Gunsmithing

[il cacciatore]

How do you go about being a gunsmith? Was wondering if you take a course or you get training through an apprenticeship. If its a course then who does it and how much does it cost?

 

Information on this is patchy so thought someone here might be able to help me out better than Google.

 

Thanks :yp:

[Hunter]

I was told there is a place in London where you can be an aprentice.. I was also thinking about it after everyone in he gunshop said I should study as one.

But im just tinkering with guns for people and as a hobby, nothing that big yet :yp:

[young gun]

I was considering getting an apprenticeship as a gunsmith when i leave college soon and i had the same problem as i only got patchy information and found it difficult to find out much about it but i was told by various gunsmiths i had spoke to that i should contact some of the major gun makers such a purdey and enquire about apprenticeships.

 

This months Sporting Gun has an artical on apprentice gunsmiths and apparently it may be possible to get a sponsorship for an apprenticeship from the Worshipful Company Of Gunmakers under an initiative it launched 2 years ago to create more opportunitys for people to be trained as a gunsmith, although apprenently there have been only one or 2 takers, so it may be worth trying to contact them.

[Baldrick]

I knew it, keeping hold of those old Holt's auction catalogues next to the bog had a use: there is an advert for the Gunmakers Company Charitable Trust, who run a scheme. The Sporting Gun article also mentioned it. Perhaps it's worth writing to the well-known London gunmakers, as well as the smaller outfits such as J Roberts & Sons etc?

 

 

 

Edited: Young Gun above beat me to it....

[il cacciatore]

I know for a fact that in America you can do a distance learning course for gunsmithing. But we dont live in America.

[Dunkield]

How bizzare

 

I was looking into doing this, as I trained as a mechanical engineer i thought it would be nice to do something I enjoy rather than working in a profession that can't even afford to employ me any more. We won't have a mortgage soon so I can afford to take the drop to learn the trade.

 

I even spoke to the bloke who opened up my choke who told me 'it is a dying trade mate, ever since Dunblane...' Funny that I was quoted 6 weeks MINIMUM turn round time to have one choke opened up by 3 different guns shops - so that is clearly bull. I found the online stuff, but as you say it is all in the States.

 

What I want to do is found out who all the shops outsource to, but they are not going to offer up that information for fear of my going directly to them, I may give them my details and ask them to contact me.

[il cacciatore]

This is really weird how noone seems to have information on it. Maybe non of our gunsmiths have received formal training?

 

I study at uni so Ill have a profession but I thought it would be nice to have a trade as well that I enjoy that I could do 'on the side'. If it requires me dropping out to do an apprenticeship then its not viable for me. A course would have been more suitable really.

[MC]

What makes a trade different from a profession?

 

I am a time serves carpenter and joiner who did a 5 year apprenticeship with day release at the local technical college and sat some fairly long and difficult exams.

 

I consider myself to be educated and qualified as highly as anyone with a degree. The only difference is what we do, accoutants use a calculator I use hand tools.

 

My first job after leaving school was working in a gun factory, I'll use the term GUNSMITH loosely as it wasn't Purdey's.

 

I worked in a workshop for the importer of Baikal and E Rizzini shotguns. Our days were spent checking guns over ready for sale. Other jobs included timing ejectors, rechoking barrels (Baikals were done by cutting the barrels down), fixing the guns that fired both barrels at once.

 

The highlight of the day was taking repaired guns to a local farm and test firing them, Each gun had 50 cartridges put through it in a set sequence to check for all functions.

 

We also had a bluing tank which stunk horrible and noone really knew how to use it.

 

I find it difficult to believe that you could learn to be a gunsmith without working for a gunmaker, it certainly isn't something you could learn from a book or by doing a postal course about.

 

Cheers

 

Martin

[il cacciatore]

I agree that you would need hands on practise but you could learn theory I guess.

[Dunkield]

I would say it is all about the hands on, distance learning will teach you words, but getting your hands dirty will be only way to really learn it.

[il cacciatore]

But where? :no:

[Dunkield]

If I knew that, I wouldn't be sat here typing this

[Dave-G]

stuartp - six weeks turnaround sounds like a skill shortage worth looking into

[arjimlad]

I don't know whether GMK have trainees,

 

I grew up in their neck of the woods and although this was 12 years ago now (they were called Gunmark then), I heard that they had apprentices.

[Dead-Eyed Duck]

A friend of mine is now a registered RFD as a result of his gunsmithing.

 

Stuart - he too is an engineer by trade, and started off 'gunsmithing' by doing basic engineering work for a large, well known air rifle shop.

 

Basic stuff like changing springs, removing stuck pellets in barrels, etc. etc

 

At every opportunity he used to go to game fairs, and chat to the stockers, gunsmiths etc.

 

He then bought a set of chequering tools, and got to be fairly good at this after lots of practise.

 

Then he swotted up on bluing, and made himself a set of bluing tanks. After this he progressed to traditional bluing, which is a totally different process.

 

Now he can do almost everything from replacing and timing ejectors to altering chokes to whatever.

 

He does this part time, and declares the work to the taxman.

 

He makes a fair living at this, plus his normal day job as an engineer.

 

I think it true to say that there are very few opportunities for full-time gunsmiths anymore, but it all depends how far you want to go.

 

Hope this helps

 

Don

[il cacciatore]

Interesting insight. Thanks.

[Dunkield]

stuartp - six weeks turnaround sounds like a skill shortage worth looking into

 

 

Just what I thought Dave, but it is the closed season so probably their busiest time.

I also thought, why doesn't the bloke with the smiths who claim to be underemployed contact the shops quoted the daft lead times - but unfortunately half of these people can't see beyond the end of their noses when it comes to business acumen.

 

 

DED, some wise words their mate, I wouldn't mind helping out on a part time basis - hell I could even do it the 2-3 days a week when I am 'working from home'