Review: Real Avid Accu-Punch Hammer and Punch Set

The Accu-Punch Hammer and Punch set from Real Avid is a great all-encompassing punch and hammer starter kit for the amateur gunsmith.

The kit comes with a variety of punches, 11 to be exact, with enough sizes to cover most jobs: from a 1/16-inch small enough push the detent when removing the backstrap from a pistol, to larger sizes useful when knocking out a stubborn takedown pin. The company's 3/16-inch is even made of resin, to prevent users from scratching any of their firearm’s finish. The rest of the punches are all nickel plated for corrosion resistance, are ringed with two O-rings each to improve grip and have a hexagonal shape to prevent their rolling off tool benches. In total, the kit includes the following punch sizes:

• 5/16-inch Nylon Pin Punch
• 9/32-inch Steel Pin Punch
• 1/4-inch Steel Pin Punch
• 7/32-inch Steel Pin Punch
• 3/16-inch Steel Pin Punch
• 5/32-inch Steel Pin Punch
• 9/64-inch Steel Pin Punch
• 1/8-inch Steel Pin Punch
• 3/32-inch Steel Pin Punch
• 5/64-inch Steel Pin Punch
• 1/16-inch Steel Pin Punch

The hammer, well-weighted despite its diminutive stature, is similarly versatile, coming with four interchangeable contact surfaces. These include: steel, for those stubborn bits that just won’t move; brass, for more delicate work; resin, for when you don’t want to scratch the finish; and rubber, for the most tender of taps.

One nifty little piece the Accu-Punch set includes is a pin-alignment tool. While it resembles the clumsy, ineffectual tweezers you probably had in high school chemistry class, it has slots cut to the exact right dimension for the majority of firearms pins (particularly those more common to build and work on), and can be locked together to reduce the amount of dexterity required for use.

Finally, though really inconsequential to the usefulness of the set, I enjoyed the “kickstanding” case that the set comes packed in. The top simply folds all the way around behind the case, to keep the punches and hammer upright and available, providing easy access while one is working. The suggested retail price on the Real Avid Accu-Punch Hammer and Punch set is $39.99.