Student Written Testimonials

I give the American Gunsmithing Institute five stars due to its positive impact on my learning. The course material is excellent, the instructors are great, and the student support is outstanding. After retiring, I enrolled in the course, but unfortunately, I lost all the course material in a flood. When I reached out to the American Gunsmithing Institute to replace the material, I encountered some difficulties due to a miscommunication with a new employee. However, once Gene Kelly, the president, was informed, he promptly addressed the issue. I was truly impressed with the exceptional customer service provided by Gene Kelly. He was friendly, helpful, and went above and beyond to ensure my satisfaction. I wholeheartedly recommend the American Gunsmithing Institute for its dedication to customer satisfaction and its commitment to resolving issues efficiently.

I have really enjoyed and learned a lot from the videos, and after seeing some of the examples of other internet-based schools I love the fact that you use the cutaway guns that show a lot more detail and especially the sections at the end of each chapter that go into tricks tips and different ways of repairing guns. Although due to some health problems I have been a little slow getting through the videos and taking the exams I am still very interested in becoming a gunsmith. Thank you for all your support and work that went into these lessons, it really is appreciated by those of us that have not had experience with a lot of these guns.

AGI definitely prepares you to work on guns. Yes, you need to get your own guns to work on to master the teachings. The systems approach prepares you to work on almost any gun. I have three guns in my shop that were not in the course. One, a CZ720, when you take it apart it is largely a Remington fire control group mated with a Benelli gas operating system. Recognized those two systems immediately. The program works!

AGI has been very good at working with my disabilities from the Marines. I started out cleaning weapons like they said and the benefits paid off three fold. I charge for tearing the weapon down to the last screw and q-tip clean like the Marines. Since I have to put it back together anyway I only charge for the part. I get to learn and improve my polishing techniques, I learn all the different weapons from old to new and how they function, I don’t have to buy training weapons to learn from, and people love what I do. The sonic cleaning is a real asset to those weapons you shouldn’t take apart and those stubborn places you can’t get to. I get faster at disassembly on the repeat types and can now identify common problems when people ask questions. My system gets me a few hundred a week. Auctioneers bring in guns to clean prior to auctions and they’ve been doubling their money even on the less expensive models. AGI was correct all the way, I’ve still got more to learn and had to expand!

I researched several companies and chose AGI based on everything I’ve read. I’m glad I did. I highly recommend them over any other. Customer service is top notch and they are always there if you need help. Very friendly, knowledgeable, informative, and quick to respond.

AGI provided me the the knowledge and building blocks to get hired on by a professional gunsmithing shop, and eventually work at a major manufacturer as a gunsmith. It’s been almost three years since I started, and it’s been nothing but a joy working with AGI as I have started my career!

AGI is a great way to study for gunsmithing. All of the materials are provided including study notes and videos on the processes. Customer service and counselors are easy to reach.

I grew up next to an eighty year old gunsmith. I was 60 when it clicked that I should use some of the skills I learned as a multi-craft maintenance in a plant for 37 years for my own benefit. Still I thought I wouldn’t leave one of my firearms with someone I thought was just starting to practice on. AGI seemed like a perfect fit! I have often spoke, don’t treat the symptom- fix the problem! Design, function and repair sounded like if I didn’t learn I would be a hypocrite. I really like the idea of certificates on my shop wall to show I’m not just a fly by night place. I still have much to learn and not enough time in the day but I opened two months ago and feel an excitement from learning new things when I was younger that I thought was long gone. It was more expensive but I have it all on DVD and with our poor internet service here I can review when ever I need to. Thanks for all your attained knowledge AGI instructors! Join the Gunsmithing Club of America also. Good Stuff. – GD GunWorks

The information was great , every firearm I touched I was able to take it down to a pile of parts and know how to reassemble it to working order . The videos made it understandable to retain the knowledge passed to me by the master gunsmith instructors. I highly recommend this course, so if you want to work on firearms professionally, or just your own collection. It’s all here. I plan on getting the rest of the other courses next year after the holidays.

My name is Anthony LeFebvre and I am a certified professional gunsmith. I opened my business about a year ago. I am currently still working my full time job as a firefighter. I have about five more years left and I can retire with thirty years of service. I am working in my shop part time and let me say that I am covered up with firearms. AGI has gave me the freedom of owning my own business and being my own boss. When my customers tell me that it was their dad’s or grandfather’s gun that hasn’t worked in years and now they can enjoy with their kids it’s priceless. AGI Courses gave me the confidence to take on most any firearm and fix it. Knowing I can go back and watch the videos is great. I can’t say enough about this school. From the top down and in between I have had a great experience. I do plan to finish and become a master gunsmith. Thanks again for being a great school. Feel free to reach out anytime. Thanks , Anthony

AGI has been a great experience so far. Proud to say my knowledge of firearms has expanded tremendously.

My journey first stared with the Master Armorer Course which led to Level 1 Gunsmith Course. While studying Level 1 I followed the lessons to apply for my FFL and started a gunsmithing business. So far I have successfully utilized the material in the courses to repair all firearms brought into my business.

Hello, my name is Mike, I have had the opportunity to look at materials from a few different gunsmithing courses and the AGI course is by far the best that I have experienced with the professional gunsmiths doing the videos. The classrooms the in-depth gunsmithing of certain firearms is just amazing and this is by far the best course to get to become a professional gunsmith. I have enjoyed very much. The candor of some of the instructors in the course. It does make everything enjoyable. It helps you learn because you take away the certain things and the experiences of those instructors and you can apply them yourself and it has just been a wonderful experience taking the professional gunsmithing course with AGI.

This is a fantastic program! I purchased a program about a year ago. I had a few issues in life happening and was unable to go through it. I now plan to start up again. What is nice about this program is that you can do it on YOUR time!

AGI has an incredible curriculum to follow and I’ve taken advantage of their knowledge transfer Courses as part of my gunsmith training. It’s not the big items and issues they cover but, the small hidden issue that are covered is what makes AGI second to none!!!

What a great school! The comprehensiveness of the curriculum is amazing. You don’t just learn Design, Function and repair of enormous amounts of firearm systems, you get the whole kit and kaboodle regarding the business end of it. The instruction and coaching from the gunsmithing gurus in the business is absolutely invaluable! The AGI folks are very creative in presenting ideas on how to make money while your FFL is in process, or if you are limited in space or equipment, the collaborative nature of Gene Kelly and his program gives you a huge advantage to starting a successful business. I have gotten my FFL and have been able to gain good paying with which I am capable while learning in the program. I have also been able to off shoot a ski and snowboard tuning and repair business. The concepts I have learned through the fine folks at AGI have given me the skills, have motivated and enabled me to make this happen! Aaron Dailey – Aaron’s Adventuresmith, LLC

Received my Master Gunsmith certification in about a year on my own time. The videos are very straightforward and to the point, with enough humor and real life commentary to maintain your interest. I am confident that I will have the skills necessary to complete the majority of repairs that come my way. AGI delivered on their promise and I would recommend their courses to anyone interested in the firearm repair/manufacturing industry. Thank you AGI!

I completed the Master Gunsmith course a few months ago and opened my “retirement” shop. I thought I knew something about guns after competing in rifle and pistol matches for over 30 years, Law Enforcement Officer over 25 years, and fixing my own guns. That was farther from the truth. The information and combined knowledge presented by all of the instructors “blew me away” is an understatement! When I opened my shop, I had the knowledge, confidence, training, and understanding given by AGI to be able to tackle that first scope mounting up to doing a complete restoration of a customer’s “grand-daddy’s shotgun”. Knowing I also have the GCA disassembly/assembly videos and Ken’s “Over the Shoulder” videos, helps if I need a refresher on something I almost forgot, (like putting the cocking lever spring OVER the sear spring) on a Stevens Model 311. I now have Insurance agents request I become a Certified Appraiser, so I just enrolled in that course. They are going to start holding orders for me BEFORE I’ve even received the course! My wife is now getting annoyed at me because I’m “always working out in the shop, and now you’re going to do Appraisals”. Guns have always been a passion of mine, and AGI is letting me live a dream of tinkering with guns, AND GETTING PAID FOR IT! So much for retirement… I wish I had done this years ago! Any time I’ve had to call AGI with questions about testing, signing on to an area, enrolling, etc., Marcus and Chris have always been extremely helpful and friendly to talk with. Thank you AGI/GCA, for giving me the skills to do what I love doing. Allan Cameron Battle Born Gunsmithing