The vise is one of the essential tools on a gunsmith’s bench. A good armorer’s vise will make any job easier and give you an extra hand when you need it most. The Real Avid Armorer’s Master Vise is new to the market and taking it by storm.
The Real Avid Armorer’s Master Vise is a vise made specifically for the gunsmith and armorer. It uses an articulating ball socket, Accu-Level leveling knob, and interchangeable vise jaws to set itself apart from others on the market.
Advertised as “The first real bench vise made exclusively for guns and gun tools,” and with a hefty price tag, it has to meet the consumer’s needs to succeed. It is full of features that the gunsmith or hobbyist will find helpful on the bench. But does it have the basics, such as rigidity?
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Master Armorer’s Vise Features
The numerous features on the Real Avid Armorer’s Vise that show that they thought of everything when designing it. The articulation and useability are top-notch, as well as some of the little things they rarely mention in their marketing, like the foam pad on the cross bars. Let’s take a look at some of the features of this vise.
Articulating Ball & Socket
The articulating ball and socket set this vise apart from others on the market. It allows you to move the vise to any position, making it easier to work with some of those stubborn assemblies. This feature alone is what sold me on buying this vise to try.
A few others on the market have a ball and socket design, but they are not built as rigid, in my opinion. The locking cam on this vise is underneath in an easily accessible spot to allow quick locking and unlocking. This cam is adjustable, making it possible to increase or decrease the amount of tension on the socket, locking the vise into its position.
Torq-Lok™ Pin
The Torq-Lok™ pin does an excellent job locking the ball socket into a few different positions for high torque scenarios. These positions allow you to hold the work at different 90-degree positions, both vertical and horizontal. With the pin installed, Real Avid tools advertise it as being able to withstand up to 100 ft-lbs of torque.
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The pin can be inserted from either the left or right side, making it ideal for left and right-handed workers. When not in use, the pin is stored out of the way in the unlocked position. That way, everything is kept within reach and doesn’t need to be stored elsewhere.
Gun-Fit™ Jaws
The included Gun-Fit™ vise jaws are an excellent addition to this vise. They slip over the top of the standard jaws and lock into place with pins inserted from each side. One side is made of a high-density foam that works well for gripping wood and synthetic stocks, while the other is made of nylon.
The nylon side of the Gun-Fit™ vise jaws has some great features that only a true gun snob can appreciate. First, a horizontal and vertical channel is used to grip round objects such as barrels and suppressors. Next, the topmost horizontal track is made for gripping Picatinny and Arca Swiss rails. This is ideal for working on rifles with rail systems and makes it nearly impossible to damage the rail.
A minor addition to this vise that makes it over the top is the pad that protects your work from hitting the bottom of the vise opening. I have been using a small piece of leather saddle backing on my other vises and was pleased to see this little piece of foam that moves with the vise jaws.
Accu-Level™ Leveling Knob
The last feature that I will discuss is the Accu-Level™ leveling knob. With the vise locked into position and the gun secured, the leveling knob is used to level the platform for accurate scope mounting. It gives you 3 degrees of rotation on both sides and is micro-adjustable. If you’ve ever wrestled a rifle in a vise trying to get it level, you know how useful this feature is.
All of these features set this armorer’s vise apart from others on the market, but what are the downsides of this vise?
What I Don’t Like About this Armorer’s Vise
After mounting the vise, I immediately noticed something I wouldn’t like. The height when this vise is installed seems to be a couple of inches taller than the other vises I use on my bench. This usually wouldn’t be a big deal, but my bench was built to a specific height to make working on it easier on my back. I no doubt will get used to this height, but it is worth mentioning.
Lastly, the overall size and how much it sticks out from the bench have become a slight problem in my current shop. When working in what I’ll call a space-limited shop, it protrudes from the edge of the bench more than I’d like. To get around this small problem, I position it to lay over my bench using the ball and socket when not in use. This works but creates an extra step when going to use the vise.
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Final Thoughts on the Armorer’s Vise
This vise is an excellent tool for any gunsmith’s or hobbyist’s bench and is worth considering! However, it will not fully replace the usefulness of the traditional heavy-duty vise for some applications. So far, I have found it to be very rigid, and I will continue to update this page as I find anything new.
I see this vise fitting in my shop as my general maintenance vise. It will be used for general gunsmithing needs such as assembly/disassembly, scope mounting, cleaning, inspecting, and other minor repair jobs.
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Written by: Kurt Martonik
Kurt is a Gunsmith, Reloader, Hunter, and Outdoorsman. He grew up in Elk County, Pennsylvania, where he became obsessed with the world of firearms. Following high school, Kurt enlisted in the United States Air Force as a Boom Operator, where he eventually rose to the position of Instructor. After his military service, he attended the Colorado School of Trades(CST) in Lakewood, CO for gunsmithing. Following graduation, he accepted a job at C. Sharps Arms in Montana, where he worked as a full time stockmaker and gunsmith.