Abstract: A Punch and Stripper Assembly for use in a punch press includes a punch with a shoulder at an intermediate portion thereof, a head threaded onto an end of the punch for being engaged by the ram of the press, a compression spring engaging the head, a washer engaging the opposite end of the spring, a retainer acting between the punch shoulder and the washer, and a stripper sleeve for acting between the workpiece and the retainer, whereby the position of the head on the punch provides a preload to maximize spring life, as well as to control the effective height of the assembly with respect to the ram. With this assembly, no special tooling is needed to assemble it. The retainer can be inverted to alter the retractive position of the punch shoulder.