Smithing Business??

[TackleberryG22]

Brothers & Sisters

I got stumbed today with a question about starting a Gun Smithing Business.

What does it take?

Well the only thing I could offer up was;

-Prov. Business Lic.
-Prov. Firearm Business Lic
-knowledge of machining
-know your way around guns.....
-manufacturer's armourers courses

Anything else you might want to offer up????

There isn't a specific "Gun Smith Licence" is there???

 

[guntech]

Legally in B.C. I believe you require three things:

A Municipal business license
A Provincial license for collecting BC tax
A Federal Firearms Business license for gunsmithing

No knowledge or courses required at all.

 

[lejarretnoir]

There is "NO" gunsmith license I've heard of in Ontario

If you plan to get your dealers license, there are a bunch of hoops to go through. I did all that before C-17. I'm sure you need to do more now. I let my license expire ages ago.

First you need a place of business to operate from. It needs to be very well secured. If you operate out of your home, the OPP officer in charge will do a thorough check and advise whether it's good or not. If you're going to work on restricted guns, you just earned extra checking and security. You'll need a vault to store them.

I would look into that before you begin. You need a business license to get the dealer/gunsmith discount.

It's assumed you know your way around guns. The best teacher in the trade is to hang around with a pro who'll let you apprentice. That is still the best way to learn. That may be the most difficult to achieve. Very few smiths around with little or no time to teach someone. I've known a few who are self taught and became well sought after. They are rare.

Machine shop experience is practically a must if you intend on doing custom work, like competition guns. Precise within a .001" is required for custom rifles and pistols. You need to learn about metal hardness, thread cutting and how to properly setup reamers and chambering. That is a learned skill. There is also stock bedding techniques, bluing, plating, etc.

I guess it depends on what you want to accomplish. General or custom gunsmith. I don't know of any armourer courses in Canada, but there are plenty to be had in the USA and some Canadians have gone down and did them. Colorado School of Trades comes to mind.

Good luck whichever way you choose. We could sure use more good gunsmiths. C-68 and 9/11 sure put a crimp on it.

 

[eltorro]

No knowledge or courses required at all.

that wasn't funny, by the way....

is one allowed to aquire and sell prohibited firearms if one does not have a 12(*) ? but one does it as a shop? Is the same one allowed to test the firearms he's working on (as a gunsmith) even if he does not have the aforementioned papers? All done of course legal, and as a registered business....

 

[guntech]

that wasn't funny, by the way....

is one allowed to aquire and sell prohibited firearms if one does not have a 12(*) ? but one does it as a shop? Is the same one allowed to test the firearms he's working on (as a gunsmith) even if he does not have the aforementioned papers? All done of course legal, and as a registered business....

I don't quite understand what you are getting at..but to clarify:

Everyone in Canada who wishes to work on firearms and charge a fee must have the federal business license for gunsmithing. There are different catagories that are on the application form. Absolutely no training is required for anyone to be a licensed gunsmith. You simply have to apply for the license and pay the fee. Of course the individual requires a valid firearms license for the catagories they wish to work on. The gunsmithing license does not allow the purchase and sale of firearms, that is another catagory. Some "gunsmiths" have it, others don't.

 

[4570 Rifleman]

One big item that has not been discussed is liability insurance. This is very important and be prepared to spend between 5,000 & 7,500 per year. Anything less could see you in a lot of trouble. A few years ago one could probably get away without it but things have changed.