gun smithing training

lusoshooter

Hi,lads
Do somebody know a place or school were is possible to get training in gun smithing in Ireland or UK???

Sika_Stalker

the only place to train to be a gunsmith in ireland and the uk is to work under a gunsmith for many years really

bullets

Cant help you out with the Practical aspects of it
but I do know Penn and Foster (USA) do a Gunsmithing course.
If you were willing to spend the cash they would send you
the Theory material via post to Ireland or once you are a member
you will be able to access material via pdf file.

http://www.pennfoster.edu/gunsmith/

Zero practical value as you cant legally go messing about with
Firearms components here but the Knowledge of the theory my be useful.

~B

Da Frog

The best place to go and learn gunsmithing is belgium. I don't know if you can have some courses in English though...

Grizzly 45

Try Ferlach in Austria,or Suhl in Germany.I belive they have run some people in English thru the apprenticeship.But you must do the tests in German.Not only that hope you are willing to put five years of your life into it as well.But then,be prepared to ask big Bucks for your talent anywhere in the world.Especially the US.

meathstevie

Da Frog, indeed a technical high school in Liege runs a secondary school course ( full time, six school terms ) in association with a little manufacturing and development plant down the road in Herstal. You could probably cut the duration of this a bit if you have a Leaving Cert or something equivalent as you would be able to drop a few general knowledge subjects typical for a secondary school. The course would be en Francais sans doute as the school is under constitutional obligation to use the official language of the area.

Da Frog

You are right. I just went to get a bit a info on this school and i have to say it looks great. But unfortunatly for irish young lads it is in French. Sorry dude, i am amazed that the UK doesn't offer something alike when you see that they produce such high standard brand such as H&H and purdey ( amongst many ). I know of some french lads that are approached by H&H to do some engraving for them. Maybe that shows a lack of local training forcing them to outsource the knowledge ...

Double Barrel

THe only way I am aware of is to apprentice to a qualified smith or gunmaker.

The London gun trade has an apprentice system, try contacting H&H or Purdey's on South Audley Street, Holland's is on Bruton St. William & Son, Mount Street . William Evans is on St James's St, Watson Brothers , Redcross Way.

Does it have to be in Ireland?
Trinidad State Junior College in Colorado has an excellent program from what I hear, P.O. Ackley started the gunsmithing course ( Ackley Improved wildcat cartridges). No language barrier except maybe midwestern drawl.
http://www.trinidadstate.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=252&Itemid=412

lusoshooter

Tanks lads,for all the input.
In relation to the French wouldn't be a problem because I manage pretty well in specking and reading the obstacle it its the duration of the program,unfortunately I can't say the same about German language that is like Chinese to me:D,
Double Barrel, I already contacted Purdey and H&H,I got a negative response from the first and never got back a response from the second .
I contacted all the schools in the US that offer gun smithing programs but they have as a rule that you must have High school diploma or a equivalent,which isn't my case because wen left regular school to attend a trade school the only school requirements in my country at the time whose only what the Americans call 11Th Grade , do somebody knows were to the living certificate as a mature student in the area of Galway???:cool:

CoachD

lusoshooter wrote: »

Hi,lads
Do somebody know a place or school were is possible to get training in gun smithing in Ireland or UK???

Hi Lusoshooter,
Have been trying myself for a long time to find the same but with no results, the US is the only place that offer anything (Penn & Foster). However, I have recently been talking to someone who may be able to get me a contact with Smith & Wesson. Maybe we should combine resourses and try?

meathstevie

I know for sure that for an EU citizen the course in Liege would be free or at least extremely cheap as secondary education in Belgium is practically free and EU citizens have the same entitlements. If you attended a trade school at home ( Portugal wasn't it ) you probably have what's called a "Diploma Technisch Secundair Onderwijs" or "Diploma Beroeps Secundair Onderwijs" ( equivalent to trade qualifications through apprenticeship programs in Ireland ) equivalent by Belgian standards. Both would allow you admission to the course.

lusoshooter

Hi, meathstevie, I don't know if the qualification would be valid as a secondary qualification because the the course I made whose 1600 hours and gives only level 2 qualification and as done in the beginning of the 90s wen Portugal joined the EU.Any way I will try to find out the exact equivalence.
Coach D I'm in contact with a couple of colleges in the US that offer the degree in Gun smithing with a 18 months or 24 months option,I received a information package from The Pennsylvania college of Gun smithing with a cost of $4600 for semester, being the course with a duration of 18 months where the final project for the course would be the fabrication of your won
gun of choice (pistol 1911,shotgun or rifle) but for me the is the problem that you need to have a High school diploma or a equivalent ( living certificate) to access the course, they provide the necessary I 20 for the student visa,you only need to proof to the US consul that you are able to keep the expenses with the course and to provide for your self during all the duration of it.( you are not allowed to work under a student visa)
I'm trying to get around of the problem of the certificate,if what one of my work mates told me it's valid for all the EU citizens and not only for Irish that It's possible to get in college were without a living certificate as a mature student I will be doing at least one year to get some kind of certificate that will higher than the High school diploma:D,I will find out tomorrow if apply to me:cool:

meathstevie

Where's my head at . The course in Liege IS secondary school. You only need a primary school cert to enter it. What you come out with is secondary school qualification.

lusoshooter

But will take like 6/7 years to do,and I will be 44 wen finished:eek: and is a full time study so is impossible to get by with all the expenses .unless i could cut the time because I have already most part of the general subjects done, but I can't find the phone number for the school any were in the website ,I will try to find the threw the Belgium phone directory . :cool:

meathstevie wrote: »

Where's my head at . The course in Liege IS secondary school. You only need a primary school cert to enter it. What you come out with is secondary school qualification.

hh579

I was browsing the net when I stumbled on this forum. And I can’t believe my luck. I think I can provide some info that you may find useful. I can tell you for a fact that there are no schools or educational establishments in Britain where gunsmithing can be studied.:(
But living in Europe we are extremely fortunate in that the world’s 2 greatest schools of gunsmithing are both a short plane journey away from us. One is in Liege Belgium and the other is in Ferlach in southern Austria. There is as I understand it a school in Suhl Germany as well but frankly I don’t know much bout that one.
The first 2 are like the Oxford and Cambridge, or for our American cousins the Harvard and Yale of gunsmithing schools. Graduate from either of them and I promise you, you will be head and shoulders above any London apprenticed young gunsmith. Yes I know that’s going to prove controversial, but I believe it’s true. How do I know this? Because I have been to Ferlach to the schools and inspected their facilities with my own eyes and I can tell you that their lofty reputation is well deserved. I am hoping to visit Liege soon so I will keep you posted.
Here are their web addresses:
L'école d'armurerie Léon Mignon
http://www.leonmignon.org/index2.asp?ID=lmignon
Hohere-Technische-Bundeslehranstalt-Felach
http://www.htl-ferlach.asn-ktn.ac.at/index_en.html
The unavoidable truth is that to study in either of these great institutions you need to speak either French or German at least reasonably well. As you will probably be the only not native speaker in your class, lecturers and instructors will not afford you too many privileges, such as personal time and such like. You simply have to keep up. It will be hard, but I think well worth it considering the prize that awaits the successful student.
I don’t know much about French, but I can tell you That German is a devilishly difficult language for beginners to learn, and I would say you need at least 2 years of meaningful study to gain a basic mastery of the thing. And by meaningful study I mean at least 2 hours a day, every day. You are also going to need some private one to one tuition as well which won’t come cheap. But as I said Nothing worthwhile is ever easy. I hope this helps somewhat.