Why do you want to be a gunsmith?
It was an easy question to answer years ago. The gunsmith was the top craftsman in most places. His skills were hard earned and valuable. Not just to him but to his community that depended on their guns for survival. He had to be a better metal worker than the blacksmith, better woodworker than the carpenter and make all his own tools. His processes were closely guarded secrets handed down from master to apprentice only after they had paid their dues with years of long hours and low pay.
For me it started early. My father who could fix anything would take his shotgun to a gunsmith for repair. I thought if this man can fix something Pop can’t then he must be the smartest man on earth. As I grew older and began hunting I marveled at the springs, pins, slides and small parts that seemed to magically do their work to fire and reload on my 22. When my shooting progressed to shotguns and center fire rifles there was always an improvement sought that would make me a better shot. When competitive shooting became center stage it propelled me into advanced gunsmithing by necessity on two fronts. One I had limited resources and two a good gunsmith was hard to find. But enough about me, let’s talk about gunsmithing today.
I once read an article that said to never take your gun to a local gunsmith because they were incompetent. I wonder if the people in Salt Lake City felt that way if they went to John Browning. Lets face it, everybody is local to somebody. The local gunsmith can be whatever he is capable of. Custom guns, specialty work or clean and repair. The secret to success is find a need and fill it.
It may not be glamorous but the basic gunsmith doing cleaning and light repairs will have the most jingle in the pocket at the end of the day. Remember you only have two hands and so many hours so you want to fill this with the most prosperous work. No need for expensive machine tools and huge shop with the accompanying overhead if you want to focus on this part of the business. Clean and check a Remington 1100 for $70 and you are below the national average. Ten of these would not be a hard day for any professional but try making $700 in one day on a custom gun. Of course you don’t usually have ten 1100s but you get the point. As gun owners we are all in the debt of these basic gunsmiths. They are the ones who keep guns working for the majority of shooters.
Maybe a specialty is more to your liking. Build a good 1911 and you will never run out of work. Custom stock makers are the same way. Long range rifle builders have popped up around the country lately and are enjoying brisk business. The specialty guys enjoy the advantage of becoming very good at what they do. This is because the do the same thing a lot. They make or find special tools that might not pay their way if only used for an occasional job. They become very good at what they do and can charge accordingly.
Whatever path the gunsmith chooses he has to balance it with the simple fact that he is not just working in a business, he is a business. To survive, this business like all others must make a profit. He can stay in his shop all day and talk to customers and answer all types of questions but at closing time if no work has been completed then who will pay the bills. Of course there is a balance that has to be attained. Work has to come in, be completed and go out. The work is there. By most estimates over 250 million firearms in the U.S. and less than 1800 gunsmith businesses, which makes for 138,000 guns per shop to be serviced. No you won’t have 138,000 in for cleaning but if they only come in once in 20 years that is 6900 guns a year and at $70. And that is just cleaning once every 20 years!
But who is going to pay for all this work? Customers of course, the public along with friends and relatives and even other businesses. Many gunsmiths fail when they don’t realize who they work for. It is the owner and not the gun that pays the bill. Learn it early and never forget, it is the customer that pays your salary and every one that comes through the door is your boss. Your job is to make him happy. So happy that he wants to come back and tells others in the meantime. That old gun might be a piece of junk but to you but to him (or her) it might be a connection to happier times or loved ones. You should be honored that you have been entrusted with such an important task and the customer should be able to see it in your actions. If you make a customer happy he might tell someone. If you make him unhappy he will certainly tell ten.
When I was tasked to create a course for a gunsmithing program I started to review available books. I found excellent books written 50 and 70 years ago on becoming a professional gunsmith but all the recent books were either on custom gunsmithing or amateur gunsmithing. After writing up many articles to supplement available text and instructions I realized I was slowly producing a book without a cover to help prospective gunsmiths to take the huge step of becoming a professional. I had no desire to make this a detail how to book but rather a compilation of tips and advice on not just being a gunsmith but being in business. Understand your business and know you have to do more than make the gun happy. You have to make the owner smile too!
I hope you realize I have no demeaning connotation when I use the term amateur gunsmith. I use the term only to refer that the amateur is not gunsmithing for income. Some of these craftsmen produce work that excels anything you can buy. They work because of a passionate desire to do perfect work and by not having to make money on the job they are able to pursue their hearts desire. You a lucky if you know one of these personally, if he is your friend you are blessed. I was blessed
So if you want to be the “gun man” then prepare yourself well. Remember the simple statement” find a need and fill it” well the need is there, only question is, can you fill it?