Tap from Kit or Craftsman?

[Skiluvr03 24]

Hello, I finally got my bullet guide today, although I just woke up and have to get ready for a 12 hour shift. In the morning I will installing the bullet guide. I hear all these horror stories of Taps breaking, but I'm not too worried about it since I'm going to really take my time and back it out often and use plenty of oil, but, I have one quick question. Do you think I should use the Tap that came with the kit from The best source for the bullet guide kit, or should I use a craftsman Tap that is supposedly known for their quality? Do you think the higher quality Tap would be in the kit? Thanks, Ski

[onehappycampster 25]

Personally I can't justify the cost of buying an entire set of anything if I will only need to use one tool, adapter, etc from a set. If it were me, I'd try the cheapest route first.

[Skiluvr03 24]

Thanks, but that didnt answer my question.

[mtjccmotel 12]

If you have a good quality tap set already, I'd use the quality tools that you know. Can't comment on the tap that comes in the kit as I have never seen it.

Edited July 15, 2012 by Noob308

[Skiluvr03 24]

Well, to be honest with you, a friend loaned me the tap set because I didn't have a handle, so, I could go either way.

[Brian M1 50]

If you already have a decent tap set, I'd use THAT. It's not likely that a bullet guide "kit" will include a GOOD tap. They know you're going to use it once and probably never again. Competitive pricing means they'll shove whatever tap they can get cheapest into the kit. Would the included tap be sufficient for at least one tap?.. most probably. Will it be a GOOD tap which you could use over and over?... most definitely NOT.

[onehappycampster 25]

As long as you have the tap you need, you can even use a wrench as a handle. lol It's not rocket science.

[Skiluvr03 24]

Well, I found out this morning that it's not rocket science and you don't need a PhD to put in a bullet guide, but it does scare the hell out of you when you have read all these stories of people breaking their tap in the hole, and you have never used a tap in your life, and you are fukking with a rifle that you just spent good money on and an additional good money for conversions. Having said that, it turned-out to be much easier than what I expected and like the other conversion tasks, I stressed and was apprehensive for nothing. The hardest part is being sure and confident enough that you have your drill centered enough to start drilling. Personally, I don't see how you can break a tap, unless you have a slanted hole or something and you are trying to go straight? Or, maybe people didn't use Oil or something? I did back the tap out, maybe two times to be on the safe side and I feel that I went much slower than I had too, but I wasn't taking any chances. For you other Noobs, don't sweat it, it's all gravy and don't stress out, you can do it. I've been up for prob 19 hours and now I have choked-down some celebratory beers down (remember, it's my night-time), so, I my post don't make sense, that is why. Ohhh! I forgot the most important thing. I wanted to thank everyone here that offered their help in this thread; you gave me the edging and the confidence I needed. Over-and-out, Ski

 

Edited, BTW, I bought a new Guard Dog too!

 

Edited July 15, 2012 by AK Okie

[onehappycampster 25]

Great job man. Easy, eh? As a general rule it's best to back out every 1/4 turn.

[thebuns1 4,323]

i had bad luck with a craftsman tap wrench. piece of shit if you as me. it was on that looks identical to a nut driver and not a t handle. the shank stripped out in the handle the instant the tap required force. i ended up using vice grips and my tap. worked good. i blow out my hole after every turn i take to keep the debris from fuckin with the tap. pretty easy process so long as you dont rush it, or force it.

[Skiluvr03 24]

i had bad luck with a craftsman tap wrench. piece of shit if you as me. it was on that looks identical to a nut driver and not a t handle. the shank stripped out in the handle the instant the tap required force. i ended up using vice grips and my tap. worked good. i blow out my hole after every turn i take to keep the debris from fuckin with the tap. pretty easy process so long as you dont rush it, or force it.

I'm sorry, I realized that due to being over-tired this morning, I forgot to mention what tools I used in my last post, which was dumb because this is what the thread was all about. I used the Dinzag Tap that came with the guide, which cut through my rifle like butter. I used the little, Craftsman, T-handle type wrench that came in my friends kit (it's like a T-handle, but the "T" part slides back in forth for hard-to-get places). Personally, I would have hell going straight with the tap if I didn't have a "T". I don't think I would have been coordinated enough to use vice grips or something, but is just ME. Maybe, if I hadn't worked a 12 hour physical shift, I would have been more steady with the hands. I'd like to say thanks to DInzagarms for their great customer support and quality materials. Like I said earlier, it took a long time to get my part, but it was entirely due to errors on my end, mainly my wife, lol, but they answered their emails promptly and acted accordingly. I got the same excellent service from CSS with the Trigger Groups and Stock.

[thebuns1 4,323]

glad you got it in ok man.

[Matthew Hopkins 1,065]

i had bad luck with a craftsman tap wrench. piece of shit if you as me.

 

vast majority of CRAFTSMAN tools are made in china now, I have been buying tools now at garage sales, I look for tools that were made in the 60s or 70s that were made in the USA to replace the broken crap POS china ones or tools I don't have.

 

I picked up a complete CRAFTSMAN tap and die set made in the USA for 5 dollars recently. a old CRAFTSMAN stand up drill press that has a solid steel bed, and housing that is metal, that was made in the USA, for something like 20 bucks last year. I found some brand new still in the package hack saw blades, again made in the USA, that teeth of the blades don't wear out after just a few strokes through metal.

 

 

it's a sad time when the old used stuff is far better quality then the crap they make today.

[thebuns1 4,323]

the bad thing is the tap i was looking at was much nicer, but cost more. i really didnt expect it to last as it only cost 5 bucks but it didnt hold up for 5 minutes of use. its sad they put their name on that shit. i prolly would have had better luck finding one at the dollar store and got as good or better results.

[Milsurps 4 Me 14]

I've snapped 1 tap out of about a dozen trunnions I drilled and tapped and the one that failed me was a Craftsman combo. Plenty of oil, even reaming the hole, it snapped while backing it out and it took grinding with a diamond Dremel bit to remove enough of it to smash out with a punch.

 

IMO the kits Dinzag sells are great. I've used a combo I got from him a few times and had no issues. Sharp bits and an easy cutting tap. I recently picked up a kit from CSS because I just moved and all my tools are packed up still. It was a Hanson tap in the kit and worked ok but I just feel more comfortable using an 8-32 because they feel more sturdy.

[Skiluvr03 24]

With the way my Dinzag stuff worked, I have to agree with you. I don't have experience with any others, but, I was shocked when I went all the way through the hole, I didn't even think I was half-way though; it just cut-through like butter. I finally got to test my guide on the range today and it worked like a charm, although I wasn't sure at first. After a dozen rounds, the mag started coming off while shooting and had FTF. I wasn't sure if it was the mag catch or the bullet guide. I know what you're thinking, why would I think it was the bullet guide. I wondered because of the way the bullet was seated on the way to the chamber and I thought for sure I had grinded enough off of the mag catch. After closer examination, I noticed that the very left of the mag catch was grinded off enough and it was causing a seating problem with the catch. I had thought ahead on was unsure on the mag catch as I was worried about taking too much off previously, so I took my dremel to the range with me. I broke out the dremel and did some extra filing and then shot 200 rounds with a Tapco Composite Mag, and a Steel Milsurp mag with no problems or FTF's at all. I have to say, the more I shoot my 7.62 AK the more I love it. It just feels so comfortable to shoot and so smooth with the trigger pull and all, and it just looks like a bad-ass. My shot groups were excellent today as well. It was a hundred degrees outside and I did have to really let the beast cool off a lot towards the end. I was taking it a lot slower at first, but at the end, I was shooting real fast to really test the mags out, but not more then 10 rounds at a time. I just can't say enough about this rifle, I may kick my wife out of bed and put the rifle next to me instead, ROFL.