For All Gunsmiths?

Question

I was wondering if yall knew of any good gunsmithing schools/colleges. I am really thinking about pursuing this as a career. Since some of you are gunsmiths, I thought yall would probably know the best route to take.

I was also thinking about becoming one through the Marines at Quantico. Good or bad idea?

Answer 1

The Marines are an excellent starting point, buy they deal strictly with military weapons and with few exceptions don't get into the majority of civilian produced firearms..

I spent 4 years at TSJC (Trinidad State Junior College) in Lakewood Colorado, and another 2 years of additional training at Lassen Community College in Susanville ,California

I think these two colleges were and are the best for training to become a Gunsmith. They both have state of the art equipment,(Trinidad's Machine shop is bigger)and some of the best Instructors in the Gunsmithing Trade industry. The class sizes are small enough to get plenty of one on one instruction.Another important point/consideration is there is unlimited student support and resources. There is literally tons of financial assistance available as well as reduced fee/interest Student loans and Pell grants available. I will list the phone numbers I have below. You might want to call the NRA Education & Training Divison should you wish to take short term Gunsmithing or Armorer classes..They can help you find a location nearest to where you live [phone]

Trinidad State Junior College,Trinidad,CO [phone]
Lassen Community College,Susanville,CA (530)-251-8800

You can also do an online search for other schools but I highly recommend these I have listed here....

Answer 2

The Marine training will provide you with solid knowledge and skills for the weaponry they use. That is to say the m-16/-4 the Beretta pistol, the 1911 style pistol and some of the other pistols like Sig etc.. It will also get you knowledge of the bolt action "sniper" rifle in current use. Some of this will relate to the civilian market as well. There are some schools in Colorado etc that teach gunsmithing, but I won't recommend one, it's been too long since I had any contact with any of them. There is a school in northern California, taught at a college campus that is excellent, I just can't remember the darn name. Maybe JD or one of the others can.
Remember that the gunsmithing business has changed a lot over the years. FFL's are harder to get and WAY more expensive. My first FFL cost me $35.00, the last time I had to get one, it cost me 10 times that. You need to carry a LOT of liability insurance, I carried 10 million dollars worth, and with some of the ludicrous settlements awarded by liberal judges and juries against firearms related fields, I felt under insured.
Whatever you decide, I wish you the best of luck.

Answer 3

I agree with JD, Trinidad is a good school. And in Lakewood CO. (Denver area) is the School of Trades that also has a gunsmithing course. Colorado is a good place to live and work as they are gun friendly.
How about that little town of Trinidad?, JD, one of my favorite.