While some companies schedule and make factory armorer training available to a significant number of people, that is not always the case. Even as a retired sheriff’s sergeant who writes and teaches, there are some armorer courses I have not been able to take.
It is extremely encouraging that Colt is willing to offer an armorer’s course that decent, normal humans can attend.
Gunsite & Colt
For at least the last six years, Colt has been teaching these open enrollment sessions of their armorer course. I took the three-day M-16/AR-15 version. The following week, additional armorer classes were taught.
What This Was
This was an armorer’s course, plain and simple. It was 24 hours of learning how to maintain this firearm the way one would need to in a law enforcement organization. It covered the platform in much greater detail than a unit armorer would need to know or do in most U.S. military organizations.
The instructors got the class there through a combination of lecture, discussion, and hands-on work with the firearm.
What This Wasn’t
This was not a build class. It was not about how to put together an AR-15, from parts, for personal use. Additionally, it was not a “learn your gun” class. While I am pretty sure everyone in the class now has a much better understanding of the weapon, that came from discussion and lecture about it from the perspective of being an armorer, as well as repeatedly going inside the gun.
The Instructors
It seems to happen regularly now—I knew both instructors before I stepped into the class. Dean Caputo was a career Southern California street cop and tenured Gunsite instructor before devoting his efforts to Colt’s Training Division, where he has been for 25 years. When Dean tells you he has seen X multiple times and here is the fix, he has, and that’s the way to cure it.
Normally, Colt armorer classes have only one instructor. This one got two —which they told us is the norm for open enrollment sessions. Mike Winters, a retired detective from the largest sheriff’s office in the country, filled that role. I met Mike years back when he hosted another Colt M-16/AR-15 armorer class I attended.
What We Heard
As mentioned, the class shifted back and forth between lecture and discussion, with part of the time being hands-on work and the rest being hands-on work.
Lectures covered Stoner’s design and the evolution of the firearm. They also covered the transfer of the product and the brain trust from Fairchild to Colt, the initial fielding, problems in Southeast Asia, and congressional hearings.
While I believe I had heard or read it before, the acceptance or rejection of various fixes by both the military and Stoner was fascinating.
As mentioned, Caputo took the lead, but Winters was involved and often shared his experiences with the platform.
When some students experienced lulls during assembly evolutions, Dean made sure we stayed engaged in the learning process with relevant video material.
Magazines were discussed at length as part of the material on diagnosing issues. The evolution in follower colors and the newest TangoDown magazines were covered. This class included the first in-depth discussion I had heard on the collision between PMags and some European-designed magazine wells.
What We Did
Disassembly started by simply field stripping the weapon. Then, the two receivers were separated, the handguards and bolt carrier group with charging handle were removed, and the buffer and action spring was pulled.
After returning those to their intended places, the next step was disassembly by area. Remove “this” and take it apart. Put it back together and re-install it. Repeated that in each of the component areas.
When each of those had been done? The next step was near complete disassembly. Why “near-complete” rather than all the way? We did not remove the flash hider, the front sight assembly, or the delta ring. Except for those three items, everything else came off the gun.
The finale was a timed disassembly and re-assembly of an M4 carbine. Once you completed that and it was evaluated by either instructor 100% correctly, it was on to the written test. All the questions had been covered in lecture and reinforced during review. However, not everyone cleaned at 100%.
Ballistics
Dean gave a valuable yet concise lecture on the ballistics of the 5.56x45mm cartridge for which these carbines are chambered. From the trajectory of NATO caliber standardization to where the datum line is the case neck, the pathway was addressed, and a sacred cow or two was slain. I found it worthwhile. Mike and a couple of others contributed to this session.
He pointed out the differences in considerations between internal, external, and terminal ballistics.
What Other Companies Could Learn
Conduct classes for your client base. Teach your consumers how to maintain your product—the one they bought from you! Glock has the Glock Shooting Sports Foundation, which hosts matches across the country. At least one armorer is available at every match. Additionally, GSSF members can attend a significant number of factory armorer courses throughout the country.
I’ll contrast that with another manufacturer that will not even allow retired cops to attend a class unless they have a letter from an administrator stating they maintain that company’s firearms for an agency.
While entrance eligibility was not as broad for this class as it was for the other manufacturer, it certainly is encouraging.
Final Thoughts
I applaud Colt for making these classes available; no doubt, Gunsite hosting the classes increases Colt’s willingness. The classes are held each year in July. They are generally followed by a three-day carbine or pistol class. It is always good to see Americans increase their knowledge of one of the country’s most popular firearms by training. If you are an L/E armorer, attend this class.