I retired from a career as a gunsmith awhile back. I worked for a very high-volume shop in a large urban setting.
If you really want to be a gunsmith, go through the program at Trinidad. When you get out, the school will help you to get a decent first job. IMHO, your best bet for that first job would be as an apprentice in a very busy shop. I know you want to be a riflesmith, but you really don't know enough yet to know what you want. With the kind of apprenticeship I'm talking about, you will be exposed to lots of new things. I started out wanting to be a riflesmith, but as an apprentice, I fell in love with fine shotguns and became very proficient with shotgun work. Even worked on a few Purdy's! I loved it!
Anyway, get your ticket from Trinidad. Then go with a busy,busy top-rung shop for your apprenticeship. After about a gazillion "Clean & Oil" and general repair tickets, you will be able to repair anything from a hardware store .22 to a $40,000 shotgun in your sleep. Also, you will become FAST, an essential skill if you want to keep your job or hang out a shingle.
Also, start building a shop at home and take on side work. If your boss is a good guy, he may turn you on to some work. Alternatively, go to all the little shops who can't afford a FT gunsmith and see what you can get from them. I had two or three small shops and a chain of 60 pawnshops. Believe it or not, pawnshops do take in some nice guns along with the junk. Anyway, it's good income on top of what you earn at work.
If you still want to be a riflesmith after, say, 7-10 years, tell your boss and he will help you get started. By then you will have a strong following and plenty of "side work" to keep you afloat. Also, ask your boss, early on, to put rifle work on your rack. After 7-10 years, you actually begin to know what the hell you're doing.
You might just find that you like it where you are. I did, and spent my entire career at the same place I started.
Striking out on your own at an early time is risky as hell. First of all you don't know enough to know what you don't know. My advice is to get your ticket, do at least 7- 10 years as an apprentice, then evaluate your options. You may specialize in rifles, but keep that work on the side rollin-in. Otherwise, you will go hungry.
Final thought: If you want to be a gunsmith - not some hack who ruins good firearms - you had better have one hell of a work ethic. You will put in 70 hours per week and work six days out of seven. Forget about hunting. When everyone else is out hunting you're working your butt off repairing/customizing their guns. You will work your day job every holiday except Christmas and Thanksgiving Day. On both of those holidays, I was usually out in my home-shop by 2-3 pm and worked till 10 or 12 at night.
I absolutely loved my job, but I sure did have to work hard. It took a big physical toll on me. When I had downtime, I drank. A lot! My body was so tight and sore and tired, I anesthetized. I was/am crazy about women, and that too became a vice. Now, I need a liver transplant. Try to get more downtime than I did. I'm not kidding when I tell you there a very few "old" gunsmiths. It's a hard life.
Well, I'm rambling now. I wish you the best of luck.
Squire
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