$10.99
77 in stock
Online inventory may differ from in-store availability.
Quick turnaround so you get your gear sooner.
Trusted checkout with industry-standard protection.
Keeping Traditions Alive Since 1953
Secure Transactions provided with 
The 6-48 thread is the workhorse of scope mounting, and this taper tap from Reiff & Nestor is exactly what you want in the drawer when it's time to add a base or set of sights. The 6-48 pitch is by far the most common thread for scope mount screws and sight screws, which means this size covers the vast majority of drill-and-tap jobs on rifles and shotguns. A taper tap has a long, gradual lead-in at the tip, so it starts the thread square to the work and eases into the hole before the full profile bites. That makes it the natural first tap to run and a favorite for getting alignment right from the start.
This is the tap you use to open fresh threads in a pre-drilled hole or to chase and clean up threads that got buggered by a cross-threaded screw. Since scope mount screws are usually harder than the receiver steel, it's the female threads in the gun that take the abuse when a screw goes in crooked, and a good taper tap is often the first step to bringing that hole back to life. Many gunsmiths pair it with a #31 drill for new work. The tapered nose also lets you reach a little deeper on shallow holes before you switch to a plug or bottoming tap.
Reiff & Nestor has been manufacturing taps at their facility in Lykens, Pennsylvania since 1912, and they're the largest independently owned tap maker in the country. That American-made pedigree shows up in the geometry and finish, which matters a lot on a small-diameter tap like a 6-48 where a careless pass can snap the tool off in the hole. Go slow, use plenty of cutting fluid, and back it out often to clear chips, especially in stainless, which loves to gall. Treated right, this tap will handle mounting job after mounting job and keep cutting clean, true threads every time.
A taper tap has a long, gradual lead-in of tapered threads at the tip, which helps it start square and align the thread cleanly in the hole. That makes it the first tap you run in most drill-and-tap jobs. A plug tap has a shorter lead-in and a bottoming tap has almost none, so you switch to those when you need threads closer to the bottom of a blind or shallow hole.
A #31 drill is the standard tap drill for a 6-48 thread, and that's what most gunsmiths use for new scope mount and sight holes. A #25 is the matching clearance drill if you need a hole the screw passes through freely. Always double-check your specific mount's requirements before you drill.
Yes, running this taper tap through a damaged 6-48 hole is a common way to chase and restore threads that a crooked screw messed up. The tapered nose helps it find and follow the original thread line as it works down. If the threads are stripped all the way to the bottom, you may need to step up to an 8-40 conversion instead.
A 6-48 is a small-diameter tap and it will break if you rush it, so patience is the name of the game. Use plenty of cutting fluid, turn slowly, and back the tap out frequently to clear chips out of the flutes. This is especially important on stainless steel, which tends to gall against the tool.
| UPC | 887861082587 |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | |
| Quantity | 1 |
| Style | Taper |
You must be logged in to post a review.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.