Well, I was able to take an AR15 armorer's course Thurs, Nov 14 and Fri, Nov 15. Course was put on by Triton Training Group at the Cuyahoga Community College in Parma, OH. This class was for LE only and I took it though the PD I work for.

Overall, a very good course for someone like me, that has some experience with ARs but not a bunch. I have assembled a couple of lower receivers and have stripped my Colt a few times, but I have never completely disassembled an upper. The class facilities did not allow us to take fully assembled, ready to shoot uppers and break the barrel nuts and front sight taper pins free (typical meeting room tables were nowhere near strong enough to mount a vise and really crank on a barrel nut or get a taper pin moving). The instructor had us use uppers that already had the barrel nuts and front sight taper pins broken loose, so all that was required was some tapping on the taper pins and the barrel nuts were only hand tight. Still, VERY informative and I learned a lot. Like I said above, I have never had the tools or opportunity to remove a barrel or front sight base and it was neat being able to actually do it and, after doing it, I can see that it's really not that hard. You need good tools, a good vise and a very good, stable, sturdy bench, but not really hard. We also didn't get to take off trigger guards, because of the risk of breaking off the ears on the lower if it is not properly supported. Aside from that, everything was disassembled, multiple times.

Guns were provided by the instructor. They were beat to hell and back from repeated assembly and disassembly, including removing roll pins from things like the bolt stop and forward assist. For what we were using them for, however, they were completely adequate and appropriate. We at least had the opportunity to completely disassemble and reassemble the guns, multiple times. Everything was loose and easy to work on, which isn't exactly realistic when compared to guns that someone would actually shoot and use, but I understand why we used them, given that we were working on folding meeting room tables, not sturdy workbenches.

There were only 4 of us in the class, so there was lots of time for questions and, if needed, individual instruction. I MUCH prefer that to classes like Glock armorer's classes, where you may have 30-35 students and 1 instructor, and you don't get much time to really dig in and do much of anything except rote assembly and disassembly. The instructor was a long-time gunsmith and employee of Bushmaster and Remington and provided a LOT of good, time-learned shortcuts and advice.

My only real complaint had nothing to do with the class, it had to do with my own forethought and planning. For me, the class was almost a 2 1/2 hr drive, one way. I hemhawed about getting a motel nearby for Thursday night, so I wouldn't have to drive home, then drive back again on Friday. I turned 50 in April and have the typical attitude that I still think I'm 25. I didn't think the drive would be a big deal, so I decided to not get a hotel and just make the drive. Not to mention, Christmas is coming and my wife wasn't really happy about spending money for a motel when we still need to get stuff for our daughters. BIG mistake. I should have stayed there Thurs night. Traffic was absolutely awful Thurs evening when the class concluded for the day, especially since I'm from a small town and not used to it. Bumper to bumper traffic across 3 or 4 lanes of travel at 75 MPH sucks, regardless, but I might see something like that every 5 or 6 year, not daily like the people who live and work there and it sucked, hard. I was still keyed up Thurs night when I got home and, as a result, I didn't sleep for shit. Fri was a LONG day, especially since we voted to skip the lunch break and work straight through to try and get out a little earlier Fri afternoon. For me, both Thurs and Fri were 14 hour days, by the time I got home and actually had a chance to sit down and try to wind down a little. Again, NOT a slam on the class, but on my foresight. I have to try and remember, I'm not a spring chicken anymore, and plan accordingly.

While this class was geared towards LE, I'm still really glad I had the opportunity. If you are on the fence about building or taking a class like this, I can highly recommend it. The biggest thing is learning something new. If you have the opportunity, go out and learn something!

Now, I want to buy tools and build some more guns! I assembled a 10.5" pistol earlier in the summer from a PSA pistol kit on an Anderson lower, but the upper was already fully assembled and all I had to do was assemble the lower, so I really don't even consider it a "build". God, my wife is gonna HATE my Christmas list this year!

I took their class , enjoyed it

Sounds worthwhile but you really didn’t learn how to remove the front sight since the taper  pins were already loose.
Your instructor skipped the most difficult and important part which is how to break loose the pins.
Maybe send him a note recommending he buys a table and vice?

$1200?

That price is utterly ridiculous. You could assemble a comparable kit (without the fancy case) for about $250 or less. Even if you're generous and give the tool cost at $500 and the case at $250, that's still half of what they're asking, lol.

Not gonna lie I would love to own that kit but too rich for me.

Well, "the government is willing to buy it" isn't exactly a ringing endorsement of value, lol.

And that's just it... several of the included tools are actually pretty poor quality. The Brownells armorer's wrench is a piece of junk with a bunch of one and two-star reviews, as well as the several Brownells punches it appears to include, also very poorly reviewed. I will grant it does at least seem to include more than I initially thought based on the product photo (headspace gauges, barrel/receiver blocks, etc.). Not quite as bad as I thought, but IMO anyone in the market for a complete toolset (and not bankrolled by Uncle Sugar) would be much better served assembling it themselves.

You're a good writer.

Who was the instructor? Bushmaster/REM/Marlin is right down the street from me...

Please, it's vise, not vice.

Theres nothing to learn. Take a punch and knock them out.

To be fair, not really any way to have a good bench and vice in a college classroom. The instructor explained that it can take a LOT of force to get the taper pins moving and you need a good punch, a good bench and a good vice. Since they are taper pins, once you get them moving, no big deal and they should come right out. He also explained that to get them back in, it can also take a lot of force to get them set. I've never done it, myself, but I can see it and at least know how it is supposed to be done.

Instructor was Jacob Porter. Good guy, good instructor.

I've never used a vise for it and am using cheap Walmart punches. Done several this way.

The Brownells Armorer's Wrench is a fine basic wrench, most of the bad reviews are because it doesn't fit some aftermarket barrel nuts or the cutout won't allow it to work with bull barrels.  I have one to use because my Smith Enterprise wrench is to thick to torque some flash hiders.

The key to getting the taper pins out is to support the FSB adequately.  I use this bench block BROWNELLS - AR-15 FRONT SIGHT BENCH BLOCK and this punch STARRETT - TAPER PIN STARTER.  One good whack with a 24 oz ball peen per pin and your done.