Gunsmithing school?

**nick2570** · November 18th, 2012, 04:29 PM

Does anybody know of a gunsmithing school in the philadelphia area, or relatively close by? I am extremely interested in going to school for it and making a career out of it, but I dont know where to start. I am 20 and decided college was not for me after 2 years, so I am looking for an alternative. Any help is appreciated, thanks! Sorry if this is in the wrong forum

**PA1749** · November 18th, 2012, 09:43 PM

I looked into this one and I spoke with them about it. It looks good and I might still do it in the future. It's very affordable, totally online, and accredited. The college is located in Scranton, PA.

http://www.pennfoster.edu/gunsmith/

**Keith A** · November 19th, 2012, 09:21 AM

Originally Posted by nick2570

Does anybody know of a gunsmithing school in the philadelphia area, or relatively close by? I am extremely interested in going to school for it and making a career out of it, but I dont know where to start. I am 20 and decided college was not for me after 2 years, so I am looking for an alternative. Any help is appreciated, thanks! Sorry if this is in the wrong forum

Look into the NRA short term courses. None in the Philly area, but if you can travel for a few days they may be of interest. They are subject-specific. There are courses for fitting 1911 match barrels, making stocks, glass bedding and inletting, and some knife making courses as well. I wouldn't waste my time with the Penn Foster ones. Online courses are ok for theory based subjects, but not for hands-on stuff. Unless you have unlimited access to the exact things they are trying to teach you to work on, it won't be much help. The accreditation thing is a joke. They just have to meet some arbitrary standard to get accrdited. I recently saw an accredited online course for diesel mechanics. Who has unfettered access to a diesel rig to work on? Or the tools? I have also seen some short term courses taught by working gunsmiths that are held at their shops, just not in the Philly area.

It would probably be better to get a bunch of the AGI videos on areas that interest you and work from there. Also taking some courses in woodworking, machining and welding (at a local community college) would be a good place to start, and would put you above the level of most commonly encountered gunsmiths.

Unfortunately gunsmithing is just not that popular. With the anti gun stigma that is becoming so common, and the fear that the government is coming to take our guns tomorrow, many aren't willing to put their time and money into establishing a career with it.