Gunsmithing: A viable living??

[GatorFarmer]

Sonoran Desert Institute is probably among the best of the online schools. A guy who took their program restored my Krag for me, he did a good job.

A lot of the Marines here are armorers and do online gunsmithing programs.

Have you thought about simply joining the Army? With enlistment bonus, housing, etc you'd probably make about what you do now assuming you have enough college to go in as an E-4 or qualify for a program that allows enlistment as an E-5. They'll give you a job working on guns if that is what you want, or driving heavy equipment or anything else you qualify for. (42 is the age cut off now.) Do your 20 and retire as an E-7 or so when you're in your mid 50s.

In terms of gunsmithing, yes you can make a living, the more so if you sell guns as well, but it depends on where you live as to the demand.

Even plastic guns have specialists - there's a thriving market in Glock and AR modifications. Other people do different things - 1911s, precision rifles, or even building blackpowder guns from scratch. (Many of these are quite expensive and quite nice.)

But, and I say this in all seriousness, also look into Blacksmithing. It's undergoing a real revival and you can use many of the same skills to make knives and certain guns parts.

 

[35Rem]

It's a tough gig. Any self-employment is. As moonman stated, more and more guns are plastic-fantastic throw-aways.
Unless you are a specialty 'smith (means picky) you will deal with everything from covering up a scratch to building guns from scratch. Expect more on the lower end of the scale to come through the door. I need a screw, firing pin, spring replaced, etc. These are $10 jobs. They will cost YOU more than they are worth, most of the time.

If you like wrenches, look into mechanicing?

My best advice is to Google "Dave Ramsey" and figure out how to make what you got work, first.
I did it for you: Real Debt Help - Get out of debt with Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover Plan - daveramsey.com

He has a radio show, maybe you can find that and get an idea. Some places, churches here, do his Financial Peace University from time to time.

 

[jimmyj]

Keep the day job.

 

[2152hq]

There's almost too much that you have to know, too much to inventory and too much in the way of tools, machinery and specialty tools to be set up as a good 'general gunsmith'. Add to that the talent. Everything else is wasted w/o the know-how.

Customers will expect you to do everything from reaching back into a parts bin for a slide release for their pre-war Savage 29, to making their Winchester 21, Parker, LCS not fire both bbls everytime the Single trigger is pulled, to fixing the AR's/AK's, Glocks, mount a scope,,and on and on.

A few can do most anything but most settle into a comfortable specialty.
They cultivate customers/dealers/collectors that need their services within that specialty and that is where they can make a go of it.

It takes time and good work out into the hands of the people you're targeting to establish that. Not something done over night.
Working for an established shop is one way to do that and gain experience.
You'll need at least an 01FFL working on your own. You may as well take advantage of the buy/sell of firearms to make additional money.

You can get an 01FFL with a stipulation that it be 'for gunsmithing only' on the original application or when you renew at any point.
The only thing I can see that you gain is not having to list the business hours. What you loose is that ability to buy & sell. It is strictly 'for gunsmithing only'.

Some do a good business by taking in work from gunshops that do not employ a gunsmith on premises. Also from some retail bigbox type stores. They avoid the customer contact that way, do the work, return it and get paid. A nice way to do it in many ways.

Walk in customers can take up alot of your time. Well meaning and curious they may be,,but it's not a spectator sport for the gunsmith/engraver type. Your time is very valuable at the bench and when spent gabbing at the counter is money lost.

I've done it. It was something I wanted to do since I was in my early teens. It came about finally in a very different way from what I would have ever expected. Plus in a specialty (engraving and restoration) that is something I wouldn't have dreamed about early on.
Now I'm trying to be kind of retired from it but still busy working at it every day.

 

[chief38]

A Gun Smith's income has to do with many factors and there is truly NO ONE here that can answer your question with any meaningful answer. Here are just some the variables:

1) What are the Demographics of your area?
2) Do you live in a "gun friendly" environment?
3) How difficult is it to get an FFL in your County?
4) Do you currently have or can you afford to buy all the equipment to do FULL SERVICE Gun Smithing?
5) How talented are you with your hands?
6) How are you as a Businessman?
7) Do you feel comfortable working with the retail public?
8) Can you afford to give up your regular job and devote your time to do this full time, or is this just a part time supplementary thing?
9) How supportive will your wife and kids be in the beginning when the money is tight?
10) Do you have enough money that you can sustain your lifestyle for AT LEAST one year without any income, while you are building the business and reinvesting the profits into machinery, equipment and advertising? Can you get through the slow weeks and months?

As you can see (and I am not being negative here, just truthful) there are so many factors that will affect weather you would be a successful or unsuccessful Gun Smith (financially). There are 20 Pizza joints here in the Town that I live in. One does phenomenal, two do fantastic and the rest just barley make enough to keep their doors open, some don't. Same town, same people, same set of circumstances.

Unfortunately before you give up you your regular job you will have to do some serious soul searching and most importantly is to be honest with YOURSELF as far as the answers to these and many other questions.

If you decide to go forward, I wish you the best!

Regards,
Chief38

 

[msinc]

1) What are the Demographics of your area?
Mostly shotgun because you cant hunt with rifles here, not many places to shoot either.

2) Do you live in a "gun friendly" environment?
Maryland...land of the communist liberal democrat!!! Are you kidding???

3) How difficult is it to get an FFL in your County?
About the same as everywhere else, pretty difficult. You have to have retail store front and proper zoning. Dont really need an FFL to gunsmith.

4) Do you currently have or can you afford to buy all the equipment to do FULL SERVICE Gun Smithing?
No and rarely does anyone else, I started small and bought equipment as I made the money. I bought, restored and sold for profit alot of oldies but goodies to pay for my equipment but it didnt happen overnight.

5) How talented are you with your hands?
Definately helps, machinist by trade and certified welder.

6) How are you as a Businessman?
This ones the kicker, no really good businessman would try to smith for a living, he would get into real estate or sell coke.

7) Do you feel comfortable working with the retail public?
Yep, but most gunsmithing isn't retail, its repair and that might be worse yet. Many times its not a matter of feeling comfortable, its a matter of covering your tail and beating the occasional huckster that wants something for nothing at his own game.

8) Can you afford to give up your regular job and devote your time to do this full time, or is this just a part time supplementary thing?
Part time supplementary only, and I hope it stays that way...I'd starve if I had to do it full time.

9) How supportive will your wife and kids be in the beginning when the money is tight?
About as "supportive" as they are about anything else when money is tight, zero.

10) Do you have enough money that you can sustain your lifestyle for AT LEAST one year without any income, while you are building the business and reinvesting the profits into machinery, equipment and advertising? Can you get through the slow weeks and months?
Sustain my lifestyle for a year without income??? I couldn't do that if I won the Lotto!!

Bottom line how I did it, start slow and small, learn on your own guns because it's alot better for long term business to mess up your own gun than someone elses and dont quit your day job. You dont have to tell anyone about your own gun mistakes. $65.00 an hour, no problem actually low for me...unfortunately it's just not 40 hours a week and it's not starting out. Once I got pretty good at barreling actions and doing accuracy rifle work I did alot of it for friends at very cut rate prices to get the word out. Best advice of all is never, ever cut a corner...it will bite you in the tail everytime. The above were all good questions but as you can see none are necessarily deal breakers. You can do it but it's slow and alot of work and you have to like doing it because it quickly gets "not fun."

 

[mattallamerican]

keep the day job. unless your name is wilson ,bowen,brown,or hienie ect. ect. or if you can invent a cheaper better slide fire. anyway good luck in your quest.

 

[chief38]

Well,
there you have it!

 

[ckprax]

I would start out doing it to supplement your income; work on your own guns and then friends. If you can start to stir up a lot of business and make a name for yourself, then look into going full time. Being a small business owner in America is no easy task and is getting harder every day. You need to have all your ducks in a row.

Good luck, I certainly think you have plenty of time to start a new career.

 

[Sebago Son]

My son is a Gunsmith. He has worked in two different gunshops and is only just now getting set up on his own. To keep the cash coming in for his new wife and child, he works another job about 50 hours a week.

The time honored tradition is for an older, experienced gunsmith to take an apprentice under his wing. The apprentice will do everything asked of him from sweeping the floor to sanding a stock and he learns along the way. He is trading his labors for knowledge. Eventually he learns enough and develops a reputation and a customer following.

It's a tough row to hoe and you don;t make any money for quite some time until you go out on your own.... Even then you'll never get rich. If your family situation requires that you put beans on the table, it's probably not a good fit for you right now.

We always used to joke that the "best way to make a small fortune as a gunsmith is to start with a big one..."

 

[TheHobbyist]

My best advice is:

Write down six things you are really passionate about in life. Perhaps, they are combinations of things you enjoy (i.e., marketing manager for a gun company; or a company that specializes in supplies for truck drivers or a major manufacturer).

After you get maybe 6 of these things down that you enjoy, or pieces of things you enjoy from several disciplines, I think you will find what you may be looking for.

I forgot who said it, but when we do what we love for a living, we start truly succeeding.

Hope this helps--

 

[RIDE-RED 350r]

WOW! What a bunch of great, well thought out and well worded advice!

These are the kinds of answers I am looking for. Of course the gunsmithing schools are going to tell me I'll make a great living as they are trying to talk me into taking out student loans to pay their tuition.... Real experience from real people in the business is what I want to know about and you all have done just that.

I have kind of been a man a many hats over my lifetime to this point. I have worked as an equipment operator, in home service technician (lawn and garden equipment), general mechanic, truck driver. Just about everything I have done for a living involves the internal combustion engine.

Another passion I have along with my firearms passion is ATV's, sleds and whatnot. I own em, ride em, fix em, and mod em myself. I just did a 350 Big-Bore mod with all the goodies on my old Honda 250r trike. Did all the work (besides the machining) myself.. I guess my dilemma is that the things I enjoy the most aren't very easy to break into and make good money at! Why can't I get excited about investing! LOL!

 

[Moonman]

34, Married, 2 Kids, that's a Responsibility.

Now your other Passion is ATV'S, and you're already mechanically inclined with them,
so maybe that's the direction you should go.

Fix them, Detail them, Race them, Soup them UP, Sell & Install Parts, and you can do that around your family.

 

[wheelgun28]

I can offer my $.02 its worth what you paid for it...

A big part of business is handling the business end of it. Things like paying bills, dealing with taxes, writing bills, collecting money.

Things like speaking to people properly, explaining things in an understandable fashion sounds easy but not everyone can do it.

I have found the most successful businesses are started and run by sales people. They know how to sell the business and themselves. Some of the best skilled trades people fail in business.

My last bit of wisdom on any business is to have customers before you start. Sounds crazy to some folks but its not. Starting a business, having equipment etc does not equal being in business. Why, because having that does not mean you will make money. "If you build it they will come" no, not really. Your money will run out before you build a customer base.

Edit:
I think a way that you can gunsmith things and make money today is assembling kits as semi autos. Theres lots of demilled kits on the market you'll need to make receivers and barrel some of them. They dont bring big money but theres some room on it it seems.
The downside is you will need a manufactures ffl and it seems that you will need to pay the ITAR fee. You need to build a lot of guns to cover that...

 

[fyimo]

I live in an area where there is not one gunsmith that does serious work on rifles or handguns any where close to me. I do have one that owns a pawn shop and he will work on triggers and do minor repairs to guns. He doesn't have the equipment to do serious metal work or stock work. When I lived in Colorado I was able to take my firearms to the Colorado School of Trades in Denver and get really serious work done on guns. I also had a couple of really well known gunsmiths in my area for pistol and rifle work including 1911's.

I think today it would be very hard to become a gunsmith because the time it would take to learn the trade, develop the skills, buy the equipment, get a location to work, and most of all build a clientele We also live in an age of changing guns styles and shooters who like plastic pistols, modular rifles and they actually enjoy playing with them.

They will pay big bucks for a "sniper Rifle" or a new upper for their AR 15 but they care little about a beautiful wood stock, a finally tuned 1911, or other things that were the bed and butter of gunsmithing in the past.