Good grip , A little tight
Upon arrival it was tight and wouldn't open easy. Applied some oil to the joint and it loosened some. It is unfortunate that the rivet is aluminum on a steel tool. I do not expect the aluminum rivet to last more than a dozen uses. Will need to replace it with more appropriate hardware. Other than that, it did its job.
Would you recommend this?
Yes, I would recommend to a friend
Best value for the price. Easy to use.
Best value for the price. Easy to use. Fast and reasonable shipping.
Works if you use correctly.
I used these on a James River armory castle nut that was extremely tight and would not even come loose with the brass punch method and pb blaster. My rifle had the flash hider installed and then the steel face of the flashider that the castle nut tightens forward against was actually peened down against the castle nut then finished over. I assume James river armory does this to accurize the rifle. It was so tight I had to actually clamp my BAD T3 gas cylinder wrench (also purchased here) in a vise while attached to the m-14 gas cylinder and have the rifle resting in a gun cleaning cradle. I firmly grabbed the castle nut with these Brownell pliers and with both hands squeezed them tightly shut and also grabbed the top end of the pliers squeezing them shut here as well (right hand on the handles and left hand on the top squeezing both ends closed at the same time). At the same time, I was holding the pliers closed from both ends I was pushing them rearward tightly into the castle nut grooves so they could not slip or jump out of the grooves and shear the plier teeth or strip the grooves on the castle nut. It was an absolute monster to break loose, but it did so with no damage to pliers or castle nut. Also, again, my rifle was very securely held in place in a gun cradle with a gas cylinder wrench attached and the wrench hung downward from the rifle and secured in a 5" bench vise. There would have been no way to do this without this setup because of the amount of force needed to break this loose. A second person just holding the rifle by hand would have resulted in the rifle just spinning in this persons grasp. I cannot comment on other users who left low ratings without seeing the technique they used with the pliers, but with the amount of force I had to use on this tool I cannot see how it failed for other users unless they need to change up their technique a bit. If I would have just grabbed the pliers by the handles only and tried to twist the nut loose I believe they would have bent or broken. I hope this method helps other users. The reason I took away 1 star is because the handle covers do slip right off and I do believe this tool could be made of thicker steel which would make them live longer. I also used them to re-tighten the castle nut which required just as much torque to line up the Allen screw hole to the castle nut slot and with my same two-handed pushing technique it worked here as well too. As others have said, DO NOT forget to remove the castle nut set screw from the front sight base before removing the castle nut! I would not buy the cheaper version of this brownells sells because the cost savings is negligible.
they work
These castle nut pliers worked fine for me. just remember to soak nut area with penetrating lube the night before. most important thing is to remember to remove the castle nut set screw. i forgot and broke 1st pair. followed the above directions and and came loose with little effort. would/did buy again.
WORKED AS ADVERTISED....
USED THE PLIERS TO REPLACE THE FLASH SUPPRESSOR ON A POLLY-TECH M14S...ONLY PROBLEM I HAD WAS THE GRIP COVER LOOSENED UP, A LITTLE GORRILLA GLUE FIXED THAT...THE WAY I WAS TAUGHT BACK IN THE 70'S ON HOW TO REMOVE FLASH SUPPRESSORS WAS TO REMOVE THE SET SCREW, TAP THE FLASH ADPTR BACK TOWARDS THE RCVR A FEW TIMES TO RELIEVE THE PRESSURE OFF THE CASTLENUT, USE A PUNCH AND LOOSEN THE CASTLENUT, AND THEN USE THE PLIERS TO BACK THE NUT OFF 1 1/2 TURNS, AND THEN BEGIN TAPPING THE FLASH SUPPRESSOR UP TO THE NUT AND USE THE PLIERS AGAIN REPEATING THE PROCESS UNTIL COMPLETED...I THINK THE KEY WORD IS THAT THESE ARE PLIERS, NOT A WRENCH...AND FOR [$] YOU CAN'T GET MUCH BETTER...NORMALLY I JUST USE THEM TO INSTALL THE CASLE NUT, BECAUSE IF I'M CHANGING THE FLASH SUPPRESOR I'M GOING TO PAY THE $7 FOR A NEW CASLE NUT AND SET SCREW.
This is a as needed item
This tool is need for disassemble of the M1A1. Worked great. Ok quality
