Amateur Gunsmithing

[Guest]

I have seen some people doing hobby gunsmithing. It is all fine as long as you know how to do things. In order to do the right job, you need to have understanding of the particular firearm's mechanism. You need to know what to do and need to understand why you need to do certain things on the firearm. I think the most common gunsmithing is a trigger job.

The problem is that I see too many guns getting screwed up. Many people I can think of just follow instruction on the youtube or some books without knowing how and why. I just repaired a Smith & Wesson revolver with a bad trigger (hair trigger and hammer push off in single action). It took a lot of effort to correct it. I also repaired a Sig 1911 a few weeks ago for a shooter who butchered the pistol.

It is not my gun, and I could care less about what you do with your own guns. But, please, for a safety sake, if you don't understand how things work, ask a competent person or a gunsmith. My friends are lucky that I could repair their guns for free when they screw it up. I have been to many armorer schools and gunsmithing schools, and have decent knowledge on many types of guns.

It is worth paying the gunsmiths some money and get it done right. If you mess with the trigger or other parts of the gun and accidentally shoot someone, you may be in a pretty deep hole to clime out.

Just my 2 cents for my observations in the past and present.

[9mmepiphany]

i agree...they are many gunsmiths who would go out of business if folks stopped working on the own guns

[Jonathan Doe]

i agree...they are many gunsmiths who would go out of business if folks stopped working on the own guns

Yes, they need business, too.

[gadjeep]

i agree...they are many gunsmiths who would go out of business if folks stopped working on the own guns

This. New sig line.

[goathead]

lost art

[benbangui]

did you make this post because i have one up saying that im gonna bob mine?!
haha, naw, i totally agree with you. about keeping gunsmiths working. im actually thinking of going back to school for it my wife even said she would work full time for me so i could! just having a hard time finding a school...

[smittty]

I don't know about this, I've had to repair gunsmith's work!

IMO, gunsmithing is a lost art! I feel I'm better off learning how to do something myself and if I feel it's beyond my capability I just won't have it done.

I hear lots of complaints about gunsmith work. I think the problem is the guys who actually love guns and are good working on them can't make a good living at it.

Smitty

[9mmepiphany]

just having a hard time finding a school...

Lassen College isn't that far...take a drive up and look at their program

I think the problem is the guys who actually love guns and are good working on them can't make a good living at it.

then there is the other side of that coin. there are serveral gunsmith who are so in demand that they have had to close their waiting list to get caught up...4-5 years of people waiting to spend $6-7k on a pistol

[nn3453]

Handgun safety test at your FFL? Instead, there should be a dremel safety test at Home Depot.

[Jonathan Doe]

Lasses College is a good place to learn. It is a community college and the tuition is practically nothing compared to other schools. They are one to two week long classes. I have been there also most every year for summer gunsmithing classes for the last few years.

[bigthaiboy]

I'm sure many gunsmiths will tell you that they have been approached about repairing / or have repaired someone's attempt at home gunsmithing that has gone horribly wrong.

[Jonathan Doe]

One day, a long time ago, a deputy came to me with a sandwich bag full of gun of gun parts and asked for a help. He disassembled a H&K P7M8 for unknown reason and couldn't put it back together. I helped him of course, but told him never do it again.

[crowbar1]

Handgun safety test at your FFL? Instead, there should be a dremel safety test at Home Depot.

+1

[Bobotheclown]

Taking apart is gun for the first time is fun for me granted. Granted putting it back together requires a lot of tim, squinting at diagrams and swearing.

[B Strong]

I have seen some people doing hobby gunsmithing. It is all fine as long as you know how to do things. In order to do the right job, you need to have understanding of the particular firearm's mechanism. You need to know what to do and need to understand why you need to do certain things on the firearm. I think the most common gunsmithing is a trigger job.

The problem is that I see too many guns getting screwed up. Many people I can think of just follow instruction on the youtube or some books without knowing how and why. I just repaired a Smith & Wesson revolver with a bad trigger (hair trigger and hammer push off in single action). It took a lot of effort to correct it. I also repaired a Sig 1911 a few weeks ago for a shooter who butchered the pistol.

It is not my gun, and I could care less about what you do with your own guns. But, please, for a safety sake, if you don't understand how things work, ask a competent person or a gunsmith. My friends are lucky that I could repair their guns for free when they screw it up. I have been to many armorer schools and gunsmithing schools, and have decent knowledge on many types of guns.

It is worth paying the gunsmiths some money and get it done right. If you mess with the trigger or other parts of the gun and accidentally shoot someone, you may be in a pretty deep hole to clime out.

Just my 2 cents for my observations in the past and present.

Very good advice.

There are many butchered 1991 type pistols out there thanks to owners that have more enthusiasm than skill in pistolsmithing.

I've seen "triggerjobs" that didn't do anything other than create an unregistered NFA weapon, "throating" that created a chamber so unsupported that the case failed on the first round fired (the dremel is no help for the unskilled) and "match" barrel installations where the barrel wouldn't lock up (what do you mean fit the lugs?)

A good 'smith could make a decent living just correcting the hack jobs that home "gun plumbers" attempt.