Is it worth the 70 to 80 bucks ?

I bought the Master Armorers Kit. Came with it. It's worked fine thus far but price wise, the only thing I have to compare it to is military tools. I imagine if I had to buy it separately I'd probably not pay that much.

Very nice wrench but a has a really stupid design flaw. It won't slip past a FSB. Mine was 62.00 shipped about 3 years ago. Magpul gets more use.

I recently bought both the Real Avid and Magpul wrenches.  I had to get the Magpul after I realized the Real Avid wouldn't do what I needed.

Here are the main differences for my use:

- Real Avid: Open end castle nut wrench, closed end barrel nut wrench.  This lets you use the castle nut wrench without removing the stock, which is useful in California where many adjustable stocks are pinned, but dedicated castle nut wrenches are not too expensive.  The barrel nut wrench can't be used to remove a barrel with an A2 FSB or gas block in place.  It's also a funny shape, and is a bit clumsy to use.  Real Avid is made in China.

- Magpul: Closed end castle nut wrench, open end barrel nut wrench.  The stock has to be removed to use the castle nut wrench, which is quick and easy with unpinned stocks.  If you’re in a state that requires a fin grip or similar (like I am), the wrench won’t fit at all unless the grip is removed too.  The barrel nut wrench can remove a barrel while leaving the FSB or gas block in place, which is handy for pinned/welded muzzle devices; you can change the barrel an leave the muzzle device/FSB/gas block in place.  It's a better shape, IMO, and handles like any heavy duty wrench.  Magpul is made in the USA.

I can do pretty much everything on an upper but re-install a p&w flash hider.  In Cali, you can't have a flash hider on some AR15 configurations.  To make one of my uppers usable on my current lowers, I need to swap barrels, but the Real Avid was the wrong wrench to do this without jumping through the p&w and FSB hoops.  The Magpul took it right off.

Either one will do the trick, but if you want the flexibility of removing a barrel while leaving all the doo-dads on the end, the Magpul is the way to go, especially for those who care about Made In USA.

I found the best deals on gun.deals:
https://gun.deals/search/apachesolr_search/armorers%20wrench

Just a thought.... tell me it’s a silly one.......

On the Magpul wrench.... what if you cut off JUST enough castle nut wrench loop to Not require a absentee stock??     That Is a beefy wrench and
40ft/lbs is Nothing really ... Open End Wrench

Swing Away ??......

H

Sorry if you find this off topic, but what about this one ? Certainly less expensive, and made in USA.

BROWNELLS - AR-15/M16 COMBINATION WRENCH

Probably can be done - there's enough meat there that it should be sturdy even with a chunk cut out.  I'm not going to test it on mine, though!


In general, more teeth are better than fewer teeth.  Both the Magpul and Real Avid have lots of teeth.

I spent a good bit of time researching these before I bought mine, and the Brownells wrench (which is a copy of the milspec wrench, according to their site) was not typically high on the recommended list.  If you read the reviews for it, some people had good luck, while others had tolerance and breakage problems.

If you could find an actual mil issue version, it should be good.  I never saw one while I was looking around, though.

Probably ok in some applications. I prefer mesh-cut teeth and many of them.

Thanks for your input. This one seems to have the mesh-cut teeth option:

BROWNELLS - AR-15 ARMORER'S WRENCH

I’m not affiliated with Brownells, BTW. I’m just also interested in this topic, and thought I’d try to get input about the various options.

Yep. I see that now. Likely gtg.

I wrench on ARs for a living, and I can do 99% of everything with the Magpul Armorer's Wrench and one of these:

I've been looking for a decent standalone castle nut wrench, and this looks like just the ticket.  If it works out, I can get rid of my Real Avid wrench, and use this and my Magpul wrench, as sgtlmj suggests.  The Real Avid is clumsy for castle nuts.

The pic above is from CTD, who want $17 shipping on an $11 part.  You can order directly from DoubleStar - $12 (on sale today for $9.59), with free shipping.
https://doublestarusa.com/castle-nut-wrench-ar753n

Yeah I would never buy anything from CTD, but I feel fine about stealing their photo.

Similar castle nut wrenches from RRA or Midwest Industries are available for less, from reputable dealers.
ETA : I was referring to the CTD price. The deal from DoubleStar posted above is hard to beat.

Just trying to cover all of the options: DS Arms-Armorers Tool   I’m here to help the OP.

As stated earlier I have both Magpul and Real Avid wrenches. This very el cheapo castle nut wrench is my go to. Tacked a piece of lawn mower blade to it for a good bite for a breaker, ratchet, etc. For whatever reason, the lugs interface perfectly on castle nuts.



Quit smoking Feb 2020.

Lol!  I'd be bleeding all over my new build with that!  Looks awesome, though it's still got the closed end castle nut wrench, so that's a no for me, dawg.  It would look good hanging on the wall!