Gunsmith school or courses

Does anyone know of any gunsmith schools in the valley? Please do not respond and tell me to research as i have done plenty of it. I am just wondering what you all know. Thank you!

I researched this close to five years ago. I was laid off and thought about a career change. Closest Gunsmith school I had found at that time was in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania Gunsmith School). Living in Eastern, PA and already married and about to start a family, this wasn't an option.

I also looked at a course that was either on-line or they sent you instruction DVDs (can't remember, it was a while ago), can't remember the name of the company either. I'm a hands-on person. Learning to disaasmble a rifle over the internet or from a video just didn't right.

This probably isn't helping you, but I figured I'd share what I experienced years ago.

Oh no problem. Any input is better than no input. I too am having the same issues. Have a 3 month old and def not willing to go to pittsburgh for schoool and i too am a hands on and i also feel you can't learn as well online. If i happen to find something i will make sure to post though...

I was intrigued until I saw that gunsmiths average $25k/year or so...

http://gunsmithsalary.com/

This is true, the salary for a gunsmith is kind of low, however if it is only a gunsmith business. If you pair being a gunsmith with also the sale of guns it gets a little better depending on how well you do throughout the year.

Many gunsmiths don't work full time. They work out of their homes or garages and IMO this allows them to not work whenever they don't want to work. Call upi almost any gunsmith that works out of his home, he will have odd hours and won't be there most of the time.
Also, there are parts of gunsmithing that many smiths don't or won't do, stockmaking and bluing quickly come to mind. A good stockmaker will have work, and will make more than 25K if he actually works.
Lastly, working at a place like Gander Mtn might not pay huge paychecks, but the exposure to factory reps and industry insiders is invaluable.

Any good smith that actually puts time in will be so swamped with work, that if he only makes 25K a year, he is giving his work away.

Their is absolutely no lack of work in the gunsmith business if you get good at something, and that is the key.

Every gunsmith I have ever used specialized in what he did. Weather it be 1911's, MP's, Glocks, long range rifles, AR15's, or shotguns. None of them ever pick up the phone and say, "oh yea ship it over, I have nothing in the shop so it will be done in a day or two". None of them are cheap either. I've never had a "Walmart" style gunsmith who works on everything.

If you don't have a lathe and mill, that is really going to limit you. Most of the work that needs done requires those tools.

If you have the drive, the opportunity is there. Maybe someday I'll be shipping you my guns for work.

As for the school, I have no idea only one I know of is Pittsburgh.

The reason why gunsmiths do not make that much money is the fact that parts sometimes can be difficult to obtain and for the smith to fabricate the part(s) can be cost prohibitive considering labor costs. As far as the modern arms are concerned, there are more companies today offering life time guarantees. Certainly cheaper to send it back to the factory.

I know a few smiths that have been in business for years, typical of the old guys that seem to populate the trade. They both have wives with good jobs, both complain about the cost of liability insurance. I do not know if either would pursue the trade if they were returned to their youth.