Disassembly/Reassembly Of the Taurus Model 63

When John M. Browning opted out of his agreement with Oliver Winchester, one can assume there was some serious gastric distress in the company’s New Haven headquarters. (It’s been rumored that local sales of bicarbonate of soda tripled in a single day.) For years, Winchester had promoted its great asset’t he long-time link with Browning’t o the public. As a result, the public came to expect the latest and best guns would come from Winchester. What next?

Winchester had to prove it still had the right stuff, meaning competent in-house designers. As a company, Winchester couldn’t invent or patent anything. The people they employed could, however, later assigning their patent to Winchester. Enter one of those employees: Thomas Crossley Johnson.

Just as they had with Browning’s design for an automatic action’which walked out the door when Browning took his patent to another manufacturer’Winchester engineers and attorneys wrote the patent specifications for Johnson’s simple blow-back action.

Because the powder charge had to have enough "push" to overcome the weight of the breech block, and since .22 cartridges of the day varied considerably in power from one ammunition maker to the next, the company decided to chamber Johnson’s rifle for the .22 Winchester Automatic Rimfire. They’d developed the round for the Model 1890 slide-action. Manufacture of Johnson’s rifle began in 1902. The first public announcement was made a year later, and the Model 1903 re- The Taurus works with .22 LR standard velocity.

The Winchester didn’t…and doesn’t. mained in production until 1932. The 1903 was replaced by the Model 63, employing the same basic mechanism but considered a major improvement. The Model 63 was chambered for and worked well with .22 Long Rifle high-velocity cartridges. Lower-power .22 LR rounds usually caused extraction problems. The M63 was eventually discontinued in 1959 by the New Haven factory. Continuing their trend of reintroducing classic Winchesters, Taurus has brought back the Model 63.

While it lacks the take-down screw lock of the 1903, which was eliminated in later production of the rifle, it is equipped with the Taurus Security System. In this case, the system uses its key to block the firing pin. Field Stripping The Taurus Model 63 is easily taken down for storage, basic cleaning, or transport. Remove the magazine tube

B A The nylon drift (B) should be used to remove the forend cap support. The Taurus security-system key shown locks the firing pin for storage. completely from the butt stock. Loosen the take-down screw until it’s fully loose in the frame. Gently pull the stock away from the barrel. No force, please. The rifle will separate into two pieces exposing most of the inner mechanism for inspection or cleaning. Use any good-quality solvent sparingly and avoid dripping any on the wood.

After cleaning, a light coating of oil should be applied to the metal surfaces. Again, lubricate judiciously. Excessive oil will end up causing malfunctions by accumulating dirt and unburned powder. Detailed Disassembly Good news. The pivot and retaining pins in the rifle are not dreadfully tight. With two exceptions they can be pushed out in either direction with the proper size punch. More good news.

There is no such thing as a "factory tool" (which is almost never sold to the public) employed in the take-down and reassembly of the gun. Everything you need can be purchased at a hardware store or from Brownells. The process begins by completely removing the forend screws (#39). Sliding the forend cap (#36) toward the muzzle will reveal the forend-cap support (#35). The support is dove- They’re removed and reinstalled through the square cutout in the receiver (arrow).

The security-system "keyhole" is at "B." tailed into the barrel. Position the barrel assembly with the receiver (#17) upside down. Use a nylon drift to drive the support out to the right. To prevent any possible damage, it’s a good idea to hold the forend back toward the receiver while doing this. Once the support has been removed, slide the wood off to the front. Invert the receiver. Looking down on it, you’ll see the breech bolt (#21) in which is seated the recoil-spring guide (#33) and recoil spring (#32).

The guide protrudes from the front end of the bolt and is slotted. Place two or three fingers over the spring and unscrew the guide all the way. Pull the guide out to the front, the breech bolt out to the rear, and lift the end of the guide spring to free it. Set the parts aside. A B

8 Magazine Tube Liner 9 Magazine Tube Washer 10 Magazine Tube Nut 11 Magazine Tube (includes #12, 13, 14, 15, 16) 12 Tube 13 Magazine Follower 14 Magazine Spring 15 Magazine Plug 16 Magazine Plug Pin 17 Receiver 18 Receiver Bushing 19 Ejector 1 Barrel 2 Front Sight 3 Rear Sight Assembly 4 Rear Sight Blade 5 Rear Sight Support 6 Rear Sight Rivet 7 Rear Sight Elevator 20 Breech Bolt Assembly (includes #21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27) 21 Breech Bolt 22 Firing Pin Spring 23 Firing Pin 24 Firing Pin Retaining Pin 25 Extractor 26 Extractor Plunger 27 Extractor Plunger Spring 28 Key Lock 29 Key Lock Pin 30 Key Lock Ball 31 Key Lock Spring 32 Recoil Spring 33 Recoil Spring Guide 34 Forend 35 Forend Cap Support 36 Forend Cap Assembly 37 Forend Cap 38 Forend Cap Pin 39 Forend Cap Screw 40 Action Slide Spring Taurus Model 63 Semi-Auto .22 Rifle (Specifications subject to change without notice) 41 Action Slide 42 Action Slide Button 43 Action Slide Button Pin 44 Feeder 45 Ammunition Retainer 46 Ammunition Retainer Spring 47 Ammunition Retainer Pin 48 Hammer Spring Assembly 49 Hammer 50 Hammer Spring Guide 51 Hammer Spring 52 Hammer Spring Plate 53 Hammer Spring Guide Pin 54 Frame 55 Trigger Pin 56 Hammer Pin 57 Ammunition Retainer Pin 58 Assembly Screw Plunger 59 Assembly Screw 60 Assembly Screw Retainer 61 Tang Sight Screw 62 Trigger Spring 63 Trigger Safety 64 Trigger 65 Sear 66 Sear Spring 67 Stock 68 Buttplate 69 Buttplate Screw 70 Feeder Assembly

Give the magazine tube plug (#15) a little turn to the right, and pull the magazine tube assembly (#12) clear of the stock. Back out the two Phillipshead buttplate screws (#69) and remove the buttplate (#68). A 7/8-inch socket along with an appropriate size ratchet is needed to undo the magazine-tube nut (#10). About the socket. It has to be the thin-wall variety to enter the hole in the buttstock.

If you can’t find a thin-wall socket, grind down a regular one; there’s very little room between the nut and the stock. Don’t try to force things here with an oversize socket, or you’ll split the wood. (If the M63 happens to be a Winchester, the tube nut will have two notches cut in it, and the socket will have to be further machined to fit those notches.) Once the nut is removed, the stock slides off to the rear.

Moving back to the bolt assembly, the extractor (#25), firing pin (#23), and firing-pin spring (#22) remain within. The firing-pin retaining pin (#24) is one exception to the "pushin-either-direction" rule. It must be pushed right to left while looking down on the bolt assembly. The pin Below left and In the photo to the right, the plate has been rotated and the assembly is being positioned for reinstallation.

The milled slot in the frame is visible to the rear of the plate-retaining pin hole. and its spring are removed to the rear. When reinstalling the firing-pin assembly, the beveled end of the firing pin has to face downward with the retaining pin captured by the milled cut in the firing pin. A small tool, perhaps a dental pick, can be inserted between the rear of the extractor and the plunger (#26). Press the plunger rearward and remove the extractor with your free fingers.

Those two screws (#61) have nothing to do with removing the stock. They’re tang-sight screws unrelated to further take-down. What is closely related is the hammer assembly. It includes the feeder (#44). A good feeder it is, too, but it is the reason this rifle should never be dry fired. (Actually, that goes for all .22s.) The firing pin hits up against the barrel breech and can raise burrs or break the pin.

With this gun, if the hammer (#49) is allowed to fall unrestrained on the feeder, you will need considerable force to free it, leaving behind serious damage to the feeder. Damaged feeders equal feeding problems. A hammer jammed on the feeder equals a frozen action. All these troubles are easily avoided by not dry firing. In some guns, a paper clip can be used for this next step. In this one, due to the extreme strength of the hammer spring, use either the smallest of hex wrenches or a #52 drill bit.

Cock the hammer and insert the hex wrench orbit in the hole located at the end of the hammer-spring guide (#50). To remove the hammer assembly intact, drift out the hammer-spring plate pin (#57) at the rear of the frame (#54). On the schematic, the ammunition-retainer (cartridge stop) pin is also identified as #57. If the stop ever needs repair or replacement, that pin will have to be removed to release the stop and its spring (#46).

It’s not merely a matter of pushing the pin out as you will read in the section on detailed disassembly. (We’ve seen far more serious errors on schematics, and so, no doubt, have you.) Now push out the hammer pin (#56). Grasp the edge of the hammerspring plate with smooth-jaw pliers and tilt it. The tilt will partially raise it from its seat in the frame. Once that’s been done, you can insert a screwdriver blade under the spring guide and pop the plate out of the frame.

Slide the hammer assembly off to the front of the feeder. The magazine-tube liner (#8) is snugged into the stock pretty tightly. Use a wooden dowel applied to the end of the feeder to tap the liner to the

rear. Underscore that "tap, tap, tap," action (no bashing whatsoever for fear of feeder damage). Before you do that, however, notice the U-shaped plate at the rear of the feeder body. That’s a welded joint, folks. The liner and feeder are joined permanently together. As long as we’re taking a closer look at things, take one at the ammunition retainer (#45) and its pin (#47). Part #47 is the second exception to removing pins in this rifle. It’s hollow, like a roll pin, but has ahead on one end like a rivet.

You don’t remove it during disassembly. If anything ever goes haywire with the retainer assembly, you have to cut off the head end of the pin and push out what’s left with a roll-pin punch. Yes, replacements are available from the factory and, we assume, from Brownells. If replacement is needed, you’ll also need a rivet set tool. Next to come out are the safety spring (#27) and plunger (#26). This is followed by the trigger pin (#55), trigger (#64), sear (#65), and sear spring (#66).

Notice how the trigger spring (#62), which looks like a hook, is positioned on the trigger before pushing the trigger safety (#63) through the guard body. The assembly-screw plunger (#58) did not exist on the rifle I worked with for this article. It has been replaced with a retaining pin. I assume this is true with all Taurus Model 63 rifles. Outside of breaking down the magazine or taking off the sights, there’s nothing left to remove.

Parts replacement for the magazine is merely a matter of pushing out the necessary pins and pushing them back in to retain the new components. The front and rear sights drift out from their respective dovetails. Reassembly Tips The rifle goes back together in reverse order, so you begin with the safety, spring, and plunger. The safety locks the trigger and has a groove in the middle where the plunger seats.

Set the trigger in position, add on the searspring and sear (perhaps held in place by a dab of grease), and start in the trigger pin. Align the trigger assembly, push in the pin, and use a small tool to raise the trigger spring atop the trigger. Before running the magazine liner back into the stock and frame, take note of the cutout in the frame. It’s square. Obviously, then, the square end of the magazine-liner/feeder unit has to enter that cutout.

Once it has and the assembly is fully forward, secure the liner with the lock washer and nut. You may have to tap the liner in from the rear because of a tight fit. When reinstalling the guide spring in the bolt body, insert the spring first. Use your fingers to retain it in position and begin to feed the spring guide into the bolt. As the guide nears the end of the spring, insert a small screwdriver blade behind the spring and push it forward, allowing the guide threads to engage their threads in the bolt.

Turn in the guide completely. When you replace the firing pin and spring, remember how their retaining pin came out. The ejector spring is followed in by the ejector plunger with its flat portion down. Depress the plunger and snap in the ejector. The toughest part of reassembly is the hammer group, because it’s difficult to compress the hammer spring. One suggestion: Open your vise jaws just wide enough to allow the spring guide to enter, get a firm hold on the hammer, and press inward.

When the guide-pin hole shows up, feed on the guide plate and insert your keeper pin. When the pressure is taken off, the spring will hold the plate against the pin. Align the hammer assembly with the feeder and slide it on. The plate will interfere with this unless you rotate it 90 degrees. When the plate lines up with its milled seat at the rear of the frame, align the plate with the groove and push down. Install the plate pin. Line up its holes and install the hammer pin.

Finally, pulling the keeper pin holding the spring out of the hammer strut will firm up the whole reinstallation. Now check everything out with dummy rounds’s afety, trigger, feeding, security system’t he works. Don’t you always? I