Any gunsmiths in our community?

I've been working on my own firearms for years, now I've decided to take it further. I've also been working at the same job for over 13 years... and I'm getting tired of making other people rich, while I have no room for improvement. It's not a bad job, and I've learned a lot while working there. It's just that I don't really have a future there:scowl: I can't just quit... especially in this economy... but I need to do something to try to make my life better, and prepare for retirement in the future.

So... I just signed up for a professional gunsmithing course. The course also covers welding and machining. I'm hoping as long as I put in the work I'll have the chance to learn some new skills and hopefully in the future be able to work for myself instead of working for others. The old addage "If you're doing something you love, it's not really work" definately applies here for me. I love working with my hands, and firearms should be a lot more fun than adhesive dispensing equipment

Just to add a flashlight reference... to go along with the machining course, I'll be recieving a small metal turning lathe So along with machining gun parts I should be able to start turning heatsinks, bodies and a lot of other flashlight related parts of my own

The question in the title still stands... any other gunsmiths here? Any thoughts, words of wisdom, ect....

Just don't take that gunsmithing course offered on TV.

or the one for Lasik surgery either.

Maybe someone with knowledge will reply now .
.
(and you better join the NRA so they don't take all your subjects away )
(the U.K. might be taking applications for gunsmiths. Did you say you wanted a job with a future ?)

Cool. Like TooMany said, join the NRA and your state affiliate.

TooManyGizmos said:

Just don't take that gunsmithing course offered on TV.....snip...

(the U.K. might be taking applications for gunsmiths. Did you say you wanted a job with a future ?)

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I have a rule... never buy anything from TV I don't think I've ever seen a gunsmithing course in a infomercial. While doing research on this I found other courses that were cheaper, and there seems to be a reason for it. I really want to learn this, I don't just want to half *** it and have a piece of paper that says I can do it. I want to really do it.

I was under the impression the UK's gun laws were much more restrictive than in the US

I have a love hate relationship with the NRA. I love that they are trying to do something I agree with. I hate that even though I give them money they call me every week wanting more. Unfortunately there's only so much to go around.

I should add some ground rules here. No one has offended yet, but with a thread involving firearms, it can get turned into something that could get shut down quickly. Let's all please refrain from heavy political comments, and any other tangents that could get this topic derailed. Other than that I appreciate any input. We have a diverse community that I have grown to respect in my time here. I know we have a lot of gun guys here that might have some good tips.

Hi there 1wrx7 ,

I am very sorry that I derailed your thread . I will remove my post , if you like .
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Thanks for the PM , we are good-to-go , I wish you well in your endeavor !

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TooManyGizmos said:

Just an FYI type heads up , etiquette rule when quoting other members ....

After you quote someone - you should stay out of the box - or you're violating quoting rules . :thumbsup:

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Relax. He probably just forgot a quote delimiter and didn't notice the results.

It's OK ....... it didn't un-relax me .

I am relaxed . It was just a simple heads-up.

Ok. On topic. Advice.

You've already committed to the course. You'll probably wind up with a FFL and a shop.

Years ago, I was partner in a small shop. We didn't do well because we only bought guns that we thought were neat and that we wanted to play with, not the guns that would sell quickly and be profitable. Fun while it lasted.

TooManyGizmos said:

Hi there 1wrx7 ,

I am very sorry that I derailed your thread . I will remove my post , if you like .
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Just an FYI type heads up , etiquette rule when quoting other members ....

After you quote someone - you should stay out of the box - or you're violating quoting rules . :thumbsup:
.

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You didn't derail it at alllovecpf I made sure to say that no one has offended yet. I'm just scared that a topic I'm looking for information on will disseminate into a gun rights issue or something else to get it closed. I'm sorry if I came off wrong

I'll have to play with the quoting a little more to get it all down. I had to get out the door earlier today, but I wanted to reply to the thread. When I did the preview post I knew it wasn't quite right:sigh: Thanks for letting me know about the quoting rules though... it was one I wasn't aware of. I'll go play with the post and see what I can learn:thumbsup:

I'm glad members are responding to the thread. I'm open to all opinions... I just want the thread to stay open so I can get everybodys opinion. I really doubt anyone here could offend me, and no one has. Again I'm sorry if I came off wrong

BIGIRON said:

Ok. On topic. Advice.

You've already committed to the course. You'll probably wind up with a FFL and a shop.

Years ago, I was partner in a small shop. We didn't do well because we only bought guns that we thought were neat and that we wanted to play with, not the guns that would sell quickly and be profitable. Fun while it lasted.

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For the record, your first post in this thread was on topic. Supporting the orginizations that feel the same way you do is very important and relevant.

You bring up something I've been thinking about. Just because I like something doesn't mean anybody else will. I know part of the course I signed up for covers this topic. That's a major reason why I want to learn more. I'm very familliar with the firearms I already own, but there are so many that might not interest me. Those are the ones I need to focus more of my attention on. If I can't do what potential customers want I'm done before I started.

You're right about the FFL, but the shop could take a long time, if that even happens. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself. I have a lot to learn first. This will be a part time thing for awhile. The worst case senario I see is I only make back the money invested into the knowladge. Even if I can't turn it into a career, I'll still have the knowladge for me and my friends.

I'm sorry the shop didn't work out for you... but at least you said it was fun while it lasted. I'm all for some fun, even if it's short lived.

You didn't come off wrong at all , I DID . And I did apologize . I was feeling a bit too squirrely during my first post . I made some silly comments , as the first reply to your thread , but my first sentence was genuine to your topic . I really have seen some gunsmithing courses offered on TV. I'm sure they are useless for your needs. My UK comment was a hint that gun bans could someday also be attempted here in the USA . If so , and if they succeeded , you wouldn't have anything to smith on . The UK citizens are now defenseless , and at the mercy of the criminals . I hope they someday recover their most basic human rights to self defense . And I hope that crap is never tried here . I think it would turn out to be a blood bath. ( my cold dead fingers )

Thanks for the PM , I'm glad we got it all cleared up , and I edited my previous post. (as you did also)

We do NEED more good gunsmiths . I hope you are successful in your journey !

1wrx7 said:

You didn't derail it at alllovecpf I made sure to say that no one has offended yet. (snip ,snip) .... I'm sorry if I came off wrong

(snip)

I really doubt anyone here could offend me, and no one has. Again I'm sorry if I came off wrong

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Hey, I think the NRA membership is worth it just for the magazine subscription. Love my American Rifleman............

Have fun with the course, 1wrx7! :buddies:

I'm not a "gun smith", but I am a factory Smith and Wesson and Beretta armorer. I love working on pistols. I could have made a good deal of money fixing pistols over the years but I'm the type of person that has a hard time charging to do something that I know how to do.

I just like the satisfaction of taking something that doesn't work and making it work. I had a deputy bring his Beretta to me because it "quit shooting". After checking it out it turns out he used gun scrubber to clean it every time he shot it. The gun scrubber removed all the residue from the gun but the gunk went into the firing pin channel and locked it up solid. He had been carrying a pistol that wouldn't fire for probably a couple of weeks. I had to drift the pin out to clean it.

The next night he made a traffic stop on a car he didn't know was stolen. Fortunately for him his pistol fired and he beat the animal driving the car to the draw.

I like happy endings :twothumbs

gorn said:

I'm not a "gun smith", but I am a factory Smith and Wesson and Beretta armorer. I love working on pistols. I could have made a good deal of money fixing pistols over the years but I'm the type of person that has a hard time charging to do something that I know how to do.

I just like the satisfaction of taking something that doesn't work and making it work. I had a deputy bring his Beretta to me because it "quit shooting". After checking it out it turns out he used gun scrubber to clean it every time he shot it. The gun scrubber removed all the residue from the gun but the gunk went into the firing pin channel and locked it up solid. He had been carrying a pistol that wouldn't fire for probably a couple of weeks. I had to drift the pin out to clean it.

The next night he made a traffic stop on a car he didn't know was stolen. Fortunately for him his pistol fired and he beat the animal driving the car to the draw.

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Awsome reply:thumbsup: The $$$ thing is also something I've thought about. I have people in my life who I will help because they help me:grouphug: On the other hand... there are people who will get charged full price, or discounted untill I know 100% that I know what I'm doing. Since I know a lot of gun people I already have donors for several projects Problem is I can't take them up on the offer until I'm sure I know what I'm doing:green: I can always replace stock parts, but I don't want a mistake to happen with someone else's firearm. I also feel that if someone who actually uses their firearm for their job hires me they will get a discount. All in all this is something I enjoy and something I'll use the rest of my life... if I can make a career out of it then I'lll finally be living the american dream If not at least I didn't quit my day job over a pipe dream. I need to be careful though... if my job realizes I've learned how to weld and machine parts, they might want me to do a lot more work for them:duh2:

So Gorn, did you go to S&W and Berreta and take their in house courses? That must have been a lot of fun I'm also glad that you took the inititive.... gunsmiths seem to be in high demand today.

Diesel_Bomber said:

Hey, I think the NRA membership is worth it just for the magazine subscription. Love my American Rifleman............

Have fun with the course, 1wrx7! :buddies:

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Rifleman has always been my choice:buddies:... and thank you for the support:twothumbs Fun is what life is all about... I hope I have a lot of it

I took the Smith and Wesson and Beretta law enforcement/military training. I was a lead firearms instructor for my Department. Beretta came to my headquarters for the class. Smith and Wesson put on the class in an old civil war era prison in Carson City Nevada. The training from both was first rate. Even the instruction on hand fitting parts where you have to file of 1/100th of an inch was fun once you got the hang of it

gorn said:

I took the Smith and Wesson and Beretta law enforcement/military training. I was a lead firearms instructor for my Department. Beretta came to my headquarters for the class. Smith and Wesson put on the class in an old civil war era prison in Carson City Nevada. The training from both was first rate. Even the instruction on hand fitting parts where you have to file of 1/100th of an inch was fun once you got the hang of it

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Leave it to a company with an amazing history like S&W to do something that cool:twothumbs I'm actually kind of jealous... if things work out well, I'll probally try to take some factory courses too.

Don't forget about California. You can make a lot of money having guns shipped to you, replacing the mag and bullet button etc to make them cali legal, charging a fee and shipping them on their way.

Hey 1wrx7. No gunsmithing professionally but for the most part I do everything besides welding and rebarreling. I refurbish old military rifles including wood, do my own repairs and parts replacements, tune 1911's and do my own trigger's, including double action S&W's. I just finished my second glass smooth, 10.5 pound trigger on an N frame and have done a couple of K and L frames as well. Maybe I'll post a video of it later. I'm just an enthusiast and I learned everything from my dad growing up in my teenage years. He's the wood refinishing expert and probably one of the best in our state. Another local fella taught me the basics of S&W DA revolver trigger jobs. Anyhow, I think it's very cool that you're getting into this field as I already know you're a shooter and enthusiast. I'll be eager to hear how this unfolds for you.