Attended this course held at Henry Co PD on June 9-10. The days started at 0900hrs and ran until 1730hrs, with a 1 hour break for lunch.
Will Larson is the owner/Instructor and surely knows his stuff. He’s got quite the resume, starting with the US Army and Coast Guard, through numerous contract organizations (Triple Canopy, Blackwater, Dyna Corps, etc.), and industry manufacturers like BCM and Sionics.
The students’ experience levels ran the gamut from a few folks that had never disassembled an AR before to a few like me that have been building and working on AR’s for years, as well as having previously attended courses like the Colt M16 Armorer’s Course.
The course was definitely worth the time and money spent and I got out of the course exactly what I was there for. I picked up a lot of the technical specs that I was not totally clear on before, like matching barrel length with gas port size/buffer weight/buffer springs. In addition to that was proper torque specs for different parts, staking recommendations, where to use anti-seize and where to use threadlocker (and what type to use where).
Picked up quite a few tips and tricks, and some neat little tools that make the job easier. If you haven’t seen the KNS Hammer Cage, you’re missing out! Ingenious idea that makes installing the hammer as easy as installing the buffer.
Downside to taking the course; I’ve spent almost $400 in tools and parts this week, and I already had quite a selection of both!
Will disassembled several factory rifles in the class that students brought and we found how sloppily companies are putting their AR’s together. I’m looking at you PSA, Bushmaster, and DPMS. Gas keys and castle nuts not staked properly, barrel nuts not torqued nearly to spec, gas blocks not installed properly, at least 1 gas block that was made of aluminum, etc. In addition, barrels from all 3 manufacturers did not have true 5.56 chambers so Will reamed them out to spec.
That’s just a tasting of what was covered in the course. I highly recommend this course to anyone that is a fan of the AR platform, no matter how much you think you already know.
Will Larson is the owner/Instructor and surely knows his stuff. He’s got quite the resume, starting with the US Army and Coast Guard, through numerous contract organizations (Triple Canopy, Blackwater, Dyna Corps, etc.), and industry manufacturers like BCM and Sionics.
The students’ experience levels ran the gamut from a few folks that had never disassembled an AR before to a few like me that have been building and working on AR’s for years, as well as having previously attended courses like the Colt M16 Armorer’s Course.
The course was definitely worth the time and money spent and I got out of the course exactly what I was there for. I picked up a lot of the technical specs that I was not totally clear on before, like matching barrel length with gas port size/buffer weight/buffer springs. In addition to that was proper torque specs for different parts, staking recommendations, where to use anti-seize and where to use threadlocker (and what type to use where).
Picked up quite a few tips and tricks, and some neat little tools that make the job easier. If you haven’t seen the KNS Hammer Cage, you’re missing out! Ingenious idea that makes installing the hammer as easy as installing the buffer.
Downside to taking the course; I’ve spent almost $400 in tools and parts this week, and I already had quite a selection of both!
Will disassembled several factory rifles in the class that students brought and we found how sloppily companies are putting their AR’s together. I’m looking at you PSA, Bushmaster, and DPMS. Gas keys and castle nuts not staked properly, barrel nuts not torqued nearly to spec, gas blocks not installed properly, at least 1 gas block that was made of aluminum, etc. In addition, barrels from all 3 manufacturers did not have true 5.56 chambers so Will reamed them out to spec.
That’s just a tasting of what was covered in the course. I highly recommend this course to anyone that is a fan of the AR platform, no matter how much you think you already know.
