brings us to lubricants. Rather than petroleum-based lubricants I prefer synthetics. Petroleum-based lubricants are tough on wood. If your shotgun sits in the rack (as most do most of the time) the oils in it will settle in the rear of the receiver and come in contact with the stock. Petroleum products soaking into the wood soften the grain and lead to spongy wood that cracks. Synthetics will settle, but they won't attack the wood. I use Break Free, FP-10 and Rem Oil as light lubricants. For contact surfaces that need a more persistent lubricant, like sear tips and hammer hooks. I use Chip McCormick's Trigger Job. One jar will last a long time, even when you may have a bunch of guns to treat. My jar is so old it dates back to when he called it Trigger Slick, and I have used it on almost every firearm that came through the shop for work or repair in the years since.
Brownells d'Solve is a water-based cleaning solvent. Used in conjunction with a heat gun or blow dryer to evaporate the water, it is a convenient, odorless and non-toxic means of cleaning your shotguns.
Standard solvents and chemicals will do many things, but they won't strip old finish off. Especially the finish on Browning shotguns. Consider the cost of extra supplies if you want to do the job yourself or send it out.
If you are going to go past simple disassembly and cleaning, you'll need more tools. To strike some of the tools you'll need a hammer. A ball peen hammer of a medium weight, 8 to 12 ounces should be enough. For filing, the most useful file I have found is Brownells Swiss pattern, 8-inch extra narrow pillar file, #2 cut. It is large enough that you can get a good hold on it. It is small enough that you can get to places you couldn't with a large file. The #2 cut is a medium-fine cut, but the file can be used to remove large amounts of material and still finish with a smooth surface. The only drawback to the file is its flexibility. You can press on it hard enough to bend it, and if you aren't careful you'll file a rounded cut instead of a flat cut.
If you need a larger, heavier (non-bending) or coarser file, then get an American pattern Mill file, second cut of 8 or 10 inches long. It will be stiff enough that it won't bend, which is also useful as a backer when sanding.
For woodworking, get a cabinetmaker's rasp. The two files I mentioned are too fine for wood, and will fill up with wood after a couple of passes.
Buy as much lubricant as you think you'll need, and then some. You can get quantities from the ⅔ of an ounce to a full gallon.
To keep your files clean and properly cutting, get a file card. The one we're discussing is a flat piece of wood with short brass or bronze bristles used to card or comb the filings out of the teeth of the file. If you don't remove the filings, the file loads up and stops cutting. Before it stops cutting, the partially-loaded file cuts unevenly and makes a mess of the surface you are creating. The rasp will also need regular cleaning to keep your woodwork smooth.
If you are filing metal, filing talc makes the job messier but makes the filing easier. The talc slows down the accumulation of filings in the teeth of the file, reducing the need for carding. It also creates a mess. File the talc to load the file up, then file the metal. When you're done, sweep and vacuum up the mess, and wipe your shoes off.
For high-pressure areas such as sear tips and hammer hooks, a persistent lubricant is a must. Chip McCormick now calls his product “Trigger Job” but it still works great. A small jar is probably a lifetime supply.
Drilling holes requires drill bits, regardless of the kind of drill you are using. If you keep all of your drills in a small box, it is slightly better than letting them wander around on the bench. Keep them in small envelopes in the box, or get a drill organizer to keen them sorted and handy.
Hammers and drift punches are a must. Many shotguns will have pins holding things together.
You've got the bench, lights, vise, cleaning equipment and tools. Keep them organized. Don't “store” your tools in a heap on the end of the bench or in the corner. The cutting tools with get nicked and dulled, the polishing tools will get gouged and scratched and will not polish properly and your cleaning rods will get bent. At the very least, keep them in the boxes they were shipped in, and store the boxes on a shelf away from the bench. Better yet, get some plastic tool organizer boxes from the big-box hardware store or chain, and store your tools in the boxes. If you want, you can write an inventory list to keep track, but that is going a little overboard. Keep small accessory parts in a box and with the fixture they go to. Mark their box so you don't have to open it to remember what's in it.
Clean off your tools before you put them away. Card your files clean and wipe cleaning solvent off of the cleaning rods and tips before storing them.
You need the right file for the job. One file cannot do everything, but some come closer than others.
You should not leave your bench a mess. I did so in the past, but found a clean bench was much easier on the nerves. And, I could find things I had dropped!
For power equipment, the aforementioned bench grinder is very useful. But it is noisy, messy, loud and expensive. In the house the bench grinder is a hassle. The ground particles of metal combine with the grit from the wheel to make a persistent powder that not only gets rugs and floors dirty, but can grind the finish off a floor. With a sanding disk a bench grinder can be used in lieu of a belt sander to fit a pad, but the mess increases exponentially. The rubber dust of the pad flies around the room and gets on the walls, ceiling and the floor. You end up coated with the dust and track it wherever you go. If you have an extra bench in the garage you can exile the bench grinder out there and use it as needed, otherwise forego the bench grinder. An equally useful and more fastidious power tool is the drill press. The biggest drill presses have their own floor stand, but you can do almost everything on a model that stands on the bench. Make sure you get one that is tall enough between quill and plate, as the setup for drilling a shotgun quickly eats up space. At a minimum, you want a drill press with 14 inches between tip of the chuck and the baseplate.
A good tool chest is very useful for storing your tools, parts and fixtures. This Kennedy box is lockable and expensive, but even a cheap plastic box is better than an unorganized cardboard box full of loose stuff.
A variable speed drill is a must if you are going to polish your bore, chamber or chokes. To drill the stock for a pad installation, sling swivel installation or to repair a crack, it is indispensable.
And a hand-held grinder is vital for some repairs. A grinder like the Dremel tool, or my ancient grinder made by a company that went out of business before the Beatles broke up is just the ticket for fixing a cracked forearm.
The big machine tools are nice but beyond the scope of the home gunsmith.
