I want to become a gunsmith.

Most likely everyone who posted before me know more about and is a better gunsmith than me.
I am an amateur gunsmith, and I have paid real gunsmiths to do my TIG welding for me, despite having all the right equipment.

But I doubt many have my ability to make so much money as me with so little talent and effort.

I could play guitar for a living and supplement my income with food stamps.
I could be a gunsmith for a living and do a little better.
I could be an engineer employee of a corporation and make $140k/year
I could be a contract engineer and make more.
I could be a consultant engineer and make more.
I could be an investor and make even more.

I have interviewed enough engineers and spoken to enough gunsmiths to know that any good gunsmith could have been a good engineer.

When I talk to a gunsmith that is smarter than me and works harder than me, and yet cannot pay for a tooth implant, it hurts.

What does it all mean?
Gunsmithing does not pay much for the talent and effort required.
 
Gunsmithing does not pay much for the talent and effort required.
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It does, for a few that are well-positioned in their niche- and have the reputation for quality work and the efficiency to make $$ at it.

I had a potential customer email me about installing a PE mount on his Mosin-Nagant ex-sniper. It would require un-plugging the mount holes (three each side of the receiver), re-drilling and tapping them, indicating all the holes on the mill (not an easy task and I haven't even thought through the process of doing it on BOTH sides of the receiver)...

Then, taking an un-drilled mount, and transferring all six of the hole locations to the new mount (again, two sides, so double the set-up time again) to drill the mounting screw holes.

How in the world would one estimate time for a task like that when you've never done it before...and I know I'd give him a coronary with a quote. Sure as heck isn't a $20-$30 per hole scope mount d&t job.

So, as with a lot of work sometimes undertaken in this trade, it's done as a labor of love (meaning, bend over...), or just take a pass because I'm too busy to spend a good part of a day messing with it. Seems to be the case much of the time, that the labor hours involved in a task just don't equate to what the customer would equate to a reasonable "price point".

Kudos for keeping this nine-year old thread alive. Must be a record :)
 
Don't overlook those summer NRA gonne smithing classes either. That's where I got my start (took 8 classes at Lassen) and took a 1911 class this summer. They're great for people who work full time and can take a week off from work. You can learn a lot in those classes too.

Trinidad has a general gunsmithing class where the students bring in all sorts of things to work on. One guy had to make a V spring from scratch. In relief carving taught by Jack Brooks, the guys learned to do rococo carving on their stocks. They even have weekend machine shops now (2 day machine shop for those who already know how to use a lathe/mill and need access to them).
 
Note that this is a Zombie thread. Just about everything on the subject has been said, so please read it before posting.

Jim
 
A lot of good points made here, but for overall content, I would go with kraigw's post. You BETTER be a machinist if you plan on doing gunsmith work. Just looking through a tool catalog price list should be an indication. You should get a job in that first. I used to get VOTECH kids in the tool room during the summer where I worked at. You can not teach mechanical aptitude. You either have it or you don't. If you think you can handle it, then slowly start in on the gun work. Gun work part time is the way to go if you want to make money at it. I am pretty much out of it now. There is a grey area about working on guns and holding an FFL. I don't want the hassle of an FFL at this point in life, but pretty much only make parts anyway. Still, it brings a couple bucks in now and then.
 
Yes, Jim, I read it and it is extensive!

Still does not address my question, though. Apparently my post was not read thoroughly or I wrote too sparsely to get my meaning across. First, I have allocated $150,000 to the purchase and installation of tools, equipment and raw materials needed to start. Second, I do not give a flip if I ever make one thin dime. This is something I have always wanted to do. I plan to learn and then use what I learn to accurize and tune weapons for law enforcement officers since I was once one of them, many, many years ago and know exactly how it feels to carry a "worn slap out" firearm into a potential shootout - not good! Third, I fully expect to do this as a hobby and ultimately learn to build the best 1911 handgun that I can buy and for anyone else, then, who wants one, I will sell one or two a year. Finally, I plan to add a reloading operation to my shop and build a full function 500 yard range on my rural property. I just wondered about what I would be needing most badly. A lathe, drill-press, CNC, milling . . . and which brands are the best at what they do. If more money is needed, I can handle that but really just want to hold initial costs to 150K and add to as needed. Again, thanks for any advice.
 
Yaderp said:
Still does not address my question, though. Apparently my post was not read thoroughly or I wrote too sparsely to get my meaning across. First, I have allocated $150,000 to the purchase and installation of tools, equipment and raw materials needed to start. Second, I do not give a flip if I ever make one thin dime. This is something I have always wanted to do. I plan to learn and then use what I learn to accurize and tune weapons for law enforcement officers since I was once one of them, many, many years ago and know exactly how it feels to carry a "worn slap out" firearm into a potential shootout - not good! Third, I fully expect to do this as a hobby and ultimately learn to build the best 1911 handgun that I can buy and for anyone else, then, who wants one, I will sell one or two a year. Finally, I plan to add a reloading operation to my shop and build a full function 500 yard range on my rural property. I just wondered about what I would be needing most badly. A lathe, drill-press, CNC, milling . . . and which brands are the best at what they do. If more money is needed, I can handle that but really just want to hold initial costs to 150K and add to as needed. Again, thanks for any advice.
Click to expand...
pm sent.

-TL
 
If you want to work on 1911s, go learn from Cylinder and Slide. Bill Laughridge was the man who showed, despite Colt's engineer's thick report stating it could not be done, that a 3" barrel 1911 would work.
 
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