Trickymissfit
Well-Known Member
Use a metric Crescent wrench for metric threads! Really now, 8-40 threads should be no problem provided you're drilling the hole the right size, using a good high speed tap and a tap wrench, and using a good quality tapping/cutting fluid. I've been buying 6-48s and 8-40s from JGS Tool. Good high speed tools. Brownells is trying to become the "WalMart" for gunsmiths and some of the tools they offer, especially cutting tools with their name on them, are WalMart quality. MSC has special thread taps & dies, too. I do all my threading with the barrel removed Why deal with a 'blind hole' unless you have to. Sounds to me like you should have had a professional do it! 416R is no more difficult to drill and tap than 4140HT is.
A few years back a buddy of mine named Tony decided to do a rebarrel on his 700 Remington chambered in 7STW. Don't remember the blank name, but it was a good name brand. He went ahead an trued the action prior to threading the barrel. Good thing as there must have been .015" taper in the threads (so bad that he actually pulled a couple threads removing the barrel). He wanted to do it with a 16 thread, and I had a couple taps, and they literally wobbled in the hole! I told he need to start all over there. He ended up with a 1.09-18 thread that was dead strait. Told him to cut a couple blanks to fit the thread very tightly. Gave him a couple six inch pieces of A2 that I had stashed in a cigar box. He cut the blanks, and of course they came out nice. Told him to put one away as the master gauge for that barrel thread. The other one I hardened, and literally made a crude looking tap out of it with some grinder work. I knew Tony had somekind of a big rail mount he was going to install, as I ground the bottom side to fit the action for him. He comes down to see and asks if I had any extra 8-40 taps and a couple drills. I bought them by the box so of course I did. He gets the rail mount installed, but has a burr in the female thread that makes installing the barrel a pain without tearing up some threads. I hand him the crude looking tap! (I saw this coming two weeks prior). Told him I knew this was gonna come to place. The plug was razor sharp, and I actually cut a finger on it. I knew that he ruin those threads otherwise.
Take the advice from other folks here. When you buy tooling, you usually get what you pay for. You want good drills but only need a half dozen. Then do a group buy with buddies. Samething with taps and reamers. While on the subject, everyone needs a small Albrict (SP) keyless chuck. Buy that one and forget the rest.
gary