Online Gunsmith School
- Thread starter RetArmySgt
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RetArmySgt
Glad to be back.
I sent off the referral
RetArmySgt, first of all...thank you for your service to our country...assuming your "account name" is correct!
I am very interested in what you have to say about the school, course, and educational value as well. I appreciate you taking the time to jump on every once in awhile and just give us a little feedback on how you are doing, as well as your take on everything. Fun to follow...
I am considering this as a possibility as well. If there is any referral information, o0r anything to benefit you by having another referral...let me know.
Thanks!
I am very interested in what you have to say about the school, course, and educational value as well. I appreciate you taking the time to jump on every once in awhile and just give us a little feedback on how you are doing, as well as your take on everything. Fun to follow...
I am considering this as a possibility as well. If there is any referral information, o0r anything to benefit you by having another referral...let me know.
Thanks!
RetArmySgt
Glad to be back.
You have one year to complete the courses but if it wasnt for the VA taking thier time to pay the tuition i would have finished in less than 2 months. I am still waiting for it to get paid so I am taking a break from the courses since i cant afford to pay it outright (which i would have to do if i complete the course now).
Thank you. Any information that you want to know about the courses just ask in here and i will answer them for you. If you want a referral for the course just pm me with your name, address, phone number and email.
Thank you. Any information that you want to know about the courses just ask in here and i will answer them for you. If you want a referral for the course just pm me with your name, address, phone number and email.
RetArmySgt, how far along did you get before you took a break? A week into it, and I finished the sections up to customizing gun stocks. I'm not sure if I should keep going with the online lessons, or slow it down and wait for the additional lesson materials that shipped thursday.
I am curious, have any of you that has completed the course...or looked into the "online gunsmithing schools", had any feedback from old school gunsmiths or gun shops...for their take on the course? Is there any negative or positive feedback from anyone already in the gunsmithing or firearms business...?
I am very interested in some details along these lines...
I am very interested in some details along these lines...
I haven't talked to any gunsmiths in the area, most of the shops in the area are just retail, and the gunsmiths are homefronts. I've been dabling in gunsmithing for awhile, family trade, and picked up quite a bit from different family members. I'm not far along in it yet for them to have anykind of an opinion.
RetArmySgt
Glad to be back.
I did the first 11 test before i took a break. Its fine to do the courses with the online material with the exception of the practicals, you usually need the supplementals that they ship with the hard copies.
brocknchrist
Active Member
So does everyone here feel that this course is worth the money... I understand its not Colorado school of trade quality... I just want a piece of paper that can prove that I know something... Right now I have knowledge but no credentials...
Live, Laugh, Love. If that doesn't work, Load, Aim and Fire. (repeat as necessary)
Live, Laugh, Love. If that doesn't work, Load, Aim and Fire. (repeat as necessary)
RetArmySgt
Glad to be back.
Thats the reason i took the course, just wanted a piece of paper to go with my knowledge.
brocknchrist
Active Member
Would you say it was worth it... Did you learn anything?
Live, Laugh, Love. If that doesn't work, Load, Aim and Fire. (repeat as necessary)
Live, Laugh, Love. If that doesn't work, Load, Aim and Fire. (repeat as necessary)
RetArmySgt
Glad to be back.
I knew most of it before hand but for someone that doesnt have the knowledge or experience its good info.
brocknchrist
Active Member
Father is a gunsmith and an ffl... Don't think this class will tea,h me much... Unfortunately me and my father live too far away for me to rude his coat tails... So I want to do this stuff on the side...
Live, Laugh, Love. If that doesn't work, Load, Aim and Fire. (repeat as necessary)
Live, Laugh, Love. If that doesn't work, Load, Aim and Fire. (repeat as necessary)
Texastransplant
Active Member
I good one from I believe Pennsylvania School of Firearms, mail order back in the late 70's. I think at the time it was about $600. It wasn't a bad class, lots of book and worked through thing however each book and chapter covered differnt arms. Well without having all the arms it did make it a bit hard along with the tooling etc. I was lucky though a neighbor was a gunsmith and had a full shop, so going there did help some. I guess I learned quite a bit but again without the guns and tooling, it did make it harder.
brocknchrist
Active Member
By their website it doesn't appear they do anything mail order or online any more... They have a 14 month course... But if I had 14 months I would be in Colorado...
Live, Laugh, Love. If that doesn't work, Load, Aim and Fire. (repeat as necessary)
RetArmySgt
Glad to be back.
There is always the AGI Enhanced Gunsmith Certification Course but its not cheap.
I'm gonna kickstart this thread again because I have a bit to add to it.
I've subscribed to AGI's newsletters for a couple of years. What I like about AGI is they often include tips in their newsletters. What I don't like about subscribing to their newsletter and notices is I probably receive a couple dozen messages from them a week with various offers and inducements. Still, AGI looks to be a good way to go.
I took a correspondence course in gunsmithing back during the last days of correspondence schools -- the early 1990s. It was from the Modern Gun Repair School. Now, it's all online, but back then it was all by mail. I recall even writing to them, asking if they'd thought about setting up a BBS so students could upload and download files instead of having to mail them. Welp, a BBS sounded just way too hi-tech for them. It was a good school, though. Nowadays, this same school is called the Modern Gun School and it is online. Their URL:
Modern Gun Repair School | Online Gunsmithing Course & Schools
Back some 20 years ago, the price of the course I took was $985. Same as then, they offer two courses, a beginners and advanced, or "Masters" course. The course I took was the advanced one, with 65 lessons, and which included tools, catalogs, and supplemental info. The beginner's course nowadays $1342 and the advanced is $1642.
As others have mentioned, however, even the advanced course is not gonna teach you most of what you need to know to be a gunsmith -- unless you're a smith who decides to specialize in something, like gunstocks, checkering, or engraving -- which is how to run a lathe and a milling machine. A traditional gunsmith is, first and foremost, a machinist -- who just happens to specialize in firearms. And while the course I took did have detailed information on machining and welding for many projects, reading about it and doing it are two entirely different things. Fortunately, at the same time I was taking this course, I also found a local vocational program in hand and CNC lathe and mill, which I signed up for and completed. Unfortunately, I did not own a lathe or a mill, and while I could use the school's, they didn't want me to use them for firearms. Hey, it was a high-school campus, so technically it would have been illegal to have a firearm on premises, even a dismantled one, I suspect. Quite a few years later, I finally got a lathe and a mill, but an awful lot of water had gone under the bridge in the interim. Nowadays, I don't use the lathe much, but I do use the mill. I build acoustic guitars and for several of the steps I use my milling machine for precise cuts. I bought both tools with gunsmithing in mind, however. For instance, even though my lathe is only a 20-incher, it has a center hole in the chuck of over one inch, so I can mount bull barrels in it. The milling machine can be retrofitted for CNC if I decide to go that route.
If you want to take a course to increase your own knowledge and for your own personal use, then probably either school's basic course will work well for you. But if you're thinking of doing this, even as an avocation, be aware that, if you're working on somebody else's firearm, you really need to have an FFL -- Federal Firearms License. All professional gunsmiths that I know of have FFLs. Years ago, I knew one guy who resisted getting one because he did mostly furniture. But even he gave in because he was having to store customers' guns. And now, doesn't a gunsmith have to run a background check on a customer, even when they're the ones who brought a gun in for repair? I remember that was a controversy for a while, but I don't recall the outcome of it all, as it pertained to gunsmiths. I know pawn shops will run the background check once a person wants to get their gun out of pawn. Even though it's their gun. Yes, I even had an FFL and I honestly didn't care all that much about keeping track of the paperwork, but it wasn't too bad. I'm just not a paperwork kinda guy. One good thing about having an FFL, besides the obvious, which is ordering guns through the mail, is you can buy wholesale from most distributors and Brownell's. I did this when I had my FFL and saved a lot of money on scopes and accessories for my personal firearms, and of course, I added a few firearms to my collection.
Back when I got my FFL -- 1993 -- it cost me about $30 I think. I don't recall anymore. Nowadays, though, it's $200 for the gunsmith version. A bit steep, but it figures. Back then a passport was $10 and now it's over $100. Anyway, once you've been approved for an FFL, you've only waged half the battle. Cuz then you have to meet all your local and state requirements. The FFL isn't valid until you've gotten local and/or state approval. It's a hassle not everyone is willing to put up with.
I've subscribed to AGI's newsletters for a couple of years. What I like about AGI is they often include tips in their newsletters. What I don't like about subscribing to their newsletter and notices is I probably receive a couple dozen messages from them a week with various offers and inducements. Still, AGI looks to be a good way to go.
I took a correspondence course in gunsmithing back during the last days of correspondence schools -- the early 1990s. It was from the Modern Gun Repair School. Now, it's all online, but back then it was all by mail. I recall even writing to them, asking if they'd thought about setting up a BBS so students could upload and download files instead of having to mail them. Welp, a BBS sounded just way too hi-tech for them. It was a good school, though. Nowadays, this same school is called the Modern Gun School and it is online. Their URL:
Modern Gun Repair School | Online Gunsmithing Course & Schools
Back some 20 years ago, the price of the course I took was $985. Same as then, they offer two courses, a beginners and advanced, or "Masters" course. The course I took was the advanced one, with 65 lessons, and which included tools, catalogs, and supplemental info. The beginner's course nowadays $1342 and the advanced is $1642.
As others have mentioned, however, even the advanced course is not gonna teach you most of what you need to know to be a gunsmith -- unless you're a smith who decides to specialize in something, like gunstocks, checkering, or engraving -- which is how to run a lathe and a milling machine. A traditional gunsmith is, first and foremost, a machinist -- who just happens to specialize in firearms. And while the course I took did have detailed information on machining and welding for many projects, reading about it and doing it are two entirely different things. Fortunately, at the same time I was taking this course, I also found a local vocational program in hand and CNC lathe and mill, which I signed up for and completed. Unfortunately, I did not own a lathe or a mill, and while I could use the school's, they didn't want me to use them for firearms. Hey, it was a high-school campus, so technically it would have been illegal to have a firearm on premises, even a dismantled one, I suspect. Quite a few years later, I finally got a lathe and a mill, but an awful lot of water had gone under the bridge in the interim. Nowadays, I don't use the lathe much, but I do use the mill. I build acoustic guitars and for several of the steps I use my milling machine for precise cuts. I bought both tools with gunsmithing in mind, however. For instance, even though my lathe is only a 20-incher, it has a center hole in the chuck of over one inch, so I can mount bull barrels in it. The milling machine can be retrofitted for CNC if I decide to go that route.
If you want to take a course to increase your own knowledge and for your own personal use, then probably either school's basic course will work well for you. But if you're thinking of doing this, even as an avocation, be aware that, if you're working on somebody else's firearm, you really need to have an FFL -- Federal Firearms License. All professional gunsmiths that I know of have FFLs. Years ago, I knew one guy who resisted getting one because he did mostly furniture. But even he gave in because he was having to store customers' guns. And now, doesn't a gunsmith have to run a background check on a customer, even when they're the ones who brought a gun in for repair? I remember that was a controversy for a while, but I don't recall the outcome of it all, as it pertained to gunsmiths. I know pawn shops will run the background check once a person wants to get their gun out of pawn. Even though it's their gun. Yes, I even had an FFL and I honestly didn't care all that much about keeping track of the paperwork, but it wasn't too bad. I'm just not a paperwork kinda guy. One good thing about having an FFL, besides the obvious, which is ordering guns through the mail, is you can buy wholesale from most distributors and Brownell's. I did this when I had my FFL and saved a lot of money on scopes and accessories for my personal firearms, and of course, I added a few firearms to my collection.
Back when I got my FFL -- 1993 -- it cost me about $30 I think. I don't recall anymore. Nowadays, though, it's $200 for the gunsmith version. A bit steep, but it figures. Back then a passport was $10 and now it's over $100. Anyway, once you've been approved for an FFL, you've only waged half the battle. Cuz then you have to meet all your local and state requirements. The FFL isn't valid until you've gotten local and/or state approval. It's a hassle not everyone is willing to put up with.
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Another online gunsmithing school well worth considering is AGI: American Gunsmithing Institute. You know, of all the online courses I've looked at, AGI is the only one that has course modules that go into thorough detail on machining using a lathe and mill. I'm just beginning to check out what AGI has to offer. It takes a while. Their courses are DVD based and rather than having like a single gunsmithing course they have many, many modules on specific subjects. Here's the link:
AGI - American Gunsmithing Institute
Not cheap at all when you start adding up the price of all the different modules. But you know, the expression "You get what you pay for" works both ways.
AGI - American Gunsmithing Institute
Not cheap at all when you start adding up the price of all the different modules. But you know, the expression "You get what you pay for" works both ways.
RetArmySgt
Glad to be back.
Cooltouch, they do have a complete course they call the Enhanced Master Gunsmith Course and it cost around $17k last time i looked into it.
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