[BlackedOut04GT]

So I am not really happy at work. Could be the boss being an old pain in ass that no one likes, or the fact that I work with family and the pain in the ass boss lives right across the street from me. Like his driveway facing my driveway. I am looking into buying a house to get away, but still not happy at work and getting stressed out more and more. Almost walked out a quite on the spot about 12 times in the past 2 years. Yes, it got that bad and still kind of the same.

So with all the shows on TV and my love of shooting, I am kind of thinking about becoming a gunsmith. I love mechanical things, taking them apart, putting them together, and making them better.

I have a few questions.

Has any one here gone through gunsmith school?
About how long did it take and cost?

Does anyone know if there is a place/school in or near MA?

[brought_pain]

I haven't gone to school for it. But I'm thinking about it too.

I was going to get into refinishing and found out a lot of city ordinances come into play. Then disposing of chemicals the right way comes into play. You have to prove yourself and where you will be working acceptable, get approval and other hoops. Ultimately, living with and caring for my mother provided too many variables to get started.

There's money to be made in it though, a $150 investment to be able to parkerize, then do 8 pistols at 80-100 a piece and you're way ahead. Bluing isn't a lot of money investment wise, but you can charge double for a good blue job. Everybody I talked to locally didn't want to deal with the chemicals so I could have been the only person around. The paint finishes are the same also, one pistol would pay for the gun kote to do a few, and paint finishes are just spray paint and bake or let sit. Easy stuff.

As for gun smithing, I'm thinking about a custom 1911 longslide and the parts(top notch, highest quality) are just under 2k. fitting and assembly another $500. $2500 for pistols listed over 4k? There's definitely money to be made there. The odd "fix it" jobs also provide some income. Also, markup when ordering a firearm is 10-15% around here and shipping/receiving ffl fees range from $15-30. There's money in it, especially if you are either the only provider or one of the few for services and products in demand.

Call the smiths around you and see what they can and can't do, what they're set up for and what they have to send out. It'll give you a better idea which direction to go with your buisness.

Hope this helps and encourages you!

Some of the best smiths have backgrounds in other stuff like racing or have other interests before guns.

[OneShotOneKill]

the only people i've heard of going to "gunsmith" school were friends in the military who got lucky enough to go into advanced school for armorers, but i think portions of the class are like a apprenticeship with civillian gunsmiths, next time i talk to my buddy ill see if i can get more input.

[king_Ahmet]

Holy shit. I was thinking about this last night... Sub'd.

[JakeM]

I would LOVE to do this as a profession. I googled it a few nights ago on a slow night at work. The schools aren't long, but they are almost all pretty expensive. I don't know where I would go to work around here for it either. I think I'd have to start my own shop which I don't have room for right now anyway. Let alone the capital for start-up or the money to go to the schools.