Recommend a good vise for maint. bench

[ontarget]

Can you folks recommend a good vise for use on a reloading/cleaning bench? It would be used for everything from vintage .22s to ARs and everything in between. I'm thinking a woodworkers vise would be good as I could fabricate different types of inserts to hold different guns. What do you all use?

 

[WestKentucky]

I have 2 of these. One on my drill press, and one mounted on the bench. Like you said, it's easy to fab up what you need if you can secure it in a simple vice.
https://www.harborfreight.com/4-inch-jaw-capacity-drill-press-vise-30999.html

 

[boom boom]

Can you folks recommend a good vise for use on a reloading/cleaning bench? It would be used for everything from vintage .22s to ARs and everything in between. I'm thinking a woodworkers vise would be good as I could fabricate different types of inserts to hold different guns. What do you all use?

Depends on what you plan to use it for. For traditional bolt action receiver and action work, a general shop or wood workers vise is not useful apart from something that uses a barrel nut such as Savage or Remage (in time maybe the Ruger American) that doesn't depend on torque. You would need a barrel vise and separate action wrench for things like mausers, springfields, etc. If you do thin walled receivers like lever actions, french military rifles, shotguns etc., make sure to make jackscrews to insert inside of the receiver as you can bend them.

The flat woodworking vises are basically weaker and designed more for woodworking than gunsmithing but can be useful for some stock work with shims.

For AR, you need one that opens enough for a clamshell or a mag block. Wilton is the traditional shop vise but even the cheaper Harbor Freight 4 inch shop vises are ok. Some have a light duty anvil at the rear. If you plan on gunsmithing, get some plastic lined jaws or leather lined ones to avoid marking the parts. If you want to know what is out there, check brownells website for what the professionals use and what accessories are available. You can also get a good used one quite cheap at auctions, even Ebay, etc.

 

[nettlle]

I have had one of these vises for about 40 years and it is probably the some of the best money I have ever spent. I made some soft jaws out of 5/8" plywood with thick leather epoxied to the plywood. The soft jaws are 40 years old now also.

http://www.willburtversavise.com/shop/kbwd9agpekwg9uyxn57iai6aflkso0

 

[double bogey]

I went by a tandy leather store and they gave me a scrap piece of leather about 1/4" thick for vice jaws.

 

[boom boom]

I went by a tandy leather store and they gave me a scrap piece of leather about 1/4" thick for vice jaws.

Didn't know they were still around. Ironic that Tandy leather outsurvived its offspring, Radio Shack.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

I have one of those Versa type vises and it's handy but not too heavy duty. Good for the small jobs and the finicky fitting suff.
If you are doing much wooden stock work a gunstock vise is pretty handy to have. Mine has a central bolt and a big wing nut so all you have to do for mounting it is drill one hole in the bench and you can remove it easily when not needed.

 

[ontarget]

Being easily removable would be very handy. I tried a vise made by quick grip that you could slide up snug then tighten the jaws. It had a tendency to come loose at the worst times. That one had a QD mount but the base stayed on the bench in the way.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

The wood working tool sites, like Woodcraft, sell them as either gunstock carving vise or patternmaker's vise. They are pretty handy for holding odd shapes as the vise jaws can swivel and the whole vise can be turned on that central bolt/shaft for positioning the work.

 

[doubleh]

I've had a versa vise for years. It's handy for some things and with the aluminum soft jaws that can grip odd shapes it's even more handy. However it isn't an all around vise in my opinion. It's easily overloaded and will slip and move around. I work on a heavy steel table and drilled and tapped holes for the base so it can be easily remove and put aside out of the way. It spends most of it's time hanging on the wall and only gets mounted for things that need to be moved around to various angles. There is a Wilton bullet vise mounted on one corner of the table and it is used for 95% of my vise needs. I also made a knifemaker's vise gadget that clamps in the pipe jaws of the Wilton that takes care of most of my odd position work. I've found it really handy for grip making now that's I've put aside the knives.

 

[hdwhit]

I use a bench vise similar to this one:
https://www.harborfreight.com/4-in-swivel-vise-with-anvil-63330.html
I don't remember where I got mine, but given that it was in the late-1980's I suspect it was from Sears.

The jaws are bolted on and removable. When I need special jaws to hold work pieces, I just cut them out of pieces of scrap lumber and bolt them in place, but for the most part the stock steel jaws are sufficient for most tasks.

 

[4v50 Gary]

I have had one of these vises for about 40 years and it is probably the some of the best money I have ever spent. I made some soft jaws out of 5/8" plywood with thick leather epoxied to the plywood. The soft jaws are 40 years old now also.

http://www.willburtversavise.com/shop/kbwd9agpekwg9uyxn57iai6aflkso0

For a modern vise, I like that vise suggested by frogfurr. It's very versatile. My vise is something from over 50 years ago and was bought used. I also use this woodworker's vise. It has pivoting jaws which allow for clamping of odd shapes (rifle stocks):

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

^^^
Yep, that's the one I was talking about Gary. Glad you posted a picture.

 

[Bo]

I have a Wilton 6" vise. Also, bought a set of Wilton's aluminum magnetic jaws that have rubber on the inside for clamping guns.

 

[MachIVshooter]

With vises, I believe you should buy once, cry once.

4"-5" Columbian Machinist model or Wilton Bullet.

 

[doubleh]

I have a Wilton 6" vise. Also, bought a set of Wilton's aluminum magnetic jaws that have rubber on the inside for clamping guns.

I have a very old and abused little Wilton bullet visethat they evidently don't make anymore. It would be about a 2 1/2" size I suppose. It was very cheap and without the swivel base but it's handy. I still have my 3 1/2" and 4 1/2" all weather combination model vises. At one time I also had the 6" combination vise. I just looked up Wilton vise prices. Holy cow, jumpin' jehosaphat, those things are out of sight price wise. $2800 for the 6" model now.

 

[Mauser lover]

I was just given a 5 inch Yost vise. Can't say it is any better than many others, but it beats a Hazard Fraught special. As far as usability goes. If I didn't have a vise, I'd go out right now and get the Harbor Freight one. A cheap vise is still somewhat usable, and won't delay your purchase of a GOOD vise very long. And... you can't have too many vises on your workbench.

The HF vise is not going to be as "nice" as an expensive vise. Those niceties like little backlash (play in the screw) and greater clamping strength will save you a bunch of time in the end, and if time is money...

but if you need it NOW, try out a HF and if you hate it, get a better one.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Watch for barn,estate and flea market sales. You can sometimes get a good vintage vise at a decent price that way.

 

[ontarget]

Always watching the yard sales and flea markets, it seems like everyone thinks their stuff is gold plated. Rarely see great deals anymore.

 

[Scooter22]

Always watching the yard sales and flea markets, it seems like everyone thinks their stuff is gold plated. Rarely see great deals anymore.

Yup! Since Antiques Road Show, American Pickers, and others old mold is gold.