I will start this by forewarning you, gunsmithing is a hard road to go down and make a living, especially if you have a family to support. Most gunsmiths average $25,000-$40,000 a year, the ones making more are self-employed and for the most part �top of the trade� with a large following from which they can cherrypick their work. People at that level could focus their abilities on other paths and probably make a better living, financially speaking. Like any career it�s also filled with its headaches, but overall I enjoy what I do. Most of the customers/people are phenomenal.

I�m able to do what I do, mostly because my cost of living is fairly low.

In America the days of apprenticeship are basically over. It�s hard for a gunsmith to divert his time to train an individual while still being able to put out enough work to pay the bills. And likewise that person you train is likely to leave once they know everything. A Gunsmith needs an employee that can come in and at the very least bring in enough extra income to pay for themselves, ideally making more, from day one no less...insert schooling. To be taken seriously you will need to attend one of the schools; Murray state college in Oklahoma, or Trinidad state college in Colorado are my first recommendations. Don�t bother with internet classes.

While school isn�t required and basically anyone can call themselves a gunsmith, the cost of entry without formal education will be a tough pill to swallow. So a gunsmith probably won�t hire you without it, and jumping in as self employed will be setting yourself up to fail.


The number of REAL gunsmiths out there is low, and the demand for REAL gunsmiths shrinks every year.