Disassembly and Reassembly Of the Browning T-Bolt

I haven’t worked with many straight-pull bolt-actions. A few Schmidt-Rubins have reached my bench, along with one Ross, which was a Canadian military centerfire that had a reputation for exploding when the bolt was assembled wrong. The sole rimfire among them was the original Browning T-Bolt. The original T-Bolt’s action wasn’t the smoothest; it didn’t cock on closing; it was clip-fed; and it suffered from warping problems, reportedly when the wooden stocks got too close to saltwater.

The new T-Bolt, introduced in 2006, has a newly designed bolt system that cocks on closing. Its action is far smoother than that of the old T-Bolt. Other new features include an adjustable trigger system and a figure- 8-shaped, double-stack 10-round magazine that snaps in neatly to all but disappear in the rifle’s slim forend. It’s a nice-looking package that comes in either .22 Long Rifle or .17 HMR and came out of its box with a "needs no adjustment" 3-1/2-pound trigger pull.

The T-Bolt’s owner’s manual warns against firing .22 Short, .22 Long, blanks, or shot shells in the T-Bolt. It also cautions against the use of strong chemicals when cleaning T-Bolts wearing certain synthetic finishes, camouflage being one. As you may know, damage done to these finishes can’t be undone, so the buyer is advised to use a solution of mild detergent and water and further cautioned to avoid allowing water to settle into the action.

Regardless of these cautionary advisories, it’s not unlikely that someday you’ll have a blotchy-looking T-

Bolt deposited with you because the owner ignored the warnings and took a can of carburetor or brake cleaner to what once was a pristine firearm. What you can do with the gun mechanically is the subject of this article. In a future article, I’ll get into the options for restoring or replacing a fouled-up synthetic finish. Field Stripping Okay, the T-Bolt’s chamber is empty, the magazine has been removed, and the bolt handle (#5) is in its unlocked position.

It will be canted to the rear with the crossbolt (#8) raised from the bolt body (#4). If the bolt happens to be locked instead, grasp its body in your left hand and pull the handle to the rear with your right. Slide the bolt just far enough forward to reveal the bolt release (see photo). Press the release down until it clicks, hold it down, and pull the bolt out of the receiver. Use an Allen wrench to back out the two forward mounting screws (#1).

Grasp the stock and tap the barrel down against a towel or other padding you’ve placed on your bench. The magazine frame (#15) may drop free. No problem. It’s pretty good sized and won’t get lost easily. Press down on the top of the receiver (#42) and continue to pivot the barrel upward until the action is clear of the stock. Now invert the stock. If part #15 hasn’t already fallen out, lift it out. You’ll see two plastic inserts under the mag frame.

One is on the recoil lug (#40); the other (#39) is at the front of the frame cutout. These are installed as part of the rifle’s bedding to ensure magazine alignment. Don’t remove them unless you want to create feeding problems. Now, do you see that small sticker attached to the bottom of the receiver? Read it. When missing or meddled with, the sticker acts as a tip-off to factory repair people that someone has been messing with the trigger system.

Regardless, you’re going to carefully, very carefully, peel it off so you can get to the rear stock-mounting screw. The screw won’t come all the way out, but back it out as far as it will go, push the trigger guard 1/4 inch toward the muzzle, and pivot the trigger assembly off its hooks at the front of the receiver. The trigger housing cover (#43) remains attached to the receiver at this time. Depress the magazine latch (#18), and catch the magazine as it’s ejected. The rifle is now field stripped.

Detail Stripping the Bolt You can’t do anything with the bolt until you remove the firing-pin retaining band (#12A), which also retains the left and right extractors (#9 and 10) plus their spring (#11). A jeweler’s screwdriver is the tool to start with. Insert it between the band and its bolt groove. Let it get trapped in there. Then take a thin but larger screwdriver, push that blade into the small gap you’ve made with the jeweler’s blade, and twist to dislodge one side of the band from the bolt.

Chances are good the rest of the band will pop off on its own. (It’s a tough piece of spring steel.) Once the band is off, you’ll have a clear shot at the two extractor pins (#9A). These are roll pins. Use the correct style of punch to drive them up or down to free the extractors and their spring. Save yourself some time and trouble later by not drifting these pins all the way out. Move the bolt handle forward to take a little pressure off the mainspring (#22).

In turn, this will allow you to move the firing pin (#12) forward enough to lift up its nose and pivot it out of the bolt. Those gear-like "teeth" on the back end of the firing pin are the searand bolt-stop engagement surfaces. These are normally left alone, but it’s okay to skillfully polish away any burr that may have been raised here. Now the baby screwdriver goes back to work. Slip it into the bolt between the crossbolt (#8) and the mainspring (#22). Compress the spring to the rear. It won’t take much.

Remove the crossbolt by pushing it upward to the handle side of the bolt. (For future reference, note how the crossbolt engages the handle.) Ease off on the mainspring. With the handle positioned at the top of the bolt, move the entire mainspring assembly (#22, 23, and 24) to the front of the bolt. The ball (#25) usually remains inside the bolt pin (#6) after the assembly is moved. Press inward on the bottom of part #6 to push both the ball and the pin out, then remove the handle.

The mainspring assembly will come out the back of the bolt when it is tapped on your bench’unless it’s fouled inside. The Trigger Group You’ve temporarily stored the T-Bolt’s undamaged warning label in a safe place (right?), and now you’re holding the receiver/trigger mechanism in your left hand with the housing cover (#43) facing away from you. There are three long tabs extending from the

cover that join up with three rectangular cutouts on the housing (#42). These are snap tabs. Let’s get oriented. Examine the cutouts in part #42 and how the ends of the tabs from part #43 fit into them. The safety button should be to your left. One tab is forward of the button. A second is about 2- 3/4 inches further forward, near the front "hooks" of the receiver. A third is in the middle above the trigger. Each of these tabs is stressed differently to maintain pressure on the cover and keep it securely in place.

Each must be pushed in a different direction and you will likely have to resort to the jeweler’s screwdriver to slightly maintain any separation between the housing and cover each time you undo a tab. If you only have one jeweler’s driver, insert around toothpick in one gap before moving on to the next tab. The assembly may look like it has grown quills before you’re finished.

Actually, some strips cut off an expired credit card might work even better than the toothpicks, but the important thing is to prevent the separations you create from closing up on you. Make some notes now.

The bottom Browning T-Bolt Bolt-Action Rifle (Specifications subject to change without notice) 1 Barrel Mounting Screw (3) 2 Barrel Mount Star Washer (2) 3 Barrel 4 Bolt Body 5 Bolt Handle 6 Bolt Pin 7 Magazine Cover End 8 Crossbolt 9 Extractor, Left 9A Extractor Pin (2) 10 Extractor, Right 11 Extractor Spring 12 Firing Pin 12A Firing Pin Retaining Band 13 Gear (2) 14 Magazine Eject Spring 15 Magazine Frame 16 Magazine Frame Pin 17 Magazine Frame Spring 18 Magazine Latch 19 Magazine Screw 20 Magazine Spring 21 Magazine Stop 22 Mainspring 23 Mainspring Plunger, Front 24 Mainspring Plunger, Rear 25 Mainspring Ball 26 Receiver Pin 27 S-Mag 28 Safety Block 29 Safety Link 30 Safety, Sear, Trigger, and Sear Bar Pin 31 Safety Selector 32 Safety Spring 33 Sear 34 Sear Bar 35 Sear Spring 36 Sling Eyelet, Front 37 Sling Eyelet, Rear 38 Stock 39 Stock Plate, Front 40 Stock Plate, Rear 40A Scope Mount Filler Screws 41 Trigger 42 Trigger Housing 43 Trigger Housing Cover 44 Trigger Screw 45 Trigger Spring

A B The trigger-pull adjusting screw is indicated by the arrow. It’s turned counter-clockwise to lighten and clockwise to heavy up the pull. The firing pin is above the bolt handle. Note the steel ball left in the bolt handle and the shorter of the two guides remaining in the mainspring. middle tab pushes upwards. The upper tab near the hooks pushes to the left. And the tab nearest the safety pushes down. After this, the cover can be removed to reveal the T-Bolt’s trigger mechanism.

Neither any part of it nor the safety is in danger of falling out. The entire system is held together by three identical pins (#30). If the rifle is brand new, all internal components will probably be thickly coated with a factory-applied lubricant. At times, this coating can be pretty thick. It’s best for the gun that this layer be removed before the rifle is fired. This is accomplished by flushing away the lube with a high-quality gun oil and using compressed air to blow off any excess.

Personally, I’ve used an aerosol can of CLP for the initial cleanup, Right and far The plastic tabs securing the front to the back cover can be seen in both photos and must be detached as described in the text. Cfollowed that with an air blast, and I’ve never had problems with factoryapplied goo as a result. Having mentioned the trigger-assembly pins previously, I’ll now tell you that you’re not going to be doing a thing with them.

Anything’anything at all’t hat goes wrong with the trigger or safety system of the T-Bolt has to be corrected by the factory. Even if I told you how to take the mechanism down and reassemble it, fixing anything that might have gone wrong would be impossible since’ you guessed it’you can’t get the parts. Every one of them is restricted. You can, however, purchase a complete assembly and drop it in. Finally, the Magazine Assembly Why the same restrictions do not apply with the magazine is beyond me.

For certain, the trigger and safety are far less complicated than this doublehelix bullet holder. While admitting I am not practiced in neurosurgery, I’ll attempt to explain its idiosyncrasies. Please follow along on the schematic. First, note that there is an upper and a lower gear (#13) involved. The upper has an internal slot to accept the magazine spring (#20)"the only way that spring can fit into that gear. The same gear has a slot into which the straight end of the magazine stop (#21) fits.

The crooked end of the stop seats in a hole in the cover (#7). The cover is made of steel, and is held to the front of the plastic magazine body (#27)"called the "S-Mag" for some unexplained reason’by small "snap caps’ on the S-Mag that bend slightly over the cover as well as by a screw (#19). When fully assembled, the gears intermesh and are under tension. (continued on page 11)

When the screw is backed out and the snap are caps are loosened (starting with the upper left one, then the upper right, then the lower two snaps) all the internals unwind. There’s no trouble at all getting the rig apart. To get it back into working order, the upper and lower gears have to be re-tensioned. Each gear has flutes like the cylinder of a revolver, with ridges between each flute.

After you get the springs back in and oriented correctly, you have to preload the magazine spring by giving the upper gear a 360degree clockwise turn. You hold it there, install the lower gear ridge-toridge with the upper gear, give the upper gear another 180-degree turn, maintain that tension, snap the cover back on, and install the screw. Simple, right? Maybe if you have ten fingers on each of four or five hands.

Name Street City State Zip There’s got to be a better way than what I described above, but nothing exists in writing on the process as of now. Actually, after spending six hours and developing a splitting headache, I did find a better way: I called Browning, ordered anew one, and snapped it into the rifle.