Are Gunsmiths a Vanishing Breed?

[TBow]

Reading the latest issue of Ontario Out of Doors magazine, there's an article about "Where Are The Gunsmiths?".

I hadn't given it a lot of thought before reading the article, but must admit that they are few and far between in my area. A good gunsmith has to be a machinist, not to mention the owner of a good pile of machinery, a true craftman, and at times, immensely ingenious. They also have to be registered with the provincial CFO (Chief Firearms Officer) and meet certain qualifying criteria. On top of all that, it indicated in the article that monetary benefits were modest at best for most.

I used to have the luxury of travelling all across southern Ontario for work and was able to visit just about every gunshop/gunsmith between Cornwall and Windsor, but those days are all behind me. So now that I'm retired if I want to visit some of the shops that I enjoyed stopping into, I have to bear all the travel costs myself.

My dad was a machinst and my uncle used to have a gun dealers lisence, so the majority of my gun needs were usually met in-house so to speak, but both my dad and uncle have long since passed. The odd time that I needed a professional blueing job or having a custom stock made, I sought out a local gunsmith and also enjoyed swapping stories with them.

TBow

[Shaun_300]

Yeah there isn't too many around anymore Tbow, dad said there used to be quite a few throughout the Ottawa Valley here. I can't even name one that does gunsmithing as a job. I'm lucky to have a good "gunsmith" now. A father of a service advisor at work does a bit on the side. He's a machinist and has all the lathes and milling machines at home. He fixed the issue I had with my safety that was not working on my .220 Swift last year. Other than that, that's the only person I know who works on guns.

[RangerClay]

You hit the nail on the head when you mentioned machinest. Todays school focus sooo much on computers that the shop teachers we knew as kids are almost extinct. Then add to that todays cost of living. You cannot make a decent living as a gunsmith alone. You have to sell sporting goods and guns for you to make it. Now your store has to compete with the big box stores. Its almost impossible for a guy to make a living. My gunsmith has a full time job while his wife watches the shop during the day.

[Prairiepredator]

Ya I don't hear of very many around.