Any current Murray State or Lassen College gunsmith students here?
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BigBlue 94
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Not me, but i did briefly consider Murray State and the Colorado School of Trades. I ended up just doing the local Washburn University of Tech Machine Tool program.
I would be happy to answer any questions if i can
I would be happy to answer any questions if i can
Riomouse911
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I have taken several LE Armorer classes from Bob Chavez, the lead instructor at Lassen CC. He is one sharp gunsmith! 
If I could escape from the wife and kids for a summer, I would take a bunch of the week-long classes offered at Lassen between semesters.
Stay safe.
If I could escape from the wife and kids for a summer, I would take a bunch of the week-long classes offered at Lassen between semesters.
Stay safe.
entropy
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I considered going to both schools, but ended up doing it the hard way, Supply and Armorer school, Ft. Jackson, SC. Pine City MN, is pretty close, I know a few graduates from the gunsmithing school there.
Mauser fan
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What are the questions?
I'm not a student of either school nor part of the alumni so I cant really speak to anything related to that. I too once considered The Colorado School of Trades and got to tour the facility. Don't get me wrong the facility is nice but the cost of tuition isn't and they wanted me to relocate to Denver which wasn't in the cards for me. Besides there was a year long wait list. That was 8 years ago. I also looked into Trinidad State College and the results were the same at least that is what my experience was.
These schools aren't geared to the family man or woman. I'm not saying that it can't be or hasn't been done. I think that a single man or woman just starting out are who these schools are best suited for.
I had to do it the hard way also with the week long crash course of The Unit Armors Course while I was in the Army and had to on several occasions supervise unit armors and small arms repairers. I also took the distance learning route of correspondence courses while in the Army and the school of hard knocks meaning trial and error. I'm part of the Penn Foster alumni as a graduate from that Gunsmith course.
The one thing that made it easy for me was that I already had most of the tools short of big expensive machines and a lot of real world experience.
The caveat to taking correspondence courses or online courses is that you only get out of it what you put into it. I hope this helps.
OP
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I had questions about the # of students admitted each semester and the attrition rate. Why did I ask? I was doing research for a class I was compelled to take to maintain certification to teach at the college. Everyone who teaches here has to do it every three years (just learned the three year part from a secretary there). 
That class sucked up a lot of time with on line discussions, some short essays among other things. So much bountiful joy. Tis the price to pay to keep credentials.
BTW, I think technical training is where it will be. We need people who can work with both their minds and hands and operate the machines to rebuild our nation. We need to re-industrialize and begin exporting again to build wealth (way off topic).
That class sucked up a lot of time with on line discussions, some short essays among other things. So much bountiful joy. Tis the price to pay to keep credentials.
BTW, I think technical training is where it will be. We need people who can work with both their minds and hands and operate the machines to rebuild our nation. We need to re-industrialize and begin exporting again to build wealth (way off topic).
OP
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@AeroDillo - Size of each class? Are there two admitted each year (fall/semsester). Attrition rate. Student-teacher ratio?
Mauser fan
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I really can't say with 100% certainty what the class size is now or was when I took the tour of the Co. School of trades. But if I had to take a SWAG at it. I would have to say it is approximately 60 students a day for 8 hours. But that is a scientific wild ass guess. The ratio of student to teacher ratio I have to guess is about 8 to 1. Like I said in my previous post the wait time is long just to get into the front door.
I cant even begin to guess what the attrition rate is. But again if I had to guess I would say about 40%. It has a lot to do with using your brains and manual labor at the same time. Most young people simply choose not to do so.
Thank you for taking the time to renew you teaching credentials.
For the ones who do make it through the program are the ones who want to be there. That is the simple truth of it all.
I hope this helps.
I cant even begin to guess what the attrition rate is. But again if I had to guess I would say about 40%. It has a lot to do with using your brains and manual labor at the same time. Most young people simply choose not to do so.
Thank you for taking the time to renew you teaching credentials.
For the ones who do make it through the program are the ones who want to be there. That is the simple truth of it all.
I hope this helps.
BigBlue 94
Member
My tech school had 15-20 students in the class. But being a tech school, we had high school kids for half days too. I was full time on a 9 month course. The half timers did two 9 month sessions.
Of the full timers i recall, all but one of us took jobs in the industry. I was in a production shop and my first job was machining axles for power line trolleys. I hated it. Was not what i wanted to do. I enjoyed making things, not pumping out 40 of the same parts.
I was 24 or so back then, and i could certainly see the difference between those of us there to learn a trade and those who were there just to get out of high school. I would speculate that those who go to the gunsmithing schools actually want to be there due to an actual interest in the subject.
I left the trade to go back to selling paint in the family business, but i still put my skills to use and i intend to have a gun related business up and running in 5 years or so.
Of the full timers i recall, all but one of us took jobs in the industry. I was in a production shop and my first job was machining axles for power line trolleys. I hated it. Was not what i wanted to do. I enjoyed making things, not pumping out 40 of the same parts.
I was 24 or so back then, and i could certainly see the difference between those of us there to learn a trade and those who were there just to get out of high school. I would speculate that those who go to the gunsmithing schools actually want to be there due to an actual interest in the subject.
I left the trade to go back to selling paint in the family business, but i still put my skills to use and i intend to have a gun related business up and running in 5 years or so.
Class size at the time was 20-25, depending. My class started with twenty, seventeen of whom finished the degree. The class following was increased to thirty, with somewhat higher attrition. I believe it’s twenty now, give or take, with new classes coming in once per year.
Staff were two senior instructors with two junior, one student assistant (former grad) and a machine shop supervisor. I know at least three of them are still there since the program chief retired.
Student/teacher ratio varied by class. We took our primary instruction via lecture as complete classes. Later, depending on your skill, preference, and class selection, students tended to get informal instruction in the shop environment. There was a fair amount of leeway in your shop time allotment once you knocked out your required projects.
They shifted to block scheduling after I graduated. I don’t have any firsthand experience with it, but my buddy (new shop boss/instructor) says it’s a better system.
If you’re interested, it may be worth taking one of the NRA summer courses offered there. You’ll have a chance to look around, meet the staff, and get a feel for the greater Tishomingo metropolitan area.
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