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gunsmith courses
rakeeb
Member Posts: 2 ✭✭
Does anybody have experiences or insights regarding the correspondence (home study ) gunsmith training courses advertised in "Guns & Ammo" and "Shotgun News ? I'm considering Penn Foster in particular. I don't want to spend a pile of dollars to end up with a pile of literature and no expertise on the craft. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Rakeeb
Comments
a matter of opinion , and Im sure you will end up with plenty of these (opinions) on this one ?
I think that a 'correspondence course' is an important part of becoming a "smith" !
as well as a library of books !!!
hands on experience !!!
videos !!!
apprenticeship !!!
formal training (I had 6 years machine shop , 2 in college ) !!!
ect.ect.ect.
and ,
the "smith" I done my apprenticeship with started with
"Dont do it if you cant/wont do it right" , "Know when to ask for help" , "When you stop LEARNING , your DONE" !!!
Thanks & Good Luck !!!
d.a.stearns....................a.k.a.............SKEEZIX
Gunsmith / LEO
Athens , Tn
www.allamericangunshop.com
p.s. will be glad to help you in any way possible ...........
If you think you're going to sit home, and read some literature or watch a bunch of videos and then be a gunsmith. . .I don't think its going to happen that way. (And certainly NOT unless you ALSO have a lot of prior experience in machining, woodworking, etc).
You gotta get out there and actually work on quite a number of guns first.
Welcome to the Gunbroker Forums!
The only thing a correspondence school will get you is book learning and you can be an internet expert like so many others. Here is a combination of a couple of posts I've made over the years for this same question:
Gunsmithing Schools
First off, there are no correspondence schools that can teach you gunsmithing. You can get information from books but gunsmithing involves your eyes, hands, brains and some machinery. They can't teach you how to run a machine or use a file or make a spring out of a book. Most of gunsmithing education involves hands on work, with instructors lecturing, doing demos and then assisting you while you develop the hand/eye coordination required for a manual skill. You have to build a mental and verbal library as well as a manual skills library for your profession. It involves practice and then more practice.
In my opinion, to pick the best school, you need to gather all of the material about each school that is either near you or has a good description of its' program that peaks your interest. Narrow them down as best you can. Then plan on physically visiting each school that you have a good interest in so that you see the physical plant, meet the instructors, discuss the curriculum and then meet some of the current students and get their thoughts on the program since they have been in it. Also, get a list of graduates and poll them by phone, letters or e-mail to see how they feel that the program benefited them in the pursuit of a career in gunsmithing. Most folks are too lazy to do all of this work but this is your career choice, not just some frolic at someone else's expense. You are the one that will have to make the sacrifices and pay the bills, so do as much advance work as you possibly can.
Gunsmithing curriculum, like many of the technology curricula requires total involvement, you need to eat, sleep and drink it every day. There isn't enough time in school to cover every little nuance so you have to go above and beyond by doing more work, more reading and ask more questions than anyone else does. Dedication for every minute of every day.
The second thing I suggest to do is call or write each of the schools on the list above and request the Gunsmithing curriculum and the rest of the school's requirements including but not limited to all of the costs associated with achieving a degree from each institution. They usually have a package that they send to every perspective student. You can also visit each school's website to get pictures and course descriptions. Be sure to keep a list of questions for each school as you review their information.
It's important to develop a concept of what each school concentrates on in their curriculum since they are not all the same. Each one has it's own personality and it's important to decide if you fit with their personality and curriculum.
If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me. Use my contact information in my profile.
Gunsmithing Schools
Colorado School of Trades (for Profit)- http://www.schooloftrades.com/contact.php
1575 Hoyt Street
Lakewood, CO 80215
Phone: 800-234-4594
Lassen Community College - http://lassengunsmithing.com/
P.O. Box 3000
Susanville, CA 96130
Phone: 530-257-4211
Montgomery Community College - http://www.montgomery.edu/acgunsmith.htm
1011 Page Street
P.O. Box 787
Troy, NC 27371
Phone: 800-839-6222
Murray State College - http://www.mscok.edu/degree/aasGunsmith.html
One Murray Campus
Tishomingo, OK 73460
Phone: 580-371-2371
Pennsylvania Gunsmith School (for Profit) - http://www.pagunsmith.edu/index.php
812 Ohio River Blvd.
Avalon
Pittsburgh, PA 15202
Phone: 412-766-1812
Piedmont Community College - http://tinyurl.com/yf9qxmy
1715 College Drive
P.O. Box 1197
Roxboro, NC 27573
Phone: 336-599-1181
Pine Technical Institute - http://www.pinetech.edu/academics/catalog/trade-and-industry-programs/gunsmithing
900 4th Street
Pine City, MN 55063
Phone: 800-521-7463
Trinidad State Jr. College - http://www.trinidadstate.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=252&Itemid=412
600 Prospect
Trinidad, CO 81082
Phone: 800-621-8752
Yavapai College - http://www.gunsmithing.org/
1100 East Sheldon Street
Prescott, AZ 86301
Phone: 928-776-2348
Best.
Well said.
I have read more threads than I can count regarding "How do I learn Gunsmithing", seems like most of them are asking about the mail order/e-learning courses and your reply is probably the most concise and well formatted that I have read to date.
Excellent.
Yes there is and that's why they are on the list of Community Colleges with Gunsmithing programs in my post above. I even included links for the schools...
Best.
In my mind, you have to have hands on experience with the machining, welding and woodwork before any book course would give you credibility. As you go out and try things sometimes you are going to make mistakes and not know why. A book is a hard place to find the right answer when you don't even know what you did wrong. Practical experience is where you learn these things. The first time you take on a task someone will be there to show you that little correction you need to make so you don't get a huge error that shows up in the end.
Conversely, once you have a solid understanding of what you are doing and the machines and material you work with, a correspondence course is a good addition to your repertoire.