Tuning Airsmithing Tool Sets - Begginer Buys

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scallen2112

scallen2112

Member
Jan 20, 2019
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Georgia, United States
I am in the process of expanding further into the hobby of airgunning (poor me). I now have two in .22, one in .457, and plans to add a .30 before turkey season. I also finally have a real compressor for my tanks on the way. I have converted a bedroom into my hunting cave and am adding in a work table because I want to start learning to maintain, adjust, and modify my rifles.

I am pretty sure I will need a decent vice or rest, so recommendations on your favorites there and why would be helpful. But at this point I am at a loss as to what tools I will need to buy. Right now I just have a bunch of Allen keys in a drawer. But I want to get some dedicated sets that will stay in this room. I'm pretty sure I will need hex and torx, but I also noticed the set of Vortex Precission Matched rings I just bought for my new rifle have torque specs in in/lbs. Are there t-handle torque wrenches? Somebody recommending a good set or two to start with would be very helpful.

Also, where to I go for "how-to" information (being a draftsman, I learn best with illustrations and videos) on working on or modifying my various guns?

Thanks for the info, and have a great day.
 
Hello for the money Wheeler makes some nice stuff. Scope leveling kits, torque drivers and bits, have used them both at work on our precision rifles and at home on my own stuff, they work as they should without being overly expensive. Shop around, there are always sales on them Bass pro, Dvor, Midway, Brownells, etc . If you want something more high end try Seekonk but for the price of one tool you can get a whole set from Wheeler and at the end of the day that do the same thing . Hope this helps Eric.
 
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Welcome to the world of Airguns! Hmmm, I believe much of what you get will depend upon your budget, things can be cheap or they can be expensive. Look at your long term commitment to the hobby, if you are in it for the long haul, buy good stuff that will last a lifetime without having to replace items. Get a good gun vise, perhaps the Tipton Best gun vise, look for sales and shop around. As esingle suggested, Wheeler makes some good products. Get a good Torque driver/wrench for precise torques, Wheeler Fat Wrench sets are a good buy. Also, regarding allen and torx, look at bicycle tools, esp. the Park Tools, mostly made in USA and lifetime warranty, good customer support and well made. Good bike tools are made to more precision tolerances for precision bike parts. A small bench clamp-on vise is good too, a couple of small vise grip pliers to hold small parts, some blue loctite, a small parts box, paper towels to keep things clean, maybe a good magnifying glass with a clamp for those aforementioned small parts. Hollow ground screw drivers, (most likely included with the gun smithing kits.) Check on Midway in their gun tool section to get ideas. Good luck and go slow. Have fun and be safe, don't Ham fist anything. It can be a bottomless pit, so keep the pit shallow for now. LOL

Regarding where to go to info, this is a good place, some Youtube can be good, but use good sense there, just because someone has a youtube video, doesn't make them an expert or have accurate and good information.
 
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+1 for wheeler. Gunsmithing screwdriver with various bits for those pesky Philip and standard screws. Levels, a mirror, flashlight or supplemental lighting. Digital calipers.

You probably know this, but a chronograph, pad of paper and a pen.

Camera, for pictures of before, during and "where the heck did I set this at" questions 6 months down the road. I use an app "Evernote", create folders for each gun and record groups, conditions, and mods, with pictures. If I outsource a mod, that gets recorded. Evernote allows me to save web pages, so I can return to my data source for reference

White towel under and around anything you take apart- things go bong- spring and dissappear.

Circlip pliers, fly tying vise w magnifier for my fading vision. Rubber mallet. Red and blue loctite. O-rings. Lots of orings. Auto body plastic tools, particularly picks, aid in o ring removal.

Never throw out a Allen screw. Take old guns others junk, take any useful parts for repurposing. If you have any Crosman benjamin guns, many parts are interchangeable.

I have a drill press, so high quality drill bits and some grinding bits to remove material.

Polishing materials- sand paper, emery cloth, pastes.

Tweezers, lots of them, various sizes. Magnets to remove things that fall into black spaces. Magnetic part pans, to store removed screws. Small plastic containers for non metallic parts, plus, you can soak parts in them.

Large jaw adjustable wrench, and if you can find brass or non marring versions, those are good

Alot of the basic garage tools can be refurbished or remade to work. Have a method for every time you work on a gun so that you can return to your work if you get distracted.

My two biggest bugaboo is 1- taking on another project before finishing the current one, including when working on the same gun. Like, while I'm in here why don't I....and a rabbit hole of problems can develope. Don't take on a stock mod while the trigger is in a million pieces

2nd is loosing parts. A 15 minute job can be a 6 month project if you lose a simple part. Know how you operate and plan your project to minimize that frustration. When you get good, let me know and I'll send you some projects :)
 
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Don't worry about a torque wrench for scope rings. We are shooting air guns, not elephant guns. Snug is tight enough, or snug + a bump. No need to strip out the threads on a PCP scope ring.

Click to expand...


I think the point is to NOT strip out threads or crush tubes, but to only apply as much as needed where the tendency of some may be to crank down on it.
 
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Without getting long winded, the most used tools I own are:

Chronograph

T handle ball end metric hex wrench set

oring picks
Click to expand...

May I add a Regman tethering regulator so as not to waste so much air from the fill and bleed off process.

Other needed items are ways to check reg pressures such as reg testers an/or spare gages with the ability to adapt to the different types of pcp threads out there. Consumables? Two part epoxies, barrel lapping and polishing compounds, lubricants for moving parts, a good assortment of wet/dry sandpaper in different grits.

Break barrels? Need a spring compressor wether store bought or home made. Punch sets for the different types of action pins around the trigger. Brass punches, brass drift pins to realign holes.

if you own a compressor plan on acquiring tools to be able to work on that, also.
 
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A couple of tools that I find useful are a set of Bondhus ball end allen wrenches, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006O4ADI?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_dt_b_product_details and small spirit levels, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PMWB2LH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1.

+1 for the Wheeler Fat Wrench torque wrench. My bug is accuracy. The torque wrench lets me re-install parts with the same amount of tension each time. I have a small Bessey vice with a suction cup base that has a ball socket head that is handy for positioning small parts. Picks and probes are essential. A trip to the Man Store (aka Harbor Freight ) will net you a load of useful gadgets. Another thing I find very helpful are jeweler's magnifying hoods. 

Let's face it you are looking into the rabbit hole. Have fun!




 
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A good set of allen wrenches and/or drivers is a central need. I'll offer one recommendation here, actually two. First, buy the best you can afford. Second, unless your budget absolutely forces it, don't buy ball-end hex drivers as your all-around tool. Straight-end is much less likely to strip a screw head, many of which are small and fragile on air guns. That said, ball-end drivers have their place, as sometimes an approach at an angle is required. Since you will typically be applying less torque in those applications, my suggestion is buy best-quality straight-end drivers, and if you must, save some money on less expensive ball-end tools. Some of the makers have a frustrating habit of applying some type of thread locking agent on tiny screws, with very small hex heads, like 2 mm. It is sometimes virtually impossible to get the darn things out without stripping the head, but a straight-end tool is more likely to work. You will find that many air gun fasteners don't need to be as tight as often assembled. 
 
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