in all branches of the military but the key to getting those jobs is passing what used to be called the ASVAB test at the AFEES Station. The ASVAB is an assessment test to show areas where you have good aptitude so the military knows where you might be a good fit (what job they think you might do well). AFEES was the enlistment testing and processing center.

Now, if you wish to have a career as an “Armorer“ or Gunsmith you have to know that these aren’t the jobs that will earn you 6 figure incomes. An Armorer is a very important job but not important enough to rain gold and jewels upon the caretaker of the king’s armory.
Here is an example of what I mean:
https://www.simplyhired.com/search?q=weapons+armorer

If you would go the military route it would be good to study up on Gunsmithing so that you can do well on the military assessment test. If you look up “ASVAB Test” you will find info on the tests and practice test sites, like this one:
https://www.asvabpracticetests.com/

The kicker is that it’s a test that measures “aptitude” not “knowledge”, so knowing guns doesn’t necessarily mean that you have an aptitude for working on them in regards to the military testing.
Example: When I took my ASVAB I scored very high regarding electrical and electronics aptitude. I knew nothing about that. I also scored very high in Fluid Power (Hydraulics) and Complex Mechanics. I had no knowledge of that stuff. They wanted me to be a GMM, as I mentioned above. That job entails electronics, hydraulics, mechanics and some pneumatics. I had no knowledge of those things. The Navy trained me.
But, there is always a “but”, they needed GMM’s badly. I fit the bill. If they had badly needed some other positions filled that I had aptitude for they may have pushed me there.
The key is letting the military recruiters know exactly what you wish to do and to make sure the Classifiers knows this after you do the ASVAB test. IF the classifier agrees that you test high enough for your chosen job and the branch of the military that you are interested in needs that position filled them they can set you up for that school or job. BUT make sure you get a guaranteed school for that position, rating, MOS, whatever they call it and make sure that they put that into your enlistment contract! Very Important! No one’s word means squat when enlisting, NO ONES! Recruiters lie like rugs to make quotas. If it’s not in writing it doesn’t matter to the military. You will go where they want you unless you have a guaranteed school in writing.

Think about it, the military. I have made a great living from what I learned in the Navy. I know many many others that have as well.

Happy Independence Day.
 
748 said:
My advice is silencers.
The industry has seen triple digit growth over the last several years.
Click to expand...
Google ECCO Machine; he is a member here, (Mach IV Shooter) and builds top quality equipment.
Just about any other job in the field, like others have said, don't plan on getting rich. Ten years ago, I should have started building AR's (the Army taught me how), I'd be well off, but the market is glutted now. Working in a gun shop will make you what they call in Texas 'gun poor', meaning you'll spend most of your paycheck at work, particularly if they have a house account for you. Ask me how I know. ;) I have worked as a counter guy, and as a gunsmith at shops, and I will add that it is very seasonal. If you like to hunt, stay out of the biz; Aug. thru Jan. are the biggest months, and the new guy always gets stuck working opener. (Again, ask me how I know) :(

Pat Riot, sounds like my military time. I was a Unit Supply/Armorer, and volunteered to be the Armorer when I got to my new post. The S-4 was glad to make it so. The gal who was assigned Armorer hugged me; she had been assigned it as a punishment.
 
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