Drill Press (plus bits & taps) Enough To Tap Long Gun Receiver?

[roo_ster]

Howdy:

I aim to expand the scope of work I can do on my firearms before I have to drag them to a gun smith. It can be such a pain, here 'bouts, finding one that isn't swamped.

I already own a quality set of screw driver bits and several other tools. I have done some of the simple things such as mount scopes, remove & install dovetailed sights, complete dis-assembly (and re-assembly!), & other tasks.

I think the next step is a bench-mounted drill press, so I can drill & tap screw holes to, say, mount a ghost-ring sight on a Rem 870 that lacks such screw holes. Also, quality bits, taps & dies.

What do you all think?

 

[rcmodel]

It will work, although you also need something like the B-Square, Forster or Williams jig for locating the holes accurately.

An awful lot of less expensive drill presses have very loose bearings in the quill and tend to want to wobble all over the place when drilling hardened receivers.

An awful lot of receivers have been ruined by wandering drill bits and misplaced holes when used without a jig fixture.

An awful lot of hardened receivers have had taps broken off in the holes when hand tapping without a jig guiding the tap.

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=1752/Product/B_SQUARE_PROFESSIONAL_DRILL_JIG

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=6638/Product/UNIVERSAL_SIGHT_MOUNTING_FIXTURE___COMPONENTS

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=16326/Product/SCOPE_MOUNT_DRILL_FIXTURE

rc

 

[roo_ster]

rcmodel:

Don't sugar coat the pitfalls, now!

Yep, I expect I'll get something like the more general-purpose jig you listed third.

I need to keep my eyes open for a smaller used press of better quality, I think, rather than a Harbor Freight deal.

Frankly, I'd rather drop it off at the 'smith, but the few that I'd trust to do it right 'round here are so backed up, some have indicated they are taking in no more work until their backlog is cleared.

The couple that aren't backed up, I have had some poor results. Like the Decelerator recoil pad that was not an actual Decelerator and looked like it had been trimmed to fit by beavers with Parkinson's.

 

[Tom S.]

I'm not trying to be a smart a$$ so please don't take this the wrong way, but do you know how to drill and tap? After seeing a person who should have known better use a 1" drill in order to tap some 1" holes I take nothing for granted anymore. As rcmodel points out, it's very easy even for an experienced person to screw up a very expensive gun!

Fixtures are almost a must. I say almost because a machinist can indicate a piece in with a dial indicator and hit dead center with pin point accuracy. Most drill presses, especially if using an adjustable vice can not be used in this manner though and will require a fixture. Buy two taps of each size: one regular and one flat bottomed. If you are mounting a scope base on a receiver, you can drill through and tap accordingly, but if you mounting anything on a barrel, you don't have that luxury, hence the flat bottom tap.

 

[earplug]

Do it.

I use a little bench top drill press to drill and tap several revolvers for sights.
Big thing is to have a vice to hold your work steady and a means to check for level. Level your drill press and vice.
You may be able to clamp the mount on the reciever, then drill your holes using the mount screw holes. No need for a special jig.
Don't forget to check for clearance inside the reciever for protruding screws. Figure out what your doing before you do it.
A small center drill cures chuck run out on this project.

 

[Clipper]

There are special vises for drill presses that give X and Y-axis travel that you can tram and indicate in to give acceptable linear centering of the workpiece. You'll need an indicator to set it up. Use a carbide (unless you don't mind replacing cheaper high-speed center drills all the time) center drill to penetrate any case hardening and chamfer the hole to keep the tap drill centered and it will also clear enough soft material around and beneath the entry point to keep from stressing the tap.

 

[Old Shooter]

If you have the patience, mindset, attention to details and willing to purchase quality tools and equipment I'd say go for it.

I've spent a lifetime buying/swapping/trading used guns, many with home workshop gunsmithing done to them and let me tell you, a hole drilled in the wrong place is forever.

Good luck and enjoy the new hobby.

 

[smokey262]

All good advice here. I will add that you should get yourself a couple feet of round bar stock and/or tubing in suitable diameters to practice on first.

 

[Jim K]

There are a few gunsmiths who take pride in never using a jig. They use a milling machine or a special vise and do all kinds of fancy computations to get everything just right. I have seen the work of some who didn't. Use a jig.

Jim

 

[crossrhodes]

Forester

I broke down and bought a Forester universal sight fixture, I love it and it's money well spent. The only complaint is that it could be a bit longer and you can't take for granted that the pilot holes are spaced to coinside with factory hole spacing. I would say buy a good fixture and save the head ache of off cent holes and damaged receiver.
Have fun and good luck