AR15 Wrench

[JoeSixpack]

So Im still collecting parts for my AR15 builds but I know Im gonna need a tool if for nothing else to attach the buffer tube.

So im looking at the tools out there and seems to be a wide price range but only a small handful of designs.

I've heard the magpul wrench is really nice but cheapest I can find that is 60 bucks, which seems kinda high for what it is.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/92...ch-steel-black

The tapco looks ok but is still kinda high for what looks like mostly stamped steel.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/74...lti-tool-ar-15

Then there is NCStar wrench which looks pretty wild to try and use but I've seen a LOT of names on this style of wrench so it seems somewhat generic a design to me.
http://www.opticsplanet.com/ncstar-a...tool-tarw.html

I come across this style on ebay, pretty generic but I like the shape and metal looks reasonably thick.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/221228930301

What's everyone's thoughts?
Im not planing on making a living making ar15's so I would rather not overspend on the tool but I do need to be able to service my own guns.

Advice?

[ShootistPRS]

If you are going to use it just once then price matters. If you are going to build a few rifles and maybe work on rifles for your friends then get a good wrench. Start by looking only at forged wrenches - stay away from the stamped wrenches. They will work once but stamped steel is not structured to last. I wouldn't just buy the most expensive wrench but I would look for a forged unit of good quality. You won't remember how much you saved on a cheap tool when it fails and you won't remember how much a good tool cost you when it doesn't fail. You don't always get what you pay for but the chances of getting more than you pay for are remote.

[FrankenMauser]

Wrenches in the style of the NCStar you linked to are very widely criticized for fitting poorly and being prone to breakage - especially on cheaper 'brands'.

The eBay wrench... I wouldn't touch it. No name. Cheap. eBay. ...All red flags.

The Magpul wrench fits castle nuts better than some other designs. But is it worth the extra cost, with limited utility? (Not to me.)

The Tapco wrench is cast or forged (like all others on the list), not stamped. The only common complaints are about the castle nut spanner sometimes slipping (part tolerances can cause that with any wrench), or some surfaces requiring paint removal to fit the parts properly. Some people have reported the pins shearing off, but one has to wonder what they were doing at the time. I've exceeded 120 ft-lb while removing a barrel nut, and had no issues on subsequent removals or installs.


I use a Tapco wrench and have been satisfied with it. But I won't make any statements or inferences that it's the best -- it probably isn't. It's just what I decided upon when I was in the market.

[Old Stony]

As far as I'm concerned, anything stamped NCStar isn't worth half the money you give for it....no matter what the price. That name equates to "Chinese junk" in my opinion. I bought a few of their parts when they first started showing up in this country....never again.

[Bluecthomas]

A good tool you buy once.
Junk you buy again and again.

[sixgunnin]

I've heard the magpul wrench is really nice but cheapest I can find that is 60 bucks, which seems kinda high for what it is.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/92...ch-steel-black

"a little high" $60! It can't cost them $2 to make THAT!!!

[HiBC]

If you can find an old GI armorers TM booklet,it shows some basic tools that work,with some exceptions.

The flat bar of cold rolled with dowel pins pressed in and a 1/2 in sq hole will work,teamed with the aluminum barrel vise jaws....IF you are using GI type barrels. Their barrel extensions are robustly attached.
You may run into trouble using that set upon match grade barrels.I have had barrel extensions unscrew,it has to do with accuracy and not distorting chambers.They may not be as securely attached.When using vise jaws on the barrel as torque is applied to the barrel nut,you arealso applying torque to unscrew the barrel extension from the barrel.

I ended up with the Brownell's long bar that goes through the upper .It has splines that engage the locking lug recesses in the barrel extension .No torque is applied to unscrew the barrel extension from the barrel,no torque is applied to the receiver,and you have a 1/2 sq drive on one end that is co-axial. No compensation for offset required.That bar is one of the better ways to go.

I have found looking through the upper where the gas tube holes align at a light source,the eye can discern the alignment pretty accurately.

I've been using Yankee Hill forends. Their proprietary tools work well with their parts.

The spanner for the receiver extension nut? I don't remember the brand,but I have one about 1/8or 3/16 thick with a 1911 barrel bushing wrench on the other end. It works fine.

Punches! Roll pin punches!. To start roll pins,little,short,roll pins,you can buy a set of "starter punches" ...or,you can take a long 1/4 -20 cap screw and drill a shallow clearance hole for your roll pin in the end with the threads.The hole can be done on the drill press and a bit off center doesn't matter.
There is a special,long punch that has a flat side ground on it for the bolt release pin. That is a good one to have.

Trust me on this one,get a Sinclair bolt disassembly tool.
And get one of the little spare pin,spring,and little parts that fly away and get lost kits.

Do not over torque muzzle attachments.

Before you drive in your trigger guard rollpin,do not drive it in the blind hole!! Study the spring loaded plunger and understand its a winter trigger setup.

Or you will need a Dremel cut off wheel and another trigger guard.(Experience!)

A "nice to have" is the bent 1/4 in rod with a camming surface ground into the end used to install the detent with the front pivot pin. I made mine.

[JoeSixpack]

Thanks for the post HiBC, interesting read.
So it sounds like you recommend individual specialized tools rather then a mutli tool?

Other wise im leaning towards the tapco if I can find a deal.

[dcobler]

I have some of the multi tools, and I have some of the specific tools. It really depends on what you want to spend and if it is going to be used much or just one or twice(as you stated in your op). Im not necessarily saying to buy junk, but if you are not going to be using it often, you dont need the most expensive and robust tools.

[dcobler]

As an added note, I started with the multi-tools like the tapco and dpms (I have damaged 2 dpms wrenches, not mine) and bought the individual tools later on.

[HiBC]

I have not built a rifle with a multi-tool.They might be fine.
Having a multi-tool still leaves you needing either the machined barrel vise jaws,or the clamshell vise jaws,or the long bar that goes through the receiver,or the MagPul fixture,etc.

You need some form of barrel nut wrench.
You need any of the tools I described above to not damage the receiver.
You need a spanner for the receiver extension nut

In my case,the YHM forends take a YHM spanner for the forend nut. the YHM tool incorporates the barrel nut dowel pins,so its a2 in 1 tool,if you use YHM forends.

I have a toolbox full of wrenches and screwdrivers for muzzle devices,grip screws,etc.I don't need those functions in a multi-tool.

Nothing wrong with the concept of a mult-tool,I guess...unless it is a poor quality illusion of having the right tool for the job.
For under $20,your e-bay wrench looks worth a try.Maybe you aren't paying so many middle-men.

That's only one side of the tooling. You need to either safely hold the upper ,or,in the case of this :
http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-to...7cMake_3=AR-15

provide something to torque against that will do no damage.

I might clamp your multi-tool in a vise and apply the torque wrench to the tool in the supplied link

[Unclenick]

HiBC is giving a good reality check here. A lot of folks want to get through assembling just one "kit rifle" for plinking and don't care if it won't shoot better than 3 moa. They may get all they need from the cheapest tool out there. But if you are interested in learning to build sub-moa match-competative rifles that would cost you two to four times what a basic off-the-shelf factory AR does, then dropping three hundred dollars on a few tools to save gunsmithing costs will pay even on your first build.

Yeah, compared to a Crescent wrench or other common general purpose tool that is made in the millions each year, this seems expensive. But specialty tools for the relatively narrow match rifle market often only sell dozens a year, so their manufacture is not fully automated like large market tool manufacturing is. They involve more time and labor and their cost reflects having to amortize investment in jigs and fixtures over a relatively small number of units. Their price being ten times higher than an equivalent mass-produced tool is reasonable to expect. You can buy a new car engine for a few thousand dollars, but the Detroit machine shop prototypes for testing and debugging cost on the order of $50K-100K each. Economy of scale has that big an effect on price.