What does 60 pound inches of torque

[Dreaming100Straight]

feel like. Is that snug, very snug, real tight or what? I believe it is about the same as 5 ft pounds.

[4runnerman]

I assume you are talking about your action screws?. 50 to 65 is the standard setting for most rifles. Keep in mind I said standard,It is not the best for most.
Studies have been done and most will shoot better somewhere between 30 to 35 inch lbs. 60 is tight.

Pm me if you want more info

[TXAZ]

Yes 60 inch pounds is precisely 5 foot pounds.
If you don't have a torque wrench, I'd ask someone nearby to show you 60 inch pounds: Trying to describe it over the Internet is difficult to result in a consistent tightness.

Literally, a 6" vice grip (6" from center of screwdriver axis) with a 10 lb weight on the end can give you 60 inch pounds of torque.

[shortwave]

...or just stop by your local Harley dealership (or nearest motorcycle shop) with your rifle and I'd bet one of the mechanics will torque your action screws for ya.
Are you around Lancaster,Ohio by chance?

[Dreaming100Straight]

Not near Ohio, but as a college boy I worked as a part time mechanic in a Harley shop. I don't know if they even had a torque wrench, but that was in the stone age. Everything was by feel.

BTW, my wife is from Findlay.

[Dreaming100Straight]

TXAZ, I am brain dead. I will set up in my vice a sample of the fitting I am concerned with tightening. While my torque wrench won't fit the cramped space I am working with and only reads in foot pounds, I will tighten the fitting down and then check the feel with the tiny wrench I have to use to access the real work. Thanks for waking me up.

[shortwave]

I don't know if they even had a torque wrench, but that was in the stone age. Everything was by feel.

Awww...the days of the knuckle and panheads. Back then,they probably didn't have much more then 1/2", 9/16", 5/8" and 3/4" wrench's, same sockets, pliers,vise grips,phillips and flathead screwdrivers. And you're right, most everything was by feel.
Those were the days!

Today, I assure you that a good mechanic in a decent motorcycle shop will have an inch pound torque wrench somewhere in the thousands of $'s worth of standard/metric tools in his rollaway.

Glad you've figured out a way to 'Get-r-done'.

[Virginian]

Be glad you didn't have to work on a Triumph, circa 1971 or so. Standard, metric, and Whitworth fasteners.
When in doubt, torque snug and use blue Loctite. Except for engine work, that's what's holding my motorcycle together.

[shortwave]

Or BSA's and Norton's. The old Indians were'nt too bad.

When in doubt, torque snug and use blue Loctite

Yep, blue Loctite is the thing you'll find that gunsmith's and motorcyle mechanics have in common. They both keep some handy.

[drcook]

If you watch the newspaper ads for Harbor Freight discount coupons and for torque wrenches to be put on sale at HF, you will be able to pick up an inch/lb torque wrench for a very attractive price. I believe I paid less than 20 for the one I have and I also bought one for my gunsmith buddy at the reduced price.

I also bought a big 3/4 drive one from them. Cost less than renting one to torque the hub nut on my Ranger to 168 ft lbs.

Will these last in a high volume production environment ? Who knows, but for us at home they are a pretty good deal.

So I would suggest you simply buy one and use it. That way there is no guessing. Plus you will be able to extort a beer or something out of your friends when they need something torqued to inch lbs.

[BumbleBug]

I bought a "Fat Wrench" from Midway on sale for $40.00 which works fine & came with various bits for gun fasteners. Then I discovered, as drcook said, harbor freight has torque wrenches on the cheap & should be great for gun work. Right now they have a 1/4" drive on sale for $20. (item # 2696).

FWIW...

..bug

BTW: Just got my latest NRA American Rifleman in the mail today & there is a Harbor Freight color ad (page 20) showing their torque wrenches on sale for $9.99 plus a free tape measure thrown in. Lifetime warranty.

[BigD_in_FL]

If you watch the newspaper ads for Harbor Freight discount coupons and for torque wrenches to be put on sale at HF, you will be able to pick up an inch/lb torque wrench for a very attractive price. I believe I paid less than 20 for the one I have and I also bought one for my gunsmith buddy at the reduced price.

Or go to a tool rental place and rent one or see if an auto shop will do it for a nominal fee (like a cold beer)

[drcook]

By the time you drive there and back (tool rental place) and there and back to return it, or get the cops called on you for working on a gun in the parking lot, or get the cops called on you for carrying a gun into a shop, you are just better off to pay 20.00 and have one for the next time.

Most places, such as Advance Auto or Autozone won't mess with tools such as torque wrenches that can break or get them into "implied warranty" issues in our lawyer driven society because they supplied the tool.

I asked Autozone before if they had a 3/4" drive torque wrench and they said they don't mess with them.

[Dreaming100Straight]

Harbor Freight is an idea and it is halfway to a local club called Triple-B Clays. I have never been to one but understand they are great for infrequently used tools. Thanks, drcook.

On bikes, before the 1970 Harley XLH I had a 1967 BSA Thunderbolt.

[shortwave]

Thinkin the Harbor Freight idea is a good one as well. And if you are actually going to their store and need 'blue' Loctite, they sell that as well.

On bikes, before the 1970 Harley XLH I had a 1967 BSA Thunderbolt

Would love to have either of them today. I have built a few customs over the years and since I retired, have been thinking of either putting together an old BSA or Triumph.

[Brian Pfleuger]

Even decent automotive style torque wrenches are miserably inaccurate at the low torque settings required for firearms. If you look at their specs, they usually specify their accuracy starting at 20% of maximum setting. That means that even if you can dial 5 ft-lbs or 25 In-lbs you're only at a small percentage of the devices range and the accuracy is dismal. This also assumes that no one has set the wrench at some setting and left it there, which ruins them over time.

Stop messing with automotive tools for gun work. Do yourself a long-term favor and buy the Wheeler scope mounting kit for about $100 shipped from Bud's Gun Shop. Yeah, it's a bit pricey now but it gives you a proper firearms torque wrench and everything you need for technically correct scope mounting too.

[drcook]

The little 1/4" drive ones have a range of 20 to 200 in lbs with an accuracy of 4%.

With a small wrench like this, 60 in lbs is basically 30 % of the range and with a 4 % accuracy will only miss by a max of +/- 2.4 in lbs.

by going up to the 3/8" drive in lb torque wrenches, the range increases and you run into those issues

here is a bit more expensive one but it is still $60.00

http://swfa.com/Warne-65inlb-Torque-Wrench-P49301.aspx

[Jim Watson]

I like the Anschutz method.
You get a long crooked Allen wrench.
Run the guard screw down finger tight, then pick up the rifle with the wrench in the guard screw socket head, held at the crook near the end. The length of the wrench and the weight of the gun apply the desired torque.
They now have a small mechanical torque wrench so you can fine tune, but the old system gives the standard value with no moving parts.

http://www.10pt9.com/Gear/Tools/AHG-...-4mm-p358.html

[hogdogs]

OOOPS

Brent

[hogdogs]

For light weight torque values, there is always the torque screw driver... Flag down a Mac tools or Snap-on dealer van and order you one of these fine instruments....



Brent

[iraiam]

The Harbor Freight 1/4" inch drive clicker torque wrench should do nicely (20-200 inch pounds), I have a couple of them, I had them certified for accuracy for reasons which aren't important for this thread other than to say they are plenty accurate enough.

Remember to always turn the torque setting on any torque tool to 0 before putting it away, leaving it at a torque setting for prolonged periods of time will cause accuracy issues with the spring.

[shortwave]

Remember to always turn the torque setting on any torque tool to 0 before putting it away, leaving it at a torque setting for prolonged periods of time will cause accuracy issues with the spring.

...and never use it as a regular ratchet for breaking fastener's loose.

Something I learned the hard way when I loaned mine out to a guy that was supposed to be a mechanic. He did this and when he brought it back it was knocked way out of calibration.

Sometimes it can be more costly getting a cheaper torque wrench re-calibrated then a new one cost. And still yet, some of the real cheap ones are throw aways and cannot be re-calibrated once they're screwed up.