Jammer Six
New member
I won't. I've been a general contractor since 1997.
Thanks for the advice, though.
Thanks for the advice, though.
Gunsmiths...
- Thread starter jonathon
- Start date
Hunter Customs
New member
Yes you can make a living being a gunsmith. That being said do not plan to do so by working a 40 hour week. Mr Bonar and cntryboy1289 both gave some very good advise and both are speaking from experience.
Now back to the 40 hour week. Most likely you will not be able to hire anyone to help when you first start out and even when you are able to you may not want to. So that means you do your own paper work, ordering of parts, talking with customers on the phone or by e-mail and sometime after doing all this you must do the actual work on the guns. You might as well figure putting in at least 25 hours a week doing all the things it takes to run the business, so if you want to spend 40 hours working on guns you are now working a 65 hour week. To be successful you will most likely be working 80 to 100 hours a week.
Next you want to learn all the skills you can such as welding, machine skills (mill and lathe), as much finishing work as possible. The more work you can do in house the better. Remember when you have to farm work out you have to deal with that persons time frame and the amount of skill they have in doing the job.
Here's some things that were taught to me that may help you make it as a smith. Do not price your work to cheap trying to under cut everyone in the business. If you do it's almost a sure bet you will start doing poor quality work for the simple reason you do not feel as if you are making enough off the job at hand. You must set down figure what you have invested in your shop and machinery, than figure a fair labor rate that will help you survive in the business.
Do not count on making much money from parts unless you are having your own manufactured.
Be honest with your customer and do your best to provide customer satisfaction.
Do not claim to do work that you can't do.
Do not try and cheap out on parts as it will come back to haunt you. It does not cost that much more to use high quality parts and your customers will be happier in the long run.
Above all else do not knock another mans work to try and sell your own. This was taught to me at a very young age by my Dad. His words were " if you have to knock another man's work to sell your own than there must be something wrong with what you are selling".
Good luck in your endeavors and I wish you well in the business.
Regards
Bob Hunter
www.huntercustoms.com
Now back to the 40 hour week. Most likely you will not be able to hire anyone to help when you first start out and even when you are able to you may not want to. So that means you do your own paper work, ordering of parts, talking with customers on the phone or by e-mail and sometime after doing all this you must do the actual work on the guns. You might as well figure putting in at least 25 hours a week doing all the things it takes to run the business, so if you want to spend 40 hours working on guns you are now working a 65 hour week. To be successful you will most likely be working 80 to 100 hours a week.
Next you want to learn all the skills you can such as welding, machine skills (mill and lathe), as much finishing work as possible. The more work you can do in house the better. Remember when you have to farm work out you have to deal with that persons time frame and the amount of skill they have in doing the job.
Here's some things that were taught to me that may help you make it as a smith. Do not price your work to cheap trying to under cut everyone in the business. If you do it's almost a sure bet you will start doing poor quality work for the simple reason you do not feel as if you are making enough off the job at hand. You must set down figure what you have invested in your shop and machinery, than figure a fair labor rate that will help you survive in the business.
Do not count on making much money from parts unless you are having your own manufactured.
Be honest with your customer and do your best to provide customer satisfaction.
Do not claim to do work that you can't do.
Do not try and cheap out on parts as it will come back to haunt you. It does not cost that much more to use high quality parts and your customers will be happier in the long run.
Above all else do not knock another mans work to try and sell your own. This was taught to me at a very young age by my Dad. His words were " if you have to knock another man's work to sell your own than there must be something wrong with what you are selling".
Good luck in your endeavors and I wish you well in the business.
Regards
Bob Hunter
www.huntercustoms.com
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I've been fairly fortunate to be able to see what running a small business is like, chaotic, but if its a family thing, pretty dang fun... I was(well, still sorta) homeschooled, and I pretty much spent from 11 on till now working here.
I've been doing a bit more research(well.. a LOT actually), and am thinking that to start, I should get some machining skills, and perhaps get a job as a machinist first, using that as a way to support myself to go through a formal gunsmithing school.
Also seriously looking into joining the military for 4 years...
I got a year or so to figure out what I want to do with myself
I've been doing a bit more research(well.. a LOT actually), and am thinking that to start, I should get some machining skills, and perhaps get a job as a machinist first, using that as a way to support myself to go through a formal gunsmithing school.
Also seriously looking into joining the military for 4 years...
I got a year or so to figure out what I want to do with myself
cntryboy1289
New member
on the right track there
Some of the best smiths I know got their start in the military working as an armoror. Let them teach the machinist skills you will need on their dime. You end up with as good a knowledge of machining as taught anywhere plus you get the added benefit of working with some of the worlds finest gunsmiths. The man I learned from came out of the Air Force. He had brought home so many of the tools he designed and built while in the military that are way beyond anything available on the market today. Good luck in your decision.
Some of the best smiths I know got their start in the military working as an armoror. Let them teach the machinist skills you will need on their dime. You end up with as good a knowledge of machining as taught anywhere plus you get the added benefit of working with some of the worlds finest gunsmiths. The man I learned from came out of the Air Force. He had brought home so many of the tools he designed and built while in the military that are way beyond anything available on the market today. Good luck in your decision.