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Dfariswheel · September 20, 2006, 06:46 PM

"Dfariswheel, even the high level military armorers are not general gunsmiths"

True, but I meant the REAL top military gunsmiths who do the work for elite units like Delta and Naval Special Warfare Development Group. (Used to be known as SEAL Six).

Since these units deal with a very wide variety of weapons including a wide range of commercial civilian firearms, they belong in the very top rank of custom 'smiths.
These elite units are constantly using or trying out commercial firearms, and their gunsmiths have to be capable of working on them, and modifying them.

One colleague recently told me that he knows for a fact that an elite "they" have experimented with the new S&W .500 Magnum pistol.
Not that they are actually using it, but that like all such units, they are constantly looking for something that might fill a special need.

These military gunsmiths are the equal of any civilian 'smith.
BUT..... these people are the very top of the military gunsmithing structure, and they are VERY few and far between.

That's why it's largely a waste of time to try to become a good civilian gunsmith by going the military armorer route.
Most armorers, military and civilian police are "parts switchers" for minor problems, with real gunsmithing problems sent up to the REAL gunsmiths.

September 20, 2006, 06:46 PM	#11
Dfariswheel Senior Member Join Date: May 4, 2001 Posts: 7,478	"Dfariswheel, even the high level military armorers are not general gunsmiths" True, but I meant the REAL top military gunsmiths who do the work for elite units like Delta and Naval Special Warfare Development Group. (Used to be known as SEAL Six). Since these units deal with a very wide variety of weapons including a wide range of commercial civilian firearms, they belong in the very top rank of custom 'smiths. These elite units are constantly using or trying out commercial firearms, and their gunsmiths have to be capable of working on them, and modifying them. One colleague recently told me that he knows for a fact that an elite "they" have experimented with the new S&W .500 Magnum pistol. Not that they are actually using it, but that like all such units, they are constantly looking for something that might fill a special need. These military gunsmiths are the equal of any civilian 'smith. BUT..... these people are the very top of the military gunsmithing structure, and they are VERY few and far between. That's why it's largely a waste of time to try to become a good civilian gunsmith by going the military armorer route. Most armorers, military and civilian police are "parts switchers" for minor problems, with real gunsmithing problems sent up to the REAL gunsmiths.