How does one start off gunsmithing

i do reblueing and refinishing of gun stocks but want to know more so there are two schools who offer at home diplomas in firearms repair.

www.ICSLearn.ca and professional career development institute
 
A friend took one of these correspondence courses. There is nothing in the course material that is bad. There is also nothing in the material that isn't available elsewhere, at lower cost.
 
ATR, "reasonable" price is just that, not asking for a deal or anyone to go broke, reasonable is fair to both sides. It is my experience that it can be difficult to get smithing work of a high quailty done in a "reasonable" time frame. This is work at the rate given by the smiths, not stuff brought in to do "whenever you get a chance" for a cut rate deal. I know many others saying the same thing, and especially if you want something out of the ordinary. Specialized work seems to take forever and sometimes you simply can't get it done. This suggests to me that we need more smiths. If there is a market, someone must be willing to do the work for good pay. I think there are not enough qualified skilled tradesmen in this field in Canada or they are not easy to find. It might be do to the mentality such as you mention from the banks. Are Canadians embarrased to be smiths or say they are in the firearms field? I have had to wait literally years to get project guns done. Not because they took that long to do, but for them to get to them. Is it easier to make fast bucks on the small jobs? I am not knocking the smiths, just asking why we have such a wait time and yet everyone is saying "don't become a smith unless you don't like to eat"? There are many guys like me that are not happy with factory guns, coming up with the ideas and then trying them are what it's about for us. And we pay for this, so it seems a good market for the skilled smith that can put this together. Now, I know you do some specialized rifles and are busy. If this is such a hot area, why are there not new guys jumping in? Another question, who is going to make barrels in Canada when Ron Smith and Bevan King and some other older makers give up doing it? I provide service for a living myself, if my clients have to wait too long, there sure as heck will be new guys jumping in to service them in a minute.
Like most guys fixing their own cars and computers at home, I am jumping in to do my own gun work. Partly to "do it myself". partly to save a few bucks on the little jobs I can do and enjoy and partly to get projects done when I want them done and how I want them done. If you come up with a big bore project idea to most smiths they just start shaking their heads and saying "why would you want that" instead of "sure, but I don't want to shoot it" or whatever. If there is money to be spent I don't understand why the number of good smiths seems to be shrinking. I doubt it's an easy startup, but I am worried about the loss of knowledge and these skills in Canada.
 
Casull Your assessment is pretty good. I am running 8 months behind on most work, sometimes I can sneak in something quick and simple between bigger jobs, but for the most part I think most of us have more work than we can handle. Unfortunately there are fellows who have little training or figure they know what to do, and they cause problems which take far more time to fix than the initial job would have if it had been done by a competent craftsman in the 1st place. This can add greatly to the time in which work is turned out. Much of the waiting time can also be attributed to waiting for governments to approve paperwork, or suppliers to supply parts.
I agree with you there is a need for more smiths in this country.
I just hate to see guys jump in not realizing that as in most small businesses, there can be several very lean years.
Many specialty shops, like mine are hesitant to take on apprentices, as a few guns put out with less than the expected quality can devastate many years of hard work getting a good name in the industry. This makes it hard for many to gain much needed experience. The days of big gunsmithing shops I feel are over in Canada. And the problems of gaining experience and schooling in the US where big shops still exist are major.
I don't have an answer to how any young fella up here can viably get into the trade without major expense.
Gunshops/smiths are treated worse than drug dealers and child molesters by most banks and insurance companies. To get a building to work from , requires insurance, either to cover the mortgage or the lease, getting insurance is bloody near impossible and affording it is impossible. The HUGE chain store typically self insure or list themselves as sporting goods dealers, and little mention of guns is the way they achieve insurance.
Being a small specialty "gun shop/maker/smith" is an insurance nightmare.
Many banks ( Montreal,CIBC and Royal to name a few) refuse to deal with gunshops both for accounts and for merchant services.
If you want a real excercise in futility try getting a government business loan for a gunshop. These are some of the pitfalls of getting into the business, and they seem to have become worse as time has progressed. Years ago smaller businesses were treated more on a level playing field, not anymore as we are all known to be crazed homocidal maniacs if we are interested in firearms, hence bad business risks and politically poor to be associated with.
The loss of knowledge is staggering, your question on barrel makers who are getting older is VERY valid, I have a great working relationship with Ron Smith and have inquired several times as to what his plans are. I have offered to pay him to teach me his craft and to buy him out when ever he is ready to retire. When he and Bevan decide to quit we will have a seroius loss of talent and a huge loss in Canadian made barrels.
I wish I had more answers and less reality
 
alberta tactical rifle.
$90.00 per hour shop rate is certainly not unreasonable, and, as you well know, if you had to go strictly by this hourly rate, you would be going under in no time. The operating costs, to support a shop like that, are just too great nowadays.
 
Al Flipo said:
alberta tactical rifle.
$90.00 per hour shop rate is certainly not unreasonable, and, as you well know, if you had to go strictly by this hourly rate, you would be going under in no time. The operating costs, to support a shop like that, are just too great nowadays.
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Certainly there are some things that are flat rated, much like an auto mechanic, but in the same vane, sometimes small jobs take far more time than can be billed, without looking bad.
I think that this is the reason so few do checkering and engraving now, the time taken can never be charged for. Business in todays age certainly is a daily challenge.
 
All I wanted to do was to start working on a few of my projects. I enjoy working with firearms and I am looking to further my knowledge.

To me its about knowing more about my sport, not that I would want to make a living out of it, but rather has a hobby.

I want to start playing with Mausers, take em apart, clean em, try some kits, inletting etc etc.

I wouldrather be toying with a Mauser reciever than flipping channels on the tube..

A gentleman gunsmith if you wish :)

A sport, a thing that I enjoy. A helping hand to others.

Not interested in competing with any established smitty, just trying to get information on how to get some kits for a Mauser !!!

While I can put to another day the chores of chambering and glass bedding, I still would like to get my hands dirty on less challenging tasks.

Thats it just looking for info.

But the read was great
 
I can also vouch for Rick having a wife with a good job, as well as a whack o' smithing stuff.

I'd love to be able to do what the smiths do, even some of it. But I'm not a machinist by trade and I don't have whatever job Rembo has that gets him access to all the wonderful tools. I'm happy to be able to do what I do, maybe someday I'll be able to chamber and fit a barrel, but more likely I'll be plying my trade (hobby) as a stock maker. Still, it's fun to tinker with 'em!
 
BUM,
You saw my small setup and last weekend I turned, trued, threaded and chambered a .30 blank. I cut the chamber and headspaced it and fitted it to the action. I shot it on Saturday and I was greatly impressed in how well it worked for a first project for a home smith. It's just for fun and it's not perfect but there is a lot of satisfaction in firing your first project done entirely by you,
 
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