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Finding work as a Gunsmith 01/22/2010 - By Tim Whealton
Business is there if you know where to look
Finding Work As A Gunsmith
Not something the established gunsmith has to worry about. With 250 million firearms in the US by most estimates, the work is there. But how does the new gunsmith start receiving some of this work? Advertising is expensive isn’t it? The new business doesn’t have any spare capital for radio or print ads so how do get them to beat a path to your door? Three words, DO GOOD WORK. Nothing will get the news out faster. Gun owners and shooters love to talk about guns even more than the weather or politics and they will advertise for you. It is up to you to decide if this will be good news or bad.
No longer is a gunsmith dependant on the local area for work. With the internet many shops are receiving work from all across the country. Several internet sites allow you advertise your work or specialty for a minimum fee. This can really be a boost if you do a good job on your ad. It allows you to locate your shop in a rural area ( with low rent) and enjoy drawing work from all across the country. A current search on just one auction site revealed 364 listing of services under the heading “gunsmithing”. This site advertises that it has 2.5 million users. That is a lot of exposure.
A lot of gun groups whether they are hunting clubs, rifle teams, cowboy shooters or swat have a couple of dominate personalities that have a lot to do with controlling the conversation. Every business has these special customers and gunsmithing is no exception. Maybe it might be as simple as a couple extra minutes on a explanation or staying a few minutes late but it really pays off in the amount of business these people send your way.
Police and Sheriff departments always have firearm problems. Typically they won’t go looking for the newest gunsmith to hand over this important task but after you gain their trust you might start to pick work from them and usually bring in some work on their personal guns as well. Maybe offering to clean their shotguns for free as a show of support would get a foot in the door.
Typically gunsmiths don’t view other gunsmiths as competitors. There has always been enough work for the competent gunsmith, but maybe you should contact them for some specialty work. Many shops don’t offer bluing or Parkerizing. Others don’t have time to do gunstock refinishing. Many businesses has operated offering just one or two services and prospered. Businesses offering only rust bluing, color case hardening, shotgun choke work, camouflage finishes, stock making and others have the advantage of the concept that when you specialize you do a better job.
How about if the customer needs something fixed that isn’t a gun. Local slaughter houses use a special gun for their work. Although not classed as a firearm because it doesn’t shoot a projectile these guns cost around two thousand dollars and are only made in Europe. When they break and a backup is not available the operation is halted until it is fixed. With many workers standing idle and animals that have to be cared for in a facility that is not equipped to do so it is a mad dash to find a gunsmith that can save the day. I routinely repair 6-10 of these a year.
Maybe the work will not even be related to firearms but capable of producing good revenue. This might be the case with a local machine shop that could use your services to black oxide finish (blue) parts they are producing for a customer. Just a quick call to let the local machine shop know you can black oxide his parts might be all it takes. This is lucrative because normally there is nothing to do but run his parts through the bluing tanks, no disassembly, polishing or reassembly. A real pie job.
I don’t think it qualifies as thinking outside the box but maybe just being more aware of the world around so you can open up the doors that bring in more business will be all you need to do. Just don’t over do it. I remember seeing an old man digging a ditch who paused and rested on his shovel as he bowed and said “Lord I want to thank you for blessing me with all this dirt!”