Gunsmithing At Home

NH, doing your own gunsnithing at home can be both good and bad. I do this for a living and always have to laugh when guys were cleaning their gun and bring me what I call "Bag-O-Gun." When I clean a gun for a customer, I charge $35 for a "detail strip and clean." When I get their bag of parts, I charge them $35 for assembly. If they want to help me, I charge $50. Make no mistake, if you are mechanically inclined, you can usually do some great things. I have a copy of Traisters book somewhere, but I don't refer to it much. It's a good book though. If you do plan to get into it professionally, teach yourself not to eat, because you will starve for a long time. Friends don't feel obligated to pay, clients are slow to pay, and some folks don't even bother to pick up finished guns until the mood strikes them. That being on the night before the opening day of any popular season, usually when you are packing your stuff to go hunting. If you decide to marry, don't marry a big eater, she will always be hungry, and if you have any kids, they will have to be taught how not to eat. Tools; You can get away with some of the homade stuff in Traisters book, but not for long. Quality tools cost big bucks, and the first time you loan one to a friend, expect it to be damaged or broken. Another thing that they don't feel obligated to pay for. It's funny that they are only too happy to borrow your things. A lathe is a good thing to have, and if you persue this very far, you'll need one. That, and a milling machine. I started out with a bench top, but now i have a floor model Bridgeport. Scres, stones, sand paper, different finishes, acetylene torches, arc welders, a small anvil, vises, heavy benches, a small forge, and a lot of other things always help and are all necessary. If you want to blue guns, forget about any of the miricle cold blues, your reputation will be shot. This stuff belongs in the stores where they sell it and it never does a satisfactory job. I have three sets of blueing tanks all coupled to a large propane tank. That along with a belt grinder, low and high speed buffers. In a lot of cases, some guys will specialize, like building custom .45's, custom rifles, or restoring guns. In any case, I realize that you're just reading this book, and that's a good thing. It will teach you to appreciate what a gunsmith has to go through to be unpaid and unappreciated. All in all, I like what I do, but every now and then I get an auger head that knows more than I do about such classics as his grandfathers old $5 savage .22 single shot rifle and have to refer him to a gunsmith who needs the aggravation. This kind of experience comes with the job. I know a few bald headed gunsmiths around here who will tear out what remaining hair that they have when they get a guy like this. I always tell these guys to tell the gunsmith that I referred them. LOL I, on the other hand, have a healthy head of hair, which is why I send them somewhere else. If you can get the 2 volume set of Howes books, you will be a lot happier than with Traisters book. I could list a bunch of books if you're interested, but they don't come cheap, so get ready to spend your long green and good luck...........Kingpin

Kingpin

 I like your bag-o-gun. Brings back memorys of people bringing transmission-in-a-box into my dads shop. I hate to admit it, but I have my own bag-o-gun of sorts. A old Remington .22 pump. I cant for the life of me get the extractor in properly I have way to much pride to bring it in, I figure I have another fifty years on this planet and in time I'll get to it.

King;

I've heard of a new product called Blue Wonder for cleaning guns.  Ever heard of it yourself?  Used it or know of anyone who has?  Just tired of cleaning guns the old-fashioned way.  You know, Hoppes #9 & elbow grease.  I seriously want a magic wand.  Bitch, whine, snivel.

900F

Thank god i have access to most of the expensive power tools like the Bridgeport, the grinder, the welder, and the asetylene torch. My dad is just going to give me this stuff except the Bridgeport, which i have to go to the place to use it.

Kingpin, i want to try and do the blueing myself. I wont need to do it for a while. If i do screw up though, you will be recieving a bag-o-gun! I can get one of the rifles reblued and refinished at Marlin, and i could probably get the one piece of another gun done at Ruger, but i will wait and see.

NH_Hunter

NH Hunter, listen to Kingpin! He knows what he is talking about.
I am strictly a hobby gunsmith, do my own work. A hobby gunsmith can
afford to screw around with a project forever. A professional MUST
be able to turn out enough work to generate the cash flow needed to survive.
At your age, I would start with small work on your own guns. Listen, read, and learn!
Buy those $25 beat up .22s and single shot shotguns. Cut and crown barrels, fix those stripped
and buggered screws. Detail strip and clean them, and re-assemble. Install new sights, open up
a choke. If you are the least bit mechanicly minded, you will learn everytime you do something.
Sometimes you will learn what not to do!
By the time you finish high school, you should have a better idea of what is involved. Gunsmithing
is certainly not the road to riches!
BTW, out of the hundreds of people I know, I will lend tools to exactly 2.

For y'all talking about that "Blue Wonder" bluing method, I have this site bookmarked:

http://www.novumsolutions.com/BLUEWONDERGunBlueInstructions.html

This appears to be a quite fascinating method of bluing and I am also interested if it is as good as advertized at the site.

Gene

Hey Rob, I am going to look for one and try it on small jobs......very small jobs and I will also report. Whatever you do, don't tell me to post pics. I'll smash the hell out of this computer trying to do it. But I will give a factual comment and honest appraisal. About the best I have ever used is called "Vans," but I think they are out of business, I can't get them on the phone. I wish I could, they made a stock finish that was superb. I'll post the address for them and someone in that area can tell me if they are still in business. Anyway, it's back to work shortly.......Kingpin