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Posted: 1/3/2011 4:57:25 PM EDT
| Has aynone ever tried the American Gunsmith Institute or AGI? Is there program worth the time. I would love to become a gunsmith but the local gunsmithing school is only full time during the day. And since I have a family, mortgage etc I cannot quit my job to go back to school. SO something like AGI would work well for me. If not AGI any suggestions? |
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AGI is better than nothing.
You'll get out of it only what you put in, since there's no instructor actually looking at your work. With no instructor present, you won't know if you're really doing things right, and no one will tell you faster or better ways of doing it. An AGI certificate will not get you a job with any employer looking for a gunsmith. It will teach you enough to work on your own guns, but won't really qualify you to open up shop and work on other people's guns. Customers demand quality work, and won't accept you learning your trade on their guns, with the attendant mistakes you'll make. A school instructor sees the mistakes and corrects them before you ever see your first customer. America needs good gunsmiths. Too many people complain that local gunsmiths botch up work and can't even seem to drill and tap a receiver for a sight without mis-locating holes. Much of this is because the gunsmith got an internet or mail order "degree" or just taught himself or learned from another hack gunsmith. Without a trained, Master gunsmith/instructor seeing their work and technique, these gunsmiths never learned that, A. They were doing it all wrong, or B. They simply didn't have the skills or talent to be a gunsmith. |
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At the tender age of 41, the route I am taking to become a gunsmith is machining classes first, gunsmithing school second. All of the critical parts of a firearm are made of metal, i figured might as well know how to work with it first, and then the rest will come easier, to some degree.
Having been around the block a time or two with people selling "get rich quick doing what you love to do", I am not looking to get rich quick anymore, just do what I love to do, and the money may just follow. |
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There's an old gunsmith joke:
"How's a large pizza and a gunsmith alike? Neither can feed a family of four". If it's money you're looking for, gunsmithing isn't it. The people who make really good money are the few who own large companies with other gunsmiths working for them, or the VERY few who have such a fantastic reputation that they have people standing in line for years willing to pay big money for one of his guns. Since a self-employed gunsmith is really a businessman, he spends a large amount of time doing businessman things, like filling out paperwork for the government, ordering parts and supplies, talking to prospective customers, paying bills, running his books, etc. What this comes down to is the average gunsmith spends a long day gunsmithing THEN long hours at night running the business end of it. This means the average gunsmith is not working 40 hour weeks, and when you figure it all in, most are barely making minimum wage. Satisfaction in the job you can have..... money is unlikely. |
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I have been a student with AGI for a while and it takes some dedication because you are the only pushing for results. I'm taking the master gunsmith course and it's the best I've seen anywhere with the exception of an actual school. The tapes are structured to teach systems so the concepts work with different guns of similar function. You can get an introductory DVD from the website. Check it out. You can work hands on by buying guns that you can work on at the same time you are watching the video's. Of course you will need machining, heat treat and welding and they recommend you sign up at a local college or trade school to learn those skills.
AGI is great for a hobby gunsmith which is what I consider myself to be. If you want to do it as a business or for full time employment you need hands on college courses. AGI is a great start though. |
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Last time I was in Az we went and had a look around the gunsmithing section at Yavapai College - the students were producing some very high quality work. From memory, part of the course is to build custom 1911 and also a 10/22 receiver using hand tools. Not something you're going to get from AGI without someone guiding you (and a well equipped workshop!)...
http://www.yc.edu/webtools/apps/academics/default.asp?dept=GST |
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