Ok, rookie question here.

I just spent a few hundred dollars for a scope and a mount, for an AR pistol. For me, it was the most I have ever spent on a scope.

I see the screws are suppose to be torqued.

Shit, I have never even heard of a torque screwdriver.

Double shit, I see they can be pricey.

I do not want the Mercedes, but do not want to cheap out either.

Can you recommend a good middle of the road torque screwdriver, that I will not regret buying?

This is something I will have in my tool box forever.

Thank you.

I have this Wheeler.

It works very well unless you have a brainfart and forget to change the torque setting from torquing your barrel action to the torque setting for scope rings (i.e. scope torques are much less than action torques). That brainfart was an expensive trip to the gunsmith.

Considering all of the inflation lately, I was surprised to find the 2008 order confirmation e-mail and the price has only increased $5.

Wheeler Fat Wrench

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/e...ALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

You don't need one. Good and hand tight. Maybe get some blue locktite and use a tiny bit on each screw. That will do it.


What did you buy?

What torq setting are you trying to achieve?

When I was needing one the Wheelers were to much torq for the screws I was needing to torq.

Think I was needing 8 in lbs and the wheeler torqs are 10-60 or 10-70.

Here is one that does 2-22;
https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod...A2DG5UQ3CJCLK9&psc=1

At the time I did mine I just ended up doing it by hand and using pink loc-tite or Vibra-tite/ VC-3 and have never had loosing issues.

https://www.harborfreight.com/...-22-piece-58950.html

That's what I bought and use.

Where are you located. Maybe a member near by can loan you one if you don't see the need to buy one.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
You don't need one. Good and hand tight. Maybe get some blue locktite and use a tiny bit on each screw. That will do it.


What did you buy?

Just a Vortex. Not high end, but more than I have ever spent on glass.

quote:

Originally posted by Mustang-PaPa:
What torq setting are you trying to achieve?

When I was needing one the Wheelers were to much torq for the screws I was needing to torq.

Think I was needing 8 in lbs and the wheeler torqs are 10-60 or 10-70.

Here is one that does 2-22;
https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod...A2DG5UQ3CJCLK9&psc=1

At the time I did mine I just ended up doing it by hand and using pink loc-tite or Vibra-tite/ VC-3 and have never had loosing issues.

The video I watched indicated 18 for the rings and 45? for the mount.

quote:

Originally posted by Alyron:
Where are you located. Maybe a member near by can loan you one if you don't see the need to buy one.

I thought about that. Then realized if I ever mount another scope, I will need one.

I guess many people have them, I have never heard of them.

In the past, I just tightened everything snug. Yes, the instructions probably indicated a need to be torqued, but hey, I was dealing with sub $100.00 scopes and was just in a hurry to get them mounted. FWIW, those I have mounted appear to still be GTG.

quote:

Shit, I have never even heard of a torque screwdriver.

They exist but are relatively uncommon because of the small fasteners and low torques involved. Not used at all in automotive work.

No need for a high-dollar Snap-on for your limited/occasional use. The Wheeler and even the Harbor Freight mentioned shoud be good enough.

The only things I ever used mine for are mounting scopes/rings and red dots on pistols. I have a tendancy to overtorque smaller screws so for me it was a wise investment. I have a Wheeler and it has worked well for me.

quote:

Originally posted by hray:
https://www.harborfreight.com/...-22-piece-58950.html

That's what I bought and use.

That is $20 more than the Wheeler. Is it worth the extra $20?

You might look at the Real Avid Gunsmithing Torque Wrench Kit 10-70 inch-lb range.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPP5Y1o0lU0&t=204s



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hymvUUKoRxQ&t=10s

I have a (discontinued) Borka ATD-10x80-CRS Adjustable Torque Driver 10-80 in-lbs.


https://shooterstools.com/default.html
https://www.amazon.com/Borka-T..._product_top?ie=UTF8

quote:

You don't need one. Good and hand tight. Maybe get some blue locktite and use a tiny bit on each screw.

In my view this is terrible advice. Every fastener has a desired torque specification to be used successfully. Now sure in some cases the consequences of failure of either the fastener or the joined parts are so low its not worth the energy to measure the assembly torque (like when you are building your new grill from Home Depot), but for assembling most gun parts I wouldn't apply that rule. Get a torque driver. You'll need it often if you work on guns and optics.

A Wheeler Fat Wrench.

Don't guess at torque values. Use a torqe screwdriver.

Don't know of anything that requires only 8 in-lbs of torque.

My Warne scope ring torx screws required 12 in-lbs and the crossbolt 65 in-lbs. A Warne Picatinny rail 20MOA scope mount required 25 in-lbs. These were my most recent. Didn't look up any older stuff.

Steve, you can borrow my Wheeler Fat Wrench.

Yes, Wheeler. I really like the electronic one.