Quite a lot on YouTube for free.

While he is waiting, watch YouTube. Plenty of videos showing how to do it. Some better than others, but at no cost, watch some.

 

Gunsmithing from my perspective anyway is about a couple of things. You need the mechanical ability to be able to look at something and figure out how it works. The larger issue is machining and metallurgy. I would point him in the direction of online courses but evening classes at a local vocational or college machinist classes would be extremely valuable knowledge.

I am not sure that it is a working wage type job unless you get hooked up with a high traffic gun range to start out. Most of the guys that I know that do it do so part time.

 

The larger issue is machining and metallurgy. I would point him in the direction of online courses but evening classes at a local vocational or college machinist classes would be extremely valuable knowledge.
e.

That is kind of confirming what I have already been thinking.

 

I agree with what todd-67 said. It's kind of a crap shoot dealing with on-line gunsmithing schools. You may want to contact the NRA and see if they have any recommendations. Taking vocational classes in machine work will really be a boon to him in the long run for a whole lot of reasons. Don't know what his plans are for later on, but the machining industry is really hurting for qualified machinists with no end in sight. CNC machining experience and schooling would be a real help as that is the way things are going. Just knowing how to run a mill or lathe isn't enough anymore, unless it is a very small operation. A friend of mine actually went in the service years ago with the sole purpose of becoming an armorer which led him into the shooting team and later into his own gunsmithing business. At one time some of the best pistol and riflesmiths in the country came out of the military branches.

Good luck to him!
Rick H.

 

Take him to the local gunsmith and apprentice him. Or Glock, Beretta , Smith &Wesson all have Armors Schools. So does the Military.

 

Gunsmith schools............

Online gunsmith training is akin to learning to be a brain surgeon online, to learn individual gunsmithing topics/techniques Midway's Larry Potter has an excellent series of videos. NRA Summer School gunsmithing classes such as the ones offered at Trinidad State College in Trinidad, Colorado are an excellent way to learn. They're taught by some of the best gunsmiths in the business. To learn machine tool operation, lathe, mill, benchwork local trade school/community colleges are they way to go. Apprenticeships went the way of the buggy whip, it would be an exercise in futility trying to find one. In my case I was a Journeyman Machinist having started learning the trade in night school. A graduate of the gunsmithing Associate Degree program at Trinidad State I was fortunate to land a gunsmithing apprenticeship with Browning Arms Company. This was back in the late 1970's, Trinidad's program is thriving the two year Associate Degree program costs $20,000 but is an excellent investment if you're truly interested in learning the profession. If anyone has questions, please feel free to PM me.

 

In my opinion there are really not alot of true Gunsmiths anymore..By true Gunsmith..I mean people who used to work on Old Firearms and had to make and fit obsolete parts that were mostly hand fitted...Those are the types that we need again..Not just guys that call themselves Gunsmiths because they can disaasemble a Ruger or Glock, throw in new parts from the factory, and put it back together..

The old time art of real Gunsmithing is becoming a thing of the past sadly..

 

Better become a Machinist first. Know how to run a Mill, Lathe, speeds and feeds of drills etc.

 

My Brother did an on-line course, he said it was really good.

https://americangunsmithinginstitute.net/

He also had a mentor (a well known master gunsmith) that lived in the same city as he does, and was impressed with his work.

It will cost you a small fortune to tool up though.