Weapons Engineering jobs?

[gendoikari87]

Hello,


I am a senior Physics Major at Georgia Southern University. I will be graduating in about a year and primarily I want to get a job as a weapons engineer, or better yet, a gun smith. I like Small arms mostly and was wondering if anybody knew any good places to look for a job?

 

[Jim Watson]

Gunsmithing is a manual arts trade, I fear your university degree will not give you much background for working on guns. You would have to start a new study program.

I can't say how to be sure of a job in the firearms industry, don't know their hiring practices.

 

[M-Cameron]

not to disrespect.....but most engineering jobs tent to go to people with engineering degrees.....

i mean, its kind of like a biology major trying to be a doctor....you have a basic understanding but the application isnt there

its just that theres a lot more to engineering than just the physics behind it.

 

[gendoikari87]

Physics is a much more in depth study than engineering that teaches problem solving skills. Engineering is a Physics "light" degree. I know this because I've had most of the engineering courses at my school, and most of the upper level engineering courses are baby courses of the physics ones. Like thermal, theres an engineering one, and one for us physics majors... why we break it up I don't know they're identical. if I wanted to could get an engineering minor here but I don't know If I could fit the extra class or two into my schedule next semester.

 

[M-Cameron]

does physics teach drafting and CAD work, metallurgy and manufacturing processes, thermodynamics and fluid dynamics, statics or strength of materials, machinery design, dimensioning tolerances or kinematics.......all of which are darn important to do any type of physical engineering....especially weapons engineering.

 

[Old Shooter]

Contact every firearms manufacturer you can imagine. Try to get in for a sit-down chat with someone in their HR department, tell them what your interests are and see if you can get an introduction to someone inside who might be able to help.

They won't probably bring you in to design the next generation of SAW but I have seen individuals hired into Engineer Apprentice programs and some of them did quite well over time. A lot will depend on your ability, problem-solving skills and willingness to learn how they do things in their environment. Being a physics major won't hurt, having a lot of math/statistics understanding is usually a big plus for an assistant in any engineering department. Have you had much course work in business management? A lot of employers give that an additional plus, depending on the company and their management style of course. If you should get in, expect to be the gopher for a while until they become comfortable with your approach to issues and your adaptability to change.

e-mails and job boards are one way to go but I find that if you can knock on a door and speak to a real person you are way ahead of the crowd. Follow up any replies with an offer to show up for an interview or include that comment in your initial contacts.

You might have to start with one of the smaller, less well known companies to get your foot in the door and establish some credentials but it can be done.

Good luck in your job search. Been there, done that.

 

[gendoikari87]

metallurgy , thermodynamics and fluid dynamics, statics or strength of materials, dimensioning tolerances or kinematics

.... all of that IS physics. Save for CAD which I've had in high school and use alot The rest Is engineering, and I've had classes for those. Granted Engineers use them too, but watered down. Statics and Dynamics was basically a phys I review light. Classical Mechanics (which is what I'm in now) is the upper level engineering put in more mathematical terms. Strength of materials is basically quantum and modern...

lol and thermodynamics is what I had last semester and used to derive the formula for the efficiency of a gun

 

[gendoikari87]

Contact every firearms manufacturer you can imagine. Try to get in for a sit-down chat with someone in their HR department, tell them what your interests are and see if you can get an introduction to someone inside who might be able to help.

They won't probably bring you in to design the next generation of SAW but I have seen individuals hired into Engineer Apprentice programs and some of them did quite well over time. A lot will depend on your ability, problem-solving skills and willingness to learn how they do things in their environment. Being a physics major won't hurt, having a lot of math/statistics understanding is usually a big plus for an assistant in any engineering department. Have you had much course work in business management? A lot of employers give that an additional plus, depending on the company and their management style of course. If you should get in, expect to be the gopher for a while until they become comfortable with your approach to issues and your adaptability to change.

e-mails and job boards are one way to go but I find that if you can knock on a door and speak to a real person you are way ahead of the crowd. Follow up any replies with an offer to show up for an interview or include that comment in your initial contacts.

You might have to start with one of the smaller, less well known companies to get your foot in the door and establish some credentials but it can be done.

Good luck in your job search. Been there, done that.

Wow, thank you. Unfortunately I decided not to go with a few bussiness courses so i could graduate the semester after my fiancee (a chemist). and the only local company is two hours away.

 

[noyes]

...

 

[Sunray]

"...Gunsmithing is a manual arts trade..." Yep. And entry level smithy jobs are few and far between. They don't pay much either.
The manufacturers hire experienced mechanical engineers, not new graduate physics majors. Most of 'em have their current employment opportunities on their site too. Savage, for example, is looking for Product Design Engineers. BS in Mechanical Engineering is preferred.

 

[gendoikari87]

Candidates should have a BS in Mechanical Engineering or related field

that related field is talking about physics.

 

[lathedog]

The previous advice was sound, but I am sensing a block to accepting advice.

The bottom line is that your studies are not the precise right education to become a gunsmith or weapons designer. Unless you want to work in a lab developing energy based weapons.

Here is my advice:

1. Complete your current degree. Don't throw away the work you put in so far.
2. I concur with the advice about speaking with various companies. I suspect you are in your mid 20's so a company might take a chance on hiring you for an entry level position for a low wage. However, you will be competing with similar bright graduates with degrees in mechanical engineering or materials science.
3. Consider going to Yavapai or some other similar Community College with a good gunsmithing curriculum, if you want to be a gunsmith.
4. Consider enlisting in the armed forces as a small arms repair technician as a next step to getting experience and background. You may consider yourself as officer material; ask yourself if you want to learn technical skills or if you want to learn to manage people.

Good luck and post back here. I would like to hear how things go for you.

 

[gendoikari87]

4. Consider enlisting in the armed forces as a small arms repair technician as a next step to getting experience and background. You may consider yourself as officer material; ask yourself if you want to learn technical skills or if you want to learn to manage people.

I don't lead people, but I do like the idea of joining the military. It's no so much a block of avice as much as I know physicists that got jobs as engineers. it may say Mechanical engineering on the books but they take physicists as well, in fact several of the job fairs i've been too the Mech Eng people say they prefer physics degrees. 90% of a physics degree is kinematics and problem solving skills. The other 10% is a jumbled high end chemestry degree without the ability to be a chemist.

 

[lawson4]

Having the Engineering degree or Physics degree doesn't mean much if what you really want is to design firearms. You have to have a mechanical apptitude. That is not the same thing as having a degree. Many firearms designers have degrees in other fields or no degree at all. It's the ability to imagine what you want and then make it work.

Rick

 

[gendoikari87]

9mm Handgun
10mm Bolt action
6mm short bullpup
17 different Cartridge designs (12 of which are THV variations on older rounds)

that is what I have/had worked out in 2d on my computer in autocad before it crashed. I have the ability, I just need to find a job. ... and a machine shop... and a new copy of autocad

The short Bullpup was never fully done, and mostly concept but it was a beauty, the others were basic copies with slight modified designs.

 

[M-Cameron]

so by your reckoning, a math major would make an acceptable engineer....since everything is just applied calculus anyways.........right?........then that way you can just skip all those pesky "watered-down" classes.

think of it this way....who would you want designing the car you drive in......a team of physicist.....or a team of engineers.............exactly.

im sure a team of physicists could theoretically design the best car in the world.......but the chances of it actually functioning properly in real world applications are almost non-existent.

i simply wouldnt want to use a weapon that was designed by someone who couldnt properly calculate the yield strength of the breech or how do design with a proper factor of safety....or how the wear on the gun is going to effect the future operations of the weapon...

you know im sorry this isnt what you wanted to hear.....

 

[gearhead]

Having the Engineering degree or Physics degree doesn't mean much if what you really want is to design firearms. You have to have a mechanical apptitude. That is not the same thing as having a degree. Many firearms designers have degrees in other fields or no degree at all. It's the ability to imagine what you want and then make it work.

Rick

I concur with Lawson.

You need a good "feel" for mechanical systems and a fair amount of experience in making things work. While there is certainly a great deal of pure physics in weapons R&D, the vast majority of an Engineer's time is spent troubleshooting issues that turn up, working with Manufacturing and with suppliers to keep good product moving out the door, and managing projects.

 

[Jorg Nysgerrig]

Based on this thread, I think your attitude is going to more of an issue than your degree. Asking for advice and then arguing with each response pretty much sums up why fewer places are hiring folks straight from college. No one wants to deal with know-it-all kids with a sense of entitlement when there are plenty of experienced people who have actually "been there, done that" looking for work.

A bit of humility goes far in this world. When that hiring manager interviews you and you tell him that you can do the job because "engineering is a physics 'light' degree," don't be surprised when he thanks you for your time and wishes you well.

 

[redneckdan]

You probably won't be allowed to sit for the FE. You maybe able to start out in engineering with a physics degree but unless you are able to obtain a PE there will be limits to what you can do as far as engineering. To be an engineer of record or head engineer in a public works department you have to have a PE. Physics and engineering share a lot of the same sciences but the application is rather different. Granted I haven't met you in person but from what I can tell you seem like a lot of the physics majors I have met...intelligent, a small bit of experience...and very cocksure.....

 

[snubbies]

Other Option

In today's economy with the federal work force expanding the Federal Government may be the ideal option. Contact the Office of Personnel management in Washinton DC or look at their WEB site for an idea of what is available. Good Luck in today's job market. It sounds like you are an ambitious young man, I think the repetitive nature of day to day gunsmithing may not be for you

 

[gendoikari87]

Based on this thread, I think your attitude is going to more of an issue than your degree.

yeah because everyone seems to think they know what a physics degree is, and based on their responses obviously don't. You are attacking my degree, and I'm defending it because I know from other classmates that a physics degree can do all the things an engineering degree can do and more. it's not a limiting factor its a plus. You all seem to think it's all about particles and quantum physics, it's not. It's about force, strength, advanced kinematics, energy flow and above all problem solving.

I've worked with some of the engineers and even taught them, and If I had to choose who built my car, it'd be a physicist, not an engineer.

Besides, the thread was about FINDING a job, not IF I could do it. I know I can, as I already have, Granted the only real world application I have done is designing a silencer for someone. But I was proud of that.

 

[IlikeSA]

Im not in the machine tech trade at all, but my Dad is. He never got an engineering degree, or a degree at all. He works for a big name company that manufactures all types of precision machine made parts, focusing particularly on jet engine parts. He works with engineers all day long designing and making the parts. The difference, he told me, is that with the experience of making the parts, he can do what the engineers can't do, because all they learned is the theory. They need him to make the parts and make it work.

I say all that to preface this: a degree is nice, but in this world, it's the baby learning to theoretically walk. My suggestion to you is to find a job in a machine shop doing hands-on learning. Good companies would include GE (in NC), Pratt and Whitney, PCI, (in GA), Lockheed, Boeing, etc, and that's just naming big name jet and airplane manufacturers. Once you get a few years experience learning how to run the machinery, and proving yourself in the work world, then look at getting the dream job with a gun manufacturer.

 

[gendoikari87]

Thank you, that's the kind of stuff I'm looking for. Now, off to go find one of the positions.

 

[C96]

Jorg I think you hit it very nicely using much nicer words than I would have. Kid some of us have been in the real world quite a while. I am quite familiar with engineers and physicists, worked with them and had some under my supervision. I strongly suggest you practice saying "would you like fries with that?". Your attitude does not bode well for your future employment.

 

[russ69]

not to disrespect.....but most engineering jobs tent to go to people with engineering degrees.....

I have 30 years in aerospace as a Staff Mechanical Engineer. A physics degree will get you the same job as an engineering degree. Neither will get you far as a designer unless you have the talent to design stuff. In some cases a physics degree can be more useful if you are solving basic problems.
Now back to the OPs question. If it was me I'd get a job at one of the major firearms manufacturers and see where it leads, you'll sink or swim based on your own talent. Later you would probably want to get a job related to military weapons, there is more money and better jobs there.

Thanx, Russ