The Pennsylvania Gunsmith School offers a 16-month gunsmith program. The program is taught in full, eight-hour days and requires 2,500 hours of instruction and practice to complete. Instruction is in a supervised shop setting. Topics and skills include bluing, stock-making, welding and soldering, milling, hand-loading and business practices. Coursework covers handguns, rifles, shotguns and muzzle-loaders.
Pennsylvania Gunsmith School
812 Ohio River Blvd.
Pittsburgh PA 15202
412-766-1812
pagunsmith.edu
The Yavapai College Gunsmithing School, in Prescott, Arizona, offers an Associate of Applied Science in gunsmithing. Yavapai’s instructors are professional gunsmiths. The two-year degree program focuses on the manufacture and trade of custom firearms, handguns, rifles, stocks and shotguns. It includes courses on stock-making, metal refinishing and machining, as well as courses in English, the sciences and the humanities.
Yavapai College Gunsmithing School
1100 East Sheldon St.
Prescott, AZ 86301
928-445-7300
gunsmithing.org
The Colorado School of Trades Gunsmithing School offers a 14-month gunsmith program. The program consists of classroom instruction, hands-on experience in the shop and practice on machines and tools in the lab. Basic courses include shop math, drill press operation and blueprint reading. Machine shop courses cover welding, tool bit grinder and lathe. Stock-making courses include gun sights, ballistic hand-loading and finishes, and design and function courses include trigger assemblies, hand tools and business administration.
Colorado School of Trades
1575 Hoyt St.
Lakewood, CO 80215
800-234-4594
schooloftrades.com
Trinidad State Junior College’s gunsmith program has been operating since 1947. The school offers an Associate of Applied Science and a certificate in gunsmithing. The two-year, 72-credit degree program includes classes in firearms conversion, stock-making, firearms repair, machine shop operations, checkering, revolver smithing and shotgun smithing. The degree also requires 15 credits of general education courses, like mathematics, social sciences and business and accounting. The certificate program requires 57 credits. The school also offers one- to two-week summer courses through a partnership with the National Rife Association. Courses include introduction to gunsmithing, advanced toolmaking, firearms repair and bench-rest barrel tuning techniques.
Trinidad State Junior College
600 Prospect
Trinidad, CO 81082
800-621-8752
trinidadstate.edu