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Posted: 2/20/2012 4:55:21 PM EDT
| What type of certificates does one need to be considered a real Gunsmith? I see the NRA has a Gunsmith/Armorers program at Murray State College in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, however it looks like these are pretty short very basic classes. Intro to Mill in a 1 week program.... I am thinking it takes longer than a week to learn how to truly use a Mill The lathe course is the same. I was interested to see Hamilton Bowen has a class on Single Action Revolvers, but again its a week or two week deal. I don't see being able to consider yourself a competent SAA smith after a one week course. Is there a legal definition of a "Gunsmith"? What advise would you give me? |
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No certification is needed to be a real professional gunsmith.
In fact, all too many "certifications" are about as valuable as a degree in medicine from a mail order Mexican "Medical School". All you need to be a real gunsmith is an FFL for gunsmithing purposes and any state and local business licenses and zoning requirements. The only legal definition of a gunsmith is Federal law about having an FFL to be in the business. There is no where in America where you have to have any other license or standard requirement. A duck can hang out a sign and declare himself a gunsmith. The only certifications and degrees that have any value are those from top schools like Colorado School of Trades and Trinidad Junior College. These have industry wide reputations for turning out stone cold professionals. Most of the short courses offered by various sources are really aimed at professionals who want to add to their skills. They really aren't aimed at beginners, and most won't take beginners. The intent is to give a pro more knowledge on a specific subject, not spend the very limited time teaching the basics to beginners. If you want to be a real professional, pass on the internet schools and the mail order schools. Most are worthless and are a joke in the profession. The best ways to become a pro are serving as an apprentice to a top gunsmith and actual schools. This doesn't mean Jim Bob at the local shop who picked it up here and there. The numbers of top gunsmiths who are willing to take on an apprentice AND can teach what they know are few. Taking machinists classes at a Vo-Tech school is good to teach you basic machinery operations. However, being a good machinist does NOT make you any kind of gunsmith. Most of a gunsmiths time is spent sitting at a bench with a magnifier, a stone, and screwdrivers. The best way to become a pro is to attend a top school. These take at least two years and cost a lot of money. A degree from a top school will at least get you an interview most anywhere. While you're going to school, have a brain..... take business courses. Great gunsmiths have gone broke FAST because they knew nothing about running a business. Here's the schools. As above the two with the best rep are Colorado Trades and Trinidad. Others are also good: Colorado School of Trades 1575 Hoyt Street Lakewood, CO 80215 Phone: 800-234-4594 Lassen Community College P.O. Box 3000 Susanville, CA 96130 Phone: 530-257-4211 Modern Gun School 80 North Main Street, P.O. Box 846 St. Albans, VT 05478 Phone: 800-493-4114 Montgomery Community College 1011 Page Street P.O. Box 787 Troy, NC 27371 Phone: 800-839-6222 Murray State College One Murray Campus Tishomingo, OK 73460 Phone: 580-371-2371 Pennsylvania Gunsmith School 812 Ohio River Blvd. Avalon Pittsburgh, PA 15202 Phone: 412-766-1812 Piedmont Community College 1715 College Drive P.O. Box 1197 Roxboro, NC 27573 Phone: 336-599-1181 Pine Technical Institute 900 4th Street Pine City, MN 55063 Phone: 800-521-7463 Trinidad State Jr. College 600 Prospect Trinidad, CO 81082 Phone: 800-621-8752 Yavapai College 1100 East Sheldon Street Prescott, AZ 86301 Phone: 520-776-2150 |
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No matter where you go there is always some douche that wants to challenge the act that you are a "real gunsmith" I graduated from CST in 2007 then went from there to run the gunsmith shop at a Gander Mtn by myself for a year then went on to a few more gun shops for a couple years until I got tired of people thinking they knew more than me. I went back to school for CNC machining to supplement my gunsmithing skills and the machine skills that I got from gunsmithing. Now I work in full on precision machine shop. I run CNC lathes 5 axis mills a water jet and spend a lot of time working on guns using manual engine lathes and end mills. If I even mention to a stranger that I am a gunsmith I get the "are you a GUNSMITH or just an armorer? theres a difference you know." or the ol "I build ar15s too"
So to answer your question. I dont think there is an official thing that says you are a "certified gunsmith" You wil just have to take baby steps and only work on projects that you think you can handle and work up from there as you get more experience. Just know that there are haters. I have never seen these kinds of haters for any other career field |
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I'm a machinist. Been working in machine shops for 30 years. I served my 8000 hour apprenticeship program thru the state of CT. After I was running manual machines for years, I was trained for CNC machines on several different controls.
Well who cares? I'm a hobby gunsmith. I have machines in my garage and do all my own work from changing barrels on 1911 pistols to rebuilding S&W antiques, glass beading, replacing sights add infinitum. The easiest guns to work on are AR15's. Most parts just bolt on. I have the S&W armourer manuals and taken courses from AGI "on line". I feel I do better work then the pros in my state. The work I gave them was not to my standards and I re-done what I wanted done. I guess you need to understand how machines work, and of course if you take a file or punch to something to understand what to expect. The only downfall in doing your own work is the tooling and fixtures that you will need. You will need to make or purchase your equiptment. Just doing a barrel job on a 1911 pistol will cost you 300-500 dollars in reamers, tools and fixtures needed. On S&W revolvers, S&W likes to withhold parts that you made need, so some jobs must be sent back to them because of parts availability. Lastly, you won't become a machinist or gunsmith without years of hands on experience. |
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