Want to be a gunsmith?

Great reply Gunnar. You are right about the newer medium that gunsmiths now use to advertise and communicate their business to a wider audience. I love to use the internet to browse other stores inventory that I don't regularly have access to. I've also come across a lot of talented people and interesting firearms because they took the time to get their website up and running.
My other concern is that newer apprentices are very rare, making very knowledgeable skills almost extinct if they aren't passed down. This may be a little extreme of a view, but I will use stock making as an example. Not to many old European checkering or stock making techniques are being used as much as they used to. It certainly is easier to purchase a tupperware stock off the web for less than a $100 now.
 
Excellent post Gunnar. Good to hear a well thought out and honest post after the crap fest in the off topic. I've been doing a fair bit of trigger work and repair work - but have been somewhat limited due to lack of a lathe and mill. Before I moved west I had access to my father's lathe, mill and surface grinder and was able to do all of the tasks. Hopefully in the future I will be able to fully outfit my shop and not have to turn away work that I am capable of doing.
 
I'm looking to get into it as well,i have excellent building,inovation and problem solving skills and a great interest in firearms
I think i would enjoy it
 
(Ronin) said:
I'm looking to get into it as well,i have excellent building,inovation and problem solving skills and a great interest in firearms
I think i would enjoy it
Click to expand...
+1!

I always thought being a machinist would be cool, but I think it would be terribly boring to end up working on some nameless little part for some project you have no interest in, in a huge shop somewhere. It would be great to be able to work on something I've been interested in all my life like firearms!
 
Yuri Orlov said:
+1!

I always thought being a machinist would be cool, but I think it would be terribly boring to end up working on some nameless little part for some project you have no interest in, in a huge shop somewhere. It would be great to be able to work on something I've been interested in all my life like firearms!
Click to expand...


that was my only problem with machining, i worked in a machine shop for 4 years making thousands of the same parts, drove me crazy, but i did enjoy being a machinist, just didn't like the repetitive work. anyone in edmonton area want to pass on their gunsmithing knowledge :D ?
 
Hey Gunnar, how useful do you think a degree in engineering would be to a potential gunsmith? I'll be done in 2010, and I hope I get to move back to Prince, wink, nudge..... :D
Drew
 
Well, it must be working...as I couldn't be any farther away from you and still be in Canada...and I'm a customer. Been waiting anxiously for the chance to be one, too.
 
Awesome advice and great post Gunnar. I too fear that the true 'old school' knowledge and passion for it will disappear as a lot of guys similar to yourself retire in the future.

I tried to post my ideas on CGN as I truly want to be a pistol smith, but I got shot down pretty fast;

( http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=132340&highlight=fonix )

Anyway, I’m still considering it for the future, I have the learning ability, mechanical aptitude, skills and money to invest into it, I merely need to find someone to take me on to learn the ropes.

Too bad you're ten hours away from me! ;)
 
Maqaiti - You are luckier than most in that you likely have access to a variety of low cost salvage grade guns on which to practice. If you think that there is a market for refinishing, I would suggest you get an air compressor, make a blasting cabinet, and start doing bake on coatings, or Parkerizing. Durable, and attractive from the standpoint of your time, compared to conventional surface preparation and hot bluing. Correspondence courses are all very well, but the hands on experience is critical. If you obtain a retail licence, you will find that decent used guns from the south will sell very well in your market. Many of the 1700 odd guns I sold in Iqaluit were in this category.
Fonix - If there is no one in your area who can mentor you, there is no reason that you cannot start building your skills and knowlwedge on your own. There are excellent text materials available. Consider buying used guns that need some TLC, clean them up, put them in servicable condition, refinish if appropriate, and resell them. Even if you only break even from a $ standpoint, you will have gained the experience.
 
If I read your website correctly, I somehow get a completely different picture of the business and the wonderful virtues of being a self-employed pistol smith

“We are forced to suspend plating operations”

“(Lock the doors and unplug the phones)”

“And it seems to be virtually impossible to accurately predict when work will be completed”

“We will be closed to the public - and to phone calls - every Tuesday and Thursday”

My question is; is this a a serious, viable business or a hobby shop primarily for ones own personal enjoyment?
 
Maqaiti said:
Gunnar, your post is encouraging. Thanks to CGN, I have started an online gunsmithing program and got myself a gun shop for extra spending $$. Starting with cleaning/maintaining rifles first and hope get into the more serious stuff. Prior to join CGN, to me a rifle was just another rifle other than appearance and calibre. I learnt a great deal about firearm here and getting more interested.
Click to expand...


How do you rate the ICS gunsmithing course, any good?
 
Rather expensive for a course where it is all academic learning and no hands on experience. I've got the "information" letter and it's just shy of a grand. I'm not sure if I want to pay that much for a certificate that I'm not sure is recognized anywhere.

There is another course for half the price that is offered by PCDI Canada. I'm more tempted by this course as I get a good base of knowledge ( like ICS) for half the price. Again, I am not sure if the certificate would be recognized anywhere. I would use either course as a personal skills enhancement more so then trying to find employment with in the firearms industry.
 
I've been waiting for this to come up for quite a while. I'm a university, but I don't know where I'm going with it (and pouring money into school isnt my main priority) and I didn't become a mechanic because I find wrote dissassembly, replacement, and replacement a bit tedious. In short, I really like the idea of gunsmithing. If there's anyone in Victoria or Vancouver who'd be interested in showing me their shop, or would like some semi skilled learning labour, lemme know!
 
Hi Gunnar, great post here. You touch on many tough points.
What happened to the 80 some odd % of small gun dealers / smiths over the last 10 years? They failed to adapt. Change is inevitable, either go with it or die. Sad to say, a lot of businesses didn't come to this realization.
In terms of making a living, yes it can be tough. I have a very good friend in SK who's a dealer / smith, and I've been watching him strugle with the business for years. He's survived, but it ain't been easy. I try to help out when I can, but I've got family and day job of my own. And it's tough to find new blood when the call of the Patch becons those with skills. Yes there's lots of hobbiest's out there to cover gaps here & there, but not a lot of new businesses. Marketing is definately a skill, and some people got it, most don't. But it can be learned.
One point that is well worth mentioning. We, as gun owners and users, tend to be our own worst enemies. Just the way I've seen dealers and smiths get treated, it's no wonder no one wants to step up to the plate. You've seen the examples, the one's who go to a show or shop and whine about the cost of a small repair or commodity, "But this big box or supposed wholesaler store is selling that at this price!" or "I can order that out of the states at half of what you want" or "Joe's second cousin on his mother's side has this tool, he'll do it for me cheap." Well fine, if you can get it at that price, why are you standing here telling me? Go get 'em tiger! (The joy's of customer service!) Then when the local guy folds up shop, everyone complains about regulations, or the high prices, or what have you. They wonder what the problem is? Well fellows, go look in the mirror.
Also realize how much it costs in permits and liscence fee's to run a shop. A few thousand dollars if you do any importing, plus time and hassle. Plus try to keep up with rules that no one understands and even fewer can explain to you.
Every one wants a bargian, no one wants to get hopped. But there is a cost to doing business folks. And has I overheard one frustrated dealer tell a client "It's either this or welfare, you can pay me now or pay for me later."
But I got and stay involved because I still manage to have some fun in all of this. I like guns, enjoy playing with and working on them. As do a lot of the guys out there.
OK, rant mode off. Just finished a gunshow last weekend, and everything listed here happened there. Bottom line, get out there, support your local boys where practical / possible, have fun, be a smart consumer and try to understand what these folks and the industry in general are going through. You don't have to like it or agree, but at least be understanding. Fair enough?
 
I don't think that I agree that the shops closed because they failed to adapt. They closed because there were too few customers. The few that survived did so because they adapted and could find those fewer customers via the internet. If all of the shops or even most of the shops had adapted, and gone to the internet they would be splitting the relatively few customers amongst themselves and no one would be doing well and many would still fold.

cheers mooncoon
 
Thanks for the advise (secret) Tiriaq. My dad has some of his older rifles to start with, the first thing I'll do is to make them shootable then hope to restore them. I am still trying to get more tools and supplies to do more than cleaning.

NDB- The learning material are good, considering my zero experience in online learning. I could not compare it with others so it's alright for me. Helps in understanding a little more on repairs and custoizing.
 
Having served a tool & die apprenticeship, I remember when I worked for starvation wages for a small jobbing shop with no benefits because none of the unionized shops would start apprenticeships. After I worked there for about 3 Yrs. when we stopped in for a beer after work Fri. night, the foremen for the big shops would buy us a round and ask if we might be interested in applying to their shop. I left after 5 Yrs. and the boss was ticked, but I doubled my wages & had benefits, which was good, because my wife was leaving her job with benefits to have our first child. After I got into teaching, my top students would go on to community college and tell me they repeated most of the things from high school, but were considered on an equal footing with the people who never took Tech. Now the secondary school programs are so watered down that, they are just an "exposure" course, because the time required for academic credits doesn't leave time for Tech specialization. There are a lot of good kids out there that aren't interested in going to community college for another two or three years after secondary school so they can start a 4 Yr. apprenticeship which they get no streaming into from the government. Once students do start an apprenticeship, my experience from when I had small engine apprentices for my own business, was that many of the college administered apprentice "in class" programs were a laugh, so basic that they didn't come up to secondary school level and staffed by instructors who were poor tradesmen if not alcoholics, as some were. Now my contacts in the machining trades tell me that much work is being outshipped to China, so maybe more machinists will be training as gunsmiths. I also hear that the Tool & Die jobs are changing more to machine operators with CNC programmers programming the machine tools. Germany has always had a good apprenticeship program, but the ones here are so unco-ordinated that only some larger shops have a good system and all too often the seniority provisions mean you wouldn't get a chance at an apprenticeshop until you were too old and had too many obligations to start at the beginning. Rant over now.
Bill
 
WillJ said:
that was my only problem with machining, i worked in a machine shop for 4 years making thousands of the same parts, drove me crazy, but i did enjoy being a machinist, just didn't like the repetitive work. anyone in edmonton area want to pass on their gunsmithing knowledge :D ?
Click to expand...

It depends a lot on what type of shop you are working in.Doing CNC in a big production shop can be pretty boring if you are merely a button pusher.
The smaller jobber shops are good because you are usually doing something different every day.
 
ATTENTION Ozz: you made your point regarding your problem and unhappiness with Gunnar/Armco in several threads (that ended up being locked) and now have your pistol back.

If you insist on flogging this dead horse, personally attacking Gunnar/Armco, and generally stirring up ####, you will be removed from this site.

Enough is enough. Case closed.

This is your one and only warning.

SKBY.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom