Pinch him.
If he shoots you, he’s real.
Sorry ... had to.. It’s been a LONG day.
Usually, they’ll be certified and have an FFL as well. But not all FFLs are gunsmiths.
There are gunsmithing schools too, so typically, they’ll have their certs and diplomas out where you can see them.
But not always. And there’s always word of mouth, too. Talk to friends who have had work done, and see where they got it performed.
I do all of my own work, and have fixed pieces for friends as well, but I’m not a “smithy”.
I you live in Spicewood, Texas just ask any of the roofing salesmen if the gunsmith is as qualified as they are. If the roofing salesman says, “Yes.”, he is telling the truth as neither is required to have any license or any training. If the roofing salesman says, “No.”, he is lying because the roofing salesman is not required to have any specialized training nor to have a license.
Mabel, hand me my rifle. There is another one of those varmints at the front door.
Hand him a M1911 colt, He should be able to disassemble and assemble it in 2 minutes.
Try Craigslist under “Things That Go Boom.”
Word of mouth from reputable shooters.
What kind of work are you looking to have done?
The best way to vet a prospective smith is by personal contact, next best is word of mouth. Questions you should ask are things like what sort of work he does, how long he's been in business, where he got his training, what sort of firearm he prefers to work on. What he says isn't as important as how he says it.
That's not all that helpful, sorry. Tough question. You'll know him by his work and his promptitude, which you won't find out until afterward.
What is it you are looking to have done?
Unless its special machining, a lot of “gun smithing” is knowing how to swap and/or polishing parts.
A couple of decades ago I paid for a trigger job on my 1911’s. A few years ago I took a 1911 armorer’s class and learned the bulk of a trigger job consists of replacing a single spring.
I know a gunsmith that taught gunsmiths in a trade school. He manufactures guns. He repairs guns also. He has no certifications or licenses. I would not go to anyone else.
I ask my SpecOps buddies for a recommendation and then assume he is real because nobody in their right mind would cross these guys.
IOW, get references.
Word of mouth. See the kind of work the alleged ‘smith has done.
He should have examples as well and allow you into his shop.
My Colt revolvers I send to “The Arizona Thumber” for everything (www. jamesguns.com). Can’t beat his prices OR his work. I wanted a pair of 1957/2d gen. grips on a gun. He traded me for a pair HE had for the walnut ones I had plus something like $45 for fitting. Flawless work. I heard about him from maybe half a dozen folks on several gun boards. I’ve sent three guns to him, always with a time quote of 3-4 weeks and he’s always gotten them done a week early. Never late.
Local (huh, it’s about a 45 minute drive, but it’s all relative) ‘smith I had thread a barrel and index a muzzle brake for a suppressor had a VERY impressive “home shop” in a garage behind his house.
Said shop was wallpapered with cloverleaf and single-hole targets from rifle’s he’d built and shot in competitions. He probably had a double handful of rifles he was working on at the time and gave me a 2-3 week job time. You want your ‘smith to be at least that busy.
I was referred to him by a friend who runs a rifle range catering to wealthy yuppies and military who is such a perfectionist he prefers to do his OWN rebarreling/chambering and trigger jobs.
That’s the kind of referral you want. From someone who has HAD the work done by that guy.
Well they should have a certificate from the gun smithing school they attended but we have had trouble with an in store gunsmith on Mr GG2’s AR and our Mossberg 12 gauge. So I would suggest getting a personal recommendation from somebody.
Certficates and certifications don’t mean anything, it just means he/she passed something but it doesn’t make them a gun smith. Kind of like most college degrees nowadays.. they mean nothing about ability but hey I got a piceof paper. FFL has nothing to do with being a gun smith but a gun smith could have an FFL but then again so could th eguy flipping burgers at Mikey D’s.
First thing comes to mind is why are you asking? The quick answer from the question is you don’t much if anything about guns, if you did, then talking to a supposed gun smith, you’d know if they were or not. 2nd asnwer is you have a gun that might need fixing, you don’t know anything and are aksing.
Bottom line.. a lot of gun smiths have reputable shops and are well know and you can check with a little research on who’sood and who isn’t and then there’s the guy someone knows who’s just shxt hot on working with guns and can fix anything because it’s hobby and the guy is just talented.
Check with the older gun shops in your area and be aware that there’s a considerable difference between someone trained as an armorer and a gunsmith.
Even if you don’t shop there they’ll probably give you a good reference to a smith if they ever hope to get your business.
Also ask at local shooting ranges. They see a lot of folks go through who don’t hesitate to bitch about a local smith’s work.
Simple. Do some research with the help of a gun expert, then ask the smith some technical questions that only a gun smith would know offhand.
I did this with a master sword smith, and three minutes into an hour long dissertation about alloys, when he lost me, I was convinced beyond any doubt that he was a master at his trade.
Ask your local police department where they send their weapons out for work.
“How do you know if a gun smith is real ...?”
Your first tip off should be his last name, Smith.
It is widely know frauds use this last name to blend in...
Check references! Ask about other people who have had them do some work. An honest person would give you some names and thanks look forward to hearing back from you!