Posted by NCWayne on May 19, 2014 at 12:46:23 from (173.188.169.54):
Just curious as to whether any of ya'll are gunsmiths. Reason I ask is I'm thinking about getting into it myself and had a few questions. First is how big of a PITA is it to get the proper FFL to do it legitimately? I say that because I know that any gun left more than 24 hours has to be transferred to you, and the back to the owner. Basically someone can hand me a gun and wait on it and I can work all day long with no problem, but for those other, bigger jobs, to do it legally, a FFL is required.
Right now I'm not looking to do it full time or anything, but given that I enjoy guns of all types, am a pretty good machinist, and basically a perfectionist I think it would be a good supplimental income for me on rainy days, and during the winter months, when the construction equipment side repair side of things is slow. Too, as I get older I know I'm not going to be able to do the heavy work I am doing now, at least not as well or as fast. Given my fascination with all things mechanical, especially guns, I think I would really enjoy doing gunsmith work full time when I get to that point in my life, heck maybe even earlier if I see I can make any money at it. I figure if I got a jump on it now, I'd have my name out there, and at least a decent customer base built up by then (at least 20 years) to make decent money doing it full time.
Second question is this. Given my fascination with mechanical things, and the enjoyment I get thinking about, and designing new things, what type of FFL would I need to get to be able to actually produce a gun if I got a wild hair and wanted to? In reality I'd love to be set up like the guys on that Son's of Gun's show (without all the fake BS and drama) where I can work on pretty much anything I please as I know that would be a really interesting way to earn a living.
Last, for those that are gunsmiths, where did you learn the craft? Did you go to school to learn it, learn by watching others and/or reading books and are, basically, self taught, or what?
Yes, I know I can call the ATF and probably get a lot of these answers about the specific FFL requirements, and I will before too long. For now though it's just something I'm batting around in my head as a possibility so I just wanted to ask around to some folks that are actually doing it and see what they have to say. Basically real human thoughts on things like, is there enough money in it to put up with all the BS, and exactly how much BSs there is to be able to do it legally?
Any thoughts, ideas, or advice, be it from gunsmiths, or those that use them, is greatly appreciated.
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