Im curious as to where you received your AR armorers certification. Who currently offers quality armorers training/certification on the AR15 weapon system? Please bear in mind that I am not LEO if that is prereq. Thanks in advance.
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Im curious as to where you received your AR armorers certification. Who currently offers quality armorers training/certification on the AR15 weapon system? Please bear in mind that I am not LEO if that is prereq. Thanks in advance.
What is your intended puropse for taking the course? Is it to fix your own stuff and give you a more in depth understanding or is it to try and gain employment?
Bushmaster/ U.S Training Center (formerly known as Blackwater) teaches a course still as far as I know.
Specializedarmament/ Ken Elmore teaches a course but I believe that it is limited to .MIL/.GOV/LE and similar entities.
I think that Dean Caputo teaches a course that is open to all personnel.
Long Mountain Outfitters out in Henderson, NV teaches some course as well. I took the M203 course from them when no one else had one available.
IG put up the list.
Take them all if you can, and take them often.
I got mine on uncle Sam’s dime at Aberdeen Proving Grounds Maryland. MOS 45B small arms repairer.
Cavalry Arms
The SAW Armorer class gives you a Colt certification.
The last Bushmaster Armorer class was given by Blackwater in Dec. 2008. They no longer have that contract. They now offer USTC Armorer cert, 3 years.
Tier 1 Group now offers Bushmaster Armorer cert and has classes in Aug and October, 2009.
7.62,
The SAW class says LE/Gov/Mil only, but there are some "civi-friendly" PD's out there that will allow you to attend the class. This of course, is if Ken says that it is ok. He's a real gun guy and if you talk to him, he may let you in. It's well worth the try.
I guess I'm kind of in the same boat as the OP. I'd like to learn just for the sake of learning. The fact that I work at a gun shop is another reason. Maybe next summer, after I finish college.
Another question. How much do these type of courses usually run for non-gov/mil/le personnel? Also, how long are they?
Colt's official policy is they don't certify people outside LE/mil and they don't do the armorer's class for non-LE/mil.
That said, its possible you could sneak into one of the instructor and the host are OK with you attending and you contact them privately.
As mentioned, Dean Caputo also teaches a class that isn't an official Colt armorer's class, but rather his own "Carbine Diagnostic" class. It's geared more toward users rather than builders and toward diagnosing and understanding the system. You'll do plenty of disassembly and reassembly of the gun, but you won't delve into the details of disassembly of the A2 rear sight or replacing barrels, etc. It's 2 days, I think it's $200 or $250.
USTC does have an armorer course.