I wait for the August release of the Brownell's catalog with the same anticipation I used to reserve as a kid for the Sear's Christmas catalog. (I have to admit the Sear's tool catalog brings a bit of reading pleasure, but I already have most of the tools I want.) I will be scanning every one of the 528 pages to make sure there's not some cool tool or accessory I need, plus looking for new stuff that's just plain neat.
One thing I learned from the catalog (I wish I had found out years earlier) is that you need special tools to work with roll pins. They're those rolled-up hollow spring-steel pins that hold parts together without extra fasteners. They're cheap but effective, and a real pain to work with if you don't have the proper tools.
Brownell's has the proper tools. One set of punches has a small dimple, and a small enough diameter, to easily remove roll pins. The other set has a small cup in the end of the punch which holds and squeezes the pin enough to allow you to start it, and then finish seating it with a regular punch.
Roll pins have always brought me grief until I got these tools. After that, I started to look for projects that required working with roll pins. Even high-class modern firearms have roll pins in hidden areas. They are effective, and keep costs down, but aren't too attractive. And plenty of other things in this world use roll pins, not just firearms.
One area where the roll pin punches came in was in dismantling the Remington 700 firing pin, which requires its own special tool for it. The firing pin spring is powerful enough to shoot the firing pin through you, if you don't use the proper tool, shown on the left:
Next to that is a Glock magazine-squeezer-tool, used to remove the magazine floorplate. The two tools on the right are "plunger pushers", which are used to remove spring pressure on plunger-type ejectors, so you can use your roll pin tool to take out the roll pin and disassemble the ejector. The AR15 bolt in one of the tools show how it works.
Another special-purpose tool is this vise block, which lets you clamp an AR15 upper receiver in a vise without crushing it like an empty pop can.
Finally, one vey important set of tools if you work with rifle scopes. First is a set of precision-ground steel "points" that show you if your rings are properly aligned. This is especially important for "rotary mount" rings, where the rings are turned 90 degrees to lock them in the mount. It's also important when checking out QD rings. Never put the scope into the rings until you verify things align properly in all directions.
The tool consists of two steel sleeves, with both 1 inch and 30mm "steps" that are clamped by the rings. The two steel "points" are then slid in.
Good alignment looks like this. If the points don't meet perfectly, you have series problems, and do not proceed until you figure it out.
Once the alignment is verified, you're still not ready to mount the scope, at least if you're not obsessive like I am. You next have to lap the scope rings to assure you have a perfectly concentric, uniform, mounting surface inside the rings. The Brownell's lap performs this important function.
The lap is a steel rod what is coated with a compound that consists of heavy grease and 8000-grit aluminum oxide. It's slowly worked back and forth, and in a circular direction, in the rings, tightening the clamping screws slowly as you go.
The object is to lap away just enough of the inner surface of the rings to show that the lapping rod has "refreshed" the surface enough to guarantee complete ring contact with the scope, and its perfect alignment of both surfaces with each other. With a quality mounting system, like Leupold, things start out almost perfect, so it only takes about two hours of pleasant, patient work to finish the lapping job.
Once the rings are lapped, you can't just drop the scope in, at least if you're me. First comes a light dusting of rosin powder (also available from Brownell's) inside the rings. Even with perfect full contact with the rings, this is extra insurance that nothing moves under heavy recoil.
After that comes leveling the scope base to the horizontal, using a bubble level, and leveling the vertical crosshairs using a plumb bob. Finally, a little bit of colliminization using a laser bore sighter, before taking the weapon the the range for test firing.
If this doesn't seem like a labor of love to you, pay someone else to do the job right. You are building a precision surgical instrument this way, and while it's labor intensive, the results are well worth it.