Best way to secure rifle in vise?

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Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by juststarting » 08 Nov 2016, 9:36 am

Hi All

I need to punch out dovetail front iron sight and replace it with a new one...

I am wondering what would be the best way to grip the rifle in heavy iron vise? Any suggestions on what I'd need, like rubber or plywood to insulate from metal to metal contact, etc? Seen a YouTube video of people using both, wondering if anyone else has suggestions?


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Re: Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by Supaduke » 08 Nov 2016, 9:53 am

Wrap the barrel in electrical tape, get some polyethylene (polypropylene?) jaw protectors from Bunnings or eBay. Or use some thick card board. Make sure the rifle is supported so it's not leveraging in the vice.

And lots of wd-40 on the sight , 10 mins before you touch it.
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Re: Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by on_one_wheel » 08 Nov 2016, 4:21 pm

I hold my rifles in a vice regularly.

I've made thick leather slips to put into the jaws. They work great.

I just do the vice up firm with one finger and check that the rifle won't slip by applying a little pressure on the comb.
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Re: Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by Chronos » 08 Nov 2016, 6:20 pm

vice no, lay the rifle flat on the bench and make up a block of wood with a V in it and put it directly under the front sight where you're going to be working. i think the dovetail is tapered, be careful. if you drive it the wrong way you'll open up the dovetail and the new sight may be loose. maybe measure the new one and work out if one end is wider

Image

like this but just a block of wood, you don't want to be punching the front of the barrel with the rifle in the vice nearly a meter away. have a search on youtube, theres a few vids on them



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Re: Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by Gwion » 10 Nov 2016, 7:31 am

^^^^
I'd also go this way.
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Re: Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by juststarting » 10 Nov 2016, 9:40 am

Think I'm just going to go with plywood. Just cut to size to fully cover the vise jaws. The block (above) looks alright, but it was designed to punch pins out, which is a bit different to drifting a dovetail.

Other option is to make a V shape oversized block. But, that would require me to hold the barrel with one hand which is not ideal. I'd like to have two hands free for the task.

Stay tuned, if you hear a loud profanity echoing through the air, I messed something up. :)
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Re: Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by Wm.Traynor » 10 Nov 2016, 10:33 am

juststarting,
You might like to read viewtopic.php?f=13&t=5920

There is a pic at 9 Apr 11:21 am
Good Luck
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Re: Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by Oldbloke » 10 Nov 2016, 12:19 pm

I have "soft jaws" same as leather ones above, but made out of a sheet of lead, also a set made out of copper. Pretty standard item in a metal work shop.
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Re: Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by juststarting » 12 Nov 2016, 10:14 pm

Wm.Traynor, ha! That link... Yeah.

I've made jaw protectors, got everything setup, gave it some Inox for good measure and NOTHING! Been banging on this bitch (Browning BL-22) for a while with brass and plastic punch - nada! Switched to big hammer! The way I was holding the punch, there's no way it get's to the barrel, knuckles yes, barrel no. Anyway, I can't see if there's been any movement, but it doesn't look like it. So now I am thinking of maybe manufacturing a sight removal tool, seems easy enough. Damn it! You Tube makes it look easy (albeit no videos of BL-22).

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Re: Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by Wm.Traynor » 13 Nov 2016, 9:44 am

Sight removal tool=hacksaw
Be vewy vewy Careful :thumbsup:
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Re: Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by Gwion » 13 Nov 2016, 9:46 am

Stop being a tight arse and take it to a smith. There'll be tears when you permanently affect you new $1000+ rifle for the sake of $50!
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Re: Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by juststarting » 13 Nov 2016, 9:53 am

Gwion wrote:Stop being a tight arse and take it to a smith. There'll be tears when you permanently affect you new $1000+ rifle for the sake of $50!


It's not about being right mate, 1. I work during the same business hours as the only gunsmith I know off, around my area. And 2. I like learning and doing diy.

On topic off #1 - it's a joke, right, all gun shops keeping the same business hours as their customers. Stupidity at its best and then they complain about losses when people shop online, lol. Dinosaurs.
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Re: Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by Gwion » 13 Nov 2016, 10:09 am

I like learning to do stuff myself too but you will learn to take it to a gunsmith yourself after you put a permanent blemish on your shiny new rifle; or worse still, put an imperceptible bend in the barrel.

Your complaint about gun shop hours is fair enough. Sounds like 99% of businesses in Tas. Only open during the hours when the only people in Tas with money to spend are actually at work earning said money!

Still, there are these thing you talk through called phones. I know you have heard of them but may not be aware their primary function is not surfing the web or texting.....
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Re: Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by juststarting » 13 Nov 2016, 10:14 am

Why would I want to talk to a gunsmith? LOL
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Re: Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by Gwion » 13 Nov 2016, 10:41 am

To organise an early or late drop off/pick up.....

This site really needs a face palm emoji!
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Re: Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by Gwion » 13 Nov 2016, 10:42 am

Anyway.... Your gun.... Smash away at it if you want!
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Re: Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by juststarting » 13 Nov 2016, 12:00 pm

Gwion wrote:To organise an early or late drop off/pick up.....

This site really needs a face palm emoji!


...but how do you decide which face to palm?
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Re: Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by snag » 14 Nov 2016, 12:09 pm

palm 'em all and let god sort 'em out.......
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Re: Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by juststarting » 25 Nov 2016, 8:55 pm

Gwion wrote:Stop being a tight arse and take it to a smith. There'll be tears when you permanently affect you new $1000+ rifle for the sake of $50!



So I took the advice. Changing the Marlin sight was easy. But BL22 just wouldn't move. While at it, sighted in Marlin with Skinner front sight and had to move the elevation receiver sight all the way up, otherwise it was shooting too low, so it too is in the shop, getting front sight trimmed. Anyhow, 1. good learning experience. 2. I feel so empty, like that feeling you get when you forget your phone at home, only heaps worse. I didn't even feel that way when I left my little terrors with a sitter for the first time. My girls belong at home, not in a workshop :(
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Re: Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by brett1868 » 25 Nov 2016, 9:02 pm

like that feeling you get when you forget your phone at home


Makes you feel empty....for me I feel liberated, just like I do on no-undie Monday :lol:
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Re: Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by juststarting » 25 Nov 2016, 9:18 pm

No! Empty!
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Re: Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by Oldbloke » 26 Nov 2016, 7:47 am

brett1868 wrote:
like that feeling you get when you forget your phone at home


Makes you feel empty....for me I feel liberated, just like I do on no-undie Monday :lol:


:drinks: :lol:
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Re: Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by on_one_wheel » 26 Nov 2016, 10:28 am

brett1868 wrote:
like that feeling you get when you forget your phone at home


Makes you feel empty....for me I feel liberated, just like I do on no-undie Monday :lol:


Same ... I love not having a phone.

I'm more likely to turn around and head back home If I've forgotten my pocket knife.
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Re: Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by Gwion » 27 Nov 2016, 9:53 am

juststarting wrote:
Gwion wrote:Stop being a tight arse and take it to a smith. There'll be tears when you permanently affect you new $1000+ rifle for the sake of $50!



So I took the advice. Changing the Marlin sight was easy. But BL22 just wouldn't move. While at it, sighted in Marlin with Skinner front sight and had to move the elevation receiver sight all the way up, otherwise it was shooting too low, so it too is in the shop, getting front sight trimmed. Anyhow, 1. good learning experience. 2. I feel so empty, like that feeling you get when you forget your phone at home, only heaps worse. I didn't even feel that way when I left my little terrors with a sitter for the first time. My girls belong at home, not in a workshop :(


Glad you got it sorted, mate. Don't worry, you'll be able to take them out on a date soon enough....
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Re: Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by brett1868 » 27 Nov 2016, 11:40 pm

I'm in a similar position trying to remove the rear sight of a Colt pistol. Has to be driven L-R looking from the rear and no matter how hard I hit it with the hammer and punch it didn't budge. I'm thinking to strip the slide and put it in the oven to see if a little heat will expand the metal enough to loosen the GI Joe Kung Fu grip the sight has on the slide.
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Re: Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by Oldbloke » 28 Nov 2016, 5:44 am

brett1868 wrote:I'm in a similar position trying to remove the rear sight of a Colt pistol. Has to be driven L-R looking from the rear and no matter how hard I hit it with the hammer and punch it didn't budge. I'm thinking to strip the slide and put it in the oven to see if a little heat will expand the metal enough to loosen the GI Joe Kung Fu grip the sight has on the slide.



Try the freezer first.
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Re: Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by brett1868 » 28 Nov 2016, 7:56 am

Oldbloke wrote:
brett1868 wrote:I'm in a similar position trying to remove the rear sight of a Colt pistol. Has to be driven L-R looking from the rear and no matter how hard I hit it with the hammer and punch it didn't budge. I'm thinking to strip the slide and put it in the oven to see if a little heat will expand the metal enough to loosen the GI Joe Kung Fu grip the sight has on the slide.



Try the freezer first.


The slide is alloy and the sight steel, if I freeze it the alloy will shrink and grip the sight even tighter I believe. Heating should expand the alloy and loosen the dovetail with the added benefit of melting any Loctite that may have been used. I used to race 1/5 Scale RC cars and to remove bearings the crankcase had to be heated so I'm confident that heats the way to go. I'm not going to heat it too much but just enough to see if the sight can be persuaded to move. If that fails then I'll invest the big $$ on a proper sight pushing tool with all the bits to cover all the pistols.
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Re: Best way to secure rifle in vise?

Post by Oldbloke » 28 Nov 2016, 8:36 am

Im not sure of the sight, would need to see. You seem to understand what happens. But as you have 2 materials with a differing rate of expansion then putting it in the freezer should be enough break the loctite bond. Will that be enoigh, not sure.
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