Where to buy gunsmithing tools

you can find all sorts of good files all over.. nicholsons aren't bad ... mibro at sears is so so .. myself, i don't go for the high end stuff cause i know it would cause me to use them far longer than their ordinary life ... dull files suck ! ( buy em and use em like water )
- some of the cheepo's at princess are case hardened ... which is yucky
-oddly some of the bastards made in india were ok for coarse work
- diamond files are very handy

what ever you do...don't throw out your old files. !! they can all be re purposed into chisels, cutters, knives, scrapers, burnishers, gouges etc ( esp nicholsons .. which is close to 1095 steel )
 
trevj said:
Jesus. For that money, just buy the junk outta the bin at Princess Auto. Cheaper, same quality. No fancy cloth case, though.

You can do better, and pay less, for quality tools, if you start from the basis that pretty much everything you see that has the word "Gunsmith" in the title, is pretty much crap!

I say pretty much, because there are a very few exceptions to this general rule, but pretty much, if someone is selling a kit of some sort of tools that is adorned with the word, like as not they are buying cheap crap and selling it to guys that don't know any better.

I buy and use/destroy my fair share of cheap tools. Nothing better than a $9 wrench set, when you know that the main reason you are buying it is because you are planning on cutting, bending, spindling, welding on, or otherwise mutilating it, or parts of it, in order to get a job done. Good for doing what you would not want to do with good tools.

I won't claim that the kit above will not provide service, just that if you expect to get reasonable use out of the tools, you will do better buying decent quality ones.

A hockey puck with a couple slots cut in it makes a pretty good bench block. Drill a few holes too. Corian counter top scraps too. Or UHMW blocks from Lee Valley, or wherever you can scrounge the stuff.

Put together your own kit of tools, based on the work you actually need them for.

Cheers
Trev
Click to expand...

You know, we don't mind anybody having an opinion - thank god it's a free country. However, if you are going to make a claim, of any kind, please try to do it when you are armed with facts.

Trev, if you have examined this kit and checked out the quality of the tools and then done a price comparison then you are in a position to advise everyone on CGN - and we'll all thank you for it. However, I do 'pretty much' object to some of your wild claims. As we stated, this is an excellent basic Gunsmith Kit offering superb value-for-money. If it's not for you, fair enough, just make up your own kit... just have an appreciation that other people may prefer to start with a kit like this.
 
Colonel Mustard said:
You know, we don't mind anybody having an opinion - thank god it's a free country. However, if you are going to make a claim, of any kind, please try to do it when you are armed with facts.

Trev, if you have examined this kit and checked out the quality of the tools and then done a price comparison then you are in a position to advise everyone on CGN - and we'll all thank you for it. However, I do 'pretty much' object to some of your wild claims. As we stated, this is an excellent basic Gunsmith Kit offering superb value-for-money. If it's not for you, fair enough, just make up your own kit... just have an appreciation that other people may prefer to start with a kit like this.
Click to expand...

Well, since you are selling it, you would be a bit biased about that now too, wouldn't you. Sorry about the sand in your quiff. I had not actually noticed that it was your own product you were flogging. You going to tell us it's NOT filled with Made in China and/or Made in India, No-Name Brand tools? Y'know, because you probably would have included the info, if it had a set of Union Punches, or Starrett, etc.

I'll leave my comments to stand. Buy the tools you need, as you need them, and be ahead of the game. If you really do need the tool, buy at least decent quality, if you are not willing to spend on 'best' quality tools. Cheap driver bits are misery at best, or damaged guns at worst, and are a false economy.

Buying a kit of tools is a fast and expensive way to collecting a bunch of stuff you really didn't need, with money you would be better off spending on stuff that you do.

I buy my cheap tools on sale really cheap, and know what they are and are not good for. For cheap enough, they are fair value.

For many purposes, if you have the ability to use them, you can make your own, when it comes to stuff like that 'hard to find' bench block.

Cheers
Trev
 
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