Firearms development

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Or materials engineering. Sadly, I think there have been few examples of great American firearms R&D done in the last few decades (e.g. Barrett), a fact I suspect has something to do with the legal environment created by the 1968 GCA. You may be better off learning German and buying a plane and train ticket to Obendorf. :eek:
 
Ask Owen or 500swmag, as they are both real-life engineers at real-life gun companies. They may have some tips. :)
 
Get a degree, preferably a BSME, or electromechanical. If you want to work on high end military stuff (mini-guns, automatic cannon, HUD directed guns) get at least a masters in an electromechanical field. The traditional gun companies don't really do that stuff. Learn how to work a bridgeport and a lathe. It won't necessarily be a part of your job, but it will make you a better designer. Don't expect a pile of money for your work, because you won't get it as a salary employee. Get lucky.

There is very little real R&D in the gun world. R&D is too expensive for most gun companies to do. An example is the HK G11, which basically bankrupted HK. Most of the engineering is on the manufacturing side, and in Product Development.

The field is very small. I would guess that there are less than 1000 degreed, salaried gun designers in the United States.

Send me a pile of money, and I will put in a good word. 500swmag will offer the same deal, but he was raised by wolves, and can't be trusted. :D

owen
 
I will put a good word to the same people Owen would, but I might do it for a slightly smaller pile of money. :neener:

Exprience designing small mechanisms and a basic knowledge of linkages along with the degree would go a long way in getting into the field, if you don't have an inside track.


rick
 
Hey what about me?

Machine guns? Bah! Owen doesn't know what he's talking about, he's a pistol geek!

I'm just kidding. He is working his way towards being a walking encyclopedia of firearms trivia among other things. Good person to have around.

You guys forgot to mention polymers. Not plastic, that's cheap and breaks. Polymer is high tech and better than metal.

My degree is in Polymer Engineering. Its sort of like a bachelor's in mechanical but with much more of a focus on polymers. I figured with most everything having plastic in it nowadays it would be the best bet for a good design job. And after a couple of not so great ones I ended up where I am.

The electromech idea sounds promising too but I haven't met any of those guys since leaving school. We do have a pair of sparky types in the office but I'm not sure exactly what they do.

Learning some hands on stuff like how to use a milling machine and a lathe or even and injection molding machine will definitely help.

Learn a common solid modelling software. We use Pro/E for everything but there are a couple of other good common packages.

And you have to enjoy breaking stuff and shooting other people's ammo.

:evil:
 
One YEAR???

When I lived in Germany I just went to the Rod and Gun Club. No NICS, no wait, nothing.
Click to expand...

Just HOW did you do that? Standard procedure is that you have to be a member of a recognized shooting club for at least one year and train regularly before you can apply for a firearms permit.

If you want to buy a semi-automatic handgun you have to prove a need for it (e.g. documented training and competition in a discipline for which you need that particular gun).

Would it be correct to assume that this law doesn't apply to American personnel on American bases?


Regards,

Trooper
 
Mechanical engineer. Knowledge of metallurgy and polymers. Know the field and then try to get into the industry.
 
Firearms engineering sounds like a fun field to work in, but I'm afraid that there would be limited work out there, unless you pull a Ronnie Barrett and start your own company, which is a metric (censored)load of money. You really would need to be a truly innovative person to do actual development, and if you are, great, otherwise, you'll just be finding new ways of rifling barrels, prolly.
 
Or you could become a civil servant and work in R&D for/with the military. A technical degree or two is still recommended however (mine are both in mechanical engineering with an emphasis on composites). You'll make an ok living working for the government, but you'll never be stinking rich. Working for private or academic research will make you a little more but still...
 
If you want to have fun and make guns, I think you'd be better off starting up your own gun company--maybe gradually, doing customizations first. I know a couple people who left (other industries) after landing what they thought would be really cool tech/engineering jobs at large area companies, to find out that most of the time they attended meetings and pushed paper around on their desks.
......
I asked about starting a gun company on a couple boards, and the general agreement was the high cost of automated production machinery that can hold high tolerances. You simply cannot make everything by hand anymore and hold your prices down to decent levels.
-->I did find this (somewhat outdated) anti-gun page however:
http://www.vpc.org/studies/smalintr.htm
what I found interesting is how small some of these well-known companies actually were. A couple had less than 5 employees. I don't know anything about manufacturing, but I would have assumed there was a lot more people than that involved in making even the cheapest derringers.....
~
 
Labbinac was raised by wolves too

owen

Actually I was raised by squirrels. They were very fanatical though which gave them a wolf-like demeanor...
 
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