Is majoring in Mechanical Engineering in attempt to design firearms unrealistic?

[mikhail kalashnikov]

Mechanical engineering

Mechanical Engineering is one of the most employable degrees a person can get, I'm in the process of getting my ME masters. Almost every consumer product that's not grown has went through an engineers hands at some point, even 3rd world countries need engineers and do hire them. If I were you, I'd raise your sights a little higher and just start your own company. If I had to guess an engineering position at a firearm manufacturing company is very highly desired and therefore hard to get. Get a job for a couple years working for whoever ,save some cash ( which won't be hard on an engineers salary if you work near any large city.) and go for it. You will make a lot more money and you will be able to do what you want instead of running numbers and tedious calculations to create your bosses vision. You would be a lot happier, (if it were me) Personally I have my sights set on a new AMERICAN motorcycle company. I kinda feel the "big name company" that dominates the market is a sell out. I want to bring performance and utility to the market at an affordable price, not $40,000 for a shiny turd. imho

 

[decoy562]

Can't go wrong with mechanical or industrial engineering. I studied industrial engineering and have always had a job (knocks on wood).

 

[rfwobbly]

I'm a fourth generation ME, about 5 years from retirement. I'd encourage anyone with a general interest in anything mechanical to get the degree. The only thing I could add is this: remain a generalist. Know your machine tools and sheet metal fab, then you can work anywhere. The guys that analyze gear teeth, vibration, or do fluid flow make more money, but are so specialized it often takes them a year to find a job.

For the last 25 years, my biggest "ace in the hole" has been SolidWorks and Pro/E experience. So go get some 3D CAD experience by working your way through college at a design or manufacturing company.

Don't spend a lot of money going to a big name school for your BS either. The local state college is every bit as good, and probably has machine tool and welding courses the big schools don't.

If you want to work on armament, then there are a lot more careers in the general defense industry. That work tends to be a blend of mechanical and electrical, what's known as electro-mechanical. The next gen of that is called Mechatronics. This will include the next generation un-manned machines of war, all the way down to microscopic machines built into silicone chips.

I worked my way though college (at the height of the Cold War) with a company that took apart Russian armament systems, figured out how they worked, then came up with ways to defeat them. Now I work for a company that builds one-off equipment to test the seeker heads on cruise missiles, UAVs, and guided bombs. It's been a very exciting ride, and the work has saved the lives of American servicemen.

So keep in mind that there's a lot more things out there that go Bang !!

Also remember that Civil Engineers can only build targets!

 

[barnbwt]

An anechoic chamber; neat

"The local state college is every bit as good, and probably has machine tool and welding courses the big schools don't."
I always wondered why that is. "University" is supposed to be "universal," right? My grand-pappy designed, cast, and machined an anvil for one of his courses. My Ma designed, cast, and polished an Aluminum ice-cream scoop D), while I got to lay up a carbon fiber test-sample (once ), and spent the rest of my time designing a bunch of cool stuff in CAD. Heck, we never even took an Engineering Economics course (I guess they assumed all their Aerospace guys would go to work for contractors with unlimited budgets )

Even having worked in "the biz" for only a few short years, I've had to come to grips with my lack of practical, as opposed to technical knowledge, and am now educating myself outside of work to catch up when I can. You won't weld, but your design had better be weldable; you won't machine it, but you'd better not get on the machinists' bad side by forcing them to hold unnecessary tolerances; you (probably) won't do much testing yourself, but the test plans need to be clear and thorough enough for someone else to do a good job for you. And none of these issues have anything to do with the quality of the design itself . Most ME curricula are better about this and offer labs where you can get your hands dirty, but my school's Aero program was very heavy on the computational side of things (fluids and FEM), which was dumb in retrospect, because no one outside of academia bothers with the nitty gritty of CFD/FEM algorithms that have been proven for decades .

TCB

 

[cfullgraf]

Also remember that Civil Engineers can only build targets!

A friend of mine says there are only two kinds of engineers, civil engineers and barbaric engineers.

Remember, the only difference between a civil engineer, a mechanical engineer and an aeronautical engineer is the factor of safety.

 

[barnbwt]

"Remember, the only difference between a civil engineer, a mechanical engineer and an aeronautical engineer is the factor of safety."

And the amount of fun they have. CivE's are a pretty chill bunch in my experience; far less neurotic and obsessive than all the other branches

TCB

 

[cfullgraf]

The only thing I could add is this: remain a generalist. Know your machine tools and sheet metal fab, then you can work anywhere.

Yes, as a mechanical engineer, i started in the photographic chemical industry, moved to a nickel refinery and ended up making toilet paper.

For me, this was all just pumping stuff through pipes.

Similar for other aspects of the profession.

 

[Owen]

mechanical engineers make weapons. Civil engineers make targets.

 

[BobTheTomato]

mechanical engineers make weapons. Civil engineers make targets.

and mining engineers profiteer

 

[Tejicano Loco]

Another thing I would like to add - once you have an engineering degree and some experience you can find jobs in any number of different fields.

I graduated with a BSME almost 30 years ago and had offers in petroleum, aircraft maintenance, computers, and armaments. I went into computers because it seemed like a more stable career. In that first company I had jobs in manufacturing, design, and thermal analysis.

After that I did industrial engineering in the logistics field - mostly supply chain process analysis and design. Then I was back in manufacturing doing logistics analysis.

Now I am managing a small civil engineering firm.

 

[Kernel]

Where ever you go make sure they have a ABET accredited program. It's not a rare thing. All the best ones are.

http://main.abet.org/aps/Accreditedprogramsearch.aspx

 

[Millwright]

Think far outside the box young man if that's your goal ! All of our present firearms are based upon technology dating back centuries . IMHO the "key" is propellant(s). Find a way(s) to defeat, (or significantly ameliorate) the current logistical stalemate and your fortune is assured ! >MW

 

[hAkron]

I would also search out biographical information on Browning, Pedersen, Garand, Stoner, Ruger, and Glock (for example) and see what their backgrounds were.

Good luck!

Don't forget Josef and František Koucký

 

[lathedog]

Lots of good advice has already been posted.

If you really want to work for a gun company, go to SHOT show or an NRA convention and talk to the company reps. Or call them and maybe you will get lucky and someone will give you 5 minutes of their time.

Bill Ruger converted a Savage 99 into a semi-auto and walked into Remington with it. Not saying that is the only way to get a job designing firearms, but it is hard to argue with a functioning demonstration model. Talk is cheap but "doing" makes an impression.

If you pursue a BSME the real key would be to obtain an internship with a company of your liking. Going in cold after graduation is much less likely to happen than having an internship turn into a regular gig.

Finally, notice how few new designs have come out recently. Imagine how few people are currently getting paid to design guns. Ruger received "Innovation" awards for making a knock-off on a kel-tec pistol. Remington just unveiled it's new knock-off on a Savage. Does that sound like an industry that is experiencing a Renaissance, and therefore needs new DaVinci's?

My opinion is that all the talent out there designing innovative stuff is doing it in the small companies.

My final advice would be to get your degree, work wherever you can earn big money, and design guns on weekends. Start your own part-time company when you have some experience in design/manufacturing, and transition to full-time entrepreneur when your part-time company becomes successful. Don't wait on someone else to be the key to making your dreams come true. Other people will use you to make their dreams come true, not yours.

 

[Propforce]

Do it.

You will have a lot of choices as a Mech. E. including becoming a firearm designer. As an ME, you'll study mechanism/ kinematics, materials, manufacturing processes, (combustion) thermodynamics, plus any advance courses as your electives.

Firearm design is a "mature" (no improvement) field? There are lots of improvements needed/sought by the Army, DARPA, USSOCOM, etc. How about bullets that can be guided by optics? Able to change trajectory in flight? Sniper rifles that can be fired from beyond-line-of-sight? Light weight UAV that can fire remotely & can be carried by advanced recon units for C4ISR? Now a FORMATION of 20~100 of those light weight UAVs under a soldier's control remotely using an iPad as frontal assault weapon?

Many needs for tomorrow's war fighters....

Want to go bigger? How about designing anti-tank, anti-aircraft systems? Missiles & Rockets? Want to go small? How about robotic flying bees that is capable of carrying micro explosives? How about a SWARM of those bees flying in an attack formation controlled remotely by a SEAL team for special ops using an iPad?

Last, getting an engineering degree is more than about getting a job. Through the studying, you'll learn how to THINK, and how to SOLVE PROBLEMS. Those 2 virtrues will help you far more in life than the book knowledge you learned in school. We take fresh out of school kids and TEACH them how things really work in industry. But you'll need the ability to think & solve problems for the challenging problems we throw at you.