AGI Survival Gunsmithing Course, by Thomas Christianson

American Gunsmithing Institute’s (AGI’s) Survival Gunsmithing course consists of more than 10 hours of instruction on three DVDs. The course covers a total of 36 topics that are useful in a survival context such as “Repairing a Crown in the Field”, “Repairing a Broken Stock”, “Caching Firearms and Supplies”, and “Using a Lee Loader”.

The instruction is engaging, relevant, well-illustrated, and reflects a wealth of real-life experience. It begins at a basic level, and provides helpful, practical advice. This course costs $397.

If you would like a thorough introduction to the gunsmithing skills that might enhance your ability to survive in a desperate situation, this course might be helpful to you.

As AGI says, “This informaton applies to just about any survival situation involving firearms. From a hunting trip gone bad, or a plane gone down in the remote bush, to an economic crash or an extreme ‘grid down’ situation.”

Full Disclosure: AGI is one of the long-time prize sponsors of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. At the time of this writing, AGI’s prize is a $300 certificate good toward any of AGI’s DVD training courses.

Background

I must admit that some of my past gunsmithing efforts have been somewhat crude, although they have generally proven to be functional. For example, I fabricated a front sight for my Son’s Mossberg 46B from a stove bolt that I cut the head off from and then filed the remaining bolt down to the correct height. (See photo, at left.) And the cheek rest that I made for my Ruger 10/22 most resembles a block of wood screwed to the top of the comb in spite of my best efforts to give it a somewhat more finished appearance. So I was definitely in need of some help to improve my gunsmithing skills. So when a package arrived from AGI, I was quite interested in its contents.

First Impressions

The package arrived via USPS Ground Advantage. The 10.5 x 8 inch padded envelope contained a DVD case, which in turn contained three DVDs.

As I looked at the DVDs, I must admit that I was initially somewhat overwhelmed to notice that they contained almost 11 hours of video. In general, I tend to like books better than I like videos. That is because I can read 500 words faster than I can listen to 500 words. I had visions of sitting and viewing a talking head hour after hour after hour, trying to stay awake. But sometimes a picture is worth 1,000 words, and moving pictures with audio explaining them are worth more than 10,000 words. In those situations, a well illustrated video can convey information that would be difficult or impossible to convey in a written format.

For example, I can remember using YouTube videos to help me with tasks like changing the radio antenna on my daughter’s car, or disassembling and cleaning the bolt of an 1893 Mauser. These videos did not just tell me how to do a task. They showed me. And that was a great help.

The AGI Survival Gunsmithing course is far better illustrated, contains far better content, is far better produced, and is far more interesting and engaging than any YouTube video. The instructors are knowledgeable, skillful, and gifted at sharing that knowledge and skill with others.

Instead of being drudgery, viewing the lessons was fun and interesting. The 10+ hours of instruction flew by quickly and pleasantly. I was surprised, impressed, and pleased.

Contents

The course material is divided over three disks. The contents are as follows:

Disk 1 (3 hours and 43 minutes):
Introduction
The Survival Mindset
Field Repairs
Removing a Stuck Screw
Firing Pins
Choosing the Best Gun for Survival
Re-Zeroing and Bore Sighting a Scope
Subcal Conversion: 20 Gauge to 9mm and 222. Remington to .22LR
Subcal Conversion: .308 to 7.62X39
The Six Reasons Why a Firearm Fails
Repairing a Crown in the Field
Extractors, Part 1
Offline Gunsmithing Resources
Hand Tools
Power Tools
Specialty Tools

Disk 2 (4 hours and 3 minutes):
Supplies for Gunsmithing
Adjusting Sights
Repairing a Broken Stock
Removing a Stuck Case From a Chamber
Extractors, Part 2
Acquiring Parts for Survival Situations
Adjusting Springs
Headspace Gauges
The 1″ Belt Sander
Cleaning Firearms
Removing Rust
Field Kits
Caching Firearms and Supplies
Survival Gunsmithing Final Thoughts

Disk 3 (2 hours and 57 minutes):
Lightning Strike Fire Starters
Lee Loader
Lee Hand Press
Holland’s Survival Backpack
Paracord for Survival
Survival Fannypack
AGI’s Professional Gunsmithing Course

Some Key Takeaways

In the discussion of the ideal survival firearm, one key consideration was whether or not the firearm was suitable for the task for which it was intended (for example, shooting squirrels versus shooting bears). If two firearms are both suitable for a particular task, then the remaining key considerations are durability, reliability, ease of maintenance and repair, and availability of parts.

The course suggested including a three-foot-length of surgical tubing in a survival kit. It then demonstrated how to jerry-rig a Marlin lever action rifle with a broken mainspring using the tubing. This is an example of the type of mindset which is conducive to survival.

In the context of survival gunsmithing, reference was often made to the wealth of other courses available from AGI. These include 70 Armorer’s Courses, 9 Certification Courses, and 10 Customizing Courses, among others. I found the various Armorer’s Courses to be especially intriguing. AGI offers Armorer’s Courses for many of the firearms that I own. That information would be especially useful if I were trying to maintain or repair those firearms during a long-term social or economic disruption.

The extended instruction about extractors was quite interesting in spite of its somewhat technical nature. For example, the instructor insisted that the extractor must be able to snap over the rim of the case in spite of the fact that some manufacturers are ambivalent about this requirement. This ambivalence is reflected in many manuals which specify that rounds should only be fed from the magazine, and should not be fed directly by hand into the chamber. This reflects a design flaw on the part of the manufacturer that can result in failure to chamber a round in a critical situation. The discussion of the impact of moment-of-mass on ejector function was also quite interesting.

The mention of making a bench block from a hockey puck was well-received. I love tools, so the discussions of how to use various tools was also especially fun.

I particularly enjoyed the teaching style of AGI President Gene Kelly. That teaching style is reminiscent of a favorite uncle passing along his wealth of wisdom to a receptively listening group of nephews and nieces.

The discussion of caching was also particularly valuable. Mr. Kelly has done extensive field tests with caching items for varying periods of time. That hands-on experience produced a wealth of useful practical tips. The tips included things like partly loading magazines being cached in order to maximize effective space utilization, setting vacuum-sealed items out overnight before packing them to make sure that the seal is airtight, the vital importance of a thorough application of lubricant/preservative to all ferrous metals, burying the tube vertically to reduce its footprint, and burying the tube near a large metal object or under scrap metal in order to fool a metal detector.

I also found the Lee Loader lesson to be quite helpful. I have been attracted to the idea of reloading for quite some time now, but have been too intimidated by the process to actually attempt it. The Lee Loader instruction was clear and straightforward enough that I think I will give it a try.

Since I am mostly interested in caring for my own firearms, the commercial aspects of some of the instruction was of less interest to me. That would not be the case for those who are interested in marketing their new-found skills.

Some products that they mentioned that may be worthy of my further attention include Simple Green for cleaning firearms, Kroil for loosening stuck screws, and the Otis Tactical Cleaning System.

I felt like the following quote best summarized the content of the course: “What is Survival Gunsmithing? Well, just like most other aspects of survival, it’s primarily about the mindset, the skill set and the preparations you need to make before you find yourself in a survival situation.”

Conclusion

The AGI Survival Gunsmithing course is practical, accessible, relevant, well-illustrated, and well-taught. It would be appropriate for a beginner or for a hobby-level gunsmith. The quality of the instruction far exceeds what is freely available on the Internet, fully justifying the cost of purchase.

Disclaimer

AGI provided me with their new Survival Gunsmithing course for review. I tried not to allow their kindness interfere with my objectivity, and I believe that I have succeeded. I did not receive any other financial or other inducement to mention any vendor, product, or service in this article.