VIP by Nicklaus irons - tight hosels?

Has anyone here got experience of reshafting MacGregor VIP by Nicklaus irons? I've pulled a couple of shafts from my set in preparation for the delivery of some Boyd Blade & Ferrule goodies and the fit is incredibly tight - to the point that the shafts are probably seated a quarter inch from the bottom of the hosel.

The shafts are not what was fitted at the factory but are still Mac shafts from the late 60s with a .355 taper tip.

Just wondering if this tight fit has been the same for anyone else?

Pulled shafts from my Mac TA 985T's and found the shafts to be about a 1/4" short of the bottom as well. I'm in the opinion of believing that might have been normal.

Yep taper tip Macs can be like that. I have had some tight ones too. When I run into that I use my mechanical graphite shaft extractor. I have also in the past had some FCs that I had to not only drill the pin but the shafts as well. Part of it may have had to do with age too. I also think but have never confirmed it that in older ones they may have swedged the shafts in some at the factory. On VIPs with factory ( Brunswick ) shafts I have also run into the end of the shaft being beveled some right on the tip end but that was newer ones with no pins. On the 1/4 inch thing I have never ran into that something is wrong there.

You might want to measure length in the short shaft condition. That would tell you if the clubs were built that way. If the clubs measure over length that suggests the shaft was pounded into the hosel at the factory. Old time epoxy wasn't what it is today and some manufacturers resorted to an interference fit hosel design and/or pins. Personally, I'd run a taper tip reamer though the head instead of trying to drive the shafts in but that's up to you.

Thanks all. I should have pointed out that these have obviously been reshafted at some point as they now have crappy, cheap plain black ferrules on them. I’d assume that whoever did it just jammed them in as far as they could, and just didn’t worry about the gap between the tip and the bottom of the hosel.

And now that I think about it, this is the first time I’ve messed with shafts from this era and the idea that the factory would have deliberately ensured a super tight fit to take account of the epoxies of the day makes a lot of sense.

In terms of reaming the hosel, what size reamer am I looking at for the job?

Check the hosel. Look inside. You might have a weight in the bottom of the bore.