A guide to education for the aspiring gunsmith.

by Mark R. Hollensen

A couple of years ago, I wrote and published The Business of Gunsmithing: A Practical Strategic Compendium. I had been approached a number of times by people considering a career as a full-time gunsmith and those discussions fueled the core content of the book. I have since then received a number of positive responses from people that read it and have likewise received requests for a little more depth or granularity with some of the topics.

To address these requests, I compiled three areas that I felt could be further elaborated on. Mainly because I didn’t feel that level of granularity was appropriate for a book being published for the general population. The following series has been written for the iiAmerican Gunsmith audience since it delves much deeper into the journey of becoming a working gunsmith. This three-part series consists of education and the aspiring gunsmith, the gunsmith persona, and working as a gunsmith. My goal is to help people contemplating a career as a gunsmith with their individual journey and what they will likely face during their pursuit of that career.

Learning Considerations

Are you considering becoming a full-time gunsmith? Any thoughts on where to begin the journey? I often have people either tell me that they wish they had become a gunsmith, or are now considering becoming a gunsmith and are wondering how to get started. Where should you actually begin? I believe like anything else, you should start by seeking out…

Read more in the July 2021 issue.

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