I bought Chapman's a long time ago, I twisted off two bits and ordered new ones. While waiting for the new ones to come in the mail, I twisted off another one. I have had them for about 30 years so I got my money out of them and perhaps over that length of time the metal broke down or something.
gunsmithing screwdrivers
- Thread starter KBP75
- Start date
Rifleman1776
New member
I have an old Lyman hollow handle. Plus I have bought a bunch of extra bits for it. But, really, my go-to screwdrivers are old, regular, screwdrivers that I have ground to fit particular screws. The gunsmithing sets are grossly overpriced for what you get. Meaning, a lot of the bits you pay for will never be used.
William T. Watts
New member
Another vote for Brownells, they have probably the best screw driver set available to the gunsmith today, I have never broken any of the tools in my set nor damaged a firearm with them.. Quality tools are worth whatever you pay for them, I disagree with Rifleman 1776, I believe in using the proper tool for the job, and no they are not overpriced either! I still have my complete set 13 years after purchasing them. I almost stayed in Colorado after school but my wife wanted to come home, ARKANSAS, Go Hogs!! William
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I have so many screwdrivers, I should be on the TV show "Hoarders"
What I prefer to do is buy old quality name brand screwdrivers for 25 cents, in quantity, at garage sales. They have paint, rust, and dullness.
I clean them off with a wire wheel and grind them to the size and shape I want.
I have ~ $200 cheap Chinese imitation of an end wheel grinder.
I make various fixtures to hold things so they slide in the slot on the end tables.
The grinder will also help make the 55 degree tool for cutting Mauser barrel threads.
What I prefer to do is buy old quality name brand screwdrivers for 25 cents, in quantity, at garage sales. They have paint, rust, and dullness.
I clean them off with a wire wheel and grind them to the size and shape I want.
I have ~ $200 cheap Chinese imitation of an end wheel grinder.
I make various fixtures to hold things so they slide in the slot on the end tables.
The grinder will also help make the 55 degree tool for cutting Mauser barrel threads.
Buy a good quality set, even though some cheap set will fit the screws, they may be soft, causing a bad problem as they may break or twist. nothing makes a nice gun look ugly than bad looking screws....When trading or buying guns, I always look at the screws first, they tell the tell on how a gun was maintained...
Wheelers twisted up on me on the second screw, and it wasn't even that tight. Chapman fit perfectly and worked great. And they have a lot of sizes available. I haven't tried Brownell, so can't say. But I got everything I needed to disassemble all of my single action revolvers, including screwdriver handle, from Chapman for under 10 bucks, and have not found any reason to dislike the quality of the tools.