Teaching somebody to chamber a barrel

Just go hang around a local gunsmith's shop for a while and ask if you can sit back and watch him work. Offer to help around the shop in exchange for letting watch and ask questions. If you're an engineering student then you're smart enough to learn a lot of the basics just by reading everything you can get your hands on. Combine that with a little time sitting and watching an experienced smith do some work and you'll pick it up pretty fast. Just because you don't have money doesn't mean that you're asking for a hand out. I've had multiple shops over the years that allowed me to come in and watch or ask questions while helping clean up, deal with customers or answer the phones. Now one shop lets me use his equipment in exchange for working the gun counter for him for a couple hours. These days though my time is more valuable than money so it's typically easier to just pay a smith to do the work for me.

Chambering a barrel isn't really that complicated if you take your time and pay attention to details. It's all just math and measurements which should be right up your alley as an engineering student.
 
slv hunter said:
He's in Pueblo Colorado area. I know he was an apprentice years ago.
Hopefully someone near you will chime in and give you a hand.
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I assume your at Alabama, and if so, I really don't like Alabama, but would be willing to assist you, however you'll need to travel to God's country, south Louisiana. Check out my website and if interested, contact me.

Powers Metal Works, LLC
 
I was in your shoes once. I was told that I would not be able to figure out how to build rifles. So I went to my gunsmith to ask if I could apprentice with him and he didn't have the time. So I started to learn by reading all I could get my hands on watched hours of DVD's and YouTube on lathe operation threading turning whatever was out there. I bought a lathe and started to apply what I learned doing muzzle brakes and thread jobs for suppressors. Now my Smith has time to help me because I showed some initiative. Nowadays so many people want to build a rifle but its lots of work. Time to build a rifle is small in comparison to the time needed to learn how to build a rifle. It takes me the better part of a day to set up, thread, chamber, and crown a barrel. Most just can't give a day away they have work to do. Like others have said you may have to trade a good bit of your less skilled labor for some of their highly skilled labor and tutelage. May need to commit a large amount of your time to someone willing to trade a little of theirs. I'm no direct help I'm in Washington. Learn all you can and good luck.
 
short grass. What, exactly, is the source of your resentment and anger? The kid made a perfectly appropriate request to try and learn something. Never once heard him demand or plead for anything other than an opportunity. Personally, I commend him for taking the initiative to ask. Good luck young man. And remember how not to act once you're a little older and are possibly presented with a similar situation. Being an a$$h@@e is a choice, not a requirement , of being an adult.
 
Great youre wanting to build something we all have passion for, and at 21 years old, VERY few people know what their calling is, so it's important to try different things to home in on what that really is.
Many youngsters going into your field seeing the benefits of a M.E./ P.E. degree, just to end up lost in a big engineering firm driving a desk for their career, then realizing they hate it and never tried anything else.
I run a small but successful consulting engineering firm in Portland, Oregon. I don't produce anything other than reports, and I understand the need to actually produce something gratifying with your hands. That's why I started building custom Lapua brass for guys (mostly competition calibers) in my very limited spare time. But the bulk of my brass time is spent fielding questions over calls and emails to guys wanting to learn how to do this for themselves. Building the brass is labor-intensive and would be very easy for me to be a greedy a$$hole and tell them to either pay me for my skill or go learn for themselves like I had to, or I could just give them the help they need to get going on their own if they have the equipment and possess the desire to learn.
I haven't had anything built down south in quite a while, but if memory serves me Jim McCollough of Selma (McCollough Rifles) Alabama is either semi or full retired. He's one of the best and maybe to the point he'd like to take on a mentorship.
Predator Customs?
HK Customs?
Old Ridge Gun Repair?
Good luck!
 
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Tbaxl said:
How out of touch, there is a large difference between demanding instruction versus asking for help. I come in here asking for help and your response is basically to screw off. I can't use my schools machine shop because they won't allow most students, so I asked for somebody else to help teach me a skill many my age are unwilling or don't want to learn. I spend my time in school studying and during the summer I work full time in construction. You judged me based on me being gen Y but have no clue who I actually am. How short sighted of you. Thanks for no help.
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I understand your position. But you do come across as somewhat "entitled" because while you are asking for help you offer nothing in return.

As a Babyboomer, I grew up learning that you always value someone's time and when you ask them to do you a favor, you usually offer something in return ... and the favor, if granted, is at their convenience, not yours.
 
stever88 said:
I understand your position. But you do come across as somewhat "entitled" because while you are asking for help you offer nothing in return.

As a Babyboomer, I grew up learning that you always value someone's time and when you ask them to do you a favor, you usually offer something in return ... and the favor, if granted, is at their convenience, not yours.
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Once again for the rest of the people that have some issue with me for asking for help. I didn't come in here demanding somebody to help me, I came for some one to point me in the right direction. A lot on here have been helpful... a lot haven't. However, I have followed up with many of these leads and ended talking to a guy name John Harris who is about an hour away from me. He's a mostly retired gunsmith who takes on 4-5 students a year. He step by step takes you through the process of completing rebuilding a Mauser rifle, he teaches you how to carve and fit the stock, blueprint and time the action, cut the barrel correctly, how to blue the metalwork. And no he doesn't do this for free, but I never came asking for free help I came just asking for help. But thanks for assuming I just wanted it for free and I wanted it now. Don't act special that your baby boomer so you were raised right, i wish I could meet half of y'all that have that have tried to discourage me because I could change your ill founded opinion of me very quickly.
 
Runingfool said:
I assume your at Alabama, and if so, I really don't like Alabama, but would be willing to assist you, however you'll need to travel to God's country, south Louisiana. Check out my website and if interested, contact me.

Powers Metal Works, LLC
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I appreciate this very much, however south Louisiana is slightly to far for me to travel after school or work.
 
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