Is there a niche of gunsmithing where a guy could still make a great living?

[goon]

Pretty self-explanatory. We live in a world where most things are mass produced and most people are OK with that. Our guns aren't a whole lot different. Mass produced guns, sometimes with a few small parts swaps, serve most of our purposes just fine. Consumers are able to switch springs, sights, extractors, do action jobs themselves, and mount scopes themselves.

What's left for someone who might want to build a career as a gunsmith?

 

[tomrkba]

My guess would be custom 1911 pistols and precision rifles. I am sure you could get work repairing and customizing revolvers since there are so few revolver gunsmiths left.

 

[TRX]

Tomrkba has it. Specialization is where it's at - and boutique 1911s and benchrest rifles are probably the bulk of it.

If someone is looking at a gunsmith career, the first decision is "would I be doing this because I like working on guns" or "I want to actually make a living."

Based on, say, 1950s or 1960s metrics, guns are cheaper than they used to be, and labor and overhead are more expensive. A lot of the standard gunsmithing jobs from the old days simply aren't profitable any more. Reading about one of the old-timers whittling a V-spring out of bar stock, heat treating it, and fitting it to... some worn-out .22, which couldn't have been cost-effective even then.

 

[hovercat]

Learn how to repair Colt DA revolvers. And how to make the parts needed.

 

[dogtown tom]

hovercat Learn how to repair Colt DA revolvers. And how to make the parts needed.

And he would starve to death.

 

[gspn]

Can't say if you'd be able to make a good living doing it. The definition of "good living" will differ based on who you talk to. One person might consider $50k a year a good living…while another wouldn't look at a job that paid less than 6 figures.

Things I've used a gunsmith for in the past year:

- installing a new front sight blade for a Model 29 revolver (80's vintage)
- trigger job on same M29
- fixing a dent in the end of a 113 year old double barrel shotgun
- removing a stripped thread out of a scope mounting hole
- bending back into place the top lever on a double barrel gun

Every gun smith in Memphis is backed up 3 to 6 months…all the time. I don't if they make much money doing it…but they have more work than they can handle.

 

[mrvco]

The lead times for gunsmithing work are pretty ridiculous, but unless you're willing to work for someone else, you're going to need an FFL and some sort of storefront.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

Custom built .22 benchrest guns would be where I would look. If you could make a name for yourself on the match circuit, you could stay busy building guns.....FWIW I am not talking about anything to do with a Ruger 10/22.

 

[rcmodel]

IMO: No.

Unless you are already a skilled machinest, welder, woodworker, with a natural OCD complex who will settle for nothing less then perfection.
And not sleep at night because only you still know there was something just very slightly wrong with it when you let it slip out the door in the over-joyed customers sweaty hands.

Specialization is pretty much filled already by the top names who can afford to charge what those who can afford them will pay to get in line & wait.

Lesser knowns can't pay off the machinery & other bills necessary to set up shop while waiting for a customer base to develop.

There is a need for a 'general' old time gunsmith who plays his trade using years of experiance with all kinds of beater firearms.
And can make new parts you can't buy with a file and a gas torch.

But most of them are dead, or too old to keep working.

And even then it's more a labor of love then a money making proposition.
Hand making a part for a $150 buck beater is going to cost more then the $150 buck beater is worth if you want to make any money on the repair.
Then when the customer gets his working $150 beater back, and a $200 bill for the repair?

He is going right out to trash talk you to everyone he knows and ruin your reputation as a gunsmith because you ripped him off on the price of the repair!

And that old gunsmith experiance over the years simply can't be learned from a book.

I think presently, if you can afford the necessary hand tools, power tools, and a building to put them in.
Plus the FFL, taxes, insurance, book keeping, and customer service support necessary?

You could make more money faster, with way less Capitol outlay, using the building you rent to make beef jerky and sell it at the farmers market!

rc

 

[9mmepiphany]

A dying art in the custom gunsmith trade is welding.

When I was growing up all custom smiths knew how to weld. I was talking to some top 1911 guys a while back and they all farm it out now...but they won't share who their welder is

 

[BigBore44]

I think someone could do decent with "performance upgrade kits". Trigger jobs, new sights, new springs, barrel porting, recrowning a barrel, after market barrels, free floating barrels, glass bedding, etc. But offer things as a package. And you also have to market it to the general public. Your precision/match shooters know what the benifits are. But your every day joe might not. Very similiar to what Rousch and Lingenfelter do for Mustangs and Corvettes.

 

[OcelotZ3]

There are a lot of custom blackpowder rifle/pistol makers who are old and dying off or retiring. Most seem to have a backlog of 1-2 years. But that requires great woodworking skills over most other things. But no ffl...

 

[Skribs]

Remember: just because you can easily do something, doesn't mean everyone else can. Just because 80% of the regular posters on this forum can easily do something, it doesn't mean 80% of regular people can. Personally, I go to gunsmiths for a lot of things that most regulars on this forum could probably do with their eyes closed. I'm just not mechanically inclined. That's your niche.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

I think there is a decent living to be made in it. It's hard to find a good gunsmith. Those that are good are way backed up. Not that long ago I paid $100 to have the LOP shortened on a polymer stock and I provided the parts. Smith had it back to me in about a week. If you can keep your overhead low and minimize the amount of time away from the bench, at least where I live I think it's a viable career.

 

[rcmodel]

How many $100 dollar stock chops does it take to pay off the $1000 dollar saw, $500 sander, and the $10 bucks worth of sanding disks he used though?

And still make minimum wage after paying the heating, & electric bills.
Power tools use a lot of power and create heat and dust all the time they are running.

Then, the phone bill, the rent, and all the other overhead nobody thinks about that had to come out of that $100 stock job?

rc

 

[silicosys4]

The shop I go to had a 30 gun and two week backlog when I dropped off my army special for a rebarrel. He does most everything, from mounting scopes to full on custom jobs. He specializes in S&W revolvers and 1911's. I can't say what his bread and butter is, but I'd bet it's mostly repair work and minor jobs like sight installs.
He has managed to take in a fellow up and coming gunsmith to help, as an apprentice. I'm kind of jealous, I've thought about volunteering to sweep floors just to watch them work.

Looks to me like he is doing so well because he is the only gunsmith in a 50 mile radius who has a storefront. There is another guy but he rents shop space at the local skeet range and is hard to get an appointment with, he is kept pretty busy with the members there and doesn't have a lot of extra time.

 

[Skribs]

Rc, the gunsmith I go to does it out of his garage, so it's not like he has to rent the place. It's included in cost of living. Also, if you already have a lot of your own tools, then the startup is reduced.

 

[frankenstein406]

The one I talked to said he charges $35 for cleaning and that keeps him pretty busy.

 

[Bubbles]

Since most of the different niches have already been mentioned, I'll kick this into the mix:

Know how to manage your time, deal with people, and run a business.

 

[Willie Sutton]

Whatever you are an absolute expert and craftsman at.

If you have found your calling then you're not here asking about it. Being a craftsman is a calling.

And if you've not, then this isn't the place to figure it out.


Willie

.

 

[rbernie]

None of the gunsmiths in my area have any interest in doing refinish jobs, because they don't get the volume of work throught their door to make refinishing a single gun here and there worth their time. They just lack the economy of scale to make it worth their while. Given this, I've been of the opinion for a while now that there's a very real niche for someone who's in a major metro area to set up shop as a dedicated refinisher.

 

[itsa pain]

How many $100 dollar stock chops does it take to pay off the $1000 dollar saw, $500 sander, and the $10 bucks worth of sanding disks he used though?

And still make minimum wage after paying the heating, & electric bills.
Power tools use a lot of power and create heat and dust all the time they are running.

Then, the phone bill, the rent, and all the other overhead nobody thinks about that had to come out of that $100 stock job?

rc

The man does not have to buy that equipment every time he does a stock you buy it once plus you can find them used. Some one would be better off smithing as a second job in his garage or basement not needing a storefront no rent. I have gone to a few guys that did it like that

 

[Jaxondog]

How many $100 dollar stock chops does it take to pay off the $1000 dollar saw, $500 sander, and the $10 bucks worth of sanding disks he used though?

And still make minimum wage after paying the heating, & electric bills.
Power tools use a lot of power and create heat and dust all the time they are running.

Then, the phone bill, the rent, and all the other overhead nobody thinks about that had to come out of that $100 stock job?

rc

Under your calculations he would have to shut the door's. Let's see...he made a $100 and now he has to take that $100 and pay for a $1000 saw, $500 sander, rent and electric's. Look's like a "Grand Opening, SALE, and Close out Sale all in the same day."

 

[Sam1911]

Under your calculations he would have to shut the door's. Let's see...he made a $100 and now he has to take that $100 and pay for a $1000 saw, $500 sander, rent and electric's. Look's like a "Grand Opening, SALE, and Close out Sale all in the same day."

Not quite that bad. But close.

If he charges $100, he's probably losing ~ $35 of it to taxes. So he's got $65 left. He does have power, heat/AC, water, consumables like sanding supplies and saw blades, chemicals like stripper, stain, oils, etc., plus all the other overhead stuff like paying the accountant, trash service, mortgage, insurance (oh, geeez, the insurance!), advertising, employees' salaries, license fees, and on and on.

So if his $100 job took him a couple of hours, he's probably taking home very, very little of that. If he can blast out 5 of them in a day, maybe that's ok. If not, well...

It is pretty darned hard to make ends meet as a craftsman. It isn't like being a hobbyist where you can polish and tweak for hours making things exactly how they should be. Move the work onto the bench, burn through the task, and move it off the bench again as quickly as you can without incurring mistakes and call-backs. And do it hour after hour, day after day. Plus take time to do all your sales and answer the phone, customer service, shipping/receiving, balance your books, take care of your required paperwork, and if you have a second, eat a bite and go to the can. It is tough.

 

[ATLDave]

One other idea: learn how to make open-class race guns. There are some guys who learn how to convert a Glock or an M&P or a double-stack 1911 into race guns and then charge a grand or three for the process.