agi gunsmith courses

I purchased several of the "technical manual and armorer's course" and found them useful. They show how to disassemble, clean and re-assemble the guns. They also show some of tricks needed avoid mistakes and how to check the gun for proper function. Some of the presenters are well organized and some less so. Some things surprised me, like putting gun parts in a steel vise (I would have put the soft jaws on first). One odd thing is that a couple DVDs did not run properly and required a cleaning to work well. I have not seen any of the gunsmithing DVDs so far.

You might take a look on ebay for some bargains.

I like many other's have to look online for a gunsmithing school cause I have a family and full time job and could not just up and go to a school (wish I could). I found after looking at other online schools, that AGI with the DVD way of showing the material rather than reading would work best for me. So I ordered the Practical Gunsmithing course to see if it would work for me before spending a couple thousand. It was like 480 490 something like that but I think it was well worth it and just waiting for the right time to take one of the main gunsmithing course's. I do still want to go to a near by tech school for a lathe/milling course.

Judging by the DVD I bought from them about Ruger double-action revolvers, they are pretty useless. If they use material from the individual DVD's they offer, it's money wasted, as was mine. The info that Iowegan offers (on another forum) was more useful, and that useful stuff was in text, not video. That should explain a lot. The AGI stuff even has poor, time-wasting direction, where the person on camera waits for off-camera prompts to say his piece. Save your money, unlike me.

regload said:

Judging by the DVD I bought from them about Ruger double-action revolvers, they are pretty useless. If they use material from the individual DVD's they offer, it's money wasted, as was mine. The info that Iowegan offers (on another forum) was more useful, and that useful stuff was in text, not video. That should explain a lot. The AGI stuff even has poor, time-wasting direction, where the person on camera waits for off-camera prompts to say his piece. Save your money, unlike me.

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Any information is good. If you take the knowledge from the videos an old gunsmith and others. You can use what works for you. Not every method will work for you. I went to a school and I have the AGI courses plus alot of books. I will always be able to find the safest way to fix something.

I too am interested in AGI. I was sent an email with info and pricing for their pro gunsmith classes. They range from $4997-$10997. This is for the certified programs.

I took online with Penfoster all text well mostly some Video junk for the video but text helped some not a ton, if you have played with firearms before you get something out of it. If not its hard to follow for a newbie. Instructor wasn't available when I needed them not sure if that got better. Ill always have the books to fall back on for info that I did find useful and support from the instructor if he can be reached. Cost was more than I would have paid had I known what I do now. 600-800 for the course. Certified career Diploma at then and job placement board. That's my two cent on the online schooling.

Here is my take on AGI, as an AGI certified gunsmith, it is certainly worth the money for the videos. However no video will take the place of hands on experience nor will the video take the place of an actual gunsmithing school. I wish in the armorer courses AGI would go into more trouble shooting and repair techniques. They do a nice job of glossing over the basics and I have definitely learned and will continue to buy. But you just gotta get in there and tinker.

If there were a gunsmithing school in my area within driving distance I would have preferred to attend a 2 year hands on in the evening. Sadly there are none.

Yes I agree with you GCS I would have done hands on school as well but nothing close enough either for me which put me in the hands of Penfosters online course. I'm looking to apply with the local Gandermoutain store to gain some much needed hands on and extra cash to start my smithing tool collection. If anyone has question please feel free to ask ill look up or answer what I can from the text I received from Penfoster or my own experience.

Like i said the more information you have at hand the better. Yes having the hands on is good and I strongly feel that you should work on some of your own weapons first.
Right know i have a small library of books and videos. This ranges from books that i got at the gunsmithing school that I went to and up to the AGI videos that I have.
All of these show a different method to fixing the same problem you just have to find the method that works for you.