Gunsmithing Tools

Well, for starters, you need to tailor it to your specific weapons but:

M-Pro 7 makes a complete range cleaning/oiling and greasing kit you might want to look into.

Gun Cloth ( or other protective surface that can be unfolded and laid down to work on the piece in question )
Pen & Paper.
Lots of patches.
Brushes for your different calibers.
Lens Cloth for optics.
Lots of Q-tips.

Plenty of spare earplugs - even if you wear the muff style, you never know what cannon the guy in the slot next to you is going to bring in.

Extra pair of glasses - Just in case

I like to keep about 4 pairs of surgical gloves in mine, just in case I need the extra "traction" with small parts.

A couple of good quality small screw drivers ( phillips and standard ) probably a large and small blade of each.
A small torx head screwdriver kit - Could be combined as one kit with the screwdrivers above.

A small plastic tipped hammer.
A few brass punches ( tiny, small and medium ).

A small box/bag of replacement springs/detents/etc. Basically an "Oh Crap" bag of anything that you have ever dropped, misplaced and spent 20 minutes looking for when doing work at home.

A 1911 Barrel Bushing Tool - Even though you should be able to field strip one without it, it's a great tool to have, just in case.

That's just off the top of my head as to what I have in mine. YMMV.

JD

 

Thanks bro - I do what I can.

 

A set of dental picks is always handy too. I like to keep 0000 steel wool on hand to re-polish bolt faces and remove surface rust (GASP) if needed.

 

We used them extensively when I was in the army. They're just the thing for removing carbon fouling from tiny little crevices.

 

I have a screwdriver set from Brownells. The blades are flat ground, so they don't mess up screws. (regular screwdrivers will spread the slots) I already have a bunch of other tools, so I pretty much only needed to buy a set of brass and steel punches and a hammer with brass and plastic heads.

Oh, and I picked up a Tilton long gun vise.

 

http://tinyurl.com/a7j642

 

For my 1911s this is the handiest tool in the box!

Caspian Pocketsmith 2

 

I usually don't advocate buying stuff from them, but if you have a Harbor Freight Tools store neat you they have an okay set for $4: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93514

They're a disposable item, so I don't usually bother buying good picks.

 

The handiest single thing to have is gunsmithing screwdriver set & brass punch set. The screwdriver bits intended for gunsmith are actually hollow ground and regular screwdrivers are flat ground. You NEED hollow ground. Be sure to get as many different bits in set as you can. This includes flat, phillips, allen, torx,as well as extended length bits.

The next ideal thing to have is an homemade padded box for use in disassembly/reassembly to keep springs, plungers, and recoil plugs from flying off to god only knows where. Just make something up so that if something DOES fly out, unless it goes straight up, it'll stay in box. TRUST ME on this-whenever a spring/plunger/plug does fly out when not using such a box, it'll ALWAYS go under or behind something, never to be seen again (or at least soon enough to do you any good.

Be sure to have an denicated bench or table that's not going to be used for ANYTHING except your gunsmithing/cleaning of firearms. ALWAYS work on some type of bench cover in order to keep from scratching anything. And padded jaws is a MUST for your bench vise. naturally you'll need some type of rest w/clamp or vise to hold the firearm while you're working on it.

It makes for MUCH easier scope mounting when you have something to hold the complete firearm, as well as levels to ensure the scope isn't crooked. If you're going to be mounting scopes with steel rings, get ring lapping kit to keep them from actually squeezing the scope tube and deforming it-that's the "ring marks" you see quite a bit on used scopes not properly lapped before mounting, and it IS possible to ruin a scope without proper mounting and lapping rings.

Naturally firearm specific tools usually only pertain to the type/model they're designed for-BUT if they aren't needed at all or to greatly simplfy working on your particular firearm, they wouldn't exist. When you DO need a certain tool designed for only 1 thing-it's then worth it's weight in gold. I know I missed a bunch of things that havn't been listed yet, but will post more IF I can get my life sustaining liquid (coffee) to make brain operable.

 

My weakness is the 1911 and my tools generally fit this genre. This may be the best single ‘tool’ I’ve got for 1911 smithing;



In addition to the 1911 mag post you can get a vise;



I have a Glock mag post so work on my G22 is also made easier.

 

Couple of quick newbie questions.

So do a lot of you basically make a solitary bag/case for cleaning and the range?

What do you guys use the punches for?

 

Drifts, pin removal primarily for the 1911. I'm rather myoptic with regards to other styles of handguns.

This tool is a great 1911 all-in-one, The Caspian Pocketsmith;



http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/24737/catid/30/The_Caspian_Arms_Pocket_Smith

 

I have an entire station set up at home for cleaning of my firearms, but I also have a range kit.

All my rifles have a chamber guard, a cleaning rod and a small packet of brushes, patches and solvent.

Treat your weapons with care, and they will take care of you...

JD

 

How much does Caspian give you for the sale of each one?