Help me choose a screwdriver set??

P

piste

New member
Wondering if you all can help me out. I've been into milsurps a few years now and I'm generally quite mechanically inclined and have quite an array of hand tools. I've been getting by with my Craftsman stuff on the too-many-to-count Mosin Nagants, handful of Yugo 24/47's, and handful of K31's without much of any problem. I've just started on my first Turkish Mauser and it has some screws on it that seem to have fairly shallow slots that are VERY straight walled such that I can't seem to find a Craftsman screwdriver that can get any bite and I'm leery of pushing it for fear of stripping. So it may be time for me to bite the bullet and get a gunsmithing set. Now I first looked at these:

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=439523
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=223597

...and thought one of them might be the way to go. I'm not "married" to Wheeler but they seem to have a good rep and I thought one of these might be best. But then I saw this set which includes much more than screwdrivers...

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=967134

..and I pretty much could use all these tools except maybe the steel punches. And though it has many other items it only has a 28 piece screwdriver set.

So my question is this...I'm not ever planning to be a gunsmith so only want what I'll "need" for a screwdriver set...but don't want to "go short" only having to end up buying a more "robust" set down the road. In other words I wanna buy the set that is gonna meet all my foreseeable future needs. Thoughts or recommendations? Also open to other than Wheeler. TIA
 
Thanks. But why? And which one?

Edit...just checked and they only have one Forster set of 8 screwdrivers for $55...that'd be a tough sell to me...
 
Piste,

Save yourself some money...
Buy the Chapman screwdriver kit. It's small, easy to use and best of all, it works perfectly for guns.

This is my "go to" tool kit any time I need to fiddle with a gun, even removing the grips for cleaning. It's small enough to pack to range or on a hunting trip.
 
The top screwdrivers are the Brownell's Magna-Tip, followed by the Wheeler.

The Chapman is a good set for range use, but the choices in bits is very limited, and it's rare for a Chapman bit to be a perfect fit in a gun screw.

The full-sized screwdrivers are nice, but they're a lot more expensive to buy instead of buying a handle and a lot of inexpensive interchangeable bits.
Also, break a one-piece, and unless you are good at re-grinding and have the equipment to do it, the driver is an expensive write-off.

The Brownell's Magna-Tips come in a great many sizes, and it's usually possible to get a perfect fit in nearly any gun screw.
The Brownell's bits are HARD, and when you over-stress things, it's usually the screwdriver bit that breaks.
This is very good, since it's a lot easier and cheaper to replace a bit then a hard to find and expensive gun screw.

Best of all, Brownell's guarantee Magna-Tip bit forever.
Break one, and they will replace it FREE.
You don't even have to send in the broken bit.
Just email them and they'll send you a new bit.

In the Brownell's sets, I much prefer the Law Enforcement size handle.
The big handle is too big for most gun work, and the stubby handle is too short.
The LE handle offers the perfect size for good control.
 
Chapman or Forster. Not cheap but good and that is what you want to work on your firearms! ... anything in Brownell's catalog. Home Depot won't do this time!:p
 
Magna-tip from Brownells

Best investment I ever made. I mess with guns and also do clocks, microscopes, and about any other old and intresting equiptment I can get my hot hands on. It is indispensable to me and I love the fact that you can turn them with any 1/4 inch drive. At times I have put a 1/4 inch adaptor in the Bridgeport, put the thing I am working on in the milling vice, locked the quill down with the screw driver bit engaged in the screw while heating the work and manualy turing the quill.

Of course that was an extream case but has worked for me 4/5 times if you are careful. A less extream use is to use a ratchet which I frequently do .

Plus once you really get into odd ball stuff the interchangeable bits and theri drive acessories become even more handy, heck I have about 30 "security" bits... SAE/ Metic / torx / tri-wing / pin spanner...
 
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