Hey guys,
Just wondering if someone can give me some advice. There's the possibility of a gunsmithing apprenticeship I've been offered with a company here in the UK. Now its one the biggest stores in the country and from what I can gather they get a lot of work in a day, they already have 3 full time 'smiths and are looking for a couple of beginners like me to train up. Apparently they do a lot general repairs, maintenance up to fully restoring a 100 year old best grade English S/S shotguns, and a lot of airgun work etc. They are also thinking about getting into manufacturing and bringing back a line of guns from a company that went out of business in the late 1800's, this is not a definite development though.
So considering that eventually I would like to have my own shop and build my own guns, rifles as well as shotguns, do you think I would gather enough skills and experience from a general gunsmithing business or would it be better for me to do a formal course on the manufacturing side? Here in the UK they're called Craft Apprenticeships but equates to a Fitter/Turner CNC machinist, you are basically learning lathes and mills, grinding on manual as well as CNC machines. And then I could perhaps do the odd course or find someone willing to teach even if i Have to pay for it to fill in the areas like stock making and checkering etc?
Just wondering what all your thoughts are on this? Thanks.
Just wondering if someone can give me some advice. There's the possibility of a gunsmithing apprenticeship I've been offered with a company here in the UK. Now its one the biggest stores in the country and from what I can gather they get a lot of work in a day, they already have 3 full time 'smiths and are looking for a couple of beginners like me to train up. Apparently they do a lot general repairs, maintenance up to fully restoring a 100 year old best grade English S/S shotguns, and a lot of airgun work etc. They are also thinking about getting into manufacturing and bringing back a line of guns from a company that went out of business in the late 1800's, this is not a definite development though.
So considering that eventually I would like to have my own shop and build my own guns, rifles as well as shotguns, do you think I would gather enough skills and experience from a general gunsmithing business or would it be better for me to do a formal course on the manufacturing side? Here in the UK they're called Craft Apprenticeships but equates to a Fitter/Turner CNC machinist, you are basically learning lathes and mills, grinding on manual as well as CNC machines. And then I could perhaps do the odd course or find someone willing to teach even if i Have to pay for it to fill in the areas like stock making and checkering etc?
Just wondering what all your thoughts are on this? Thanks.
