The national average salary for a gunsmith is around the mid-$40's. BUT...
As with any real trade, the first couple of years are considered apprenticeships. Regardless if you're an accountant, IT geek, carpenter, plumber, or gunsmith. To think that you will be making the average wage of the profession is unrealistic.
You should take the best offer that is presented to you. $23 with no benefits is equivalent to a low to mid-30K a year gig. The risk you have is health insurance & the cost of your errors, which can REALLY add up if you work on expensive pieces and Bubba them.
Quote:
dchi
How much do gunsmiths make $$$?
Im about to graduate from Trinidad State Jr College. I just attended the Brownell's career fair. There were 5 other gun schools there. I had the best custom pistols there at the show. I got 4 job offers but they were not what I was hoping. They were on the average of $12 an hour and no peice rate for work even though those shops were charging $65 and hour or $2500 for custom gun. They offered to pay for most tooling and some insurance. This is sad, my wife makes $9 working at walmart and she's been there only a year.
What should I ask for????
BTW I had one company offer me $23 an hour but they have no benefits at all and the don't pay for any tools and if you break something, you buy it.
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