Welcome to my blog. I am a student at Montgomery Community College (MCC) in Troy, NC and hope to graduate with an Associates in Applied Science (Gunsmithing) in 2013. I started in the program in August of 2011 and this blog will showcase some of my work and thoughts as I work towards my degree.

I was born in South Africa and moved to the USA in 1997. I obtained citizenship in 2008. In 2009 opportunity presented itself for me to change my career path and I decided to become a gunsmith. This combines my love for all things mechanical and my passion for making things. Most of all, this would be a perfect outlet for my attention for detail. Above all, I see the custom gunsmith as an artist that uses a canvas of wood and metal. If my work is ever viewed as such, it will make me proud. (And I will start working on making it better about ten minutes later)

After investigating the colleges and schools that offer courses in gunsmithing, I chose MCC. Established in 1967, MCC added the gunsmithing program in 1978. MCC maintain a strong relationship with the National Rifle Association and offer many short-term gunsmithing courses every year. From a logistic view, MCC worked best for my wife and I as we had to move for me to study and North Carolina offered us the best option to make that happen.

Feel free to comment on my posts.

My LinkedIn profile can be found here: Neil Claasen

Neil Claasen

Working on the Win 94 stock