Might as well be legal!

 I have been puttering around the shop and working on wood and steel projects for a few years now, and decided I really should apply for a Federal Firearms License so I can take on projects for people and legally charge money for it - seems to be a good idea for a retired law enforcement / disabled veteran to do. There might be one or two vets out there who have done the same... 😏

There are several different classes of FFL to choose from, labeled 1 through 10.

Type 01 - Firearms dealer/Gunsmith. This is what I applied for.

Type 02 - Pawnbroker. Nope, not running a pawn shop.

Type 03 - Collector, Curio and Relic. This is for buying anything older than 50 years from time of manufacture. Again, nope. 01 covers any purchases.

Type 06 - 10. Not going to manufacture ammunition or firearms, not going to import firearms, not going to deal in or manufacture destructive devices. 

The forms and check have been mailed to the ATF office in Portland, Oregon - hope Antifa hasn't burned them out in the last riot - they really tried a couple of times already!

Black rifles are okay, BUT...

 Here is a rifle stock repair I am pretty proud of!  A friend had this rifle that his grandfather and father hunted with.  The action is a US Model of 1917 made at the Eddystone Arsenal - this action is from WW1.. wow!  The stock is a very nicely done custom build.

If you look closely at one of the pictures, you will see that there are a couple of cracks in the wrist, making this an unsafe rifle to shoot, especially since it is a 300 Winchester Magnum.  Either his grampa or his dad had just wrapped the wrist with really sticky duct-like tape and they all kept using it!

I peeled the nasty tape off and stripped the bubbled, old varnish off.  I then found a long lag bolt, drilled a hole from the back of the action void down into the wrist and carefully screwed the bolt flush, making a very tight, strong connection.  The back of the action actually makes contact with the bolt head, directing recoil through the wrist and into the buttstock.  I then finished the stock with Danish oil.  On the final product, you can clearly see the lines of the cracks, but they do not stick up or are rough against the hand.  The owner was so excited to see it fixed that he can't stand to put it away in the safe where no one can see it.

                                    

 Although I have been around firearms and comfortable with minor repairs/replacing parts for most of my adult life, I never really focused a large amount of time on the hobby.  That changed in 2018 when my wife moved her stuff from the "girl cave" room in the back of my big shop and I was able to set up all my firearm repair and reloading equipment.

I started working mostly on repairing stocks for older rifles and shotguns, and got into refurbishing the stocks for the M1 Garand rifles used by our Oregon DOC Honor Guard, of which I was a member.

It has been a very rewarding hobby!  I will post more photos of other projects with background stories as we go.

My very first blog, who I am and what I do!

 This, my first blog post, is rather intimidating.  I am a retired correctional sergeant and disabled veteran. I love to work on and bring back to functional life old tools and old, curio and relic firearms. That means firearms that are more than 50 years old. I have been working on a few in my little shop. I really enjoy working on gun stocks and making old rifles and shotguns shine again, although my last few projects have been 3 very different revolvers and 1 pistol, all more than 110 years old!