Doin’ The Twist

And Causing No Harm
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Dave bought this Winchester 70 in 1973. A big screwdriver from a tractor toolbox
got this screw out, but not without scraping the surrounding metal and twisting up the screw slot.

“The safety guard’s gone from his grinding machine He got a stiff paint brush he only sorta got clean He’s the hired man, my neighbor and a cousin in law He’s a jerry riggin’ fool, he got the tool for the job Well it’s vise grips for pliers, and pliers for a wrench A wrench for a hammer, hammer’s everything else It just don’t seem to make much difference I sure do like him but he’s hard on equipment.”*

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A screwdriver grabbed from the tractor toolbox (below, left) has sides slanted so most
of the pressure is on the top of the screw slot. A screwdriver blade shaped for use with
gun screws (right) fits to the full depth of the slot, and ideally should fit both width and length of the slot.

All firearm owners should be able to handle basic cleaning and maintenance. This level of knowledge you can get from the instruction manual, assuming it hasn’t been thrown away.

You’ll know when you are ready to move further along the scale. It starts when you’re looking at a gun and start thinking, “I wonder how this works?” Once you start disassembling a gun more than needed for basic maintenance you’re on the path to become a gun tinkerer.

Most of us begin learning by trial and error. I know I did, and I’m embarrassed about some of the “errors” such as twisted-up action screws. I know most budding gun tinkerers only have one or two guns, they likely don’t read magazines, and just want to get at it. If I could go back 50 years and start again these are some ideas I could have used.

It never hurts to start at the beginning. The first thing to remember is this: we’re dealing with firearms. These are not watches, cameras, or computers. A firearm is as deadly in the workshop as it is on the range or in the hunting fields. The rules of firearm safety apply always and everywhere.

Yeah, yeah, boring obligatory safety lecture. Once I was visiting at the workshop of a famous (now retired) custom gunmaker. Next to the workbench was big divot taken out of the concrete floor.

Years ago the gunmaker was checking feeding of a new rifle, using live ammunition. Fortunately no one was injured when the rifle fired. Rather than repair the damage he left it as a constant reminder.

Back in the ’70s a gunsmith in the city where I lived at the time did a couple minor jobs for me, and I purchased three or four rifles from his shop. We moved to a different location and, when I was next in his shop, a few years later, he was in a wheelchair.

I never got the details, but a friend who knew the gunsmith said he was working on a gun at his bench when it fired, the bullet striking him in the hip. He survived, but never walked again.

An instant’s carelessness with a firearm can kill you, or your child, or your best friend—and it can happen just as easily at the workbench as in a duck blind, on a deer hunt, or at the range.

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The action screws on Dave’s Biesen 3-generation custom M70 .270 show what
screws should look like—slots straight, smooth, undistorted, and aligned with the axis of the rifle.

The full set of gunsmith screwdrivers from Brownells is an absolute joy to use.
Dave would have fewer grey hairs and fewer twisted up gun screws if he’d bought
them decades earlier, instead of “making do” in order to buy another rifle.

Do No Harm

We could all take a lesson from the physician’s basic rule – “do thy patient no harm.” Or to put it another way, if you can’t make it better at least don’t make it worse. If you don’t know what you’re doing, don’t do it.

Many a collectible firearm has had its value destroyed because someone thought it would be a neat idea to reblue metal or refinish the stock. Depending on the gun, even quality workmanship can reduce value.

No one is telling you what you can or can’t do with your own property. Maybe someone acquires an excellent condition Savage 99 once owned by Roy Chapman Andrews. If he decides to add sling swivel studs, drill and tap for scope bases, and carve a bounding whitetail in the stock, no one can order him otherwise.

Much as I value collectible firearms I value principles of liberty and private property more (though I might feel obligated to advise he’s doing the equivalent of burning a stack of $100 bills).

Damaging valuable firearms is a shame, but not the worst thing. The worst thing is to create a dangerous situation. I’ve known people who can barely get a gun apart who still feel qualified to adjust trigger pulls, spinning adjustment screws and stoning components. The fire control system of a firearm is not something to be learned by trial and error.

“He ain’t never read a manual ’cause that’s like cheatin’

He don’t mind the grease on his hands while he’s eatin’…”*

OK, enough with the lecture! Time to buy something! What to buy first—screwdrivers, punches, vise, milling machine? For those with more patience than I had 50 years ago, the first thing to acquire is knowledge.

An excellent basic resource is the Gun Digest firearms assembly/disassembly series, with several volumes written by J.B. Wood and Kevin Muramatsu. Currently volumes are available for auto pistols, revolvers, rimfires, centerfire rifles, shotguns, law enforcement, and tactical firearms.

The NRA has published several firearms assembly books. Though there is some overlap with the Gun Digest books there’s also some good stuff on older, obscure guns.

Brownells stocks these books and a lot of others. They also have an extensive series of videos. There are specialized books and videos for popular firearms such as 1911 pistols and AR-style rifles.

Although not really manuals, I enjoy the “Gunsmith Kinks” series started long ago by Bob Brownell. Intended for working gunsmiths, there are lots of interesting tips and tidbits of information; not to mention jokes, stories, and clever solutions to tough problems.

*Corb Lund Hard on Equipment / Tool for the Job

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