The Beginning.

Before I get too far into this, i want to thank my wife for allowing me to do what I do. She has been super supportive of me and my dreams. I hope that I can someday do the same for her.

The Back Story

 Tinkering has been a lifelong pastime for me. I can remember a lot of different toys that I had as a child, however the only memories I have of them is of toys in many pieces. Specifically R/C cars. I had to find out how they worked. When I was introduced to shooting over 25 years ago, fortunately, nobody let me "tinker" with guns. But my interest had been piqued. The curiosity I have for how things work has always been there and it wasn't until I was roughly 10 years old that my tinkering met firearms and grew from there. ***Quick PSA: PARENTS! If you have guns in the house, please keep them in a safe. Children WILL find them and children WILL play with them. I know from experience!*** 

After nearly 9 years in the military, I was fortunate enough to get a job at a gun shop in Columbus, Ga where my gun related enjoyment and intrigue continued to grow. My boss was very encouraging of my desire to go to school for gunsmithing and helped me out by growing my knowledge base substantially. 

First day of school:

Didn't sleep very well last night mostly due to nerves. The hour and forty five minute drive was pretty nerve wracking as well. The first words that were spoken to me and my 12 classmates were not words that I had expected to hear at a gunsmithing school. "How do you define art?" The dean of the program explained that prior to "art" becoming paintings and sculptures, art is what the artifacts of society were. Products, items made by craftsmen. Artisans. He went on to explain that this is out goal. To be craftsmen capable of creating works of art. The anxiety that I had been experiencing was gone, but it had been replaced by a different variety of anxiety. I have never been "artistic". I'm doing well to match my clothes appropriately for going in public. How am I going to take something that I see as very cold and mechanical and turn it into a piece of art? I don't doubt that I have the ability; I am, after all, someone that won't buy certain guns because they have no soul or feeling behind them. Hopefully, the passion that I have for guns will marry with my drive to produce high quality, skillfully made firearms, and turn to works of art in my hands.