Tools Of The Trade

In an ideal world our time as firearm’s instructors would be spent doing exactly that, being a firearms instructor. All too often though, we are required to take time away from being an instructor and shift gears into being an armorer or maintainer for student’s guns. It seems that no matter what class I am running, there is always that “one guy/gal” that shows up with a gun that is not ready to roll. It could be something as minor as just needing a little lube, or it could require a complete tear-down to diagnose a mechanical issue. Regardless of the severity, when gun issues crop up, they must be dealt with in order to get back to shooting.

My goal is to spend as much time with students up on the firing line as possible, so I carry a few tools with me that allow me to fix most issues without having to remove the gun, and the student, off the line. I will always have on my person a Multitasker Series 3 multitool, a Multitasker Twist, a bottle of Cherry Balmz, and several Zeiss lens wipes.

This combination of gear lets me fix 99% of the issues I encounter during classes. On the rare occasion that I do need to pull a gun off the line for more in-depth maintenance, I have a complete set of Fix-it-Sticks tools in my truck. Fix-it-Sticks offers several different kits, I chose the 3 Gun kit because it has just about every tool you could need to wrench on pistols, shotguns, and AR rifles.

Having that set of Multitasker tools in my pocket and the Fix-it-Sticks kit back in the truck makes life easy when gun issues pop up. The only time I can recall having to pull guns off of the line for an extended period of time for a repairable issue involved loose barrel nuts that necessitated a complete disassembly of the upper receiver back in the armory. The tools are pricey, but they have proven to be worth their weight in gold on more than one occasion. Your students will thank you when you can get their gun back up and running for them with nothing more than a few minutes of time lost on the line.

JEREMY TYE Jeremy is an active duty LEO in the Southwest US with over ten years experience. He is currently working as a full time firearms instructor for a major metropolitan agency. His instructor certifications include firearms (patrol carbine/pistol/shotgun/SPR), defensive tactics, less-lethal, and MACTAC. He holds a Master classification in USPSA Single Stack, and has also competed in IDPA, Steel Challenge, 3-gun/Multigun/3GN, and various other outlaw events. Jeremy is currently concentrating on precision rifle matches and has earned several Top-LE awards at national-level events.