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Meet The People
Behind GCA.

Our instructors are masters in their field with years of professional experience to guide you on your path. 

 

Who we are

The Gunsmithing Club of America is a community of like-minded professionals and hobbyists who want access to trustworthy gunsmithing information, and have a desire to learn from and share their knowledge with others.

Our staff, instructors, and many of our members are true experts in their fields and are willing to openly share their skills and experience with other members of all levels, through different  resources.

Join our community of professional and hobby gunsmiths, and serious firearm enthusiasts today!

KNOWLEDGE

Meet Our Professional
Team.

With a combined 150 years of gunsmithing experience, GCA is proud to have these talented and knowledgeable instructors ready to provide guidance, answer questions and share their skills with members in our forums, during Livestream meetings, and in our monthly magazine.

Experience Matters

Our instructors are experts in this field and work every day with a variety of firearms.  As a GCA member, you will be able to draw from their years of relevant, real-world gunsmithing experience. 

Knowledge you can trust

When it comes to working with firearms, you want to be sure you receive reliable, safe, and trusted information. Our instructors are master gunsmiths who know these firearms literally inside and out. You can rely on their methods and learn correctly as they guide you through the toughest job. 

THE GCA INSTRUCTORS

Gene W. Kelly

CEO

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Ken Brooks

SENIOR INSTRUCTOR

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MARK FOSTER

Senior Instructor

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ED HAAS

INSTRUCTOR

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FRED ZEGLIN

CUSTOM RIFLE BUILDER

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JOHN BUSH

MASTER ARMORER

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DARRELL HOLLAND

SENIOR INSTRUCTOR

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GENE SHUEY

COMPETITIVE SHOOTER

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THE GCA TEAM

JEFF QUICK

GCA DIRECTOR

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ROBERT DUNN

GCA Community Manager

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KEITH HEZMALHALCH

PRODUCER

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GCA EDITORIAL BOARD

These GCA members along with Instructors Mark Foster, Robert Dunn, and Ken Brooks make up the GCA Editorial Board which helps guide and develop the content GCA members will enjoy. 

Jason Phillips

GUNSMITH

Gustavo Morales

PARAMEDIC

Miguel Palacios

MIAMI DADE PD VETERAN

IN MEMORIAM

Jack Landis

Instructor | Technical Expert

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Robert 'Bob' Dunlap

Senior Instructor | Master Gunsmith

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Gene W. Kelly

PRESIDENT

Gene graduated from the gunsmithing program at Lassen College, where Bob Dunlap was his instructor. Gene has worked as a professional gunsmith, is a licensed firearms manufacturer, and businessman. While working as a professional gunsmith Gene recognized the need for gunsmithing courses on video to preserve this vital information. He recruited Mr. Dunlap who was retiring from Lassen College and the American Gunsmithing Institute was born. Tens of thousands of gun owners and professional gunsmiths have already benefited from this effort. His vision is to train thousands more professional and hobby gunsmiths to protect our firearms freedom and ensure “that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

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Ken Brooks

Senior Instructor

A graduate of and former instructor at the gunsmithing program at Lassen College, Ken worked full time with Bob Dunlap at his shop as a professional gunsmith in Coquille, Oregon before taking over the reins when Bob retired. Ken is a Senior Instructor teaching the design, function and repair system AGI is renowned for. He is a master at video Disassembly/Reassembly and he has also done over 200 D/Rs and Armorer’s Courses along with hosting on-going technical classes for AGI gunsmithing students.

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Mark Foster

Master Armorer

Mark graduated from the Lassen College Gunsmithing program in the late 1970’s, where he studied with Gene Kelly and Darrell Holland under Bob Dunlap. Mark has over 40 years of gunsmithing experience. Mark served 30+ years as a law enforcement officer with the Napa County Sheriff’s Office and the Napa County District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigations, where he retired as Chief. Mark was the head armorer for the Sheriff’s Office and trained other armorers. Mark was also a firearms instructor for 20 years.

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Fred Zeglin

CUSTOM RIFLE BUILDER

Fred Zeglin has filmed for the American Gunsmithing Institute for 15 years and taught classes for the NRA Short Term Gunsmithing program at three separate colleges and is the Coordinator/Instructor for the Firearms Technology Program at Flathead Valley Community College.

He has published two books; Hawk Cartridges Manual and Wildcat Cartridges, Reloader’s Handbook of Wildcat Cartridge Design he has also contributed to numerous publications.

Fred has worked with American Gunsmithing Institute to produce two instructional DVDs, Taming Wildcats and Reloading A to Z.

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John Bush

Master Armorer

Mr. John Bush is a Master Armorer and has a long and colorful connection with firearms. He is constantly traveling as a consultant to manufacturers and importers of military firearms, and is certified as an expert witness in firearm cases. John has instructed numerous AGI courses including building classic military style firearms from parts kits.

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Darrell Holland

Senior Instructor

Mr. Holland is well known as a custom rifle builder, writer, and lecturer. He builds some of the tightest shooting custom rifles in existence. Darrell is always inventing new performance shooting products and is constantly pushing the envelope with regards to integrating the latest technology and ideas into his rifle designs to increase accuracy and improve reliability. Darrell is a Master Machinist and instructs the AGI Machine Shop Course. He has also instructed many other courses for AGI which take advantage of his unsurpassed knowledge and expertise in optics, accurizing, hunting, and machining. His simple, direct instructional style makes learning any subject easy and his attention to detail is legendary. He enjoys teaching and has taught gunsmithing and marksmanship courses internationally. Even the most experienced shooters and gunsmiths learn from his courses.

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Gene Shuey

Competitive Shooter

Gene Shuey is a former world class competitive shooter, custom pistolsmith, and trainer. A Master Gunsmith specializing in 1911 and Glock pistols, IPSC limited and open class guns, and high end classic custom rifles, Mr. Shuey has contributed extensively to AGI’s instructional gunsmithing courses. Gene is featured throughout the Professional Course and has instructed numerous AGI courses on customizing and building firearms.

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Jack Landis

Instructor | Technical Expert

A huge supporter of GCA, Jack built, repaired, and modified guns for over 50 years.  A graduate of 20 consecutive summers at the NRA Summer Gunsmithing Programs at Lassen and Yavapai Colleges, he saved up so many projects to do there each year that Lassen created a new course called “Special Projects”. After 30 years in the security industry, he went to work for the American Gunsmithing Institute in 2005 where his broad knowledge and logical problem-solving abilities resulted in his becoming the Tech Services Manager and “Go To” person for student and GCA members technical questions on the courses, content, and test questions. He watched every minute of all of AGI’s videos and was the final proof on all new material. He continued ot support AGI and GCA with instructional videos, firearm and product evaluations until he passed away.

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Robert "Bob" Dunlap

Senior Instructor | Master Gunsmith

Master Gunsmith Robert Bob Dunlap, senior instructor, American Gunsmith Institute, was  a widely respected authority in the firearms industry who taught thousands of students in professional gunsmithing for over 30 years. Bob was a Gunsmith instructor at Lassen College for 25 years. He has also participated as an instructor for more than 20 years in the NRA Summer Gunsmithing Programs.

Bob has designed improvements currently used in several firearms being manufactured by various American arms manufacturers. He offered his expertise as a consultant to several firearms manufacturers and was a expert witness in more than 20 homicides in cases involving firearms.

For more than 35 years, he operated a fully staffed gunsmithing shop that has been a warranty station for almost every major firearms manufacturer including: Browning, Colt, Charter Arms, High Standard, Remington, Smith & Wesson, Mossberg, Winchester and more than a dozen others.

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