One use of these while servicing my Kubota's front axle and my old Craftsman set with removable tips went immediately in the trash. Supposedly the Craftsmen set could do ext. rings on shafts up to 2" (~51mm). Ha, right! This shaft was ~1 5/8" (~41mm) and there was no way though matter how many times I tried, no matter what tips I used or how I had them installed. I decided on this set of Knipex after reading many reviews here and elsewhere saying fixed tipped pliers are the only way to go. You know what, they're absolutely right. I enjoy mechanical work when I have the right tools, but I always felt that "snap" had more to do with how they'd fly away (assuming you even got that far) than it did to do with their springy composition. These Knipex pliers made these retainer rings trivial to remove and reinstall. I even took others out to *play* with 'em and to go a bit further with my cleanup and repair work. One of those was external on a 70mm shaft and tho this plier set has a stated upper range of 60mm, the retainer was removed easily.

What may not be obvious to a casual observer who's not seen these up close is how the working bits at the tip are canted outwards for the ext. rings and inwards for the int. rings. The removable tips I had prior always canted inwards and for ext. rings this caused the ring to slide off the tips before you could open the ring up at all.

I just wish I had purchased these 30 years ago. So many headaches I could have avoided. Though I would never have giggled as I'll likely do every time I use these in the future now -- 'cause I know.

Because they work. These pliers have "precision" in the name to distinguish them from the standard product which has external springs, box joints, and turned tips. These pliers have adjustable joints, internal springs, and spring wire tips. The tips are not changeable, they are crimped in. When you wear out a pair of tips (hasn't happened to me yet), you have got your $25 worth of use, go buy another pair. The tips are canted outward on external ring pliers and inward on internal ring pliers. This is a great feature as the clip will work it's way toward the pliers when under tension and tend to stay on the pliers until tension is released. Great feature.

This set will handle 3/8" (10mm) to 2 3/8" (60mm). If you are an R/C car enthusiast or a gun or airgun or paintball gunsmith, you will need a separate pair of external pliers that will handle 1/8" (3mm) to 3/8" (10mm). Thank the engineer in the sky they don't particularly make 1/8 to 3/8 Internal snap rings, but if they did, Knipex would probably make them. You may want straights Knipex 4911A0 External Straight Precision Retaining Ring Pliers 5.5-Inch or the angled ones Knipex 4921A01 External Angled Precision Retaining Ring Pliers 5.2-Inch sometimes they go out of stock, but don't hurry, buy them from Amazon as they are about $10 less expensive. Knipex also makes bigger pliers for those of us who fool with big tractors and earth movers.

These are very good tools, they are drop forged steel and should last a long time doing what they were designed to do.

Great set of tools! Made in Germany.

Knipex products are the best ! I've never been disappointed by any of their tools. So far that's holding true for these snap ring pliers, they work great.

Best snap ring pliers I have ever owned and I have used a lot. What you pay extra on these you will make back on time in the first few uses. These grab solid and don't slip off like the reversible types and don't wear the tips out like the replaceable tip ones. I have a set at home that I have used for almost 15 years and they are still going strong. Here in the shop these are used on a lot of stubborn snap rings and they work every time.
If you are on the fence, buy them, you won't be disappointed.