Best Place to Get a Fore End Wrench for 870 ???

[Guyon]

Changing the stocks on my 870, and was surprised to find out that Brownells wants over $30 for the fore end wrench. I did find one listed for $10 at the Pachmayr site http://www.pachmayr.com/cltcvpg.html

Is $10 about the best price I'm going to find on this tool? Any other places I should look?

[4V50 Gary]

You can also make one if you can get the scrap metal. All you need is round stock and flat bars. You cut the (hollow) round stock out to fit flat bar (cut to length) and voila! Fore end wrench.

[Dfariswheel]

You can also make a tool from just a piece of flat stock. Cut it to fit the notches in the foreend nut, and grip it with a wrench.

[Dave McC]

Or, open a pair of needlenose pliers and place the tips in the notches, and unscrew. This works on all but the stubbornest nuts...

[JNewell]

The Surefire forends come with one in the box. It's basically just a large, flat piece of metal. There are two dimensions of interest (well, maybe three, read on): thickness where it engages the nut, width so it engages the nut fully but still fits inside the forend, and (third) enough length so you can apply pressure to it. I can give you those dimensions and it would be a snap to make up.

However, I like Gary's idea better. If you're interested, I can email or post the dims for that...I can get ahold of one of the Brownells wrenches.

[Guyon]

I'm having a little trouble visualizing this sucker since I've never seen one. I'll search for a pic on the web. I guess I also need to take my shotgun down and take a closer look at what is needed.

JNewell, if you want to post the dims or email them to me, that would be appreciated. If this tool is something I can fabricate with a hacksaw and a file, then I might try it. I have few other ways to cut metal other than my reciprocating saw (with a metal cutting blade) or a propane torch.

[Clayton]

Enough of this! Send me your address and I'll send you the one I have from Surefire.
Cheers,
Clayton

[Guyon]

Hey, thanks Clayton.

[rhedley]

take a 10-9/16" length of tail pipe from a 1917 Hupmobile 4dr, and cut and file it to fit. ..............or,......let me think ....

[JNewell]

Gimme a day or two...I can probably get specs and a pic of the Brownells wrench, which is basically a tube of the right diameter with two small lugs or teeth sticking up from the end of the tubing to engage the slots in the nut that holds the forearm on, and a piece of rod stock through holes at the other end to give you something to turn it with. It would be pretty easy to fashion one with a hacksaw and a mill bastard to clean things up and fine-tune the size of the "teeth."

[rhedley]

I made one last month, I started with a piece of 1" black pipe about 10" long . On one end, bore a hole for a rod, to act as a handle. On the other end , cut away with hacksaw , leaving two protruding teeth about 3/16" wide and 3/16" tall. THAT'S IT.....

[UK2TX]

I made one from a 17cent hard white plastic plumbing fitting from Home Depot, two minutes with a dremel cut of blade and it done.

The outside diameter 33mm so it is a snug fit and the two teeth need to be 4.5mm deep by 4mm wide ( sorry about the measurement unit I'm English! ).

Regards,

UK2TX

[Clayton]

Have pity on him ! I sent him a Surefire wrench, which is just a flat piece of steel basically. It fits all shotgun forends that I'm aware of, though. He'll be most underwhelmed at the level of technology, and feel like a doofus for asking for something so simple, once he see's what's required .

The simplest things are the hardest to explain. In high school we had to write instructions on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, for a person who's never made a sandwich before.

How would you explain the color blue to a blind person, who's never seen?

Cheers,
Clay

[DML]

What would a person who never tasted chicken say it tastes like?

Is this off topic or what?

[Guyon]

Well, I have actually gotten a pretty decent sense of what the wrench looks like, just by reading these posts. I haven't even looked closely at the nut yet. I just knew from previous posts that I'd more than likely need one to change the fore end, so I thought I'd get the wrench before I even got into the task.

What was confusing me is that the wrenches are fashioned in two different ways. One is just a flat piece of steel cut at the end to engage the two recesses in the nut. The other is a round piece of metal--a pipe basically--cut to fit the same notches at one end and with a handle at the other end. (This is the more expensive wrench that Brownells sells.)

Seems to me that it is similar to a spike wrench for a golf cleat. And those come in two models as well. I have both the nice, round kind that I bought as well as the flat pieces of metal that come with a pack of spikes.

"Tastes like chicken" is genetically ingrained in our taste buds here in the South, so I can't imagine anyone who can't relate. Unless of course they're from Louisiana. Then you just say, "Tastes like gator."

[Clayton]

The wrench I sent requires disassembly and removal of the forend. The other type of wrench requires only the removal of the barrel in order to slide the forestock off, and install the new one.