Let me give you the path that I took. This is a long post.
When I was younger, I took a couple of mail order courses. I found out a little later that everything in them I could have learned by buying several of the good gunsmithing books available.
The courses were a total waste.
Later, in my early 40's, I decided that I wanted to be a gunsmith.
I found a good old gunsmith who was getting ready to retire and had a huge backlog of work. I told him that I would sweep floors or anything else he wanted just to watch and learn.
I was lucky and he let me start to do some of the easier jobs and then taught me much more. He had me threading barrels, cutting chambers, installing brakes etc. He taught me a lot.
He also had a huge library of old and new gun books and many manuels that were put out by the gun manufacturers in the earlier years as well as exploded views of guns you most likely never heard of.
Most were not available anymore, many for years.
I was lucky and had access to a good copy machine and copied thousands of pages of gun related material. I had three each of 4" binders of just Winchester and Remington alone. I made binders for every manufacturer.
I went to every different gun site I could find and printed out anything that would be a help for any gun that I might come across. All of this info went into binders.
I then went to The Colorado School of Trades. Some think it is not the best of the full time schools, but I really liked the instructors and the school has a long history and a good reputation. I found that if you showed real interest, the instructors would go out of their way to help you learn, there was little they would not do to help you.
CST had a gun shop where people would bring their guns in for repair at a greatly reduced price. We got some real POS firearms that needed a lot of work, which was a good thing.
I bought at least half of the available gunsmithing books, many from E Bay at a big cost savings.
When I got to the part of the course where you repaired guns, I told the head instructor that I wanted every SOB firearm repair that he had. The worst of the worst. He asked me if I thought that I could handle that. I told him yes, so he gave me the tough ones.
Many of the younger students just wanted the easy repairs so they could just pass that section of the school. Many of them could break a ball bearing with a rubber mallet.
I got all the expensive double shotguns, the guns that required a lot of work and guns that had been at the school for months that no one else had been able to fix. I repaired them all and with only a couple of exceptions got 4.0 Grades on every gun.
I got done a couple of months early, so they made me a student instructor. I helped the newer students or one's that were having problems.
One of the most important things that I learned that you will not get from books was safety. How to do thing safely, what could be done safely to different firearms and gun repair safety in general. This is where a lot of new gunsmiths get themselves in trouble is not knowing what is safe to do and what wasn't.
I also made drawings of tools and took measurements of them for later.
I graduated at the top of my class and then went to work for a gunsmith for about 6 months.
I should add that people did graduate at different times and some of the other graduates would have given me a good run for top honors. There were some very talented students at the school.
My time at the school was some of the best times I ever had, I didn't want to graduate. Lots of great people, neat firearms and great equipment. We had a lot of fun.
The students who were a little older and had some life experience made the best students. Some of the younger guys I doubt ever became a Gunsmith or could hold a job at a shop. There were some exceptions of course.
I then opened my own shop. It was then that I found out just how much that I didn't know.
My library saved my butt more than once. It was the next best thing to experience.
When I first opened up my shop I had a small lathe, drill press, belt sander and disc sander and a good selection of hand tools.
Many potential customers walked out because they expected to see full sized equipment such as a lathe and mill. No way I could know what I was doing because I didn't have enough equipment.
I bought a good full size lathe and mill. Customers started taking me more serious then.
I worked hard, did every job to the best of my ability and made sure that it was done right and looked professional, even if it took a lot of time that I could not charge for.
As time went on and I got more experienced, I got much faster.
My library was one of the best things that I had.
I also machined as many of my own tools as possible from the drawings I made of the tools at school. This gave me more machine work experience.
I soon had a good group of repeat customers who really liked my work.
I was in a smaller town and there was only so much business so I looked to find a good nitch.
There was only one gunsmith who specialized in Savage Bolt guns and he was 6 to 8 months behind.
I started a web site, savagegunsmithing.com, became the gunsmithing moderator on the Savageshooters web site and before long built up a good internet business.
The people who sent their rifles for accurizing and repair gave me very good reviews online and the business grew.
I hurt my back and had to retire. I gave the Savagegunsmithing business to Scott at S&S Sporting. he is the best gunsmith that I know, works on any type of firearm. He has grown the Savage business greatly and has a large following of repeat customers. I gave all my gun binders to Scott also.
Sometimes I wish I would have kept them, but he lets me use anything that I want in his shop, even when he is not there. he trusts me, which is great,
I never got rich, but loved the work.
Before I had bluing tanks, I took the bluing business as well as other things that I could not do and sent it out to good gunsmiths who gave a trade discount. I would then tack a few dollars on when the firearms were returned to the customers. That way, they continued to bring me all their work.
I ended up being a darn good smith, but it took years to get really good and I learned new things every day. I miss my shop to this day.
Gunsmithing is not an easy way to make a living. It costs thousands to equip a shop and the expendable materials that you use every day cost a lot, as does replacing worn tooling.
I'd do it again. You have to remember that it is a business, not a hobby and treat it as such or you will starve.
There is a great deal of paperwork that has to be done. Time talking to customers and ordering parts; you are not making money doing those things, but they have to be done.
You have to know all the BATF regs and stick to them. It's not worth going to jail over a stupid mistake or by doing something illegal for a few $$$.
If you decide to become a Gunsmith, be sure that you have a second income to support the shop until it's making enough money and have a lot of drive and family support, you'll need it.
Don't waste your money on AGI courses. They may tell you about a spicific gun, or how to do a stock re finish, but they will not come anywhere near in making you a gunsmith. There is far more to gunsmithing than taking apart and re assembling a gun. You need a lot of hands on time and info that AGI will not give you.
Best Regards, John K
