Gunsmith Schools

driver71

driver71

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Anyone know of any firearms repair, gunsmith schools, located in western Canada,,all I've come up with so far is one in Montreal. Thanks in advance for your help.
 
Actualy it's not in Montreal, but in Maniwaki (close to Mont-Laurier, about 285 km from Montreal). Nice place for someone who like the outdoors and very good deer hunting.

htt p://www.armurerie.ca/
 
I spoke with a licensed gunsmith in the GTA and he said he did a online coarse from the US.
Ont. does not have a standard for a qualified gunsmith.
You just need to apply for the Lic. pass the storage inspection and have Ins.
Bang!! your a gunsmith!!
 
I suspect the long term career options are limited and there are a lot of people who want to work with firearms and not a lot of positions in the industry. Most of the gunsmiths I've come across, it's more of a spare time job because there simply isn't enough work. Not to mention people are doing less real custom work than they used to and guns are pretty reliable these days. Also there is the specter of banning guns ending your career.

These guy's videos aren't terrible:
http://www.americangunsmith.com/
 
"...the online courses?..." Don't waste your time and money. You can't learn to be a smithy from an on-line course. There's far too much involved that absolutely requires hands on training.
"...long term career options..." Right. Jobs are very few and far between in Canada. Especially entry level. Not much better Stateside. Low pay to start, if you do find a job. Nobody wants inexperienced people, in anything, anyway. Few shooters will patronize a new smithy who opens his own shop either.
 
Not in canada ,but I heard that there is free tuition if you want to learn gunsmithing in Ferlach Austria.It probably helps to spreken zie Deutsch.
 
It's easier to learn German than a lot of languages… Now if you could learn Chinese, go to China and become a Norinco certified gunsmith you'd have lots to work on lol.
 
Gunsmith courses in Canada

longshot38 said:
Does anyone have a link for the online courses?

thanks
dean
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Here they are: Canadian gunsmith courses (as of April 1st, 2014):

http://www.icslearn.ca/firearms/index.html
http://www.pcdi.ca/courses/2v/
http://canadiancareertraining.com/gunsmithing-education.html

Cheers

JM

Oh and btw... the gunsmith course offered in Quebec will no longer be as of 2015. Confirmed by a phone call at the school board of des Hauts-Bois-de-l'Outaouais, in Maniwaki!
 
Last edited:
longshot38 said:
anyone else care to weigh in on this one? im just thinking about for my own use and as a parttime gig to keep the skills alive so to speak.


dean
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I did one of the mail order courses a few years ago, just for fun. I enjoyed it, and I learned a lot, however I would not trust my guns to someone that just did this course. It’s a good way to start, but it’s all about practice. For example, you can read about stock fitting and finishing, and you can get 100% on the test by correctly answering the questions. This does not mean that you actually picked up a piece of wood and did any work on it. The course did not grade at any practical work that was done. The real expertise is what you learn (or didn’t learn) from the exercises, which are not graded.

My first advice would be to send back the slips asking for more information. Once this is done ignore them for about three months. They will keep coming back with lower and lower offers trying to hook you in.
 
I guess it is a few years ago now but SAIT in Calgary was offering a gunsmithing course in the evenings. Don't remember the fellas name (he collected Cooey rimfires) who run he program but you basically got to run the lathes and mills under the supervision of an experienced machinist. To be a gunsmith takes a lot more than being able to be a good machinist but I always hoped to get he chance to rebarrel a hunting rifle.

They sometimes had a table at the big Calgary gun show.

Any Calgary folks know if it is still ongoing?
 
You might consider asking any local smiths if they want a free hand some evenings. Maybe sweep floors and other menial tasks in exchange for a little knowledge. I looked into some of the correspondance courses, but don't see a heckuva lot of value to them. They might be somewhat beneficial if you're a person who can pick things up through reading, but in that case you may as well save a few bucks and just buy the books.
Look around, there might be a hobby machinist's evening or weekend course available to boost your skills. I find myself wanting to get a little more involved than mounting a scope or bedding an action too, but there's a sharp learning curve for some things. Buying guns that need TLC is helping a bit...
 
FiveBillionAcres said:
Now if you could learn Chinese, go to China and become a Norinco certified gunsmith you'd have lots to work on lol.
Click to expand...

I can just see it...

"So, I finished that re-crowning job for you. Also, while I was working on it I fixed up the trigger, no charge."
"What? There was nothing wrong with the trigger."
"Right. That's not the Norinco way. It should be properly crunchy now."
 
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