Today's firearm owners are fortunate enough to live in a world where many firearms are about as DIY-friendly as it gets. More and more of today's manufacturers are making it easier for those with even a modicum of handiness to tinker, tweak and fix as much as they want. But even with easy-to-work-on guns, you still need a solid set of tools. Here are five must-haves for any firearm owner.
1. When something goes wrong on the range or in the field, you might find yourself cursing the inaccessibility of the gun tools back home on your workbench. The Fix-It-Sticks Field Armorer’s Kit solves this problem beautifully, though, with everything—no, really, everything—you need in a handy carry case. Choose either the large or mini all-in-one torque drivers or individual torque limiters. Besides that, you’ll get a dizzying array of high-quality tools—far too many to list individually here, but including wrenches, adapters, bits, pin punch sets, sight tools and cleaning tools, plus a magnetic tray and a small bench block. MSRP: $720 to $820; store.fixitsticks.com
2. If AR-based rifles appear on your workbench, then so, too, should Brownell’s BRN AR-15 Armorer’s Wrench. Made of heavy steel, this tool has a six-pin barrel-nut wrench that works on both peg-style and encapsulated barrel nuts, along with a four-pin castle nut wrench for
M4 carbine-style receiver extensions. Beyond that, it has cutouts for A2 receiver-extension nuts and 1/2-inch torque drives, plus slots for both 5/8-inch and 3/4-inch wrench flats for flash hiders and muzzle brakes. MSRP: $44.99; brownells.com
3. Let’s face it—not all of your gunsmithing is going to take place on that nice workbench; sometimes it’s going to be right in the field after something goes wrong. Keep the MTM Case-Gard TRB-40 Tactical Range Box in your vehicle or otherwise nearby for such times. Besides letting you keep a bunch of cleaning and ‘smithing supplies in the divided, lift-off top section, it also lets you set up two rifle forks with rubber padding—or one dedicated 5.56 NATO magazine-well fork —in the bottom section so your rifle will be lifted and secured in a better position for fine-tuning. MSRP: $88.97; mtmcase-gard.com
4. In the hierarchy of vises, the Real Avid Master Gun Vise is certainly near the top. It will secure your gun or gun parts with ease, allow you to unlock and spin those parts into whatever position you need them, quickly re-lock and help you rapidly level everything for scope-mounting. Proprietary, reversible GunFit sleeves lock onto the vise jaws, with sturdy foam padding to protect finishes on one side and nylon hard sleeves on the other, which are grooved to catch onto a Picatinny rail or similar structures. MSRP: $299.99; realavid.com
5. You can decrease the frustrations of gunsmithing, and particularly of installing and removing pins, by adding a bench block to your workspace. One good choice would be the Lyman X-Block, which is about an inch larger than most other options and made of polymer with non-slip sidewalls that won’t scratch your gun’s finish or your work surface. The crossed v-slot and rounded slot will let you nestle most frames, slides or barrels into a better position for manipulation, with holes situated for punches, and a small magnet can hang onto small pins. MSRP: $17.95; lymanproducts.com
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