bsaint
Well-known member
They look suspiciously like my craftsmans. Seeing both were owned by Danaher would you say it's the same mfg?
Also anyone have Grey swivels? Any good?
Also anyone have Grey swivels? Any good?
Matco pinless swivels
- Thread starter bsaint
- Start date
mrjaw14
Well-known member
I have the craftsman version and I agree they look identical to the Matco ones. Not 100% sure they are the same, but I would bet they are.
Buckgnarly
Well-known member
Craftsman, Armstrong and Matco were one time the same.
The USA Armstrong and Craftsman were definitely the same as said. I bought the Armstrong as they came with a couple of larger sizes that the Craftsman didn't. These are really good swivel sockets. Astro currently makes a similar product as does Gearwrench
Fedwrench
ALLIANCE MEMBER
They all came out of the Armstrong factory. There were differences. There were a couple of early Craftsman versions that had taller base sockets than the MATCO or Armstrong versions. The Craftsman, Gearwrench, and Armstrong had different High vis markings than MATCO or no high vis markings at all. MATCO produced the widest range of sizes and MATCO was the only brand to offer pinless 1/4 drive impact swivel sockets. However, they were all great sockets nonetheless 
Note: Please do not confuse the Danaher pinless impact swivel sockets with the inferior X Core **** Gearwrench is marketing currently. The X Core is too soft and wears/peens quickly under sustained daily use.
Note: Please do not confuse the Danaher pinless impact swivel sockets with the inferior X Core **** Gearwrench is marketing currently. The X Core is too soft and wears/peens quickly under sustained daily use.
Fedwrench
ALLIANCE MEMBER
There's no reason to be nervous. MATCO sourced another US made supplier not, that I'm recommending paying new MATCO truck prices. The Astro set is pretty good considering it's around $70. The walls are pretty thick on the 10mm swivel socket though and it takes awhile before they're smooth like butter rotating. we lost a lot of great tools when Armstrong closed its doors.
2ndGearRubber
Well-known member
Only issue with the astros, is they're not "semi-deep" like the matco design. Snap on and cornwell are the same way, the "shallow" swivels they make aren't all that shallow, which can be a good thing. I've been very happy with my astro 3/8 set.
Qualitytools
Well-known member
Anyone care to post examples of what the discussion is about?