Kids In The Shop: A Gunsmith’s Legacy, Part Two

We began with a tool usage overview and will continue there. How to use a dial caliper, a micrometer and their different types needs to be addressed. Hopefully our public schools have blessed our young minds with the knowledge of how to distinguish 0.004 inch from 0.04 and 0.4 inch. If not, it’s up to us. The use of chemicals is very important to a lot of gun work. Finishing oils and other substances, especially the spray-on type, can be inhaled.

Others, such as acetone and caustic strippers, that can damage the skin should be introduced and safety must be emphasized by insisting on protective glasses, gloves, and a good shop apron when working with toxic products. Many bluing preparations need special consideration, especially when working inside. Also, describe which chemicals must be used outside. I use flammable materials inside my shop and don’t allow smoking. Make sure to store and dispose of all potentially harmful substances properly.

Insist your student reads labels and takes the warnings seriously. Such basics as the difference between groove and bore diameter of a gun barrel should be discussed and explained. Why are bullets measuring .223, .224, .228 inch in diameter all described as .22 calibers? What is a chamber? What is leade? How is barrel length measured? Is the chamber included in that measurement? How does barrel twist affect the stability of different bullets? Is it bullet length or weight that determines optimum twist?

How many guys that you meet at the local gunstore can give a credible answer? Why is it safer to drop a 1911 series 80 Colt on its hammer than on its muzzle? Such concepts that are basic to us are beyond your average gun shop lay about. I can’t exactly remember that old joke about cock-on-opening. What does a young person know of such things without expert instruction? It takes years and a good plan to instill as much of your valuable knowledge as possible.

Finally, beware lest your student doesn’t understand that he does not know everything and still has a lot to learn, just like the rest of us. Do not be judgmental, especially of your customers. I have been tripped up more than a time or two by amateurs. Teach the student to listen more than talk and you will have a gunsmith. If you can cultivate in a young mind the thirst for knowledge and the ability to learn on one’s own you’ll have done a good job. Should you pay your student for his or her work? Depends.

If you just have your grandson helping around the shop it’s different from having a full-time apprentice actually working on customer’s guns. Many states and the Federal Government have very specific child-labor and specific apprentice laws. It’s best not to run afoul of such things. Check the laws where you are and make sure you understand what you’re getting into when taking on a student.

That being said, I would want to show my appreciation of a good student by perhaps offering tickets to a local ballgame or car race once in awhile. Remembering your student’s birthday with a card and small check is a nice thing. I try to continue the legacy by giving copies of my favorite movies such as The Shootist and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance to my students. They may know Justin Bieber but mention The Duke and it’s, "John who?" as hard as it is for us oldsters to believe.

I’m still trying to get over the fact of Lady Gaga’s existence myself. Just as with general practitioners in medicine, we old gunsmiths are falling by the wayside. More and more of us are becoming specialized due to the complexity of our profession. I admit to being a "Fuddite", and take that for what you will and kiss my patootie, but I’m not going to let that stop me from learning. I plan on buying an AR, studying how it works and getting more expert instruction on the subject. I ain’t dead yet!

Youngsters love these "black" guns. The only problem I have with them is the "spray and pray" mentality I have seen some AR owners exhibit at the range. The fine rifles coming from many manufacturers now days deserve better than this since they are accurate as can be. A lot of us will remember Clint Eastwood intoning, "A man’s got to know his limitations." A student should feel challenged every day.

If I can send that student out into the gunsmith’s world with knowledge of files and stones, all the basics I can cram into his or her head during our time together, and the all-important skill of how to look it up with a

Safety when handling such materials is mandatory. healthy dose of common sense when it comes to problem solving, I think that will benefit my student and not reflect badly on me. If you are not well-versed in one area do you have a buddy who is? Can you share your apprentice? Are you well-off financially since you have made money from the profession and perhaps a retail facility? If so, think about furthering your student’s education with a grant and aid to one of our fine gunsmith schools.

Here is where the student will hone and fine-tune his or her talent and add to the skills you’ve helped him or her develop, becoming something more than the sum of two parts. This is when you can lean back with pride and know they will continue the legacy. Expect nothing in return, for giving these gifts are their own reward. Two anecdotes that will illustrate my point. I went into the bathroom and the water was running in the commode. How long I wasn’t sure.

I confronted the culprit whom I had told numerous times before not to allow the toilet to overrun. After confirming he wouldn’t let it happen again, he asked earnestly, "Pap, what makes it do that?" I then realized that he had no idea howa toilet operated! I’ve had my head stuck down one of This is one job I don’t mind passing on to my apprentice. My arm gets tired.

Many "gunsmithing" problems are related to poor reloading practices. those cantankerous contraptions ever since I’ve owned a home and those four little words from my wife—"This thing isn’t working!"—brought consternation to my heart. Over the years I came to believe that the inner workings of a throne had been innately instilled into the DNA in every male. But, he hadn’t spent as much time as I had fixing flaps and floats and sometimes saying bad words like I did while repairing

Here, the student is using a Vernier caliper to measure a revolver’s cylinder. How to use this machine is easy to learn, but to master it experience is needed. Allow your student to experiment under rigid safety guidelines. my own plumbing. I gave him a short lesson on the secrets of this most necessary home appliance and, so far, we haven’t had anymore runovers. The point being you can’t assume what a student knows and doesn’t know. You must make sure the basics and even the most arcane items are covered.

The next incident was a few years ago and really doesn’t have anything to do with mechanical things, but I believe it illustrates the point I’m trying to make about being a teacher. My eight year old grandson and I were taking a summertime bike ride along the C&O Canal. We started in a parking lot paved with fist-sized pieces of stone and it was a little difficult to transverse with the bikes.

The canal had been repaired in spots and I cautioned him to watch out for gravel which would twist his handlebars and possibly cause him to wreck. To make along story short, he hit a patch of gravel full speed and went over the front of the handlebars. I was pissed. "Why in the heck didn’t you slow down when you saw that gravel?", I asked.

He looked up at me with tears in his eyes and asked through the blood trickling from his nose, "What’s gravel, Pap?" It’s a good idea for the student to realize how these kinds of operations used to be and still are accomplished using other methods such as the loading press itself and hand-held tools, but I believe in starting with the most modern equipment and working backwards from there. If these mundane operations are not done properly a gun could fail to go bang when it has to or accuracy could be compromised.

There is no substitute for the "hands-on" approach to these potential problems. Today, the student must have computer skills. This usually isn’t a problem for teens that seem to live for video games but some of our favorite websites such as Brownells and Numrich Arms should be pointed out. Also, most manufacturers and

tool makers and suppliers have their own websites. Being able to find apart or tool quickly can now be termed an essential service for the modern gunsmith. Business skills are equally important as the use of a chisel or files. Without business acumen there is no shop. All of us have some skills to pass on from the smallest shop owner to the largest retailer. Even the least among us must have the savvy to be able to charge and receive what is due us and to keep our profit margins in the black.

I talked about computer skills. Many businesses can not run properly without a good computer program. Billing and receiving, inventory control and payroll are just a few of the functions and small shops have to keep records just as large ones do. The government is a hard taskmaster. Mess up with the essential records of trafficking in firearms and they will come down like a hammer. We have income that must be reported and taxes to pay, just like any other business.

The student may be the best gunsmith ever but without business skills working for someone else is all they can hope to achieve. Me, I like my independence. For others, an hourly wage may be best as long as they enjoy what they do. All serious gunsmiths should have a brochure that explains what services they offer and realistic prices for each job. When to bill by the hour and when to bill by the job should be discussed. The difference between man and machine hours should be addressed as well.

Some jobs such as cutting and crowning a rifle barrel can have a set price. Others, such as draw filing apiece or custom-made firing pins should have a "from" dollar amount attached. These brochures can serve as good advertising. Speaking of which, advertising should be part of the study, of course, but how much is sometimes related to how large an operation we control. Word of mouth can often make or break your shop. Some of the most profitable business is with your local police.

Cops always seem to need this or that, even if it isn’t a firearm. A lot of items are limited to police sales. The men and women in blue are your friends. Try and help them as much as you can. Discounts are all right, but don’t discount yourself out of a profit. Who else do you see everyday? Our friends from Big Brown of course. When they bring in the daily orders, talk and listen. They are busy and move fast, but can be a source of revenue for their friends. Sometimes these people have a lot of firearm needs, too.

This brings us to customer service. I took a course in sales during my high school days—not a bad thing for a gunsmith’s student to consider. Since I thought I knew everything at that age 16, when the teacher related the case of the hard-to-please customer I just imagined myself telling him to take a hike and the heck with the sale. I found out later that in the real world things are not that black and white. Is the customer always right? No, but he always knows what he wants and expects you to give it to him.

Your student must understand that, if nothing else, your customer deserves respect. The customer may not be knowledgeable about a firearm, that’s why he has sought out a gunsmith. The customer may demand something that can’t be done or that would cost more than the firearm is worth. Let him down gently. Try to find something you can do to please him. The worst thing that can happen is he stomps out and loudly proclaims to anyone who will listen that you are incompetent.

Another customer, the one I call "our best buddy", is the type that wants to hang around the shop all day jawin’. He may even join in when you’re explaining to one of your customers howa job must be done with some opinions of his own. At the very least he will distract you and slow the process of getting your work done. Heck, he may even want some free lessons. The best gunsmith’s shops that I’ve visited have the customer area blocked off from the shop itself with glass cases or such and no chairs.

Don’t let this pest get comfortable or he’ll be there forever. One thing about business is that the little things will hurt you if you don’t keep on top. A young gunsmith right out of college bought out an older one who’d been at the same location for many years and had been successful. All well and good. This was many years ago and I took him a Savage heavy-barreled 112V in .220 Swift for a trigger job.

This kid admonished me sternly, a paying customer, that it didn’t matter what the trigger pull weight was as long as it was safe. Yeah, I guess that is true, but I wanted a two-pound pull. After all, this was a varmint rifle and that isn’t too light. He did a credible job. The trigger was crisper without creep but the pull ended up a lot heavier than two pounds.

When I last visited his shop he had bought about a couple thousand dollars worth of Barnes bullets, long before anybody but the most knowledgeable hunters and professionals had even heard of the company. He loaded his almost otherwise empty shelves with all the calibers available. A hand-made sign proclaimed "They’re expensive, but they’re good!" Those bullets cost at least twice as much as the regular bullets most of us shot at the range and these premium projectiles would only be used for hunting big game.

He might have sold a box or two before he closed his doors, six months after starting. The older gunsmith had run this shop for twenty years and sold out when he was ready. You might know everything right out of school and you might not. It’s not easy, but try to instill in your student some humility no matter how good he is. Inventory can be a killer for your shop. If merchandise sits around gathering dust put it on sale and say bye to a bad problem.

If a tool is not available, can something be made from scratch? Can we fabricate our own less expensively than buying a ready-made one? All of us have these little gems lying around that we’ve put together for special jobs. Share these and encourage the student to not give up and think about what to do when it seems as though they’ve hit a dead end. This is a good skill for anyone to have. Last, but not least, is helping the student develop the ability to solve problems on their own.

The introduction of our reference books and videos is the key to this most important skill we have to impart. Perhaps one could begin by using several reloading manuals to pick a starting load for the student’s own rifle. What powder seems to give the best velocity and accuracy with what bullet? What should the maximum load be? What are some of the high pressure signs to be on the alert for? Can the manuals be Complete your American Gunsmith collection. Or read up on a special subject!

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