Recently I picked a much needed set of hand held metric nut drivers. After searching for a decent price from a US or European manufacturer, I settled on Pratt-Read's nut driver set. According to Pratt-Read's website they have been around since 1798 when they made items for the piano trade.

My PR drivers arrived via Amazon for $31 with free Prime shipping.

The handles felt good in the hand with no sharp edges or corners. The shafts are made from alloy steel with a brushed zinc coating for corrosion resistance.

I was starting to like these drivers when I noticed an inconsistency in the lengths of the alloy steel shafts. The handles are properly bored to accept the metal shafts. The shafts, however, are too short.

In the below picture you can see where the 11 mm shaft (brown) almost reaches the end of the bored hole, while the 10 mm shaft (blue) is only inserted halfway.

None of the shafts were fully seated in their respective bored holes. I wonder how this would affect the stability, torque, and longevity of the tools.

I also noticed that the 6 mm driver (3rd from top) had no end taper.

 I can live with different length color stripes, and a square end, but the shaft length issues are a deal breaker for me. I want a tool that won't snap or cam out in the handle. I was really looking forward to adding some Pratt-Read USA made drivers to my collection, but I'm sending them back.