Gunsmithing a meme?
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You are currently reading a thread in /k/ - Weapons
You are currently reading a thread in /k/ - Weapons
Is gunsmithing school / courses a scam?
Can't one just read books and acquire materials and y'know, get going, only seeking advice when necessary? It's not exactly expensive, and there can be a lot of profit in fixing up lazy people's rifles in some back country town, or buying cheap shitty guns and turning them into masterpieces.
I mean there is an end result, a product, it's a CRAFT, so if my guns were to turn out prettier, stronger, and more reliable, would I not be a master?
>>29549232
Woops meant to make the subject "Gunsmithing a scam?"
>>29549232
Yes, it is. Next question.
>>29549430
You have your answer, asshole. Now eat shit and die.
Apprenticeship doesn't hurt, but like all guildwork, it doesn't really matter without the benefit of the guild, if you know what I'm saying
>>29549232
If you're OK with crippling eternal poverty and selling rubes and fudds $15 boresighting/ scope ring mounting and bubbaing old milsurp with $50 receiver tapping jobs then gunsmithing is the career for you
>turn old shitty guns into shekels
That isn't how it works, real life isn't a videogame.
>making masterpeices
Are you 12 OP?
Gunsmithing=/=5 axis machining, engraving, and a mechanical engineering degree. Gunsmithing is learning how to bubba people's shit with trigger jobs and tapping receivers for scope mounts. On average a gunsmith is atvor below the poverty line income wise, if not straight up unemployed.
>>29549564
This.
It's a small community. Networking will get you lots of work and resources.
>>29549232
You'd be better off going to college to be a mechanical engineer and work for a firearms company.
Going to a tradeschool for a niche profession is bound to be unfruitful.
>>29549658
This.
Pretty much what I did. Gunsmithing is much like sport or being a celebrity- unless you are exceptionally good at it, you won't be able to make a decent living.
>>29549610
I meant that you aren't gods among men, but that too is still true in this business at least.
>>29549232
Look Anon, it's really simple.
If you want to make a living out of firearms, you need to either know how to operate them or all the technical stuff.
Both ways have options that are only viable if you are amongst the best of the best. That would be competition shooting and gunsmithing for example. Unless you are really fucking good, it's only a nice hobby or a way to make some extra money from time to time, or living near poverty.
And both ways have options that will allow you to make a decent living as long as you are just good enough. Instructor and engineer would be best examples. Sure both of those don't have nearly as much "fun" ot direct contact with guns as competiton shooter/gunsmith, but you also don't need nearly as much skill to make money out of it.
>>29549779
Not with that attitude. You make more as a gunsmith if you have the mindset. I make more than doctors as a hypnotist because I have the mindset (and I actually fix problems instead of medicating them for the rest of your life, but w/e I dont want patients as clients) Seriously thing, it is a small field with ample room for growth. There is room in most areas just by being an ffl holder that only charges 15 dollar transfers on top of what you do. I wouldgladly pay more for slightly boutiqued guns long as they didn't cost more than regular guns at msrp. The point is that you can charge whatever you want, but business is always good and charging less is most always better unless you are a merchant.
>>29549886
>don't need nearly as much skill
>engineers have less skill than kletus the gunsmith
What you're thinking of is some variation of the glass ceiling anon, not "skill". A hot shit world class gunsmith makes less popping out case hardened 1911s and doing $500 an inch engraving than a newly minted engineer.
To become a gunsmith you need some books/DVDs and potentially a certificate, but all in all is something you can do in a few months. Coincidentally it is a low skill, low paying job with little to no room for advancement.
>not to mention anything a gunsmith is willing to do, a non retard can do themselves
Why pay a gunsmith to order a part off numrich or to slap a 20% middleman fee on contacting a company to do a hotbluing for you? As the fudds die, so does archaic shit like gunsmiths.
Compare that to the 5 years of math and hard sciences a mechanical engineer slogs through go make 60-90k a year. More work. More reward
>>29549232
Dedicated gunsmithing school? Fuck no. Most of the courses are the way they are for a reason, to either pry on the stupid or to serve as supplemental knowledge to people with engineering degrees. Learn to machine, weld, or be a draftsman. Use those skills to gunsmith on your own time. If you develop your skills enough and find a market, try it, but don't expect any sort of overnight success story.
>>29549232
i went to the susanville gunsmithing school here in california a few years ago. i also have certificates in welding, have done PPC and NRA bullseye shooting for decades, and prior to all that was an 11M in the Army, and nabbed a Ba of Architecture.
gunsmithing is a middle class "mechanic" job that might net you $50k/yr with irregular work or $70k+ with regular work with a service contract to a manufacturer. it won't make you rich, and the amount of regulation and fees and such in some states can easily cost you a hefty chunk if you plan on dealing in guns as well, not just manufacturing.
at Lassen, we covered:
1. gun handling, identification, and various common actions
2. wood working (making furniture from blanks, wood repair, wood finishing, et c)
3. metal working
4. soldering, brazing, TIG and MIG welding
5. simple chemical finishing (hot and cold blue, rust blue, acid etching, et c)
6. plating (both electrical and electroless)
7. fitting (properly taking measurements for LOP, comb rise, heel drop, et c)
8. safety conversions (adding cross bolts, stock pins, three position safeties for sear disengagement)
9. a bunch of smaller things like engraving, checkering, drilling, tapping, hardening, bedding, recrowning, threading and other machinist tasks, etc
it covers a lot and is about a year long (9 months?)
obviously if you have most of those skills already then you are just learning gun-specific applications and techniques, or standardized methods for doing the work a customer might want.
"gunsmithing" is a labor of love. if you want to get rich with guns, either cook up something new that can sell and be a manufacturer or dealer, or get a well paying day job and buy all the guns you want.
Has anyone here used a gunsmith or even know someone who has used one, for any purpose? Everyone in my local club either does their own work or has someone within the club help them. Also, when's the last time anyone here has seen a bubba'd rifle and said "I'll pay 20 percent more for than than a factory version." Probably never. Gunsmithing is not a viable trade for anyone not in the military.
You want a real /k/ related career? Go apply to Applebees.
>>29551044
i had a gunsmith professionally fit a trap over-under for me and create a rather nice from a stock blank.
