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LBD,
Good point ! I enjoy collecting the Tools & Memorabilia as much as the guns.

John,
I wondered if it had been changed or just came that way. My Type V is as you describe.
My early Breast Plate Drill came with the short crank arm also, is that uncommon ?
It also does not have a removable end cap.







Terry

Terry,

I have learned over the years, the hard way, never declare Ruger did or didn't do something. My opinion is that your drill was probably shipped with a short crank.

I bet if you use channel locks on the end cap of the breast drill, it will unscrew, squirt some penetrating oil on it first. This one, with an oval breast pad is not seen as often as the one with a rectangular breast pad.

Is the aluminum drill in the photo 1/4" or 3/8"?

John

John,
Thanks for the info. Type V is 1/4" Chuck.

When I first bought it I tried the channel locks and she would not budge.
So tomorrow I'm going to dig her back out and use a vice & barrel strap wrench.

To my eye, the bevel appears to be lathe cut to resemble an end cap. I'll find out tomorrow...
I figured that being it had the curved plate & short arm it was an early one.
Terry

Terry & John,

Great thread.

Please keep posting................

JAYDAWG

I just started reading Walt Kuleck's book. No news to anyone I'm sure but near the beginning it has an interesting bit on the drills. No pun intended.

John,
You were right ! it just took the right tools and a little muscle..

I took her apart today and used a padded vise and put the strap wrench on and gave it a steady hard pull, the whole shaft turned in the vise. So I took a ballpeen hammer and really tightened the vise put the wrench on again and leaned into her, this time it moved, "hard but it moved", about half way out and I could turn it by hand.

Then surprise #2, inside the shaft was a rolled-up piece of paper, turns out its a Breast Plate Drill that sold on ebay
on April 22, 2013 with 12 bidders. Then I noticed that the plate was rectangular mine is oval, the crank arm was long mine
is short. Interesting

"They Don't Make them Anymore, And they made Damn Few Of Them To Begin With"
Terry,



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LDB,
He also wrote a short article on the drills in the February 2025 NRA magazine Man at Arms for the Gun Collector.
Pictured in the article is a Type II Ruger Pistol Grip Precision Hand Drill, that he received 40+ years ago as a BD present.
Best,
Terry

Here are a few tools

Rick,
Love that second picture, the mirrors make make it look like a pile of tools at a flea market. Nice!
I have to ask, is there a story to the spotting scope in the 1st picture ?
Terry

Terry yes there is a story about the spotting scope, infact here is a letter about it.