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Job Description:In gunsmithing the gunsmith is primarily responsible to repair or modify firearms according to blueprints and customer specifications. Other gunsmiths focus on building new or fully custom firearms for clients or retail sale in store (). The basis of what learning can provide is the book knowledge and depending what route to becoming a gunsmith people take most end up in a specialization some becoming pistol smiths, or rifle smiths, some focus their energy again on the custom builds and making them as intricate as a famous painting.General Career PathThe career path is usually short and one sided to gun shop owners being the most reliable way to make it into the industry, however quite a few gunsmiths do get hired on to other companies for repair services. Usually there can be some variance with schooling options being limited in the country and some people may take up an apprenticeship and work their way into becoming a full gunsmith, once a full gunsmith the options are open to taking a job or opening their own store.General Education ExperienceThe base education required to become a gunsmith is not much more than a high school diploma, and a FFL (federal firearms license). There is more in depth training that can be taken via a gunsmithing school. While this training helps it isn’t required as much as one would think (). General shop experience is a bonus to a good gunsmiths education, machining, woodworking and basic hand tool proficiency. While these help one part of gunsmithing that can be crucial is history sometimes a customer may want a firearm restored but this can devalue certain historic pieces and cause all value in them to be lost so knowing what you are working on is a crucial part of being a good gunsmith and not a gun butcher.Average SalaryThe pay scale for a gun smith varies widely based on owner or employee since an owner is making money off of more than just the gunsmithing itself based on hourly wages only the average gunsmith earns about 40k a year however since this is largely experienced based it isn’t uncommon to see gunsmiths making 20k or as high as 60k a year. (). The possibility of owning one’s own gun store is exciting and about the only way for a gunsmith to build his own line and become known for his work there have been many great men who have become household names because of their accomplishments in the field, think browning and colt.Career OutlookThis career is very bleak and almost kind of hopeless, since the career path is short and leads into only a couple of areas. However any career is only what you make it some gunsmiths have made a legacy of doing this and in their spare time designing firearms that changed the world, such as Browning. The more research that gets put in the more this career seems like it was meant for one who likes repetitive daily tasks and doesn’t mind giving into the way it is.Bio of someone in the profession John Moses Browning famed gunsmith and inventor lead the way for many firearms innovations. browning had many designs that became iconic of the united states one such design that Colt, and others ended up manufacturing and became the standard issue side arm of the military, the government issue 1911, the BAR or Browning Automatic Rifle, the Browning .50 caliber machine gun (M2 or Ma Duce) which has been in use since World War Two CITATION Kir07 \l 1033 (Kirkland, 2007). Browning was born in Ogden, Utah on January 29th, 1855. His father was Jonathan Browning a good gunsmith in his own right. By the age of six John started helping out in the work shop and it wasn’t long before he had built his first rifle made from scraps left in the shop. In 1878 John had produced a single shot rifle that Winchester wanted and was given 8000$ for in 1883. This began a long relationship between Winchester and Browning. With most of Browning’s designs being bought outright many firearms that we see others make had a beginning with Browning. One part of Browning’s life that cannot be over looked is all that the company did during some of the grimmest times in world history. Browning played a huge part in helping win many wars from the building and design of aircraft to the weapons on the ground CITATION Kir07 \l 1033 (Kirkland, 2007). Most of which can be attributed to Browning seeing during a shooting competition discovered that the reeds around the shooter would move due to escaping gases from the muzzle. This led to the design for a non-human actuated action in firearms allowing for what we call automatic weapons today () Since Browning died the basis on which modern firearms were made has not changed, we still use very similar designs to “retrieve these gases to operate the weapon. ()Pros and ConsAdvantages to this career are that it is a labor of love and something that can correspond to a real hobby. Also it is a very mentally challenging style of a more blue collar work the mentality of it allows one to keep in touch with their roots and history which all firearms stem from some event weather that be a design built from a necessity at the time or a old military rifle with markings such as the Mosin Nagant’s box with a line meaning that the rifle has been factory restored at one point since its initial creation. When thinking about this career the disadvantage’s stack high from mediocre pay to potentially long hours and hard rough work at times. From experience sometimes a single barrel removal can take hours and some jobs can take weeks such as a responsible stock refinish. Your “fit” with this careerWith all the information provided in my research I have found that I may not be the one to take this on as a full time career but my passion for firearms and knowledge is a driving force to not give up. For now I will keep this as a hobby and maybe one day I will be able to retire into this fun pastime as a means of extra cash flow. This is a conclusion that I have been at now for quite some time feeling that taking up a career that brings me more money to take this to a serious hobby. Since the beginning of my research I have taken upon myself to build my own ak-47 a design made by Russian inventor Mikhail Kalashnikov. I have learned that it is a riveted receiver and a press fit barrel. The parts have arrived and tools have too. I also have built myself an AR-15 which I have photos of and will always remember. I have found the fun in building firearms for myself and can happily stick to a hobbyist type feeling.In building a Ar-15 there were a few tools I needed one was the Armorers combo wrench ,a specialty tool designed to work on AR platforms, roll pin punches, a torque wrench, and specialty vise blocks to name the more uncommon tools needed all the others I had from my mechanic days. To build a AR one must first get the parts and receiver I bought my receiver from a local FFL in what is called a finished receiver, there are 80% receivers that need machine work to become a legal firearm. To begin the process I started with the trigger guard a small bar that covers the trigger area to prevent damage to the trigger getting this in is trickery but requires only a roll pin punch and a hammer. Next I installed the grip and butt stock/buffer tube. A standard Phillips and the AR armorers wrench is required here there are a couple of small detents that are a part of this but just slid them into their holes before the final installation is completed and all will go fine. Lastly I installed the trigger into the receiver with a punch and some finesse it is as easy as pie. Now that about covers a basic lower half build the upper half of the rifle includes the barrel, gas tubing bolt carrier and bolt. It is key to begin with the barrel since it helps to align the rest of the components the barrel is held in place with a nut that can be tightened down using the Ar armorers wrench and a torque wrench to make sure it aligns with the gas port on the receiver unit I like to use a barrel alignment tool but eyeing it works as well. Not that is in the front gas block can be slipped on with the gas tubing in place alignment is key here the gas block is a key component and needs to aligned with a hole on the barrel to allow the gas to travel back to the bolt carrier misalignment here can cause function issues and even accuracy issues. Once aligned and straight it can be set in place usually with an Alan screw (on newer hardware) but sometimes with a pin. Now that we have these in place I like to use a upper vise block to hold the unit in place while I double check things and build the bolt group now most modern bold groups come pre-assembled so I take it apart and smooth out any rough spots here. Before installing it into the receiver and putting the top and bottom together the rifle can now be functioned checked and taken to the range for test fire CITATION mid16 \l 1033 (). This is a quick over view and really just a basic idea the steps involved can be a book in its own. The Ak is quite a bit more complicated since it’s a press fit barrel and a riveted receiver but functions very similar in the gas return to actuate the bolt on its own CITATION leg16 \l 1033 ()While I had a lot of fun doing these projects I can’t help but feel that maybe I would be better off in life becoming an accountant which is a good thing to learn any way if I ever wanted to open my own store or do anything like that. For now I think I’ll continue to learn as much as I can make future decisions when I approach them.Bibliography BIBLIOGRAPHY . (n.d.). Retrieved November 2, 2016, from . (n.d.). Retrieved November 27, 2016, from . (n.d.). Retrieved October 15, 2016, from . (n.d.). Retrieved November 27, 2016, from , K. D. (2007). America's Premier Gunmakers: Browning. East Bridgewater: JG Press.. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2016, from . (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2016, from ................
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