Gun Smith become how to Jobs
A gunsmith is a skilled tradesman who designs, customizes, manufactures, repairs, restores, cleans, disassembles, assembles, engraves, maintains and/or sells guns. Skilled as you can guess is a key word. Though gunsmiths tend to specialize in one particular type of weapon or in one or two of the above mentioned applications, knowledge and know how of engineering, wood working and metal working are all required as a bare minimum.
On top a need for great skill gun smithing also comes with a great deal of responsibility and restrictions. Being that firearms are a weapon, laws involving their production, customization and maintenance are strict and closely monitored the world round. Not just anyone can go making or customizing guns and selling them.
However, the position does generally pay well and is in high demand. Gunsmiths are regularly hired on by government agencies or private gun manufactures on top of those that start their own businesses. 40% of American citizens alone own a gun of some kind and this number continues to increase. Work for gunsmiths is in no danger of disappearing any time soon.
This simple step by step guide will aim you through the rather involved process of becoming a gunsmith.
The first step to becoming a gunsmith is to get the formal education so you know what you’re doing. This is important because even the smallest mistake to a gunsmith can cost him/her or someone else their life.
There are three main ways to acquire formal education for gunsmithing.
- Attend a Gunsmith College.
There are specialty colleges for Gunsmith’s that offer complete formal training.
- Find a local college or trade school that offers Gunsmith courses.
Most colleges and trade school’s offer associated degrees in Gunsmithing.
- Take Gunsmith education course through the NRA, or National Rifle Association.
Most courses entail about two years of schooling or 64 credit hours. Cost of the full degree varies as many programs have general education type classes and then choices to obtain a gunsmith specialty.
This education will only begin to teach you how to actually be a gunsmith. Formal training is simply a prerequisite to the job introducing you to the tools and skills involved as well as giving you a crash course on safety. Some gunsmith’s skip this step and go straight to step two of this how to guide on how to become a gunsmith, but that is not recommended.
Once you’ve studied the books and obtained a base knowledge the next step is to obtain an apprenticeship. An apprenticeship is when you train beside someone who has already mastered a skill to learn the skill yourself, in this case gunsmithing.
You can either simply find a gunsmith willing to let you be his/her helper and learn from them, which is referred to as becoming an informal apprentice or you can sign up for an actual gunsmith apprentice program. The Association of Gunsmiths and Related Trades (TAOGART) is an example of an organization that offers these apprenticeship programs.
Many programs have some general requirements for applicants such as an age requirement (usually 16), a GED, Diploma or C average if still attending High School, legal ability to handle firearms, and physical able to perform the trade. You can find a sampling of some of the gunsmith specialty apprenticeships at the source to this sentence.
These programs usually require about 8,000 man hours to complete. However 8,000 hours is not that much time when you consider that long list of things a gunsmith can do at the top of this page. An apprenticeship gives you hands on training while there is someone present with experience to correct and prevent dangerous mistakes.
The final step is to become acquainted with the particular legal requirements in your particular area. Gunsmith laws and firearm control polices vary greatly by location even within the same county. Most areas require a gunsmith to pass special tests and obtain permits and licenses to perform their particular skill. You will need to know all the laws including federal, state and local and comply to them all. For instance to sell or produce firearms in the United States one must have a Federal Firearms License or FFL. This is one of the most basic and common requirements to a gunsmith.
Once you have obtained all this, you can finally get around to actually obtaining a gunsmith job. Most beginner gunsmiths take jobs for someone else. They work for other gunsmiths, government agencies, gun shops etc. Once some experience and/or a customer base is established some of these workers go into business for themselves. Insurance premiums are also high for gunsmith shops however so many do not make this leap for some time if ever. How to go about finding jobs as a gunsmith varies by the specialty chosen, however most gunsmiths do not have difficulty finding work.
