Question

[berettabone]

How come they call someone who works on Glock's a Glock armorer, but everyone else who works on firearms including Glock's is a gunsmith? I find this a bit hilarious...............

[wyntrout]

European or military thing? :D

[Bawanna]

Around here the armorer title applies to Colt and others as well.

I'm a certified Colt Armorer because I went to a 3 day class sponsored by Colt.
It's long long expired, I think since maybe 2006 but I still remember which end the bullets come out of anyhow.

It's actually a lawyer induced liability thing. It's all about having the piece of paper that says you went to a class.
I know glocks, they are mindless simple but they insist on spending the 250 and a 1 day class to have that paper in case anything bad happens................

Doesn't matter that an officer can take his gun apart after I do and mess something up and have a failure or whatever, then how do we know who goofed ya know?

Plus every 3 years you have to go to the same class again, pay another 250 bucks. Follow the money......

[DavidWJ]

In CA we have a yearly $100 certification renewal, no class required it's just a "teacher tax." The courses I really like are for networking and computer software certifications. It's all technician-level stuff, but from courses, books, "teachers", and organization fees, you gotta love that money trail. But you need that piece of paper to work.

Difference between working on firearms, teaching, and managing computers is safety. So maybe it's not such a bad thing to be certified to modify guns. But that's gunsmithing, not armorer work.

[Bawanna]

Exactomundo. An Armorer is like the guy at speedy lube, a parts changer.

A Gunsmith makes a part if he can't find one, or tweaks stuff to make it better. Good at figuring stuff out.

Greg comes to mind for some reason.

[berettabone]

No offense, but I never trusted those guys at those Speedy Lubes:p

[Bawanna]

There you go. I don't either. Another good analogy is the guys that do brakes at tire stores.
Brake job includes wheel cylinders. So they replace them weather they are bad or not usually with rebuilt ones that aren't as good as the ones they took off.
But they are parts changers.

Mr Good Wrench would see that they are still good and leave them but probably charge you for new ones anyhow but at least you still got the better wheel cylinders.

Fortunately most armorers are gun guys who have learned some on their own and can fill in some of the huge voids between an armorer and a gunsmith.

[ltxi]

No offense, but I never trusted those guys at those Speedy Lubes:p

I collectively refer to the genre as Jiffy Monkeys

[knkali]

In CA we have a yearly $100 certification renewal, no class required it's just a "teacher tax." The courses I really like are for networking and computer software certifications. It's all technician-level stuff, but from courses, books, "teachers", and organization fees, you gotta love that money trail. But you need that piece of paper to work.

Difference between working on firearms, teaching, and managing computers is safety. So maybe it's not such a bad thing to be certified to modify guns. But that's gunsmithing, not armorer work.
everyone feeds at the trough. Its a shake down but because its "official" so its OK. yeah there's no corruption in the USA--- just certs and licenses :mad:

[CJB]

As a Wham-O Slingshot Certified Armorer, I can attest to careful study, the devotion, and attention to detail given to the correct operation of every Wham-O Slingshot that need service. We have to evaluate the handle, the elastic, _and_ the pellet holder. That's three whole things that need careful examination, evaluation, and possibly replacement.

Many times, the end user is responsible for the incorrect operation of the Wham-O Slingshot, but in those instances where the weapon itself is faulty, I can assure you, those end users are only too happy to have a Certified Armorer to call on.