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Dave Timm
7 March 2015, 15:17
Hi Everyone,

Just completed our review of the Magpul Armorer's Wrench. I work on a fair amount of ARs and have always been looking for a true professional grade armorer's wrench. I've used the cheap ones, and the nicer ones and all have their pro's and con's, with majority of them having far more con's. If you're not interested in watching the video, this tool really impresses me and will be my go to armorer wrench in my tool box and on the road. The one "down side" that I've heard and can kind of relate to is the cost, at $80 it is not cheap but quality and cheap don't go together.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and discussion.

Best regards,
Dave

https://www.full30.com/video/0e9261ca4580b7534c13965d50b1a8f1

Eric
7 March 2015, 18:20
As usual, well done Dave! Thanks for all the hard work you put into those and sharing them with us. I too have been using the Hammerhead (http://www.weaponevolution.com/forum/showthread.php?2217-HammerHead-Rifle-Tool&highlight=hammerhead) and find it to be a great tool, but it sure looks like Magpul put a lot of thought into their wrench.

Dave Timm
7 March 2015, 20:15
Happy to share, I know you guys like nice tools. Thanks for the kind words!

jonpac07
7 March 2015, 21:09
Are these still available?

Eric
7 March 2015, 21:20
Are these still available?
Yes. (http://lmgtfy.com/?q=magpul+armorer%27s+wrench) [BD]

gatordev
8 March 2015, 10:09
Was going to ask this elsewhere, but maybe this is the best place...

I have the Magpul wrench and love it. I also have a crappy cheap Chinese steel wrench that usually works fine for muzzle devices (before I got the Magpul). However, neither will fit a Surefire SF3P flash hider. I was really surprised that Magpul didn't have something compatible, but then when I went through my other crescent wrenches, none of them would fit, either.

So am I missing something? It seems the flats are too narrow for a standard width wrench, but maybe I'm just doing something wrong.

UWone77
8 March 2015, 10:18
Was going to ask this elsewhere, but maybe this is the best place...

I have the Magpul wrench and love it. I also have a crappy cheap Chinese steel wrench that usually works fine for muzzle devices (before I got the Magpul). However, neither will fit a Surefire SF3P flash hider. I was really surprised that Magpul didn't have something compatible, but then when I went through my other crescent wrenches, none of them would fit, either.

So am I missing something? It seems the flats are too narrow for a standard width wrench, but maybe I'm just doing something wrong.

Interesting, I never noticed that as I only have 1 of those FH's. Next days off I'm going to look into this as you have piqued my curiosity. I use a Smith Enterprise Wrench a buddy gave me a few years back. Before that, I used a cheap Chinese POS wrench.

I've been playing with the Magpul BEV Block for a few weeks, and I'm very impressed with it so far. I will definitely buy a wrench down the road.

Dave Timm
8 March 2015, 10:42
I don't have one of those muzzle devices around but looking at the photos the flats look narrow. The magpul wrench is thicker than others as you noticed. I wonder if a hammer head wrench would work. If you can, could you measure the width of the flats? Id be happy to post the thickness of the various wrenches I have if that helps. Also as you experienced often times a standard box wrench is too wide. I wish muzzle device makers would widen the flats so standard, non armorer, wrenches would work. I get on some suppressor adapters that's tough but on comps etc seems like a no brainer.

gatordev
8 March 2015, 14:31
Interesting, I never noticed that as I only have 1 of those FH's. Next days off I'm going to look into this as you have piqued my curiosity. I use a Smith Enterprise Wrench a buddy gave me a few years back. Before that, I used a cheap Chinese POS wrench.


I only had one of them, as well, so so far, I'm not terribly upset at the issue, especially since the 3-prong gives pretty much zero compensation compared to a bird cage. That said, it was a little annoying. I ended up using a heavy duty screw driver at the base of the tines. I know, not remotely optimal, but it actually worked well in both directions (you have to move the screw driver the other direction because of the "twist"). Would be nice if SF cut just a little more of a flat in there.


I don't have one of those muzzle devices aroubd but looking at the photos the flats look narrow. The magpul wrench is thicker than others as you noticed. I wonder if a hammer head wrench would work. If you can, could you measure the width of the flats? Id be happy to post the thickness of the various wrenches I have if that helps. Also as you experienced often times a standard box wrench is too wide. I wish muzzle device makers would widen the flats so standard, non armorer, wrenches would work. I get on some suppressor adapters that's tough but on comps etc seems like a no brainer.

I don't have a set of calipers, so it's going to be a measurement with a ruler and some tongue wagging, but I'll see what I can come up with. Interestingly, the flats on the SF brake and legacy birdcage (-212) work just fine with all wrenches, it's just the SF3P that I've had an issue with.

Hmac
8 March 2015, 14:38
I currently use a Hammerhead tool for muzzle devices, but in the past I used a standard thin-head tappet wrench which worked well. I usually used a 12 inch piece of aluminum tubing to slip over it to supply more easily-managed torque. Not necessary with the Hammerhead.

alamo5000
8 March 2015, 14:56
I don't need one of these wrenches (yet) but the video was very well done. Good job and a very thorough review. It's an example how a 'good review' should be done, plus the personalities involved were very pleasant to watch. I enjoyed it.

Dave Timm
8 March 2015, 16:03
I don't need one of these wrenches (yet) but the video was very well done. Good job and a very thorough review. It's an example how a 'good review' should be done, plus the personalities involved were very pleasant to watch. I enjoyed it.

Thank you, it's comments like this that keep us going!

alamo5000
8 March 2015, 16:09
Thank you, it's comments like this that keep us going!

If I thought it sucked I would have told you [:D]

But yes, you are very welcome. It's clearly a well done piece of work.