Gunsmithing Screwdrivers?

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I use what fits...

The Chapman sets are great for their wide range of alternative sizes and shapes but I like single piece-rigid units for day to day stuff.

Some of my favorites are estate sale finds of pre-war German full shank and wood handled 'drivers re-ground/filed.

Forster sells a nice set of hollow ground "Gunsmith" 'drivers. I have a couple sets but oddly find little direct fit for common firearm slots. Instead, I get them to custom shape for individual applications and then re-mark them as such.

Some of my favorite file-to-fit 'drivers are Craftsman as they are manufactured with convenient cross-tip grind marks to help with uniform hand filing of the tips. Kinda like permanent lay-out fluid.

Todd.
 
Chapman has worked well for me. Same set in service since 1985 with no problems.
 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This what I purchased and have been using them for several months with no problems yet.
Thanks all for your Opinions and experience!
 
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I ventured onto a Snap On truck parked at a local car service/tire shop recently. I wanted to buy some of their 1/4" hex bits. The Snap On hex bits I bought years ago from my tool dealer were very high quality and would last until I broke them with too much torque. The ones they sell now, or should I say the ones that this dealer had were the same as Harbor Freight stuff. Shiny and black. Not what looked like bead blasted stainless, like the old bits. I did buy a couple #2 Philips to check them out. They wore out way too fast.

Any of you wrenches out there know if the high quality bits are still available? Are the ones mentioned here of the same quality as the old bits, if you are familiar with the old bits?
 
dfariswheel said:
Brownell's Magna-Tip are the best in the industry and are the gunsmithing industry standard.
They're super hard and extremely smooth. Quality is outstanding.

If you break a bit, Brownell's will send you a new one FREE.
Brownell's offer more sizes then anyone else, and are 100% American made.

With the Brownell's sets you only buy them once. They last a lifetime.
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The best I've ever used. Can't afford them for home so I have a Wheeler set.
 
jlr1962
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Join Date: June 29, 2014
Location: Tejas
Posts: 398

I ventured onto a Snap On truck parked at a local car service/tire shop recently. I wanted to buy some of their 1/4" hex bits. The Snap On hex bits I bought years ago from my tool dealer were very high quality and would last until I broke them with too much torque. The ones they sell now, or should I say the ones that this dealer had were the same as Harbor Freight stuff. Shiny and black. Not what looked like bead blasted stainless, like the old bits. I did buy a couple #2 Philips to check them out. They wore out way too fast.

Any of you wrenches out there know if the high quality bits are still available? Are the ones mentioned here of the same quality as the old bits, if you are familiar with the old bits?
Click to expand...
The old stuff just last is all.
I had my own HVAC business for years and I bought 1/4", 5/16" magnetic nut drivers and chucks for my drills and phillips bits made of titanium I think? I still have them 25 years later. The new ones are better the the run of the mill lowes or home depot junk but are trash and don't last but a few months.
update
Wow just found some older new stock on e-bay more them $25.00 for one. Well you still can get them I figure!
 
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I keep the Chapman set in my range bag, so it is always where I am at. Was given a Wheeler set that I go to every so often for an oddball size and have had no problems with it.

Between those two and a few Brownells "special" bits for specific screws, I almost never have to "fit" a driver anymore.
 
Another vote for Brownells Magna-tips buy once,cry once. They fit right and if you break a bit, they replace it promptly with no hassle. That kind of customer service is why I purchase virtually all of my Gunsmithing tools from Brownells.
 
jlr1962 said:
I ventured onto a Snap On truck parked at a local car service/tire shop recently. I wanted to buy some of their 1/4" hex bits. The Snap On hex bits I bought years ago from my tool dealer were very high quality and would last until I broke them with too much torque. The ones they sell now, or should I say the ones that this dealer had were the same as Harbor Freight stuff. Shiny and black. Not what looked like bead blasted stainless, like the old bits. I did buy a couple #2 Philips to check them out. They wore out way too fast.

Any of you wrenches out there know if the high quality bits are still available? Are the ones mentioned here of the same quality as the old bits, if you are familiar with the old bits?
Click to expand...
Comparing snap-on to harbor freight based on appearance is like comparing Yugo to BMW because they are both cars.

Snap-on are made from higher quality metals, are properly heat treated, and properly tempered. Most are coated for further protection. The black tools tend to be impact rated.

Harbor freight are made from whatever is cheapest at the scrap yard, they might be heat treated, might not. They are rarely tempered. the steel, if you can call it that, is either soft and mushy or brittle. It'll either warp, twist, or otherwise malform, or simply snap or shatter. The black tools tend to be painted and are not impact rated.

I've never had a snap-on tool fail under standard use, or even abuse. I've had harbor freight junk fail on the first bolt.

I'm not advocating spending $80+ on a small set of 1/4 hex bits from snap-on, but I wouldn't even accept a harbor freight set for free. Not worth marring my guns when they fail.

Personally, I use a set of Blackhawk (Proto) bits. I've had a $35 set with about 25 bits and have been using them for years. I'm a full time industrial machine mechanic, my tools get used and abused. They pull second string duty on my guns.


ETA: Realize I posted almost the exact same thing earlier in the thread. Thought i was having deja vu.
 
You stay around this business long enough and you will end up with an assortment of all kinds of bits and drivers. I have had to regrind many screwdrivers over the years to fit certain screws. I don't think any set will cover all applications. I even have a bunch of old Craftsman screwdrivers I have hollow ground. The little ratchet with the Chapman set comes in real handy sometimes. I recently had a friend come over with an old Colt Lightning that was very badly rusted and he had one screw he was contemplating drilling out it was so rusted in place. I found a bit that would fit, used the ratchet with him holding the chapman handle above it to put a lot of downward pressure and out it came.
Just about the time you figure you have a good set of screwdrivers to cover all applications, a Browning A-5 will show up with the slots about as wide as a razor blade.
 
used the ratchet with him holding the chapman handle above it to put a lot of downward pressure and out it came.
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A very good trick for that is to chuck the Chapman extension & ratchet in a drill press.

Then block up the gun perfectly level on the table.

Now use the drill press to hold it down in the screw slot while turning it out with the ratchet.

There is zero chance of it slipping out!!
And it can't go anywhere or do any damage even if the bit breaks in the slot.

rc
 
USAF_Vet said:
Comparing snap-on to harbor freight based on appearance is like comparing Yugo to BMW because they are both cars.

Snap-on are made from higher quality metals, are properly heat treated, and properly tempered. Most are coated for further protection. The black tools tend to be impact rated.

Harbor freight are made from whatever is cheapest at the scrap yard, they might be heat treated, might not. They are rarely tempered. the steel, if you can call it that, is either soft and mushy or brittle. It'll either warp, twist, or otherwise malform, or simply snap or shatter. The black tools tend to be painted and are not impact rated.

I've never had a snap-on tool fail under standard use, or even abuse. I've had harbor freight junk fail on the first bolt.

I'm not advocating spending $80+ on a small set of 1/4 hex bits from snap-on, but I wouldn't even accept a harbor freight set for free. Not worth marring my guns when they fail.

Personally, I use a set of Blackhawk (Proto) bits. I've had a $35 set with about 25 bits and have been using them for years. I'm a full time industrial machine mechanic, my tools get used and abused. They pull second string duty on my guns.


ETA: Realize I posted almost the exact same thing earlier in the thread. Thought i was having deja vu.
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Yo, Vet, What I was getting at was that the bits the Snappy dealer wa selling were cheap junk. Not Snap On quality bits. They still sold good bits in their screwdriver kits. I have tens of thousands of dollars worth of Snap On, MAC, and Cornwell tools from 17+ years of tech work. My last straw with Snap On was when a local dealer would not warranty the peeling chrome on a Snap On air rachet. It was a Snap On tool, not Blue Point. I was pissed off, and bleeding. I bought a MAC rollaway box a month or so later. I called Snap On corporate and got a new ratchet.
 
My guy will be here in the morning. I'll take a look at the bit sets he has. See if I can't find those black, shiny ones you mentioned. Were they branded Snap-on, by any chance?
 
Good tip rcmodel.....A drill press would be the ideal way to put even downward pressure on the screw tip. I have fought a lot of tough gun screws over the years and sometimes it is a real challenge. i once had a Ruger single six a guy brought me with a scope mount on it. Someone had drilled and tapped the top strap. I worked on it for a long time and when I finally got them out, it turns out the guy had liberally coated the screws with finger nail polish before he put them in, and i think he used a 1/2 in ratchet to tighten them with!
Lots of challenges out there in the gun world...
 
USAF_Vet said:
My guy will be here in the morning. I'll take a look at the bit sets he has. See if I can't find those black, shiny ones you mentioned. Were they branded Snap-on, by any chance?
Click to expand...
These were individual replacement bits. I looked at the ones that came with my driver set from the 80's that have not been replaced. They did not have a Snap On logo, but they were the higher quality bits. All I want is the good bits that don't wear out the fastener, and stay fresh as the day you buy them. Hollow ground bits may or may not be good quality. Usually the hollow ground bits are high quality though. I have a couple of bits that came with some Timberlock brand landscape timber fasteners. A full set of those would be great.

I think that that Snap On dealer was intentionally selling crap bits.

I had a couple of solid shank screwdrivers that the same dealer had swapped the blades on after they broke. The next ones wore out quickly. The next Snap On dealer told me he would warranty the blades, but that they were not genuine Snap On blades in the driver handles. During the 3 years or so at that one shop, we had 3 different Snap On dealers working that route.
 
It was suggested to us to buy used screwdrivers and grind them to fit. Never shopped at a pawn shop until I went to gonne smithin' school.
 
Have a set from Chapman and an 8 piece screwdriver set from Forster and they have been quite useful over the years especially the smallest screwdriver in the Forster set. Didn't know you can get screws that small.
 
I don't have a set specifically for firearms. But, like several others here have already posted, I've long since found the value of good tools, including screwdrivers.

For such a simple tool, it amazes me that companies out there will actually make them out of inferior material and manufacturing processes.

If you want to round out a Phillips head screw or tear up a regular flathead screw, go ahead and buy cheap screwdrivers. It won't be long before you'll have lots and lots of damaged screws. Slip one time with the cheap driver and that's all it takes.

I work on small components a lot, too....and I've long since gotten rid of every one of the cheap "tweeker" screwdrivers I ever bought, back when I picked up a set of Wiha screwdrivers. I never looked back.

The "garage" screwdrivers are all Craftsman.

I don't have any Chapman sets, but after reading this thread, I've added that to my wishlist.

Cheap screwdrivers have their uses. With me, those uses include opening paint cans, prying up things, scraping, and even digging or poking holes in dirt. I don't use them on screws.

The same thing applies for all the other tools that fit various screw heads and bold heads. Get good tools, meant for the job, and take care of them. They'll pay themselves off in saved time and loss of aggravation.

Oh, and by the way...if you buy good tools in sets, you'll often save more money than you would have by buying the cheaper ones individually. Or even individual parts of the set by the same manufacturer. Look at Craftsman tool sets, for example...and then catch them on sale.


And a lot of people don't know how to use a screwdriver properly.

First, the bit should fit the screw. If it's a regular, flat tip screw, ideally the driver bit will just fit snuggly, and fully, into the slot of the screw and the width of the bit should match the width of the screw slot.

If it doesn't fit right, you'll run very good odds of damaging the screw. Bits not wide enough and which don't fit snugly and fully, will twist in the screw slot. Even if the bit doesn't slip out, the edges of the bit will cut into the screw slot with any amount of force. If the bit is too thick, it won't sit fully into the slot and that will increase the odds that the bit will slip. Also, forcing it into the screw slot will deform the screw head and slot.


Phillips head screwdrivers must likewise fit fully and snuggly into the screw head.

Screwdrivers require an adequate amount of force to be applied straight down the shaft during use to prevent them from skipping up out of the screw head during use.


And both regular (flat head) and Phillips head screwdrivers should NEVER exhibit any rounded, chipped, or dented edges...either on the sides or the tips. The bits should always have crisp, straight, sharp angled edges. If they're not, and you can't dress them up properly with a file, replace the driver.
 
Speaking of Harbor Freight, I bought a set of screwdrivers with wooden handles from them around 1983. I still have them and the only damage was when my dog chewed on one of the handles. I think they cost $5 or $6.

Since then, I've seen sets of "gunsmithing screwdrivers" that appear to be exactly what I bought advertised by various firms, I think even Brownell's, for no less than around $25.
 
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