Taper Pin Reamer by BROWNELLS
Reamer steel/design of flutes looks ok. Handle appears to be spindly. Instructions included with reamer weren't for the reamer; but after 52 years of experience with machine tools I think I can figure out how to use it. After reading review if the handle fails I'll machine flats on the handle end for a tap handle.
Taper reamer
Use this to finish ream the taper for A2 gas block/sight It works....kinda. The tool is ok, just ok. Half way through the job the reamer came loose from the handle. The reamer should have a square drive to go into a tap handle. Dont expect this tool to last for more than 1 sight.
Good Reamer, Useless handle
As others have stated, the handle is totally useless. It doesn't seem designed for human hands. Fortunately, it breaks off easily on the first use and you then have a perfectly serviceable reamer that fits a standard tap handle (or drill/drill press if you like living dangerously... seriously, do it by hand). Once freed from its handle the reamer made short work of its intended job and my retro AR now has its gas block pinned on as designed.
No need for the handle
As other have mentioned, put it in a vise and pull off the handle and you should be ok. Ideal is putting a tap handle after popping off the plastic one, but I did get the job done with some vise grips. Used this to install an oversized taper pin.
Reamer worked, handle didn't
The Reamer works great for the taper pins in the front sight base. I use the recommended drill bit size in the Q and A section. The handle work OK, but it really speed up the process using it in a cordless drill when it came out of the handle. Three stars was due to the handle. 5 stars would be accurate for the reamer alone.
It worked okay
I bought this with the intention to install a few AR15 A2 front sight blocks. I thought the handle was a nice feature. I drilled the taper pin holes and then tried to ream it to final dimension. After turning several times, the handle loosened. I ended chucking the reamer itself into a drill press and used slow RPMs to finish the job. The nice thing was the reamer has spriral flutes so it's suitable to use in a drill press rather than a straight flute. It's my understanding straight flutes are for hand reaming while spiral cut flutes work better on a machine. I found that out after I had backordered this reamer. I could have bought an 0/2 reamer from another tool source for a few bucks less but this was included in another order of mine. Brownells should consider selling the reamer without the handle because it will probably come loose after 1-2 jobs. The reamer would work better with a tap handle IMHO., hence three stars.
