Gunsmith Courses

[Bronco Boy]

Positions for gunsmiths in Canada are much less.

Last I heard, there were only 6 NRA certified gunsmiths in all Canada.

Think your own small business if you are interested in making Gun Smithing a career. Given the insane waiting time at most shops for smithy work and the ease of sending firearms in Canada via mail and courier anyone with a business and marketing mind would have zero problem getting customers. Working for some gun shop or other small business is never going to pay very much and comes with zero benefits and long term equity.

 

[Gryffon]

gun smith courses

ICS was mentioned earlier and PCDI in Oakville, Ontario has a correspondence course. Their web is at www.pcdi.ca

There are also quite a few manuals for disassembly/reassembly for rifles and pistols that have a lot of good information. Most parts sites have a book section and Amazon has some as well.

 

[BCboy]

Its funny , you talk to some smiths and ask them how to get the training to become a smith and alot of the time I hear "ah theres not enough work any more you would be wasting your time"
But yet most all the smiths are back logged with work and say there is not enough around anymore.
I just think some dont want to see any more compititon So to all the guys looking for a good school or training good on you , we do need more smiths in Canada

thats just my 2 cents

 

[Gryffon]

Just another couple of cents thrown in the pot. The correspondence courses, whether they call themselves "gunsmithing" or not are really firearms repair courses. They have no way of teaching more than theory in regards to things like lathe work, milling machines, crowning, etc. It is a great start to a carreer and will probably help get a foot in the door to a shop which could round out your education and supply that hands on learning which always seems so hard to come by. I'm taking one of the correspondance courses myself at the moment and I'm sure it will be very useful in the maintenance and repair/customizing of my own guns. And of course, minor repairs of guns from my friends who know I'm taking the course. But to try to start a business with only this as a background,... well I would definately want to have a lot of liability insurance. I think there is a reason why so many of the old smiths gradually moved into gunsmithing from machining, milling and related trades. They had the experience of working to small tolerances and had already learned to be methodical and precise in their approach. I have had to learn some milling and machining for my previous trade (diesel fuel systems specialist) and if we learn from our mistakes, then theoretically I have apparently learned A LOT. It gets expensive very quickly when oops is heard over the sound of a lathe.

 

[heavenIsAlie]

we do need more smiths in Canada

i seem to agree with this, i dont really know anything about smithing, but i know talking to gunnar about getting a ppk rebarreled would be 2-3 months, seems like alot for something relativly simple (altho like i said i dont know the process to make a barrel from a blank so i may be way off base on thinking it is simple)

 

[Martin]

There are many highly qualified gunsmiths in Canada that have no certification what so ever.

But there are also some pseudo gunsmiths that do not deserve to carry this title. A cert or apprenticeship guarantees minimum standards. As a young Canadian I would go abroad doing an apprenticeship in Europe, than go back to Canada and spread my knowledge.

 

[kgn]

But there are also some pseudo gunsmiths that do not deserve to carry this title. A cert or apprenticeship guarantees minimum standards. As a young Canadian I would go abroad doing an apprenticeship in Europe, than go back to Canada and spread my knowledge.

i spoke with a few smithy in france and one of them took is course with me at PGS
and the way it works in europe their is no all around gunsmith ;

one is specialize in wood work
one in metal finish
one trigger repair
and so on

wen he came to the course he was in is 5 years of training for wood work in france ... But like he said in 3 months at PGS he learn the commercial way to make money ... in 5 years in europe its the artistic way
(very low income because nobody would pay to get that kind of work)

 

[car94401]

Perhaps more gunsmiths have been self taught in the trade, than any other method of learning gunsmithing. Many self taught
gunsmiths have tutorial assistance from other gunsmiths. Due to the size and remoteness of many parts of Canada, the ideal of teaching one's self is the only way many gunsmiths have been able to obtain the knowledge, skills and abilities that they have developed. Self teaching is a traditional and well recognized method of learning. I think online courses, because of the volume of material combined with personal hands on experience would be the way to go. I would rather go to someone who has some training then give a new or old firearm to someone I met at the range. Gunsmithing is a hot topic and it is a school credited trade in the US. Cheers.

 

[graham1]

Which course are you taking? I'm thinking of signing up for one myself, and want one that's worth taking.

 

[zthou]

In any proper gunsmithing course, 80 % of your time will be spent mastering the metal lathe and milling machine. Look for evening machine shop courses in your city. Buy lots of books on the subject of gunsmithing.