Welcome everyone to the TFB Armorer’s Bench! As mentioned in the little blurb below, this series will focus on a lot of home armorer and gunsmith activities. I hope everyone had a great holiday season and new year! In this article, I decided to run down some goals I have for the year as well as some stuff that Santa was not able to check off my wishlist. It has been pretty rough up here in Minnesota as far as the weather goes so the workshop has not really been an option. Inside, warm and away from the snow and wind I thought I would jot down some general goals and things on my wishlist for 2023. While we run through it make sure to think to yourselves what you would like to see out of TFB Armorer’s Bench for this year. Any types of articles you would like to see more of? Any new stuff to try out? That being said, let’s dive right into my 2023 Armorer’s Bench Wishlist/Goals!

2023 Armorer’s Bench: My Goals

This is the goals portion of my 2023 Armorer’s Bench Wishlist/Goals. I have a lot of ongoing projects and they sort of get mixed up, dropped, or restarted throughout the year. Just because I spin a lot of plates does not mean I am good at it. It just means I like what I do and I cannot get enough. This series makes me so excited because it can be a resource to someone, literally anyone for such simple things that at the moment may feel monumental. This year there are some things I would like to try to accomplish. Also, yes, still make sure to comment with any requests or ideas!

“In The Field” Problem-Solving: This is something I had thought of in the early part of 2022 but never had a real good opportunity or situation where it would be doable and natural. Manufacturing circumstances for photography’s sake may be beneficial to demonstrate how to solve issues that pop up in the field, at the range, or on the moon (whatever, you know what I mean). The lack of this type of article is a time and planning thing at this point. I hope to write at least one article highlighting this category this year.

Commentary Articles: Commentary articles! I love these things and I mentioned that in my previous article before we hit the holidays and new year. I want to do more because it is one of those things they can only touch on in gunsmithing school. Take a specific firearm and tell me the brief history, issues, and solutions. More than anything just talk about it from a gunsmith or armorer’s perspective. It is very refreshing to me and hopefully informative for folks with or wanting these specific firearms.

• TFB Armorer’s Bench: Commentary on The Winchester 150 & 190 Rifles
• TFB Armorer’s Bench: Commentary on The Colt 1877 Revolvers
• TFB Armorer’s Bench: Commentary on the Remington 74 Series

Product Reviews: Product reviews are always fun but as far as something to do with TFB Armorer’s Bench goes, it can be difficult. Let me elaborate. As far as tools go, there are usually things that are fairly generic (let’s say a hammer) where you really can only comment on quality and price. There are no huge life-changing features, no bells and whistles, only quality or lack thereof. Other than the very generic side there is the specialized side. This is where tools do a specific job and they are normally fancy, do their job well, and lean towards being more expensive. The downside is there is not a ton to compare them to. It either works well or it does not. That is my long rant and way of saying I would like to do more reviews but I only want to do them if they are worthwhile and have something to learn from and offer. If the opportunity arises where I buy something and find that it fits the bill you will see it!

2023 Armorer’s Bench: My Wish

This is the wishlist portion of my 2023 Armorer’s Bench Wishlist/Goals. Well, the holidays have passed and here I am daydreaming about how lovely the shop would be if I was a billionaire. Realistically, I do not need a whole lot and have a lot of what I would consider “core essentials”. A true gunsmith only needs some chisels, files, and the know-how. That is putting it very plainly and blandly but there is some truth to it. A full-size lathe and mill sure would be nice but I have neither the space nor the resources. Those would be on the wishlist if I thought it was even feasible for me this year. Someday just not soon. Let’s just concentrate on stuff that is obtainable this year.

Books: Start off with the boring one! Yes, I want more books. Besides gunsmithing-related books like Firearm Blueing and Browning by R.H. Angier or Trouble- Shooting the Colt Lightning (Model 1877 Double Action Revolver) by Clifford W. Mills, I would like more gun-specific books. This sort of caters to my own inventory of guns but not all. I would like more broad-spectrum and expensive books like H & R Arms Co. 1871-1986 By W.E. “Bill” Goforth or even FN Browning Pistols – Sidearms that Shaped World History by Anthony Vanderlinden. These gun-specific books offer a much deeper insight into firearms and can potentially explain or paint issues, solutions, changes, and overall history. Books are the greatest tool and not everything you see on the internet is all that there is out there.

• TFB Armorer’s Bench: A Peek at My Gunsmithing Library

Checkering Tools: This is something I really miss from school. I love woodworking, and I enjoyed stock making, but checkering is such a calming and enjoyable process. It is really something I would like to get back into but time and money sort of prevent that. Beyond generic checkering hand tools, there are power checkering tools that are operated via electricity or air (pneumatic). That would make life easier and projects faster and more digestible.

Firearm Finishing Related: This was my absolute favorite part of the school and if I had the money I would probably make a business out of it. I love the idea of taking a gun in utter disrepair and making it as new as it can be again or at least as new as a customer may want. Nothing is more gratifying to me than to take someone’s “grandpappy’s” gun and put it back into working order or make it as good as new. I have been slowly putting together a rust-bluing setup since it is efficient, easy, and explainable. I feel like it would make a good chunk of articles to share the process but again getting things set up is taking quite a bit of time. Nitre bluing is also a quick and easy process that makes mall parts stunning when applied to the right firearm. If you are curious about bluing make sure to check out this article below!

•  TFB Armorer’s Bench: Education on Bluing Types & Processes – Part 1
•  TFB Armorer’s Bench: Education on Bluing Types & Processes – Part 2

Conclusion: 2023 Armorer’s Bench Wishlist/Goals

As I said earlier, I hope everyone had a great holiday season and a happy new year. I am very excited about Armorer’s Bench this year and hopefully checking off some 2023 Armorer’s Bench Wishlist/Goals. I think as winter passes here in Minnesota the projects will get more intensive so I am not freezing my hands off in my workshop. As I mentioned, feel free to shout out any ideas (ones within my power, I do not have machinery readily available), any article types to continue, or products to try out! Thank you again, everyone! Take care and see you next time!

As always, thank you for reading TFB! Be safe out there, have fun while shooting, and we will see you next time for the TFB Armorer’s Bench! Also, let us know what you think in the comments below! We always appreciate your feedback.