Looking for a new torque wrench for scope mounting with just occasional use.

Anything better than the Wheeler out there reasonably priced?

I have the Wheeler Fat Wrench and really like it. Just about all of the gun shops/gun smiths I have been to use it as well.

Seekonk, Made in USA

Sekonk Torque Wrenches

try ebay, i picked up a high end screwdriver type torque wrench that was boeing surplus for less than half of what they get for a fat wrench.

Ed

Brownells has a good one that's adjustable.

Seekonk are also what are issued in the M24, and M110 sniper packages.

They are top notch. I use them on my personal rifles and they are top notch.

I prefer a decent brand of beam type torque wrench. I just don’t trust other less expensive designs.

https://m.seekonk.com/prod-77-1-48-...torque-deflecting-beam-0-100-in-lbs-.htm

If there was any item out there with inflated prices, it's the Fat Wrench. They can be had for $40 now and then.

Borka works well!

😂😂😂The wheeler does a good job for the money, I use my torque wrench’s at work all the time so it’s worth it to me to buy Snap-On, MAC and Utica some clicker and digital...........a deflecting beam type torque wrench is like going back to the horse and buggy ‼️

Stay away from Lowe’s, Home Depot and Harbor Freight brands and you will probably be OK

Fix It Sticks

I have a toolbox full of torque wrenches as I work on aircraft and everything is scrutinized. I don't like the Fat wrench at all- hard to even tell what setting you have.I have seen several sent in for calibration and they were pretty far off what they read. Once you have tried a real torque wrench you will see what I mean. I prefer the Wiha and the universal ones sold under the name of Capri. The driver that Vortex sells is the same tool. Mine are calibrated annually and they come back having tested near perfect each time. We just bought a couple of Snap on drivers for the shop. They are good too but I like the adjustment feature on the Capri and Wiha better.
The Seekonks I had were all pre-set; that is fine if you have a half-dozen of them.

I have a really sweat dial caliper made by CDI that is accurate and graduated to 1/2 inch pound. I find it easier to use a driver than the wrench so I rarely use it except when checking existing torque.

I now use the Vortex wrench. It is an excellent product considering the cost. It much more precise than the Wheeler fat wrench. The big auction site has the Vortex for less than 70.00.

Did you find the blue one on Adam&Eve.com?

Yea, they gave it to me when I bought your Christmas present last year.

Oh, [bleep], that made me spit some ice tea.

This -

The Vortex, Wiha, Capri look pretty sexy but I don't see any with the range desired.... Maybe the 18-62 in/lbs unit in the closest? But yah, I want one!

Wheeler Digital Torque wrench. Runs 15-100in-lb.

https://www.wheelertools.com/gunsmi...rivers/digital-f.a.t.-wrench/710909.html

This !

Good grief you guys, the internet is at it again. Next thing we know only NASA certified, Space Shuttle approved torque wrenches can touch our scope screws. Any wrench costing less than $500 will be plumb unworthy.........

https://www.harborfreight.com/14-in-drive-click-type-torque-wrench-63881.html

And before anybody says it, my mechanic--a Snap-On slut if there ever was one--has a Snap-On torque meter that can be used with a regular wrench--it's the same tool the tool truck driver uses to check torque wrenches. On a whim he bought a Harbor Freight 3/8" torque wrench and it agreed with the Snap-On tool. So he bought the 1/4" and 1/2", and they both agreed also.

All we need is to get the screws tight enough to hold the scope/mounts in place and the screw torque half-way consistent.........

I took a tip from Dennisinaz a while back and bought the one Vortex sells. Its a damn fine tool for gun stuff, RJ

I use a Whia Torque Vario and it works very well. Fix it sticks are also great and very packable.

https://www.wihatools.com/adjustabl...P8Lbi5QIV2v_jBx09LQunEAQYASABEgIB2_D_BwE

Thanks for saying what I always think when I see these threads.

It's a friggin set of scope rings, not a nuke submarine. A $500 torque wrench isn't needed. I've used several of the Harbor Freight torque wrenches and they have all tested out plenty close for what we're needing them for. If it's off by 10% then that's still going to be fine and a boatload closer to where it's supposed to be than the farmer tight method most are used to.

Sometimes good enough really is good enough. You don't need to take out a second mortgage to get a torque wrench plenty good enough to install scope mounts.

They may be old fashioned but in the less expensive torque wrenches they can be trusted.

Honestly I have never torqued mounts nor action screws but decided in the last week I might as well buy one and see just how tight I have been getting those.....

None of my torque wrenches cost any where near $500 and none of them were made China.

Fugk Harbor Freight.

MAGA

I use a CDI as well. It’s worth the extra money. I think it was a little over a hundred bucks

I use a CDI as well. It’s worth the extra money. I think it was a little over a hundred bucks, which was $300 less than Swarovski charged me to replace a tube my father crushed on a scope he borrowed. Said it was just “hand tight”. Guess what he got for Christmas

Hopefully a Harbor Freight torque wrench.........

Ironically, I'm one of the first guys to biotch about Chinese crap. My 3/8" and 1/2" torque wrenches are USA Craftsman. But my Wheeler FAT wrench is apparently made in China if the inspectors initials on the "certification" tag is any indication.......

Still, torquing scope screws is not the same as assembling a satellite.

It's the obsessive-compulsive behavior the internet creates that cracks me up.

"Everyone should do it the same way I do it."

I have a CDI for the motorcycle but for the scope rings, loady loady no....

15 to 18 lbs is the range needed for rings correct?

Someone stayed up very late putting this together. (Smiley face)

A $40 Tekton has been working great for me.

Warne Maxima rings require 25” pounds and I think Leupold Standards say 24” pounds.

I’ve had a Fat Wrench for around five years and thought I was in high cotton, until a gunsmith who specializes in rebarreling Model 700’s told me the Fat Wrench is worse than not having a torque wrench at all. He belittled me about it in front of a prospective customer waiting for him to get through with me. I told the gunsmith to f***k off and walked out. The icing on the cake for me was the other prospect telling him the same thing and walking out with me. If I ever have to replace my Fat Wrench I’ll probably get a nicer one. But the Fat Wrench has worked fine and won’t be replaced unless it breaks.

Those are the funniest posts I’ve ever seen on this website.

You'd really be laughing if you saw the contraption I got for Christmas!

For the heathens.

Fat Wrench for $29.16. Deal ends in 6 hours.

https://www.amazon.com/Wheeler-Accu...585579&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&sr=8-4

I prefer the dial torque wrenches like the Seekonk 0-75" pound unit. I have a couple others. I think one is a Snap On or Proto or something like that and it goes 0-30" pounds. The beauty of the dials is you can watch the torque climb in proportion to how much the screw is turning. Why is that important? Sometimes you run into soft screws or poor metal in the receivers and when you are tightening up the handle will be moving and the needle will be moving up and when something starts stretching or the threads yielding (stripping) the needle will stop while the handle continues to move. The dial gives you a visual that can't be seen with any of the common scope torque devices. It doesn't matter that they are spot on. The materials we are torquing are not near perfect.

With the old click type wrenches 10/22 receivers were famous for stripping 1 or 2 inch pounds before the specified torque. With the dial you can see that happening and stop just as it just starts to happen. This will save you from having to remove a broken screw or stripping a receiver. It will also detect cheap screws like we commonly find on Vortex and Burris rings or bases. The dial wrenches save us a couple times a eek from breaking or stripping a scope screws.

I will no longer use a clicker on anything other than lug nuts and bigger fasteners. My race car engine has 3/8"-24 head studs and a clicker wrench just a few pounds off will strip them right out of the block. I have switched all my torque wrenches out to dial wrenches now so we can see that before I wreck a $12,000 engine block. A few years ago a clicker wrench cost me a $2000 set of Jesel rocker bodies that was about 4 pounds off at 26 foot pounds.

I also use the Vortex torque wrench.

My "Fatwrench" quit before I finished mounting the second scope.

I did one rifle/scope and put it away for a few weeks. When I got it out again the battery was dead. It came with a spare battery, so I put the spare in. No Go, she still would not come on. I bought a new battery at town, that dod no good either.

I need to call "Larry" and get it sent back to him.

I have a couple manual ones as linked and haven't had any problems.... Cheapest I've seen before today was $36 IIRC. Sale is done.

My inch-pound unit came to me free - from my Dad when he finally stepped away from the precision machine work in the 80s,. No telling how old it is and right now I can't remember the brand name - but it works very precisely and maintains its set. However, I have never used it to check the tightness of scope mount/ring screws. How on earth did we mount those scopes for all of those years, starting in the 60s, and not ruin anything? And, why did our stuff shoot so accurately and kill game with hardly ever a scope problem - and never a problem of too tight or too loose? Yes, the requirements of the world have changed - much more demanding on old guys. I hope I can find that old wrench before needing to mount another Tasco or BSA scope.

I have a Wiha and it’s worked just fine although HiredGun make a good point regarding stripping screws, or worse, whatever they are being screwed into.

Agree, mostly we are not building space shuttles, but I’d prefer to have a tool that is calibrated, and will maintain said calibration. I’d prefer to eliminate variables and worry.

A few years ago I evaluated a few torque wrenches, using a calibrated test fixture. Two figures below show the results from Fat Wrenches.

My favorite out of the test was a 1/4" beam-type wrench. IIRC, I tested a few and they were dead nuts accurate.

For firearms or scopes absolute accuracy is rarely if ever an issue. With in 10% is plenty close and tons closer than you will get without one.

Yeah, Fook Harbor Freight! They also sell dog crap SuperMan Capes. Alpinecrick loaned me his for my elk hunt. 😛😎

See?!!!!! I told you!!!!

And I bet you killed that baby bull without a $500 purple dillydo disguised as a torque wrench..........

Had a fat wrench and got rid of it. I bought a Capri tools pretty impressive driver.



capri tool

I don't trust my fat wrench, had some rings loosen up on a couple rifles after torquing to spec. Never had these issues before I started using it. Go figure.

As I assumed would be the case......

Borka and snap-on are what I use. The snap-on I found at a pawn shop. The snap on I bought for setting the pre-load on pinion bearings on differentials.

Been looking for a better wrench that what I currently have.. good info here. thanks all

If you are working on stuff like that you should have them calibrated frequently. FAA requires it annually for aircraft work.

I can generally torque by had very accurately in the ranges I typically deal with. I test myself daily; tightening by hand an the checking with the torque wrench. I've never ruined anything with a 'clicker' type torque wrench. If you tighten a ring and there is a "soft" spot, you should be able to feel it by hand and stop.

I have never had a torque wrench come back from calibration more than 3% at any value and most are <1.5%. Proto, CDI (Snap-on) and Wiha are excellent tools. There are some torque wrenches out there that are certified <.1% in variation. They can cost upwards of $2000 for a 1/4" drive tool. The come with a cable to connect to a computer for recording results.

No, you don't need $500 torque wrenches for scope work but a nice tool is much more pleasing to use than a chitty one. Some of Harbor Freight tools are actually very good. I have a 1/2" impact wrench that was built specifically to compete with the $700 Snap On. It is just as good and only $119.

Say I wanted one specifically for the 65 in/lbs 1/2" hex nuts to use in conjunction with an adjustable bit driver type that has a lower range like 10-50. On the frugal side, click or beam?




(Gotta find my 3/8" CDI, might have the question answered, but, I can't recall it's range OR location since moving. )

There's Adam & Eve stores in Missoula and Three Forks.

Just an FYI

You guys all realize that a little oil or loktite and the torque values are out the window right? This really isn’t an exact prediction of screw stretch or resistance to loosening. Not saying it’s not valuable since there isn’t a better practical way for most folks to go about it. Just saying it’s ballpark.

Thanks buddy.... I think, with Christmas on the way, that would be a solid plan, 'cept I'm not supposed to go within 300 feet...

Been using the Fat Wrench and it's better at not stripping out schidt than I am.

Wish I had dainty hands like Beaver10....

Boomer,

Anything under the titles of "huge, realistic or prostate" are usually a home run.

Kingston prefers discrete shipping fyi.

Are there fat wenches at Teasers in Three Forks and how's their stripping?

If I was a betting man....

Like I said, 300'.

I am totally not shopping for d i l d o s for Kingston. Wink wink...

It was a real “stocking stuffer”.

PULEEZE no video!

It taking more than a $19 Chinese chrome club to torque my nuts isn’t something I’ll apologize for.

I’m thinking there’s a group buy in the works. That or the first annual 24HCF Secret Santa—or both.

.......oooookay.......

I really have come to like the Vortex.

I’m dead on balls serious about the later.

I'm in on a group buy.

hanco

I use 140s.

hanco

Farmer tight is best.

hanco

😎

This is "hunting" optics not wrenches bitches!

Jud

This^^^

John

I’ve had the Wheeler Fat Wrench for a couple of years now. Mounted probably close to 40 scopes with it and 35-40 action/stock screws. All that work for nothing! LOL I guess my screws are out of spec but I’m happy with it. I’ll replace it once I think it’s broken.

That’s what she said.........

What can you tell me about the "Brownells Magna-Tip Adjustable Torque Wrench?"
https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-...-adjustable-torque-wrench-prod84011.aspx

Calibrating the Harbor Freight torque wrench.

An engineer at Caterpillar posted on practical machinist gunsmithing how to calculate max torque on a screw. He explained the whole wax, oil, and dry derating and 1.5 times the root [minor diameter] of engagement before the male screw breaks and the female thread stops stripping.

To drill and tap 10-32 holes the thin [that means the female is going to strip first, if you have not been paying attention] Mosin Nagant receiver and cantilever a scope base...
I bought an inch pounds torque wrench at Harbor Freight for $20.
I milled some mild steel to .1" thick.
I drilled and tapped 4 holes with #21 drill.
I expect that I should be ok with 52% of the usual high ratings
...a) waxed 52% of 34 in lb = 17.8 in lb, but measured a 15 and a 16 yield
...b) lubed with oil or grease 52% of 51 in lb = 26.5 in lb, but measured yield at 28 in lb
...c) dry 52% of 68 in lb = 34.7 in lb, but measured yield at 34 in lb

I put on loctite and torqued the scope base to 20 inch pounds.









Yes, I thought metric torque in my mouth was so funny, I got my dentist to pose.
I used to negotiate dental prices with his father.

Dental implant insertion torque
Minimum of 32 Ncm insertion torque was necessary for implants to achieve osseointegration. The minimum torque that can be employed to attain primary stability is undefined.

The cadaver bone stripped out. I had to go home and heal.

The next implant was cow bone, and it prospered in my jaw bone, and took the 32Ncm of torque the first time.

I currently use Wiha, but the Capri looks sweet.

All I can tell you is it's the same as the CDI TorqControl, which I have. The units on the two are different in that the Brownells is in-lb whereas the CDI is Nm. I have no idea of the accuracy when it clicks.

I've had good results with the Brownell tool for several years.

Always imagined that you'd look like this...