and the tip is square for an even “bite” in the slot.
In addition to screwdrivers, you'll need drift punches. While older shotgun designs have a plethora of screws holding them together, many newer shotguns are assembled with push pins. The Remington 870 and 1100 for example, have but one screw, and that holds the stock on. The only other part that is threaded is the magazine cap, and you don't need a screwdriver for it. The drift punches can be used with a hammer, or pushed by hand, to drift pins out.
Once you shotgun is apart, you'll need cleaning tools for it. The barrel will require a cleaning rod with brushes and patch holders. While on a rifle a one-piece rod of hard steel is needed, on shotguns you can use the jointed rod. There are three reasons to use a one-piece rod in rifles. One, the rod is a tight fit in the bore. On a shotgun, even if you used a half-inch bar as a cleaning rod for a 20-gauge barrel it wouldn't come close to rubbing. Two, the edges of the joints can scrape the rifling and wear it. On a shotgun, the rod won't come close to the bore, and for most barrels there is no rifling. Three, the soft rod in a rifle can hold grit in its surface, grinding the vital throat and leade of the rifling. Again, on a shotgun, the rod doesn't come close, and there usually isn't rifling to worry about.
This is a very nice set of screwdrivers and drift punches, in their own carrying case.
A jointed rod is easier to store. Along with the rod, store your brushes, patches and swabs. To clean the barrel you'll need at least a bore brush. The bore brush scrubs the plastic, lead and powder fouling in your bore. A chamber brush is slightly larger and does the same for your chamber. If you get a dedicated chamber brush, mount it on a short handle and leave it there, if the chamber brush makes a trip down the bore it will get squeezed down (the brass ones, anyway) and will not be useful as a chamber brush. With the short rod you can't forget which one is which. Many owners of Remington 1100s and 11-87s also invest in a gas ring or barrel hanger brush. This brush is used to scrub the inside of the gas system enclosure on the guns. Instead of the gas system brush, I use a degreaser to suck the oils out, and then wire wheel the crusted gunk off. The wire wheel is an extra fine wheel from Brownells that fits my hand-held grinder. With the gunk turned dry as dust, the wire wheel makes short work of any crusty gas system, and takes off any rust that might have formed underneath the gunk.
The Grace set, with properly-ground screwdrivers and brass drift punches. If you knarf your gun with these, you have no one to blame but yourself.
Here is a chewed-up screw slot. This is the result of using an improperly-fitting screwdriver.
With properly-fitting screwdrivers, no job is impossible. This Winchester was made in 1926, and probably hadn't been apart since then. The right screwdriver made things simple.
If you are drilling, you'll probably be tapping. You'll need taps and a thread gauge.
Taps come in three types, from right to left; taper, plug and bottoming. The taper is easy to start, and he bottom lets you tap to the bottom of a blind hole. The plug is for the inevitable compromises.
A minimum cleaning kit would be a rod and accessories and a cloth to wipe the shotgun down after you are done.
For the interior of the receiver and the trigger mechanism, a regular gun cleaning brush works fine. Usually with a green or black plastic handle, the original design of most brushes dates back to the introduction of the M-16.
All of this cleaning requires solvent. The customary method of providing a cleaning location and solvent supply is with a parts cleaning stand. The sink of the stand rests on a barrel of solvent, which is pumped up into the sink. The parts are scrubbed while in the stream of solvent. The solvent is usually mineral spirits, an inexpensive and non-flammable solvent that usually is reclaimed and has a small percentage of kerosene in it. Only the new, non-reclaimed solvent can be called odorless, and even it has a slight odor to it. Reclaimed solvent that has been used for a while will have a distinct odor to it. The odor is strong enough that on a regular basis we would have people walk into the gunshop and ask “what is that smell?” It wasn't objectionable, but it was noticeable. Even after I would drive home for over half an hour with the truck windows open (tough to do in a Michigan winter) my girlfriend would comment “You smell like a gunsmith.”
A parts cleaning tank, with compressed air nozzle for blowing the solvent off is fast, convenient and messy. The Bassett hound is an option.
Small nicks and scratches can be touched-up with this Outers kit. Extensive bluing requires more of an investment in time, materials and space.
The solvent-soaked parts would be dried by blowing them with compressed air. Between the splashes from the parts washing stand and the compressed air blowing the gunk off, the corner of any shop that uses this method gets dirty. No, it gets grubby and crusted with gunk. And when the drum of solvent gets filled with powder residue, oil, bits of rust and gunk, it has to be properly disposed of. Even as an enthusiastic home gunsmith of your own guns it will take years to use up a drum of solvent, but sooner or later you will. You cannot simply dump the stuff down the drain. If you have the elbow room and can stand the mess, go ahead with a parts tank and solvent. Otherwise, you'll need a different method.
Instead of the smelly mineral spirits, use Brownells d'Solve. It is a concentrate that you mix with water to make a cleaning solvent. Before you scream that water is the tool of the devil and will not come near your shotgun, consider that we will be using a blow dryer or heat gun to dry the parts, and penetrating lubricant to protect them. Mix your concentrate and scrub the parts in a sink or basin. Once clean, use the blower to dry them and immediately oil them with a penetrating oil to cover the parts and displace any residual water. You can filter the used solvent back into a storage jug, and when it is too nasty, cap the jug and take it off to the nearest landfill or recycling depot.
To scrub the bore you'll need bore solvent. Unlike the general cleaning solvent you will not need gallons of bore solvent. A quart will last you years. Keep the solvent in the bottle clean, and transfer the solvent to your cleaning patch or swab with an eyedropper or a clean patch. Don't just dunk the grubby swab or brush into the bottle, contaminating the solvent in the bottle. Unlike rifles, you will not need abrasive bore cleaning compounds to remove the fouling. The shotgun bore does not get exposed directly to copper as a rifle bore does. The only thing your bore is likely to see is plastic and powder residue. If you shoot slugs or buckshot, then there will be some lead. All of this will come out with a brush and solvent, or in extreme cases with a swab wrapped in brass kitchen cleaning mesh.
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