Thread Checking Gauge

[RickKr]

RickKr,
Funny you say that. I'm looking to add a vintage Redfield peep sight to the rifle too. The older Redfield's were made of steel, so they be a good period-correct match to the vintage rifle.

I'd like to make an auxiliary mount, to hold the Redfield, taking advantage of the two screws by the lever. However if the screws are non-standard, getting longer ones to hold the mount may block my plans.

View attachment 488986

That looks to be a challenge. I'd be consulting a good gunsmith... er... actually, I did. He was the one who gave me the peep sight. It went on an older Stevens 22LR, the first gun I shot as a kid in the early 1950s. Round mount but required removing stock. Second photo shows the small screw on the windage scale screw that I wanted to move. I ended up getting a taller front sight and moving it laterally to bring the receiver sight into zero.

 

[sign216]

That looks to be a challenge. I'd be consulting a good gunsmith... er... actually, I did. He was the one who gave me the peep sight. It went on an older Stevens 22LR, the first gun I shot as a kid in the early 1950s. Round mount but required removing stock. Second photo shows the small screw on the windage scale screw that I wanted to move. I ended up getting a taller front sight and moving it laterally to bring the receiver sight into zero.

RickKr,
Nice work on the sight. I expect I'll have to get a tall front blade as well.

Edit: Figuring out the type of peep sight is a work in progress. Attaching a vintage steel receiver peep is not straightforward. I may just go with a modern sight like a Williams WGRS. Won't look authentic, but fixing it to the rifle is clean, without complications.

 

[RickKr]

RickKr,
Nice work on the sight. I expect I'll have to get a tall front blade as well.
...snip...

Lots of low Lyman globe front sights out there, but tall ones are very hard to come by. Figure out what dovetail you need. Mine was .375"

 

[gard]

Relating to thread checkers and guns, I have most of the ones shown above and use them all. I also really like the "screw chek'r" from Brownells, I have the metric and english one, they seem well made, hardened and has some of the stranger sizes as well as tap and clearance drills. This is one of those tools I kind of winced when putting it in the shopping cart but as soon as I saw and used it was happy I did.

 

[RickKr]

Relating to thread checkers and guns, ...snip...

Essentially same as what I have and other than the thread pitch gauges, all I have. Even so, it does not have most of the non-standard, "odd" sized "gun" screws we've been talking about, such as the #1-56 in my case.

 

[sign216]

Relating to thread checkers and guns, I have most of the ones shown above and use them all. I also really like the "screw chek'r" from Brownells, I have the metric and english one, they seem well made, hardened and has some of the stranger sizes as well as tap and clearance drills. This is one of those tools I kind of winced when putting it in the shopping cart but as soon as I saw and used it was happy I did.
View attachment 489061

Gard,
I've got the Brownell's gauges too. Nice metal ones. Good for smaller screws. A little hard to read too.

As RickKr said, it's hard to find gauges for non-standard sizes. That's a continuing struggle. For example, I get parts for the Swedish Special K submachine gun used by American Special Forces in Vietnam. It's all Metric, but everything is oddball uncommon sizes of metric. Aargh.

 

[Rex Walters]

Good for smaller screws

Yes, this is the big win. The other styles typically only go down to 6-32 or so.

Once I realized the thread was about gunsmithing (presumably lots of small screws) the utility of a metal Screw Check'r made more sense.

(I want to see someone use a pitch gauge on a 1-72 screw! )

 

[sign216]

Yes, this is the big win. The other styles typically only go down to 6-32 or so.

Once I realized the thread was about gunsmithing (presumably lots of small screws) the utility of a metal Screw Check'r made more sense.

(I want to see someone use a pitch gauge on a 1-72 screw! )

Rex,
The firearms thread drift is accidental. What really got me looking for a better thread-checker was this: To repair a safe I needed a slide hammer with a vise-like grip at one end, and realized I could make one using a pair of Vise-grip pliers, by screwing a long threaded rod to replace the adjustment knob. I unscrewed the adj. knob, but my cheap plastic thread checker didn't have 7/16." The knob fit a metric hole. The fit was off enough that investigated more, and realized that;
1) It's actually 7/16" and not metric at all.
2) I needed a quality thread-checker, so I'm not running around with false readings.

Joe