Top 10 Tips For the Home Gunsmith

welcome back everybody this is Eric here with Iraq veteran88 all right today we've got another top 10 tips video and this one we're going to focus on the home gunsmith that's right a lot of folks are working on guns theirself at their house I mean look you know money's tight and plus people have taken a great interest in trying to learn more about firearms and it's and people have also taken a much greater interest in being self-sufficient in many ways in their life right and working on your own firearms is one way that you can definitely learn more about the technology you're wielding and uh you know be self-sufficient if you have a problem be able to self-diagnose self-correct maybe it's just as simple as taking care of your own guns keeping them running but these tips are for you the home gunsmith the person who wants to take this up and learn a little bit more and go further down the rabbit hole so we're going to get into this I would like to thank our friends at SDI for supporting today's video if you are looking for career in Gunsmithing or if you want to learn more about you know more of the technology side more of the business side the reloading side I mean there's a lot of different things within firearms that they teach but they are distance learning program with some awesome instructors awesome curriculum check them out if you're wanting to get more into the professional realm of gunsmithing they're definitely a great group of people to look into so check them out Sonoran Desert Institute SDI and tell them we sent you over there all right but we're going to break into these and these are some tips that I've figured out over the years that I hope will help some of you these definitely helped me they took me many years to to figure some of this stuff out but maybe I can save some of you some grief and get your point in the right direction okay so let's break into these number one know your limits and when you're in over your head this is very important look it's okay to break into a project it's okay to grab a gun and start pulling it apart and just see how far you can get with it and and everything like that but if it gets to a point where you're about to do something that you're going to regret it's probably important to recognize that and go to a professional okay look there's no shame in it right if you have a gunsmith at your local FFL I mean like when I worked at Moss with Ray up there we would have people come in all the time with a bag with a gun in it in pieces and go and got this apart and I don't know how to put it back together I mean look instead of putting it back together the wrong way or whatever if you do need to seek some professional help look the way you need to consider that it's part of the learning process right if you got in over your head it means that you pushed yourself to some limit that you weren't comfortable being in but you know what that's how you learn is to start breaking into stuff if you make a little mistake or you get stuck seek some help out it's okay they're not gonna well they might judge you but they might laugh later but but look it's okay to go to your local shop and say Hey you know I'm in over my head now I want to provide one caveat there with this now a lot of gunsmiths are going to charge you more money to fix a screw-up than they are if you would have just brought it to him in the first place but again I digress know your limits know when you're in over your head and know when you need to go and see a professional about a given problem all right sometimes you just got to go to somebody with more experience and it's okay to recognize when you don't have the expertise to complete a task it's important that you recognize that and go you know what we need to go see a professional that's okay don't worry about it number two invest in a quality screwdriver set like the Brownells Magna tip set this is very important not all screwdrivers are made equal I have to say that probably one of the most common problems that I ever saw when I was working with Ray in the gunsmith shop at Moss was that people would use the incorrect screws screwdriver bits okay like you go and you buy like some Craftsman mechanics screwdrivers and start turning on gun screws and you booger up the heads of the screws really bad you got to get a hollow ground style that has a flat Square bottom so the way that those um the way that those Gunsmithing screwdriver bits are ground is very specific so that the head fills up the slot of the screw completely and fully uh you know some of the the taper ground like you see in a traditional Screwdriver from a mechanic set has a really little like thin taper and if you look at it really close just take a gunsmith screw you know a screw on a firearm don't turn it but just put a regular mechanic screwdriver in there and look at it under some bright light with the slot facing towards the light and you'll see that that the head of that screwdriver doesn't the bit does not even begin to fill up the head of most screws used in applications for Gunsmithing The Brownell sets they are made specifically both the width the depth all of the the different tips that are included in the magnetip set especially the big set they will cover a myriad of different screw types all right and it's important you use the appropriate bit for the appropriate screw take your time and fit it properly so you don't bust up the screw or mess up the head especially on a really expensive gun you don't want to ruin your gun right so that's very important Brownells offers offers their magnet tip set in a couple of different sizes they've got like a little basic sort of Road set like you put in your range bag that was my first set that's totally something that you should have in your Range Bag anyway they also make a real fancy Deluxe set with I think it's like 100 pieces with all different types of stuff in it if you can afford it and if you're really serious about working on your own guns I would strongly consider probably picking up one of those sets at some point invest in it you'll be glad you did all right uh number three I recommend a set of the t-handle hex drivers all right so um I I don't have them in front of me right now I did order them through Brownells but they're basically like I know you've seen those mechanics t-handles that has the long hex on it and it's just got like a rubberized handle right those are very handy for Gunsmithing use right there's going to be situations where you have to kind of you know get deep down inside of a receiver or maybe you gotta bust a grip screw loose on an AR grip or something or there may be some application where you have to you know get kind of far down inside of a hole inside of a gun you know a few inches or whatever where a standard uh you know Allen key or something may not be very practical and if you can get it to bite you may not have a lot to grab onto to to get it to turn especially if you've got to break loose a really tight screw so I recommend those t-handles they are extremely useful for Gunsmithing applications and they'll come in handy on your motorcycles and four wheelers and scooters and things like that as well so definitely invest in a set of those I'll try to provide a photo of the ones that I got through Brownells totally worth it they're not that expensive and they'll serve you in a bunch of different ways not just Gunsmithing but also in the mechanic shop all right number four if a screw won't move Don't Force It apply heat or some creeping oil like cruel and try again all right so coil is a product that I strongly recommend it really only has one specific use but it's known as the oil that creeps I like croil because it will absolutely get down in the most stubborn little spots and help you break loose stuck Parts maybe it's a gun that has been taken apart in a long time and some of the parts are stuck together or you got some old dry grease that is dried out and Frozen up some of your parts you can apply a little bit of heat I ain't talking a lot of heat a little bit of heat now okay pick you up one of those um kitchen torches like you know you see the people uh they they caramelize the sugar and like a creme brulee or something like that like a little kitchen torch pick yourself up a small Torch from the you know Home Depot or wherever you know and uh just use a little bit of heat apply a little bit of coil you know a couple of drops and just work a little bit of heat and then apply and then using your appropriate magnetip set give it you know a little bit of pressure and you'll see that sometimes a little bit of heat and some creeping oil will help get those stuck Parts loose but don't force them because you will booger up the heads and now you're going to be into a worse situation or worse you might break them or something like that you don't want to bust a screw off and then you're into a whole nother drama with that another thing I want to mention about stuck screws is that uh now this is probably more of a I'd say a recent development in the Gunsmithing world and just especially with ARs and all the more you know modern type of firearms that we see is thread locking compounds okay you need to know when when you go to bust a screw loose you need to know what one feels like if it's green lock type blue lock type red Loctite or rock set or in some cases I've seen people use green sleeve retaining compound now if they've done that it ain't coming loose right but there are very specific ways that you get all of those various thread lockers to loosen up right with thread locking compounds such as Loctite you're going to apply some heat so a stuck screw with some dried up oil and some coil it'd be the same thing for Loctite with a little bit of heat it should melt that lock tight and break it loose but something like rock set which we use a rock set on muzzle devices and things like that and brakes and sometimes screws like the action so the screws that go on like a flat top for like your bolt action or something I'll use rock set because I don't want them to back back out you use cold water to bust open rock set right so if I need to get a muzzle device on that's glued on with rock set I actually have to take myself a bucket and put some ice water in it and that's what gets your rock set loose so understand what's keeping something stuck and know the appropriate thing to do to get it unstuck and and know when to stop if it's not moving it's not moving for a reason okay so always recognize that and take a minute take a step back drink some coffee and think about it okay number five cold bluing has its place for touch-ups if done properly now um some of my old videos on YouTube I'm not going to get into a ton of detail on this because I feel like it's kind of another conversation but you know I've done some videos before where I've used cold blue to completely reblue entire Firearms probably not the best thing to do but bluing is awesome for touch-ups so if you're doing some work and you have a scratch on a gun maybe it's a hunting rifle that you you know I don't know for whatever reason you had some handling marks on it and there's some spots where the bluing's got some wear or scratch even a single scratch it's just you can see the white of the metal where the bluing has been rubbed through coal bluing is great oxfo blue is King you can get it from Brownells okay the Oxo blue is is a really really great product it is fantastic and I recommend using some cotton swabs or possibly you could use some Q-tips but again heat is your friend right apply a little bit of heat and if you warm that metal up before you apply the cold bluing it really helps it adhere okay and it'll turn the darkest black and it'll look really really great and look if you're if you're in doubt about using cold blue test it on something right find a scrap piece of barrel or whatever you might have laying around that you don't mind messing up and experiment on on a on a piece of crap part first before you use it on your cherished gun okay so look cold blue has its place and I think every home gunsmith needs to have a can of Oxo blue laying around it lasts forever as long as you keep it in a cool dry place and uh it is totally a great thing to have laying around for the hobby gunsmith okay number six oil and steel wool are your friend okay I can't tell you I cannot emphasize this enough oh I I've seen so many Rusty nasty guns come in and people are going oh my gosh how in the world are we going to clean all I mean I'm talking red I mean frothing with rust and you're thinking wow there's no way you're gonna clean that gun right well there's a couple of different things you can do all right if the gun's completely covered in Rust well Mark Novak would tell you to boil it out and he's true and he's he's correct uh that red oxide will convert into black oxide in boiling water so you'd be surprised if a gun is completely and uniformly covered in red rust and you're thinking wow this thing's never going to clean up take it apart boil it it'll convert the red oxide to Black oxide and then you cart it you've got bluing I mean that's how rust bluing Works you'd be surprised how good it might work but getting back to the steel wool and oil let's say it's just some light surface rust all right let's hope that you don't have any pitting developing that's another story but say you got to clean a part off it's got some surface rust take some oil and some steel wool and just go over it and you would think well steel wool isn't that going to rub the bluing off absolutely not you need to use a three or a quad all I use quad op the real fine stuff take that steel wool get it oiled up whatever oil you have and just go over it lightly and it will it will clean it right up it will brighten that bluing right back up totally a hack totally something that everybody does their own Gunsmithing needs to know took me a long time to learn this stuff so I'm trying to share this with you and save you a lot of trouble okay uh number seven if you clean a lot of guns you'll eventually want to invest in ultrasonic this is so important especially if you're ever going to wind up getting into Gunsmithing professionally and let's say you're going to clean a lot of guns you might have 10 or 12 cleanings to do throughout the entire day or if you're an Enthusiast home gunsmith like like we're talking about here and let's just say yes shoot a lot of guns you went to the range and you took eight or ten guns out and now you get back he's like wow I've got 10 guns to clean today and that could take a long time to bust all those things apart and clean them by hand okay having an ultrasonic especially once you learn you know how to really tell which parts are what you know after a while you could break apart 10 different guns and toss them in ultrasonic turn the ultrasonic on put your cleaning solution in there drink some coffee unload your truck you know reload your mags do inventory play Minecraft do whatever the heck you're going to do and then 30 minutes later pull all those random Parts out and eventually you'll be able to do this you'll be able to take all the random Parts dry them off reassemble the guns lubricate maybe clean a few trouble spots with a stubborn with a stubborn spots with a brush but generally Ultrasonics take the grunt work out of cleaning your guns at home now there are a lot of options for Ultrasonics everything from Super entry level all the way up through the really professional units the Infante Ultrasonics are amongst the best you guys might remember the crest Ultrasonics if some of you are old enough but Infante I'm telling you he makes a fine ultrasonic so if you want one of the best Ultrasonics and fonte is the King of the Hill for Ultrasonics however if you don't want to buy something real expensive the Lyman ones are great I've got alignment now that I've had for about five years and it's been holding up great the heating element in it is awesome both my Infante and my Lyman are awesome Ultrasonics and if you spend a bit of money invest some money in a quality ultrasonic you will save yourself a ton of time and I'm telling you in the long run you're going to be like well why did I not do this in the beginning okay and trust me that's a bought lesson for me I spent many a Time scrubbing Guns by hand and that's for the birds trust me you're going to love having ultrasonic number eight keep your workbench as clean as possible this is very important the reason you want to keep your workbench clean is because you are interacting with your firearm on your workbench all right you don't want to get parts mixed up with another gun that's important you don't want a tool scratching a gun so if you're dealing with a bunch of different firearms and again this could also really deal with professionals as well you ever noticed that a professional gunsmith generally has a very clean bench yeah because if you bring bring uh you know Grand Pappy's I don't know Crown grade fancy Turkish Walnut sweet 16 Browning that was made in 1950 or something like that that ain't got a scratch on it or it's or it's an heirloom piece you know you definitely don't want your ring scratching it or a tool or you know you've got a messy workbench with a bunch of crap laying all over it what do you do you're not going to put the gun down on you know have a hammer or a file sitting on the bench so like putting your tools back where they belong and keeping your bench nice and clean is going to ensure that you're not going to inadvertently scratch up or Mar up or mess up a fine gun that you don't want to mess up plus it's just good to make sure that you're you're keeping a tidy workspace it helps you keep track of your tools so you don't lose anything and it just it's just good common sense to make sure you keep an unclean workbench so take the time clean your workbench organize your tools so if you need a tool you always know where it is and that could go to mechanic shop right carpentry doesn't matter keep a clean shop you'll be happy you did all right number nine Brownells uh gunsmith and kinks are a great read for lots of little tips and hacks yes I've got all the volumes of the Brownells Gunsmithing Kings again a big shout out to Brownells basically The Kinks are just a volume they're books with all sorts of little cool hacks that you can learn for the hobby gunsmith and the professional alike so if you you know and they're not expensive and some of the information is so awesome and some of the stories are kind of funny too some some of them are just little stories that that gunsmiths have shared over the years so if you're getting into it it might be a great read to pick up a couple of volumes against Smith and Kings I strongly recommend it the books are great and they're they're full of very useful knowledge and some useless knowledge too which is always fun okay uh number 10 invest in Quality Cleaning rods Jags pools brushes and mops don't overlook bore snakes for a quick cleaning this is very important as you begin to you know engage in your own home Gunsmithing you're going to find that you know you're going to run into some situations where you certainly are going to need a variety of different cleaning rods and different cleaning attachments to properly perform various tasks now I'm not going to get into a ton of detail here because we have other videos where we talk about some of this stuff but such as like slugging a borer or maybe you need to do a chamber casting or something like that okay you know it helps to have some sturdy rods that you can really put the brakes on something maybe you got a stuck bolt or you've got a stuck part or something and you've got to really put the put the brakes on something hit it hard having a variety of different rods a very different material types is pretty important I do like the tipman rods quite a bit also Shooter's Choice voice rods are fantastic I love the Shooter's Choice pistol rods they are some of the best on the market fantastic I strongly recommend the Otis bore snakes they are fantastic sometimes you just need to run a quick Rod through something you know run a bore snake through something and just clean the bore maybe you're at the range and your gun is still kind of warm and you want to just snake it out real quick to make cleanup uh you know later at home easier I recommend boar snakes they are super useful for a wide variety of different applications super useful in the field for your hunting situations too I would always keep a bore snake in your hunting gear just in case you need to swab out a gun I mean it happens right like we get a little bore obstruction we might have you know sat the gun down the wrong way and got a little plug of dirt in the barrel or you know maybe it got wet right you're in a you're in an adverse environment and you got a lot of moisture you know you might want to snake that Barrel out and just make sure it's dry so you don't get any rust or corrosion from you know adverse conditions more snakes have their place and I think they're super important also Otis has the lead cleaning wipes and all different types of various wipes that are you know very useful uh that you can look at too all right so one more we've got a wild card this is technically number 11. the wild card is don't be afraid to grab a gun and take it apart you're never going to learn how to work on your own guns if you're intimidated by your own guns right believe me the first time I took a Luger apart or a Browning A5 I was very intimidated I thought wow I'm gonna screw something up here but you know especially your mouse or broom handle the first time I took a Mauser broom handle apart I was intimidated because there's the only screw in the dang gun is what holds the grips on so there are a lot of gun designs that are going to challenge you and that's okay and that's what got me into guns so heavily you know early on is I loved all of the different mechanical you know just the mechanics of guns you know I was always so fascinated in the engineering how the parts go together how they're machined how they fit together the disassembly and reassembly process you know what was going through these people's mind when they came up with these really cool gun designs I remember the first time I took a uh a an infield rifle apart you know like a three-band infield or you know like a smle or whatever you know there's a lot of parts on an infield a lot of people don't realize that that you know at first it looks basic but when you start taking it apart there's a lot of dang Parts you sitting there with 80 Parts on the table going wow what have we gotten into here don't be afraid to break into it okay if you make a mistake go talk to a gunsmith buddy it's all right to admit defeat but you're never going to learn if you don't take a little bit of risk so there are my top 10 tips for the home gunsmith I hope you enjoyed today's video I've really been enjoying doing these top tens and I hope that you guys love them and I hope that this information helps a lot of you on your journey to being self-sufficient working on your own guns uh definitely thank you guys for watching I mean it make sure you go over and subscribe click that notification Bell so you're getting all of our videos go over to ballistic Inc and pick yourself up an awesome new t-shirt that's one way you can support our efforts directly if you wish to do so if you enjoyed today's video consider buying a shirt and thank you guys so much and don't be afraid to get in there and uh and wreck a gun or two you know what's going to happen but uh good luck on your journey to doing your own work and thanks for tuning in many more videos on the way we'll see you soon foreign [Music]

Channel: Iraqveteran8888

Views: 54,407

Keywords: iraqveteran8888, iv8888, ar15, ar, ar-15, ar 15, 2a, freedom, liberty, gun rights, gun control, top 5 guns, top 5, meltdown, guns, gunsmithing, gun gripes, life liberty and the pursuit, top 10 tips, tip for the home gunsmith, home gunsmithing, home gunsmith, gunsmith tools, sdi, how to gunsmithing, gunsmithing tools, best gunsmithing tools, brownells, magna tip, ultrasonic, rust removal, top 10

Id: JOMPb9X64xA

Length: 23min 22sec (1402 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 31 2023