Career in Firearms

[Mach16lt 0]

Many people have said... "Do what you love, and you'll never work a day in your life"

 

Well I love guns...

 

Anyone have any advice on how to make a move into the firearms industry with a background in graphic arts?

 

I'm currently an Art Director in pharmaceutical advertising... Which I think gives me something to offer in the marketing field... But I'm not sure.

 

Anyone else ever want to make a move into the industry?

[Purple Patrick 638]

I'm currently trying to get into the biz. I'm taking a basic gun smithing course online and am going to follow it with some armorers courses in specific weapons, in the mean time I'm looking to find a gunshop to work or apprentice at. My ultimate goal would be a gunsmith in a major manufacturers custom shop

 

 

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[boo 6]

I've been toying with the idea of trying to work for a larger firearm industry company in a finance-related capacity. I remembered looking up job openings at Sig Sauer, but haven't yet really put a serious effort into it. I know a lot of people that have used linked-in successfully for that.

[Purple Patrick 638]

Nssf.org has current job openings all over the country

 

 

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[Spike 7.62 0]

I joined the Army at 18 and that has put many different firearms in my hands, domestic and foreign. I work at an FFL now and every day I eat, breathe and think about guns from 9am to 6pm. I go with my boss to people's houses to buy. I get to give advice to new shooters. This job won't allow me to live my dream life, but it is good for now. I have applications in with law enforcement to do more work with tactical weapons. That is somewhat "in the industry".

 

It depends on where you are in your life. I'm 24 so working at a retail store isn't terrible for me, plus I have the Army Reserve. If you want a CAREER, consider something in law enforcement, IMO. Or Cabela's, I hear they treat their people pretty well.

[Norseman 2]

I've had a halfway decent career in I.T. I don't know what kind of job and money I can find/earn working with firearms but that is my goal now too!

 

 

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[Njbanshee 9]

I would love to work I the firearm market. Being a gun smith sounds good to me.

[pbkid6974 1]

been toying with the idea of going to the PA gunsmithing school. seems to be the place to go if you want to get into the industry from what i've heard.

[Purple Patrick 638]

been toying with the idea of going to the PA gunsmithing school. seems to be the place to go if you want to get into the industry from what i've heard.

Penn's foster? I'm in their online program now

[RS1200XL 4]

Get an engineering degree....The gun companies are looking for people.  Ruger is opening a new plant in NC which will need Manufacturing Engineers.  Remington is coming up with new handgun designs which will need Mechanical Engineers.

[Njbanshee 9]

My wife had a bad experience with penn foster

[Nac 3]

My former neighbor is a retired weapons engineer. He worked at Picatinny Arsenal. He has moved to one of the 55+ community. He is still good friends with my parents and what ever he did I can tell you he did very well for himself.

 

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[pbkid6974 1]

Penn's foster? I'm in their online program now

no this place http://www.pagunsmith.edu/

 

Get an engineering degree....The gun companies are looking for people.  Ruger is opening a new plant in NC which will need Manufacturing Engineers.  Remington is coming up with new handgun designs which will need Mechanical Engineers.

that takes 4+ years. plus i probably have more practical experience working in a manufacturing plant to design stuff that works without problems then most of these college educated idiots with their fancy degrees and no experience. in my opinion, that's part of the problem with this country, lots of paper saying people can do things and no one actually doing things.

[Gunnz 49]

I was thinking about going back to school to finish my engineering degree. While in college, I studied chemical engineering for 3 full years, before switching to mathematics.

But chemical wouldn't help me in the gun market, unless I worked on new metal finishes for firearms.

Heck, I have thought about working for a local FFL part time just to be more a part of the industry.

[pbkid6974 1]

I was thinking about going back to school to finish my engineering degree. While in college, I studied chemical engineering for 3 full years, before switching to mathematics.

But chemical wouldn't help me in the gun market, unless I worked on new metal finishes for firearms.

Heck, I have thought about working for a local FFL part time just to be more a part of the industry.

polymers my friend all types of chemical stuff in that. i know because i work with it every day.

[9thMarines 44]

You could always run for the New Jersey Assembly.   There are 80 highly trained firearms experts there, who apparently

spend every waking moment of their time involved with firearms.....      

[RS1200XL 4]

that takes 4+ years. plus i probably have more practical experience working in a manufacturing plant to design stuff that works without problems then most of these college educated idiots with their fancy degrees and no experience. in my opinion, that's part of the problem with this country, lots of paper saying people can do things and no one actually doing things.

 

 

That's great, but you still need that degree to move up the ladder.  Engineering classes aren't just about learning math and such.  They also teach you to solve problems different ways.  You and I may not agree, but that is the way business works these days.

 

By the way not all engineers are only book smart with no practical experience....or afraid to get their hands dirty of the shop floor.  I just landed a position because of both my degree and my manufacturing experience.  Hell quite a few of my friends in college were the say way.  Don't get me wrong there are a lot of book smart people there....but when you can back up your book smarts with practical experience you're golden and worth quite a bit.

[Gunnz 49]

polymers my friend all types of chemical stuff in that. i know because i work with it every day.

I hear ya. That's a whole branch in chemical engineering, while in college I never gravitated towards that, as I wasn't into firearms at the time.

 

My speciality was more of process engineering.

But oh well, that was a past life, and nothing to do with my math degree.

[pbkid6974 1]

That's great, but you still need that degree to move up the ladder.  Engineering classes aren't just about learning math and such.  They also teach you to solve problems different ways.  You and I may not agree, but that is the way business works these days.

 

By the way not all engineers are only book smart with no practical experience....or afraid to get their hands dirty of the shop floor.  I just landed a position because of both my degree and my manufacturing experience.  Hell quite a few of my friends in college were the say way.  Don't get me wrong there are a lot of book smart people there....but when you can back up your book smarts with practical experience you're golden and worth quite a bit.

well you're one of the few engineers that i have met that actually get/got their hands dirty. most come into my plant look at stuff and come back later with crap that doesn't do what it was supposed to do. i keep telling the maintenance manager to let me have a crack at making some stuff but he won't listen. i'm actually surprised that our QC manager listened to me last week about a batch formula that was all fucked up and no one in QC or R&D could figure it out. turns out i was right 3 weeks ago the first time we tried to run the product but no one wanted to listen to me because i just "push buttons and roll drums"(how we package our finished products).

 

if anyone is wondering i work in a plant that makes colored plastics. just so you have some idea about what i'm talking about...

[Newtonian 453]

Get an engineering degree....The gun companies are looking for people.  Ruger is opening a new plant in NC which will need Manufacturing Engineers.  Remington is coming up with new handgun designs which will need Mechanical Engineers.

Great advice. Or should I say, +1?

[Newtonian 453]

I was thinking about going back to school to finish my engineering degree. While in college, I studied chemical engineering for 3 full years, before switching to mathematics.

But chemical wouldn't help me in the gun market, unless I worked on new metal finishes for firearms.

Heck, I have thought about working for a local FFL part time just to be more a part of the industry.

With a math degree you could probably work in any number of industries. I'd be surprised if a gun manufacturer would not hire you in some capacity.

[Shocker 151]

Work for the gov't? With a math background it's an reasonable move to computational mechanics and that is always marketable.

 

WRT the Army, basic research is done in Maryland but applied research is in Picatinny.

 

EDIT: that is, if you want to make NEW things. Repairing and modifying current things is perfectly valid as well.

[illy 1]

Math? Government work? Sounds like a plan.

 

[302w 83]

Picatinny is a crazy place to work.

 

I've seen plenty of people doing all sorts of stuff they didn't originally go to school for... Engineering has a whole ton on diciplines.. civil, mech, chem, industrial, EE (those SOBs are crazy), environmental, biomed, followed by half dozen more specific things and then the ETs. It is tough getting your foot in the door sometimes, but knowing your crap, getting your PE (if applicable), and experience in that field of engineering trumps all.

 

Also, a decent number of people in my night classes are 25-40, having worked in the field for a fair number of years before they decided they wanted to move on up.

 

Hell, one of the most brilliant people I knew in school was my TA for land surveying. He was a redneck electrical contractor, decided to go for architecture and said it was too easy AFTER GRADUATING, then went through civil with probably a 4.0. Someone once told me he couldn't remember the formula for (I think) mors circle so he derived it himself.

[Norseman 2]

Chemical engineering degree? Become Hisenberg!! (j/k)

 

 

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[jm1827 284]

That's great, but you still need that degree to move up the ladder.  Engineering classes aren't just about learning math and such.  They also teach you to solve problems different ways.  You and I may not agree, but that is the way business works these days.

 

By the way not all engineers are only book smart with no practical experience....or afraid to get their hands dirty of the shop floor.  I just landed a position because of both my degree and my manufacturing experience.  Hell quite a few of my friends in college were the say way.  Don't get me wrong there are a lot of book smart people there....but when you can back up your book smarts with practical experience you're golden and worth quite a bit.

Same here, I worked my way through my undergrad engineering degree as an electrician, and along the way picked up quite a few slikks, got to work in a machine shop, learned how to weld.  After graduate school ended I up with a big company but still have the life lessons learned along the way.

[NYMetsFan86 9]

anybody ever take the next step or have any updates. How are the gunsmithing classes going? I have recently had the same epiphany. I think you guys with engineering degrees have the best shot at something firearms related. i would have to start from scratch. I have a Culinary degree got worn out of that after a few years, now i've been working in healthcare for the past 3 years, go figure. Not seeing a seguey into firearms related career on that one. Healthcare industry, at the level im involved, looks to be saturated and going down the tubes. 28 years old and clocks a tickin', what have you guys been up to on the quest for a job in firearms??

[A-Tech 8]

Well, I don't have a degree and always wished I had a stepping stone to get into the industry. I have a few friends that work among the NRA and Mission First and I couldn't figure out how to become a part of the industry. And then I posted pictures here of a holster I made...now it's my secons job and I hope to make it a full time gig. I've already made contact with several other firearms retail businesses and have started to expand sales.

[Shane45 807]

The firearms industry is a tough one! I work in several lines of business and I can tell you that the gun industry is rather unique. Its tough to wrap your head around that the shooting community gravitates toward virtuous ideals, yet behind the walls of the industry it can be quite the opposite. I think a big part of that stems from two things. 1)Egos that can barely fit in the room with people in it. Money, which actually splits into some sub catagories. a)initially successful companies that have no idea how to manage money or the biz b)except for some success stories, unless your a major player, theres not a lot of stable money. I have lost count of the behind the scenes battles, lawsuits, flat out screwing overs and downright intellectual property thefts I have seen. Proliferation is another problem. So many people gravitating toward the business. So many new companies making stuff. Makes my head spin! I think we are at market saturation currently. It will be interesting to see how far prices fall to move the mountains of inventory on shelves. Its not my intention to ring the bell of doom and gloom. But more to illuminate that once your on the other side, it may not look at all like you expected.

[Shane45 807]

Well, I don't have a degree and always wished I had a stepping stone to get into the industry. I have a few friends that work among the NRA and Mission First and I couldn't figure out how to become a part of the industry. And then I posted pictures here of a holster I made...now it's my secons job and I hope to make it a full time gig. I've already made contact with several other firearms retail businesses and have started to expand sales.

In my opinion, this is actually one of the best ways into the industry! Start your own gig.