by John C. Krull Production Manager, TheGunMag
TECHNICAL MANUAL & ARMORER’S COURSE—MOSSBERG 500 SERIES SHOTGUNS, produced by the American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI),1325 Imola Ave. West #504, Dept.
TGM, Napa, CA 94446. Featuring Robert Dunlap, Master Gunsmith.
©2002. Phone: 800-797-0867, Online: American Gunsmith.com. DVD format.
Endorsed by the Gun Club of America (GCA). Price is $39.95 plus $7 S&H.
For several years I’ve been hearing about AGI, The American Gunsmithing Institute, but just didn’t have that much interest in it. Then, not long ago, I acquired a used AGI video on Disassembly and Reassembly of the Ruger 10/22 rifle ($19.97 plus $7 S&H). I thought that I knew something about the Ruger 10/22.
After all I do own 9 different models myself, teach it at the hunter safety course for New York state and knew that there are a lot of easy to install accessories for it. But, boy, did I have a lot to learn about this rifle. And this was just from the one video on the Ruger 10/22 that AGI offers.
AGI has several others that go into doing a trigger job on it, something that is really needed, also building a custom Ruger 10/22, and, of course, the technical manual and armorer’s course for this model firearm.
I have been a gun dealer in New York state since 1977 and have had my FFL for 36 years now, but have always avoided doing any real gunsmithing.
But after all these years of working with guns you can’t but help to learn something, and I’m still learning today, not only from my customers but also now from the videos produced by AGI.
Gene Kelly is the president and founder of AGI. He has been interested in firearms since his teens when a high school teacher even suggested that maybe he should become a gunsmith.
Kelly attended Lassen College where he was instructed by Bob Dunlap over a period of 2½ years. After school Kelly went to work for Dunlap at his full time gun shop.
In 1993 Kelly saw a growing need for training new gunsmiths and the idea of the American Gunsmithing Institute was formed. Kelly realized that his instructor, Dunlap, had a unique way of teaching design, function and repair of firearms with the theory being that you can’t fix something unless you truly understand how it works.
Dunlap’s teaching method included a method of testing the students orally so there was no way that you could fake your way through it.
Kelly also realized that Dunlap was about to retire and that his knowledge and method of teaching would be lost forever. Over the next 2 years they teamed up and created videos on VHS tape, catching and documenting for all time Dunlap’s knowledge and methods.
They created a 108-hour course that could take from 6 months to 2 years to complete to become a certified gunsmith by their standards.
The video that I have selected to review here is strictly about the Mossberg 500 Series of Shotguns. I only own three of these, but over the years have bought and sold many more.
This video package is about an hour and fifty minutes long. Dunlap takes you through not only how to completely take the gun to its barest parts but also teaches what that part does and how it does it. This will probably solve a lot of mysteries for a lot of people. Then he shows you how to put the gun back together again.
Each AGI video is indexed so that you can go directly to the subject matter that you want. What I have found best is to just sit down and watch the video in its entirety and then go back to a vital part that you need to review. The Mossberg 500 video has six sections— history, design and function, disassembly, cleaning and lubrication, reassembly and troubleshooting and, finally, accessories for the 500.
Whether this is your first Mossberg 500 or if you have owned many, you will learn more than you knew there was to know about this fine shotgun. I do have one that has been down for several years but didn’t know who to take it to for repair. Now I’m very hopeful that I will be able to do it myself. Something that they stress in all of their videos is that if you really don’t know what you are doing, then take the gun to a gunsmith for repair or modification. If you do something wrong on a gun, it could cause a serious accident, which as gun owners we don’t want to see.
Gene Kelly, somewhere along the way, has also started the Gun Club of America. For your membership in this you will receive a monthly video magazine. The one that I just received covered a couple of new products, including Frog Lube, new shotshells put out by Winchester and a fire starter called Lightning Strike. Also there were two disassembly/reassembly reviews on two old-time Remington rifles, the Model 6 and the Rolling Block. Kelly interviews the maker of the UTAS UTS-15 shot shotgun at the 2013 SHOT Show. So the DVD has a lot to offer. I think it was two hours long without the two Remington segments.
Dunlap isn’t AGI’s only instructor; there are many and they all have their own unique way of teaching, which I have found makes learning fun, so that you get so much more out of it. One of the real advantages of learning by DVD is that at any time you can go back and watch it again.
You can also sign up online for 21 mini-lessons that they will email to you periodically. These are text and not video but have a wealth of info in them.
This had really been my first real exposure to AGI’s instruction.
So contact AGI for your first video.
They will send you a video that will give you more information about their courses along with short segments on what you can expect to see.
When contacting AGI or GCA be sure to tell them that John at TheGunMag sent you.
