Gunmakers tool

[westbj2]

A few years ago, a retiree from one of the major London gunmaking firms visited a friend of mine here and gave him this tool found in a dark corner of the shop as a gift. Yesterday he gave it to me knowing that I enjoy this sort of thing.
It appears to be some sort of tool for fitting nipples or perhaps firing pin retainer nuts.
The only difference in the two pieces that I have noticed is that the tool with the file slash (last picture right side) on the tapered-square shaft, is that the threads are .002" larger in diameter than the other one (.248" vs. .250").  Also they are perfectly oriented to match rotation wise when seated against the base.
The perfectly shaped threads have the polished look of burnishing.
Guess at this point is that the tool may have been used to finish/burnish/polish the corresponding female threads in a breech.  ??
Any Thoughts?






 

[Eric Smith]

Even if you never figure out what it was used for, it's nice to have a piece of history in the shop. Makes good ambiance. 

[Dave B]

Cliff Noll described to us at the Oregon Gunmakers Fair the process of removing fine screws from European/English rifles/shotguns. They tend to be fine slotted and tight leading to buggered slots if one is not careful how good the turn screw fits. He uses cut down square shanked screw drivers with the handle removed. The end is turned to be chucked into the drill press. The action is placed under the chucked bit and downward pressure from the spindle keeps the screw slot perfectly engaged. The use of a adjustable wrench on the square shank will break loose the most stubborn screw with out buggering the slot up. These may have been for that use.

[mjm46@bellsouth.net]

Is the bar with the female threaded portion part of the tool or is it just a holder for the two shafts which are separate tools?

[westbj2]

The threaded bar appears to just be a holder for the tools.  Even though the male threads are of different diameters, they will easily screw into either hole.
Jim