HA! 1st one to page 2.

I still have the pics, my photobucket got overrun when I posted pics of the transformers they guy across the street built.

Oh I'll get the finished pics in a couple days. I actually just got the rifle from my mom's place a couple weeks ago. My roommate borrowed my camera and I haven't needed it yet.

I was a student at the Pennsylvania Gunsmith School.

Sorry, I have the finished rifle, but cannot find my camera, it is in the house but between me and my roommate we cannot remember where we put it. Ill get pics up as soon as I find the thing, thank you for the complement on the work!

As to the school, you have to put in a lot of work, none of the work there done is for customers so that is a challenge, some people had no problems getting people to give them gun to work on, other had harder time to have enough projects. So keep that in mind. I didn't have much extra cash to work with so I had a hard time getting enough gun to work on. By old rusty rifles and a shotgun or 2 at gunshows, or find "gunsmith specials" that way you will have plenty to work on.

As far as what you learn there it is a great school, and is almost 100% hand on experience. Lecture is 1-1.5 hours a week the rest is shop time with group instruction, and one on one time with the knowledgeable instructors. The students that are farther along also help the newer students and is beneficial for both. The older student for example can get credit for fixing an unseen problem in the newer students refinishing job, a new muzzle crown or something that would be beyond what the new student could do. The instructors do very well teaching people who have previous machining experience or a guy that doesn't know how to read a ruler.

The standard that they hold you to right from the beginning are high, but not out of reach, with a focus on teaching high quality hand work. You first gun is done completely by hand, no buffers or anything like that. With close instruction and supervision the entire time. The support given makes reaching the high standard they set easy to achieve with the dedication, this is 40hours a week working at gunsmithing. By the end of the course I could, make stocks, as you see, do custom metal work, as you can see in the project as well, and hold your machine work to a very high tolerance. (down to .0001-4 of an in) and combine the much faster machine work with the considerably slower hand work to get a quality job in profitable time. For example the first couple of gun you do will take up a couple days each, by the end you could do 3-4 in a day, in the school environment making considerations for what the other students are doing, etc. The skills learned lend themselves to working on any gun and the school really over the entire course teaches you how to fix just about anything. If you have to make the part or tool then that is just a small apart of the process, this is what sets you apart from an armorer. You aren't a knowledgeable part swapper when you are done, you are a gunsmith. Can't find a replacement spring, screw, random other part then you have to make them, all of which I've personally done at the school. Including some welding that made my life long welder/step-dad go "WOW, you did that with a torch??!"

As far as finding work, I've done some work in an unrelated field that used the skills I learned at the school, but I've been dealing with an illness for a couple of years now, including my time at school, thought it was several awful things for a while, including cancer, they all been ruled out for now and I'm working to get back on my feet. I haven't been able to keep any sort of steady work because of it and it has been hard for me personally. I would like to open my own shop and do custom work. Once I can get somewhere to set up a lathe and bluing tanks I'll get my FFL. Hell I'll sleep on a cot in the shop.

I kept up with several friends that have found successful careers, from movie armorers, others working for several companies you'd know the names of, one of them came to the school with a $70,000 rifle to show us while looking for the guy with the right skills. Another I've heard is a civilian contractor over in one of those countries, doing quite well for himself. I've also heard of other guys that are working as gunsmith's in shops around the country. There are jobs out there to be had, but it won't make you rich, but it is a VERY satisfying job. When you hand you friend back his dead grandfathers pocket revolver, that was rusted to hell and didn't work, as a highly polished good looking revolver and you tell him it is safe to fire, that a good day for the both of you. I found a hidden compartment on my grandfathers rifle with a pay stub of his from 1956 to prove it was his, he's been long dead now but his rifle is prettier than it ever was and is still taking squirrels.


Hope that covers it, if not ask away

So, camera ended up being one of the things stolen from my roommates car, and I realized I don't have any pics of the "finished" rifle

Crappy camera pics

I'm interested in making a 35 whelen out of a mauser action too. I saw Samco was selling the yugo 24/47 barreled actions, but they were listed as a "short" mauser. I'm not sure if they're talking about rifle length or action length. 35 whelen and 358 norma mag's all fit in an action made for the 30-06 right, so the yugo's are good to go for the whelen, or do you need to alter the bolt and feed ramps? You started with an 8mm action I assume. Thanks, btw I need to learn to do stock-work like that, it truly is beautiful to see nice wood.

Good looking rifle and I hope your luck turns around