Is it possible for the general public to take factory certified armorer's courses?  I'd really like to try to get a Sig and/or Glock certification and maybe a Colt cert.  If anybody has any information on this I'd really appreciate it.  Thanks in advance.  MJD

It depends on the individual company.

I don't think Colt offers anything these days, but S&W does, along with the option of the student buying a discounted S&W handgun.

You'll have to contact the individual companies and ask if they offer slots for non-police or non-gunsmiths.
If you're a bonifide, working/licensed gunsmith it should be no problem.  If you're just a interested "civilian" they might not open the courses up to you.
Again, depends on the company.

The Glock course is supposed to be SHORT.  I've heard it takes a short afternoon.

I gotta think Colt is still offering the AR/M16 armorer’s course, though almost certainly not to the general public.

I know Springfield Armory has a M1A1 course.  They might also have a 1911 course, though I seriously doubt it.  However, tracking down some sort of 1911 course should be easy – and there’s an enormous amount of literature and video tapes re: 1911’s anyway.

SIG offers their course to anyone interested.

I’ve heard that Armalite and Bushmaster offers their courses to anyone.  I think Bushmaster did one fairly recently at Blackwater.

You can also often find a graduate of a particular course who will put on a class of his own – though not with factory sanction!  I think this has happened at Front Sight.

Keep in mind that armorer training is designed for military and law enforcement maintenance of a particular firearm.  It typically is limited to diagnosing problems and replacing standard parts (the exception – at least in the past - being the S&W courses where you actually built a firearm).

It is a far cry from true gunsmith training.

Thanks for the replys.  I agree, it's far from real gunsmith training, but I'm not looking for that.  I'm going into law enforcement soon and I think it would just be something good to put on the resumé.  That plus college education, spanish language proficiency, and a clean criminal record.  MJD

FWIW, most armorer training nowadays is factory certified for a specific time period – typically three years.

An outdated armorer certificate probably isn’t going to get you too far.

Suggest you time things accordingly.

Good luck!