AR Sponsor
Posted: 11/19/2013 5:18:00 PM EDT
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Looking to do my first build and it need to get some basic stuff(pin punches, pin holders, castle nut wrench and maybe a lower receiver vise block).
I see brownells has all this stuff, but seems really pricey. Is it cheaper somewhere else on line? |
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If you're planning on ever building more than one rifle, invest in decent roll pin punches. Cheap ones bend all the time. what's a good brand? I see palmetto state armory has some pretty reasonably priced tools. $50 for a plastic lower receiver block from Brownells seems like robbery to me. |
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what's a good brand? I see palmetto state armory has some pretty reasonably priced tools. $50 for a plastic lower receiver block from Brownells seems like robbery to me. Quoted:
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If you're planning on ever building more than one rifle, invest in decent roll pin punches. Cheap ones bend all the time. what's a good brand? I see palmetto state armory has some pretty reasonably priced tools. $50 for a plastic lower receiver block from Brownells seems like robbery to me. I have Grace roll pin punches. After a lot of use, they're still in good shape. The smallest one has bent on me on a few occasions, but only because the pin I was driving was hung up on something, and it's an extremely small punch. |
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In my defense, it was the really skinny little one.  Quoted:
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I've got a set of 1950's vintage Starrett punches, and even those will bend if you're not careful.  Apply enough force... In my defense, it was the really skinny little one. Same here with the Grace punches. I've only ever bent the smallest one, the others are pretty tough. |
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Quoted:
what's a good brand? I see palmetto state armory has some pretty reasonably priced tools. $50 for a plastic lower receiver block from Brownells seems like robbery to me. Quoted:
Quoted:
If you're planning on ever building more than one rifle, invest in decent roll pin punches. Cheap ones bend all the time. what's a good brand? I see palmetto state armory has some pretty reasonably priced tools. $50 for a plastic lower receiver block from Brownells seems like robbery to me. I went with the Lyman roll pin punch set. Its been working great for me so far. |
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Palmetto has upper and lower receiver vise blocks for cheap in the clearance section.
I did break 2-3 SPI punches recently on a build. No surprise really..I half-way expected something to break. Replaced the punches with Starrett. As a machinist, I should have known better. Typically, I keep my really good tools for work..I will try to change that soon. |
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Check out Harbor freight.
For most of the roll pins and even the solid pins (with the exception of the GI front sight base) shouldn't give you too much trouble with even cheap punches (I've used the same set of Pittsburgh punches for several years with minimal issues) For an occasional build or few a year I wouldn't hesitate with these. If I were to make my living doing nothing but building rifles I'd probably go a higher quality tool. But then going from memory you only need 1/16" 1/8" 5/32" punches to handle all the pins on the AR platform. |
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Quoted:
Looking to do my first build and it need to get some basic stuff(pin punches, pin holders, castle nut wrench and maybe a lower receiver vise block). I see brownells has all this stuff, but seems really pricey. Is it cheaper somewhere else on line? Brownell's stuff is top notch and you pay for quality. If you have a C&R license or are law enforcement, you qualify for "dealer" pricing at Brownells, but tools usually aren't discounted much, if any. If it's a name brand tool (something other than Brownell), do a google search. Somebody probably offers the tool cheaper. Most of this stuff is pretty specific though and there's a limited market for it. Sure, you can buy cheap Chinese made pin punches at Harbor Freight but finding crappy alternatives to specialized gun tools is going to be a lot tougher. There just isn't a big enough market for AR-15 receiver blocks to convince the Chinese to start cranking them out. |
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