Gunsmith Graduation

After 2 years of study, I have completed the gunsmithing curriculum at Trinidad State Junior College.  Looking back, I really enjoyed my time at the school and have learned a lot.  

A photo with my teachers.  All good guys, I'm very lucky to have had some great teachers that kept pushing me to do better.

John Mclaughlin, Dave Nolan, Me, Ryan Newport, Keith Gipson (Left -Right)

My last day in the Machine Shop.  My favorite class.

At my graduation.  Top of my class.

Magna Cum Laude (3.97 GPA)

 I now have an Associates in Applied Science degree in Gunsmithing.

My dad shooting a full-auto AR for the first time at the shooting range located in the store that I will be working at.

And finally the store, shooting range and gunsmith shop that I will be working at.  I am now the Gunsmith/Shop Manager for Lone Star Guns, Gallery & Gear.

More to come with my adventures in gunsmithing here in Texas, Yeee-Haww!!

Fun With Jeweling (and other side projects)...

As I have stated in my last post, I have been doing a bunch of random projects to keep myself occupied during my last few weeks of school.  I have been taking in projects from other classmates that they don't have time to finish (gunsmithing for other gunsmiths...lol)

This little project took me into a weird direction.  It started off with me jeweling a bolt for one of my classmates.  Fairly simple, one problem is that the jeweling tip was worn out, but worked well enough to finish the bolt.

After finishing the bolt, I began to wonder what else could be used to jewel metal.  So I came up with a little thing-a-ma-bob and tried to jewel a reamer holder.  The reamer holder was not polished, so the final look is a little dull, but it still turned out pretty well.

Then during lunch, I said to my friend that I would like to try it on a gun,  so he gave me a 1911 to try it out on.

 The sides of the 1911 slide are jeweled here, only one day of classes left and I will try to get the top jeweled using and indexing head.

 I also jeweled the frame, I had a little bit of trouble here because the jeweling tip wore out during the process, which made it come out a little uneven.  There is not enough time left in class, but I think that bluing the gun after the jeweling is done would look pretty sweet. Nitre bluing would also look really cool!

Another project I picked up was a Pre '64 model 70.  My classmate said that he has always wanted a Pre '64 in a 220 Swift, unable to get his hands on one, he bought a Pre'64 action and barrel with a contour very close to the factory original.  Not having anytime to barrel the action, he gave the project to me.  I threaded and chambered the barrel, cut the extractor slot, crowned the barrel and test fired the gun for him; so all he needs to do now is make a stock which he can do after he graduates.

Chambering with a floating reamer holder

The cone is cut for the bolt

The barreled action is ready to be stocked

Other projects I have been doing is making special tools for working on Smith & Wesson, Ruger and Colt revolvers. Sorry, no pics (nothing too interesting)

Cerakoting With Peter Leach

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been up to several random projects to keep me busy since I have been done with all of my school projects around midterm.  My classmate (Peter) wanted to camo paint some guns, so we decided to give Cerakote a try.  This is Peter's AR that we are painting here, and to be perfectly honest, Peter did majority of the painting here.  We are using the Cerakote Air Dry ceramic paint.

I didn't get any before pics of the gun put together, but here is what I did get for before shots.

 Everything is taped off.

Letting things dry after applying the base coat.

 Base coat dry and everything put back together.

After finishing the base coat, the camo pattern is applied.

Turned out pretty good for a first attempt at Cerakoting, the instructions say that it is fully cured in about 5 days, but we found that 7-10 days of curing was much better.

The Future Gunsmith

Graduation is quickly approaching in less than two weeks.  I had made some good connections and job leads when I went to the Las Vegas Shot Show.  Over spring break I had visited several places and have had several offers for a job.  Three particular job offers of interest made the decision VERY difficult.  At one job, I would be building target rifles and 50cal rifles, and another was a custom shop offer at a prestigious company(very close to my home town too).  My long term goal is to eventually open up my own business and so I took the third offer to go out to Weatherford, TX as the Gunsmith Shop Manager for Lone Star Guns, Gallery & Gear.  I think that this would be the best place for me to hone my skills as a gunsmith, gain experience on running a shop, and ultimately set me up for my future career goals (and who knows, I may even like it and decide to stay there);  and so in a few weeks I will be starting my career as a gunsmith!

I also recently returned from the Brownells Career Fair, where I got to meet some influential names in the industry, attend some seminars,  and have a chance to look at what the other schools had to offer.  I was very curious about the other schools since I had a hard time choosing one when I wanted to learn gunsmithing; I am very glad that I had chosen TSJC for my education.  I am not saying that the other schools were bad, but I do believe that I got the education I was looking for at the Trinidad school.  Jet Li once said (in reference to which is the best style of martial arts): it's not about the style of kung-fu, but rather the practitioner.  I believe this to be true with gunsmithing too.

To aspiring gunsmiths looking for a school to go to, I would highly recommend going to the Brownells career fair and look first hand at what the schools are doing and the quality/variety of work being put out.  It is held once a year in Des Moines, IA near the end of April.  I also personally recommend Trinidad State Junior College as a great program to learn gunsmithing.  

I would like to thank every one who has supported me and encouraged me, especially my parents, during my time at Trinidad State Junior College.





P.S. I do plan on continuing this blog during my gunsmith adventures in TX.

Two More Rifles

I know I have not been posting much this semester, I have been busy with finish work on my guns and getting ready for graduation.  Here are the two rifles I finished this semester.


 On a side note, I ordered a scope from Nightforce Optics and was later called by one of the sales reps and he told me to send a picture of my gun with the scope on it so that they could use it in their next catalog.  So hopefully soon you will see a picture of my gun in the 2013 Nightforce catalog!

6.5-284 Norma

6mm BR Norma

5 Shots with factory ammunition - Lapua 90gr scenar's

I will have more for you soon.  Got some pics of some cerakoting my friend and I have been doing that I will hopefully have up soon.

My 6mm Norma BR

Here are some pics of my 6mm Norma BR.  Built on a blueprinted and sleeved Remington 700 short action with a Krieger 1-8 twist 30" barrel with a muzzle break.  Chambered in 6mm Norma BR for Lapua Brass.  The stock is a benchrest Hunter Class style stock using quilted maple.  The stock has been reinforced with carbon fiber and G10.  It has also been pillar bedded and glass bedded with Marine Tex.  The butt of the stock has an aluminum butt plate with a weight system.

The rifle is about 95% done, but I couldn't resist putting some pics up.

Here is the other rifle of the matching pair.  Still a work in progress.  This one is also a blueprinted Remington 700 short action with a Krieger 1-8 twist 26"barrel. Chambered in 6.5-284 Norma with a tight-neck chamber.  Stock is another Hunter Class stock, reinforced with carbon fiber and also has pillar and glass bedding.   Aluminum butt plate with weight system too.  The stock has an integral bottom rail for a bi-pod or front palm swell.

Restoring Great Grandpa's Smith & Wesson

The husband of a woman that I work with found out that I was in Gunsmith school and asked me to re-blue a gun for him.  Sight unseen, I agreed to re-blue it for him thinking that it would be a quick polish and bluing job.  Upon arriving at their house to pick up the gun, he told me that the gun was originally his fathers gun (whom had recently passed away), that this was the gun he grew up shooting and that he would like to pass it on to his grandson.  He also said that this gun had been sitting in a puddle of a flooded basement for about 5 years.  After seeing the condition of the gun I almost hesitated doing it as I have been really focused on finishing the 2 rifles I started this semester.  After hearing his story, I wanted to refinish the gun.  One thing I love about guns is the history and the memories of a single item passed on from generation to generation.  Great grandfather, who was a cop and carried this gun in the line of duty, taught his son to shoot with the same gun and now it is being passed on to great grandson (there was a gap with a daughter who apparently never shot the gun).

I wasn't about to just knock off the old bluing and re-blue it.  If I am going to do something, I am going to do it right.  I will do a full refinish on it to try and restore the gun to its former glory.    The entire gun had corrosion and pitting on it and the inside of the gun was rusted badly. 

Here are the before and after pics.

 I tried my best to remove all of the pitting, but there are some spots around the logo that I couldn't remove without taking the logo out as well.  The gun will always have a scar from it's time in the puddle.  I hope the guy will like what I've done to it.