Veteran looking for gunsmithing school/training

[McGraw]

I am looking to use my Vocational Rehabilitation or GI Bill to go to gunsmithing school, but I don't know where to go. I am still in the reserves, and my unit is sending me to armorer school, but I would like to go to a civilian school as well. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[TreyG-20]

The ones worth going to are out of state. All the others are either online, garbage reviews or do not except the GI bill. I researched the crap out of this when I ets'd out of active duty.

 

[McGraw]

I was afraid of that. I keep getting emails and letters from Penn-Foster online school but I met someone who did their program and he destroyed my friends revolver.

 

[TreyG-20]

Your best bet is probably to befriend a local smith that may take you under his wing and show you the ropes. Maybe work for free doing odds an ends in a shop in your free time and learn what you can.

 

[ROGER4314]

Contact TGT mamber "Retired Army SGt"...James. He's been down that road.

Flash

 

[thatguybythebay]

Colorado School of Gunsmithing

 

[Brownman0311]

Murray State College [FONT=arial, helvetica]

Tishomingo, OK

[/FONT]

 

[TexasRedneck]

Also....don't know if the program still exists, but at one time the VA had an "Apprenticeship" program, where you'd get on with an employer who'd agree on a pay scale. Every 6 months, he pays more of your agreed-upon salary scale (based on a 2-year program) and the VA pays correspondingly less. At the end of the program (24 months), he's paying your full scale - but he's had 2 years to train you to HIS standards.

 

[Gunmonk]

I went to Piedmont community college in NC. It is a hands on program and self paced. There will most likely be a waiting list no matter were you go so start making calls. Brownells has a list of all the schools available. Keep in mind that there is not much money in gun work. It takes a lot of tooling etc.

 

[Ghosty1]

i realize that *someone* i going to flame me because this is an older *open* thread that i just came upon.
regardless, ill post, hoping someone may benefit from my experience related to the topic.

my .02 re: penn-foster.

Itll run you between 600-700 dollars, or it did me a few years ago (price varied depending upon how you paid.)
Its not a "real" college, its a new name for what used to be that correspondence school that the blonde gal from all in the family used to hawk on TV (forget names)-and its not all that good, unless you know pretty much nothing.
It does however have some worth. i knew pretty much *nothing* so, i got a lot out of it. met a couple of guy online with similar interests who were in same "class" and still correspond with one. the most value, however is in the books. NRA guides, manufacturer guides etc. i still use them to this day, and if you were to buy them separate, youd have nearly the cost of the course in them.
final opinion? if you are totally new to gun plumbing, yes, its a good way to get started. it will not give you any recognized credits or credentials. it will NOT make you a gunsmith.
the other options listed by other posters are better choices IMO than going the penn foster route.