Torque Wrench for Chapman Tools

I bought a Chapman Tools gunsmithing kit, but unfortunately their bits don’t play well with my Wheeler FAT Wrench. Does anyone know of a good torque wrench that works well with the Chapman bits?

I believe that the Chapman hex bits are a proprietary design and are not compatible with the standard 1/4” hex bit drivers. At least they will not fit my Utica torque screwdriver nor a Sears Craftman’s adapter.

Sorry but that’s the best answer I have.

Okay, thanks. Maybe the better route is to just ensure I have the compatible bits for the FAT wrench too.

As a very precise person myself I own 6 Torque Wrenches in both inch pounds and foot pounds. I do use them on occasion when the torque settings are critical for operation and/or safety - mostly on vehicle engines and wheels and sometimes on other components as well where spec's are critical.

I applaud your efforts to tighten screws properly and not under or over tighten them. Tightening screws properly is somewhat of an "art" if you will as many people just don't have that skill (observations over the years). I have seen more under tightened screws on forearms than over tightened and neither is good.

That said, I can not ever recall myself using a Torque Wrench on a firearm. Yes - it is absolutely possible to under/over tighten screws however that is something worth learning the skill set for IMO. I always tell people to use the proper Hollow Ground Screwdriver (and the proper sized handle) and tighten snuggly but not Gorilla tight. Now I know that is not a torque setting (lol) but must be learned with muscle memory. So how tight is tight enough you may ask..... Tight enough is tight enough to insure the screw does not back out under recoil, won't warp, distort or pull in the piece it is fastening because it's too tight. You should not have to struggle to loosen a tightened screw nor should it loosen up with ease - somewhere in the middle is correct.

Most screws on firearms are fine threads and are quality machined screws. They are usually well though out as to size, thread pitch and screw diameter and stand up quite well - hence the many screws still in perfect shape on many firearms over many man years! What usually ruins screws in firearms is using the incorrect screwdriver! The screws I've see that were ruined are ruined on their heads - the slot is all buggered up! Again - from using the improper screwdriver or sized blade. I seriously can't remember ever having come across a screw with its threads stripped on a gun. Not saying it can't happen - but not common IMO.

So my recommendation would be to tighten a guns screw moderately snug and if it should back out under use, then it wasn't tight enough - so next time go slightly tighter. NOT trying to discourage you buying a Torque Wrench - but I believe this is a skill that is imperative to be learned if one is to work on his/her firearms.

HINT: If you buy short, medium and long handle screwdriver bit handles (from Brownell's for instance) you can start by using the small for tiny screws, medium for bigger ones and the large handle for very large screws. This will assist to transmit the proper or correct torque to the size screw you are tightening. It's much harder to over torque a screw using a handle that will allow only a certain amount of force to be transmitted to that screw. Once this "skill" is learned then the handle size becomes less important and becomes second nature.

Sorry if I went on too long here, but to me this is something that needs to be learned and acquired and one should not have to rely on a special Torque Wrench to achieve this. If you do wind up buying a TW, then you can sort of transmit that torque to muscle memory in short order.

They don't fit My Capri set either, at least not very well. I use the torque screw drivers to tighten screws in My 22 rifles. You would not believe the difference in accuracy with different settings..Between 18 to 21 seems perfect and You would not believe the difference in 1 inch lb between front and rear screws, or between 19 and 20 inch lbs. I have started torquing My other rifles as I play at the club.

It isn’t so much the guns themselves, but a lot of my optic mounts have specific torque settings.

I did get the Chapman kit because the are hollow ground.