A specialized trade credential for firearms repair, customization, and manufacturing

Gunsmithing/Gunsmith (CIP 47.0402) trains you for the specialized trade of building, repairing, maintaining, and modifying firearms. The CIP definition centers on applying technical knowledge and skills to make, repair, maintain, and modify firearms according to blueprints or customer specifications, using specialized hand tools and machines. Coursework typically covers metalworking and machining on lathes and mills, hand-fit work for action and trigger components, wood stock work for traditional rifles, finishing techniques (bluing, parkerizing, Cerakote application), parts replacement and headspace gauging, accuracy and rebarreling work, custom builds, scope mounting and bore sighting, applicable federal firearms law (ATF regulations and FFL requirements), and small-business operations for graduates planning their own shop.

The major fits students with mechanical aptitude, an existing interest in firearms, and a clear sense of the destination — bench gunsmith at an established shop, manufacturer service work, custom builder, or self-employed FFL holder. It rewards patience for fine hand-fit work, comfort with detailed mechanical inspection, and the kind of problem-solving that traces a feed-and-eject malfunction back to its specific cause. Day-to-day at the working-gunsmith level mixes diagnostic work on customer firearms, machining and hand-fit repairs, finishing work in stages, ATF compliance documentation, and (for shop owners) customer service and small-business administration.

One grounded observation about scale and producer concentration: 1,114 students complete this CIP across just 13 institutions, with associate’s grads earning $49,273. Producer concentration is unusual — Sonoran Desert Institute alone produces 968 completions (87% of the national total) through a primarily online associate’s program, while Colorado School of Trades (71) is the largest in-person traditional gunsmithing school, with the remainder distributed across small community-college and trade-school programs (Yavapai, Murray State, Montgomery, Fayetteville Technical, Marshalltown, Eastern Wyoming, Trinidad State, Black River Technical). The labor market gates this work at the associate’s level — the only named SOC, Installation, maintenance, and repair workers all other, pays $48,640 with 2.4% projected growth and high school as typical entry, signaling that the credential adds depth rather than gating entry. Realistic destinations include bench gunsmith roles at established shops, manufacturer warranty and service work (Ruger, Smith & Wesson, Browning, Beretta), custom rifle building, retailer service counters at sporting goods chains, military and law-enforcement armorer positions, and self-employment with an ATF Type 01 or Type 07 federal firearms license.