The old gunsmith

[MBTcustom]

I wrote this for my greatest mentor. He's retiring from the trade in November.

Listen up lads, and i'll tell you a tail of a man who traveled the earth from heav'n to hell.

Not much height was stacked up on his frame, but the altitude of the deeds he accomplished, few men can attain.

Every day, he plied his trade to the job he was cursed with, cause you see lads the man was a dammed salty gunsmith.

Salty is as salty does, but dammed salty was he indeed because, there was hardly a barrel rifled or smooth he hadn't heated in his adventurous youth.

Tammaro was his name, a right fitting handle, for his grasp on history made him a pretty bright candle.

See lads, its easy to forget what you never knew you needed to hear, but go to the gunsmith, button your lip, and he'd fill up your ear.

You might go in with a gun you got at a right fair price, and other than that busted trigger, it looks real nice,

But you'll leave with, a knowledge, an understanding or perception, of the wars it was fought with, from now to inception.

Youd leave an inch taller after talking to the fellow, and your mind was made broader and a little less yellow.

A tough old sourdough was the gunsmith Tammaro. He'd lived it and seen it both heartache and sorrow.

The sands of time had bleached his perspective, and he was dry as a bone and mighty selective ---

of the fellows he'd converse with whether old or still growing, you'd better figure up how to make yourself worth knowing.

He wasn't unkind, just hell set against foolery. Talk straight, listen close and he'd give you some schoolry.

On places he'd been, and critters he'd hunted, of wars he'd fought, and big men he'd runted.

All of it was true the tales were not tall, he'd actually been on every hunt and in every brawl.

So lift a glass laddies and give a hey ho! for a dam salty gunsmith named Bill Tammaro.

[Iron Whittler]

The craft of gunsmithing is a dyeing trade. In this time of computer games and such, few young people want to spend the time to learn the trade from the old salts. It is not a get rich quick trade. It demands years of dedicated learning and a natural talent to do. I have spent 50 yrs. learning the trade from some very accomplished smiths. The cost of machinery and tooling will put a dent in your wallet. Serious health issues forced me to retire and give up my labor of love. Tried to find someone to pass on the knowledge accumulated over many years. Alas, no takers. With one foot in the grave and the other on a skateboard, the knowledge will pass with me. Treasure your salty smiths as they are growing fewer with the passage of time.

[smoked turkey]

Very nice tribute to your retiring mentor. Unfortunately it looks like his type are leaving us with a large hole where they have been. You are doing your part to keep it going.

[Jniedbalski]

There all gone in my area.

[StuBach]

The craft of gunsmithing is a dyeing trade. In this time of computer games and such, few young people want to spend the time to learn the trade from the old salts. It is not a get rich quick trade. It demands years of dedicated learning and a natural talent to do. I have spent 50 yrs. learning the trade from some very accomplished smiths. The cost of machinery and tooling will put a dent in your wallet. Serious health issues forced me to retire and give up my labor of love. Tried to find someone to pass on the knowledge accumulated over many years. Alas, no takers. With one foot in the grave and the other on a skateboard, the knowledge will pass with me. Treasure your salty smiths as they are growing fewer with the passage of time.

Sad fact but true great smiths are few and far anymore. Iron, noticed where you are from and reminded me of a couple of Jim Clark guns I have from down your way. Custom pieces of art no longer found in the world.

[Bent Ramrod]

Good gunsmiths are actually cabinet makers and tool-and-die makers working for minimum wages. Hard to get a clientele, even at that, when the competition is these modern guns where the frames can be machined on a drill press and everything else is a modular drop-in that anybody can assemble by reading a sheet of instructions, like a kid’s toy on Christmas morning.

They are certainly technological marvels, but they do diminish the work for the traditional wood-and-steel craftsmen.

Ave atque vale.

[lightman]

I hope your friend has a long and happy retirement. Gunsmithing truly is a dying craft.

[kylocdoc]

Its a hard and mostly low paying job. Tried it for several years, and went into a different trade.

[country gent]

My old gunsmith was unique in a way. When I got into NRA high power I bought a blue sky garand. Like most it definitely needed a barrel. I ordered a douglas med heavy 5 groove 1-10 in 308 on his recommendation. When it came in He called and told me to come down early Sunday morning. He wouldn't put it on but stood there and walked me thru it step by step including head spacing it. He told me He wouldn't do what I could do myself or did regularly at work. LOL. When built my first M1A it was the same thing. He would help me with gunsmithig and I helped him with problems machining. Also were good friends for years and I still miss him now that hes gone.

The local Gander Mountain had a man that called himself a gunsmith, All the tools lathe mill drill press. I asked him the charge to drill and tap a rifle for a scope rail I had the rail made and ready to go. He informed me he wasnt set up to do that job. Found out later most of his work was assembling and cleaning firearms for the display racks counters. Another asked for a trigger to be tuned and the same answer.

At least he was honest about his abilities and didnt attempt them not knowing.

[fn1889m]

...At least he was honest about his abilities and didnt attempt them not knowing.

That’s actually a good compliment.

Unless you come from a machinist background, or go through an apprentice program, it’s hard to achieve professional level standards. Especially at a production level that is profitable.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

[dragon813gt]

Its a hard and mostly low paying job.

This is why it’s dying. It’s a small market where it’s hard to make any money. If it was profitable more people would be doing it.

[Nobade]

Fortunately our shop has figured out how to survive. By concentrating on one thing - high accuracy bolt action rifles. No general gunsmithing, no repairs, no wood finishing, etc. I can't say it makes me happy, I'd surely love to be doing all of that again. But I also like to eat and pay my bills, so here we are. One of the favorite jokes in the shop:
Old gunsmith wins the lottery, and now he's got a million dollars. Somebody asks him, "now that you have a million dollars, what are you going to do?"
He says "well, I guess I'll just keep on gunsmithing until it's gone."

[pull the trigger]

What is the name of your shop. I'd love to try and send business your way.

[fatelk]

That's a nice tribute to your mentor. Thanks for posting it.

Like others here, I was excited to get a job working for a gunsmith many years ago. I was young and stupid, and found myself working a boring, repetitive, low paying job, machining hundreds of identical parts on a milling machine. Hour after hour turning knobs and watching chips fly, smelling the smoke of cutting fluid, never able to get the stink out of my clothes or hands, all for less than I could have been making working at a grocery store. The boss was a master gunsmith who had worked very hard, long hours for many years building his business and finding his niche, but he was always very busy and I came to the realization that I would be there for many years running a Bridgeport for next to nothing before I would ever learn much of value, and even then it would be a hard life of low pay should I pursue it as a career, unless I was able to find a nice niche like he had. Even then, it would take many years to build a reputation to achieve much success. I respect those that do it, but decided it wasn't for me.

I found a job in high-tech manufacturing a couple hours away, and my income literally quadrupled in the first year. I still like tinkering with guns, and have friends who often bring me theirs when they have a problem. Many times they've tried to pay me, and I turn it down, telling them I'm not a gunsmith. I'll help friends, but only when I have time, and not for pay. I can fix most basic things, probably even do more than some who do call themselves gunsmiths, but I've seen what a real gunsmith can do, and I don't have anywhere near that level of ability or experience. It would be like calling yourself an electrician because you can change an outlet, or a plumber because you can replace a toilet.

[elmacgyver0]

I have never had need of a gunsmith, If I can't fix it I don't own it.
It used to be the same with cars but age has caught up with me so I have been farming out my car repairs lately.
Hell, I even have someone mowing my grass now.

[Scrounge]

Fortunately our shop has figured out how to survive. By concentrating on one thing - high accuracy bolt action rifles. No general gunsmithing, no repairs, no wood finishing, etc. I can't say it makes me happy, I'd surely love to be doing all of that again. But I also like to eat and pay my bills, so here we are. One of the favorite jokes in the shop:
Old gunsmith wins the lottery, and now he's got a million dollars. Somebody asks him, "now that you have a million dollars, what are you going to do?"
He says "well, I guess I'll just keep on gunsmithing until it's gone."

Not actually a machinist, though going to school to be one, but you reminded me of the joke about how to become a millionaire as a machinist. You start with $10 million. I can see how that could work, looking in my back room and seeing three lathes, two milling machines, three drill presses, a shaper, three bandsaws... And I'm just a hobbyist with a 300sqft workshop!

[Nobade]

Not actually a machinist, though going to school to be one, but you reminded me of the joke about how to become a millionaire as a machinist. You start with $10 million. I can see how that could work, looking in my back room and seeing three lathes, two milling machines, three drill presses, a shaper, three bandsaws... And I'm just a hobbyist with a 300sqft workshop!

Sounds like you are well on your way!

[LynC2]

What is the name of your shop. I'd love to try and send business your way.

He's with "https://scorehi.com/" They do excellent work and 99% of their work is shipped in from other cities/states. They have a great reputation and are very reliable.

Edited to add: Because of their work standards and reputation: There is a back log and you won't have it tomorrow!

[Nobade]

Thanks Lyn, I hadn't been on here for a while and missed that.

[frkelly74]

I remember Will Tang who had a shop just off water street in Allegan. He was crusty and hard to talk to if you just wanted to shoot the breeze. But he knew his business. I had him mount a Lyman 17A sight on my remington 22, He charged me $6 labor and gave me the remainder of the box of ammo left over from sighting in the rifle. I was about 14 or 15 and he had no problem treating me as a customer with a job for him to do.