What does a gunsmith do?

[koginam]

I am curious as to what you all feel qualifies someone to be a gunsmith. What should he be able to do?
For instance is he a machinist, engraver, stock maker, barrel maker, etc...?
What should he charge an hour?
What should his mark up be on his merchandise?
What services does your favorite smith offer?
This is for an article in the gunsmiths e- magazine.

 

[mikecr]

http://www.answers.com/topic/gunsmith

I believe a great gunsmith is a great metal worker who can repair/replace faulty parts. He might also be able to do the same with wood. They FIX guns and thats a great service when you need it. But they'll go the way of the TV repairman, as guns are just as disposable.

They all have other specialties, as they fight to survive, but in general a gunsmith IS NOT:
A Machinist
An Actionmaker, Barrelmaker, Diemaker, Ammomaker, Restmaker, Stockmaker, Gundesigner, or Gunbuilder.
Many offering these services imply that they are gunsmiths, and often it's assumed. But they are not.

Those services are just what they are, and cannot be assumed as gunsmithing.

 

[Twud]

Mine charges by the job.
He can make straight forward parts.
He can do basic inletting.
He only carrys a small inventory of cleaning supplies at market prices.
He primarily builds bench rest guns from high end components.

Like most gunsmiths, he can be very surly and opinionated.
For $180 he will clean your bore and action, totally freefloat your barrel, bed your action and smooth out and lighten your trigger. Any new gun I buy goes right to him before I even shoot it.

 

[mikecr]

Disposable guns are those you see on the racks today -everywhere.
Unbedded plastic or crap laminate stocks. Metal left in white, hodgepodged parts of various materials screwed together because they could be. Ill fitted scopes, bases, and rings. Guns way out of balance, or too heavy for intended use, or too light for their chambering.

These guns aren't well conceived and built for legacy, but for fads out of gun-rag fallacy. We can order & replace any part on them ourselves for cheap. And so these guns, every one of them, are worthless.
What's a REAL gunsmith to do with this? What contribution can he make to preserve such junk? Afterall, he could replace parts here no better than you..
A real gunsmith today would trip all over himself to get at a Ballard needing a ding repaired, or a sear issue addressed.

Like a TV repairman daily dusting off his tubes..

 

[rstreich]

Can I dig in that dumpster also?

Back to the original question:

What should he be able to do? For instance is he a machinist, engraver, stock maker, barrel maker, etc...?

Arguably, a gunsmith does any or all of these things. However, I think the better ones specialize in one of these areas. Disregarding the other stuff in Mike's post, the link that Mike posted would seem to be appropriate: A gunsmith is anyone who works on guns.

It seems a little quixotic to try and define the skill set of a gunsmith. It's just too broad of a term to condense into a skill set for one person.

What should he charge an hour?

I have too much of a vested interest in the low numbers to answer this one honestly. Besides, it would depend on his specialty and skill level.

What should his mark up be on his merchandise?

Is it merchandise that he manufactures or stuff that he resells? If the former, whatever the market will bear. If the latter, nothing more than what I can buy it for myself.

What services does your favorite smith offer?

I don't have a single favorite. I have one that does most of my metal work,chambering, truing, etc.), one that builds and beds stocks, others that do specialty items.

 

[treeman]

A real gun smith is all of those things plus a welder and a blacksmith. _____ treeman

 

[82boy]

Well I would say a GOOD SMITH is an artist, they transform guns.
The can work metal so that it looks like it was never touched. I believe there is a diference between a Gunsmith and someone who works on guns. Someone who works on guns can make them mechanicaly function, but will leave evidence of there work. A gunsmith is more like an artist they modify guns and make them mechanicaly function, but as mentioned leave no evidence of their work.

I would say a gunsmith is a jack of all trades, a machinist, a carpenter, a mechanic, and a few other things wrapped up in one. I belive like a doctor there is specilist gunsmiths like barrel makers, stock makers and engravers.

I would say a gunsmith should limmit there work to only a couple of gun brands, such as a smith that only works on 1911's and ar15's and nothing else, or a smith that only works on S&W revolvers, and Remington rifles. I belive first that the cost of tooling and constant changes effects the end product.

I belive a smith should charge by the job and not by the hour, this is what car mechanics do and other profesions as well.

On mark up the smith needs to be competive with other smiths. His mark up should also be a refection of his work, if it is very good people will pay, and the smith will have long waiting list to get in.

Serices my favorite smiths offer, well I mainly deal with Savage rifles and 1911's so I look for timming and truing, aftermarket triggers, aftermarket stocks, and other things I can not do my self, for I dont have the tooling or knowhow.