Choosing Suitable Gunsmithing Schools

To become knowledgeable in choosing a trade school means finding out beforehand if the school is going to provide their students the education and experience to actually practice the trade that they are considering. To do this requires perspective students to look beyond the nicely illustrated school brochure. Dave, a graduate of the Colorado School of Trades is a case in point. While serving in the Navy, Dave enrolled in a correspondence gunsmithing course.

A focused and knowledgeable young man, Dave sailed through the long-distance learning course, receiving high marks throughout. Upon completion, he was awarded a certificate to hang on the wall. That is about all Dave feels he accomplished for his efforts; a worthless, decorative certificate. Dave is married and father of two. He and his family live in the mid-west where seasonal outdoor hunting is popular.

Wanting to start his own business, Dave began to consider the feasibility of operating a gunsmithing business in their rural town. To earn the background required to be considered a professional gunsmith Dave needed more than a passable correspondence schooled gunsmith course. Dave knew he would have to return to school, a real hands-on gunsmithing school that offered in-depth lab work, not a less intense long-distance school as he had chosen before.

There are fewer than ten in-residence gunsmithing schools in the United States and after much consideration Dave chose the Colorado School of Trades in Denver’s Lakewood community. Dave’s decision was not an easy one to make. It required him to leave his family for more than a year. Dave’s choice of school was based in part on the Colorado School of Trades curriculum of four major sections in the study of gunsmithing. These are gun basics, machine shop, stocks and in the final phase design and function of guns.

The school’s 1800 hours course of studies is mostly self-pacing and the class size is small. Classroom instruction covers the use of measuring tools, welding and heat treating, wood selection and stock finishing, ballistics, reloading, triggers, sights, gun design, theory, business and various gun manufacturer’s armorer courses. The armorer portion is non-compulsory to getting your degree but highly recommended.

The basic course of gunsmith study is where students become familiar with hand tools, polishing and bluing of guns. During basics students make several useful gunsmithing tools and polish and blue two customer guns. This is where students are taught to hand checker a stock and write "Cycle of Operations" papers. Machine shop covers lathe usage. While taking this course, students thread their barrel and put on the action and test fire it. Here too, students learn the basic machine skills necessary to work on guns.

Oxy-acetylene welding, high and low temperature soldering, silver solder and brazing are taught at this time. The stocks curriculum is where students take their barrel action and inlet it into a wood stock and fiberglass stock. This is when creativity comes into play and the fine art of stock making is taught. Students are required to put on a check piece, fore end tip and grip cap on one or both stocks. Using their creativity, students decide how they want their stocks to look.

Lastly, they blue their barrel and action and present both stocks and action for their final grade. Design and function is the final section and will take the longest to complete. This is where students apply the knowledge they have thus far gained and put it into use. By "luck of the draw" each student is required to clean and repair 25 cus-

tomer guns. These are guns brought into the school to be worked on by students at a discount rate. Once the student has completed this phase, he must work on 10 elective guns, either his own or guns brought to them by family, friends or customers of the school. Upon completion of repairing and/or cleaning these 35 guns the student moves into specialization. Specialization is a personal choice.

Students can chose how to work on triggers, specialize on a particular gun type, and make special tools or anything gun related. In-residence gunsmithing schools require intense hands-on lab work in basic and advanced gunsmithing in one of their gunsmith shops and most students are readily supportive of one another.

When a student graduates from an in-residence school like the Colorado School of Trades they will have obtained not just a diploma, but associate occupational studies (AOS) in gunsmithing, a degree earned by actual doing and setting up for success in a gunsmithing career. Most of the students attending the Colorado School of Trades come from outside the state of Colorado. Many have come from as far away as Japan, Norway and the Virgin Islands.

There is a six month waiting list to get in and students need to arrive having already mastered good basic mechanical skills and possess a stanch desire to learn. Though few women apply to gunsmithing schools, they are welcomed and encouraged to apply.

The Colorado School of Trades school’s machine shop is equipped with more than twenty lathes, five milling machines, six universal grinders (students learn tool bit grinding and make their own basic gunsmithing tools used in the course and in business), bluing stations, drill presses, oxy-acetylene welding and live fire range.

Each student must provide an equipped toolbox and is assigned one of the school’s workbenches where he will construct two rifles, barreling the actions, and making and finishing the stocks to learn all machine shop operations necessary in the gunsmithing trade. If your goal is to learn to become a custom gun builder, a good gunsmithing school is the place to get started. In-residence schools are focused on students completing over 1500 hours of shop and lab time with 295 classroom hours.

In addition, The Colorado School of Trades has an extra study reference library available to its enrollees. Prospective students applying to an accredited gunsmithing school must be at least 18 years of age, have a high school diploma or GED and be physically and mentally capable of carrying out the class work for graduation. In addition, an individual must be able to meet requirements of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to successfully apply for a Federal Firearms License.

Anyone with a dishonorable discharge from the military or has a felony conviction need not apply. The catalog addendum states the requirement of accident insurance, "All students attending the Colorado School of Trades are required to have some type of health or accident insurance coverage. All students who have coverage will be required to provide documentation.

Those who do not have such coverage will be required to purchase an ‘accent insurance policy.’" The Colorado School of Trades offers a simple policy for a nominal cost that covers the student during their time of enrollment. The objective of most gunsmithing students is to go into business for themselves or to work as a gunsmith for a custom gun shop or gun store, so in-residence schools train their students to learn general gunsmithing so that most students can start their own business directly upon graduation.

Nearly all gunsmithing schools cover business basics that going over owning and operating a business. The school’s dropout rate is a low average of 5%. In addition, while in attendance at the Colorado School of Trades, the school sponsors a number of social activities that include a monthly cookout, monthly range day and for a small fee, membership in their gun club. The cost of a good gunsmithing school, including tuition, tools and miscellaneous will cost more than $20,000.

Most gunsmithing schools offer some type of financial aid or financial options such as PELL grants and many students use government assistance such as GI bill or VA (Veteran’s Vocational Rehab) programs. The majority of applicants qualify for some financial assistance.

Armed with the knowledge of what it takes to become a skilled gunsmith and what trade schools offer, especially correspondence courses verses in-residence schools, allows perspective gunsmith students to make a more informed choice for the right match. As with most occupations today, a diploma from a good school can be an entry to a rewarding career. AG