best punch set

[fishblade2]

I am interested in starting to do a little gunsmithing. I mostly want to be able to take my gun down to pieces for complete cleaning and sometimes for trigger work. I have ran into my first problem though. I need a punch set. I know nothing about punch sets, for instance do they make ones that are only for rifles and ones only for pistols or a set for both? Which would be better to buy? Which brand and what type of material should I buy to make sure the punch set I buy doesn't bend and break within a couple of hits? Lastly I have read some replies to this quuestion for specific guns and I'm confused by some of the talk. For instance are there different pins to be knocked out? Like roller pins? What all type of pins are there and what is needed to get them out? At this moment though I don't have a particular gun in mind for taking all the way down so I don't know if I should get punches or a punch set for the particular gun or not. Any help in this area would be great!

Thanks for all the help!

 

[4v50 Gary]

Back in the '80s you needed only one set of punches for guns (rifles, handguns, shotguns). Mine are Mayhew.

Then roll pins became popular and you had to get roll pin punches (self centering and won't push the pin open).

Then came the cup punches that were concave so as not to flatten the pin.

Brass punches were introduced to prevent marring.

So now I have four type of punches.

 

[madcratebuilder]

You well fine many types.

roll pin punches
roll pin starter punches
standard pin punch, both flat tip and concave tip.
taper punches
brass punches

There is a special punch for AR's for the bolt catch. It has half the body ground flat for clearance. This punch works on M1A's for removing the bolt catch pin.

About half mine are from Snap-On and the rest from Midway or Brownells. Buy the best quality you can get. Cheap ones well bend and/or break.

 

[icanthitabarn]

I bought two Lyman roll pin sets :banghead:

 

[Drail]

There's Starrett and then there's everything else. Mayhew makes good punches for the price. And yes you will need brass drift punches and a couple of nylon/Delrin punches to bump parts that have a fine finish on them. A brass or bronze hammer is nice to have on the bench also. If you have to drive any roll pins then you should have some roll pin punches. Trying to drive one with a standard punch can get real ugly real quick.

 

[joecil]

I do a very limited amount of gun smith type work so have limited tools. I bought the proper screw drivers, punches and other small tools from Brownells. I bought the magna tip bits to fit my specific guns and a couple of small files. Brownells has a listing based on some common guns as to which Magna-tip bits are needed. I think I needed 11 bits as some are used on several guns. I got a set of brass and steel roll pin punches as the others type are not needed for my guns. The small sets is also all I needed by me so didn't go for the all inclusive sets.

 

[dprice3844444]

harbor freight and brownells

 

[rcmodel]

I have a motley collection of Sears Craftsman & hardware store pin punches, Starrett taper punches, Stanley nail-set cup-head starter punches I have modified, and a bunch of homemade brass & nylon ones.

I see little point in paying for Starrett 1/16" pin punches, as they are a disposable commodity.

They bend very easily, and once bent, they are toast.
You can return it to Sears and they will give you a new one free.
Or you can buy 4 of them at a hardware for $10 bucks.

Buying a set makes little sense to me either.
You will end up with a bunch of sizes more suitable for working on tractors then guns.

rc

 

[Nappers]

Grace punches are pretty well made.

 

[rodinal220]

Starrett or make your own from drill rod.

 

[fishblade2]

Thank you for all your replies. I now have a couple of brands to start with. My other question is how do I know what type of punches and sizes that I need for the guns I have? is there a website or book that will tell me this?

 

[rcmodel]

No.

Your digital calipers and a thousands to fractions size chart will tell you.

Measure the pin in the gun as close as you can, and convert it to the closest size punch that will still go through the hole.

In general, you will find more 1/16" up to 1/8" or so pins used in most guns then anything much larger.

Bigger 1/4" - 5/16"" punches might be used occasionally to knock a stubborn sight out of a dovetail for replacement, but not often.

rc

 

[fishblade2]

how can you tell what type of pin you have? For instance how do you tell if you have a roll pin vs. a normal pin?

 

[Ironclad]

A roll pin is made out of a flat sheet of steel rolled into a cylinder. They are usually a bit bigger than the hole they go in with tapered or beveled ends and they apply outward pressure on the hole.

A normal pin is just a solid metal cylinder.

 

[St8LineGunsmith]

another good place to buy hand tools or pretty much anything from mills to lathes is http://www.grizzly.com

 

[4v50 Gary]

As explained, rolls pins are flat metal plates that are made into a roll. The steel used is spring steel and they expand in the hole, providing tension that helps retain it in place.