Taurus 605 Poly Protector

I gave the following article quite a bit of thought before writing it, but after getting a number of these in the shop completely disassembled and in baggies, I felt it might be a good idea to cover it. This revolver seems to be somewhat popular, mostly as a reasonably priced revolver chambered in 357 Magnum, and is well suited for self-defense. This revolver is unlike others in how it was manufactured, however.

It does have both single and double-action capabilities and a hammer that can be cocked which appeals to many revolver lovers. As far as durability, I cannot say as I have not seen any of the testing results or data that covers the strength or longevity of it after prolonged use. The revolver is described as a Taurus Model 605 Protector Poly model, and "Protector Poly" is etched on the top of the barrel shroud.

This particular model is not the same as the Taurus Model 605 revolver, so any instruction about how to disassemble that one won’t work with the Poly. It is a fiveshot revolver with a polymer frame and grip assembly that is actually a two-piece unit. Unlike most revolvers that have aside plate, this one has two halves that must be separated to access the internal working parts.

This assembly is awkward and cumbersome to work with—although if you were assembling these all day long at a factory you would have shortcuts and tooling available to quickly speed up the entire process. However, most of us don’t get a steady diet of these coming into our shops so we’ll have to muddle through the process. As I mentioned, I have had a number of these appear in the shop; all were in for reassembly, or so they said.

I am not exactly sure why the owners of these revolvers feel the need or desire to disassemble them completely as none of the ones that came into my shop were dirty or dirty to the point that a full disassembly for deep cleaning was necessary. At this point, I can only assume that in these days of manufacturers making firearms that are more user friendly, easier to break down for routine cleaning, or made so that homeowners can buy after- This is in the early stage.

Note the two paper clip wires protruding from the grip area that were used to capture the hammer spring assembly and trigger return spring assembly before reassembly. Once the frame halves are reassembled and back in place, pull the two wires out while cocking the hammer and pulling the trigger rearwards to free the ends of the wires.

I suspect you will see these enter your shop but not in this form as owners tend to "see what is inside" and then what is inside eventually ends up on your bench in a plastic baggie along with missing parts. market parts and products for them and then "build" their own personal firearm, that the owners of these revolvers felt it was a good idea to take them all apart and see what was inside.

And, with any other firearm that gets taken apart by "my brother-in-law who couldn’t get it back together" all three had parts missing even though each customer swore and assured me that every part was in the baggie and accounted for. I guess they were standing

Far When separating the two halves of the frame, this spring can become lost and has been known to jump out so go slow and watch for this spring in particular. The photo also shows a good view of the trigger return spring, pin, and swivel and where that assembly will go during reassembly. One of the two paper clip wires is holding the assembly together until full reassembly of the two halves. over their in-law when he took it apart and that is how they know all of the parts were there.

So far, and based on my experience with these revolvers, I suspect you will never get one in your shop with all of the parts accounted for, as some parts like to jump out from this particular revolver during disassembly and reassembly. Hey, it happens. The first one I took in for reassembly had two missing parts: the cylinder stop spring (8.10) and cylinder stop plunger (8.9). So, I called Taurus to order in the parts needed, but ran into a snag. You see, Taurus will not sell them to gunsmiths (they say).

They claim that no matter what, the firearm has to go back to Taurus for service or repair. And not only that, Assembling this as a unit prior to installation will keep more hair on your head. In fact, it seems like it is the only way to reassemble this unit. The wires are fed down through the inside of the grip along the mainspring support. either. You also have to pay them, in advance, $15 for a non-refundable inspection fee and $35 to reassemble/repair it.

So you must pay them $50 total, in advance, when shipping it back to them. This, to me, was out of the ordinary for Taurus and their touted lifetime warranty, as up till now, they had always had a really good product warranty and repair service program. So, since I couldn’t order in the parts needed (they would not sell them to me), the customer didn’t have much choice but to go along with what we were being asked to do. I shipped the partially disassembled revolver back to Taurus and paid the $50 fee up front.

Almost a year later and I still didn’t have any timeline as to when the revolver will be, or even can be, repaired. Needless to say my customer isn’t happy (this revolver is his only personal protection firearm) and I’m not so happy about this either. In the past, I really touted the products and services that Taurus had to offer.

Since that time, I have had a few more of these revolvers come in for reassembly and I let the customer know up front that they may never see it again if they are shipped to Taurus for repairs, reassembly, or

Far The plunger has a coil spring behind it and presses against the bottom leg of the hand, effectively serving as the hand spring assembly. Keep a thumb or finger over the plunger during reassembly into the frame as a small slip will send the plunger into the "parts-never-to-be-found-again-land". And if you lose apart, well, you are now stuck since you cannot order a replacement. Use the cylinder stop to compress the plunger and spring while inserting the cylinder stop screw back into the frame. parts.

This is mostly due to Taurus Customer Service letting me know that they will not sell me or other gunsmiths the parts, that their firearms must go back to the factory for repairs and reassembly, and that parts are nowa whole other issue for Taurus. You see, they can’t (or just don’t) order in parts specifically. I was told by Taurus Customer Service that they simply cannot order parts one at a time and for any specific firearm.

I was told that they wait on their factory in Brazil to ship parts to the United States whenever or whatever they have at that time, and then whenever they decide to ship them to the Taurus USA. This is the main reason that the revolver sent to Taurus a year ago is not done yet: Taurus USA is still waiting for parts to just show up in the mail from Brazil since they cannot order them individually. I doubt I could stay in business this way.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, I had mixed emotions about writing this article, but I felt it was important for our gunsmithing brethren out there to know what they may run into if/ when one of these come in. More importantly, I felt it important to have a disassembly and reassembly document to go by when one of these show up in their shops in a baggie and fully disassembled.

Accordingly, I decided to write this as a disassembly/reassembly document in case you need to do both, so let’s get on with what we do for a living. The attached schematic and parts naming nomenclature came directly from the Taurus 605 Poly Owner’s Manual for reference. Disassembly We’ll begin by opening up the cylinder and checking to make sure that the revolver isn’t loaded by inspecting all chambers.

Once that is done, remove the (5) grip, or rubber stock they call it, by backing out and removing the single (5.2) rubber grip screw. Once out, you can pull the stock/grip downward and off from the (9.1) mainspring support. Now, remove the cylinder and yoke assembly (2) by backing out and removing the (2.13) cylinder retaining bushing.

You will find while unscrewing it that the screw head will not protrude past the end of the yoke, so you will need a magnet to extract this screw/bushing after the threads have released and while moving the cylinder yoke up and down to loosen it in the hole. Once out, the cylinder assembly can be pulled out from the left side of the frame and set aside.

I did not cover disassembly or reassembly of the cylinder unit as this is seldom found disassembled (in my case) and the accompanying schematic and parts list will actually help with that if so needed. Cock the hammer (3.1) and insert a small wire (I used a straightened paper clip) into the hole at the bottom of the mainspring center pin (3.8.1) and then lower the hammer as this will capture the hammer spring onto mainspring center pin and free up the hammer.

To remove the hammer, unscrew the (3.1.0) hammer pivot nut from the left side of the frame or grip (4), and then push the hammer pivot (3.9) out from left to right and lift the hammer straight up and out from the grip/frame. The schematic also shows the detailed parts of the hammer assembly (3) if needed. The use of along bent straight paper clip is important as you will find that when removing the grip (4) the wire will need to be threaded through the grip while separating the two halves.

Remove the (8.2) thumb piece screw and (8.1) thumb piece. You will notice that the front leading edge of the thumb piece has a lug on it and that fits into the slot cut in the frame just behind the recoil

shield during reassembly. Remove the two grip/frame screws (4.2 and 4.3) labeled as the 4.2 Grip Screw Upper and 4.3 Grip Screw Lower. Here you will need a security hex screwdriver bit to access the screw heads on the right side of the grip/ frame. Hold the revolver with the left side down while unscrewing and catch the two nuts (4.1) as they fall out. Then push out the two grip/ frame screws from left to right and set aside. At this point, nothing will or should fall out from the action.

You can now place the revolver inside of a large plastic (clear) baggie if you are concerned about parts flying out. The only one I found to jump out is the (8.7) bolt coil spring. Begin by working the grip/frame (4) downward and rearward to begin separating the grip from the (1) frame. Once the grip is moved rearward and down exposing the bolt coil spring (8.7), you can remove this small, yet long coil spring and set it aside.

Continue separating the two halves, and you’ll find that you will have to pull the trigger fully rearward to work the grip over the trigger and free it from the frame. The grip doesn’t retain any parts inside so everything else will be connected to the frame assembly at this point. You will have to slide the grip off and over the first paper clip wire used to capture the hammer spring assembly. You can remove the frame and grip from the plastic bag now if you used one.

You will see that the trigger return spring (6.5.2) and the trigger spring center pin (6.5.1) will come out easily, so set these two aside. When reassembled, these two parts are part of the trigger return assembly and are retained in the frame by a trigger spring swivel (6.5.3).

When you reassemble this assembly, place the spring over the trigger spring center pin and then use the trigger spring swivel to compress the spring until the hole in the rear of the trigger spring center pin is exposed, then place another straightened paper clip into this hole to capture the assembly and hook it back onto the mainspring support (9.1). Make sure the trigger spring center pin is straight and not bent when reinstalling. You can push the trigger (6.1) forward now to remove the transfer bar (8.5).

Lift the transfer bar off of the left side of the trigger and work it out from and through the bottom of the frame. This also allows removal of the bolt (8.6) and bolt spring (8.7) although the bolt spring should already be out and was set aside during separation of the two halves procedures. The Far The plunger presses against the bottom hand leg or protruding pin when properly Far A dab of grease on the spring helps hold it in place during reassembly.

Wait until both halves are nearly back together before inserting this spring so it doesn’t get lost. installed. The sights are pretty good for this revolver and are easy to pick up when sighting.

1 Frame 1.1 Rear Sight 1.2 Yoke Screw Cap 1.3 Rear Sight Spring 1.4 Rear Sight Adj. Screw 2 Cylinder 5r 2.1 Cyl. Retaining Bushing 2.2 Cyl. Distance Bushing 2.3 Extractor 2.4 Center Pin 2.5 Center Pin Spring 2.6 Extractor Rod Collar 2.7 Extractor Spring Ring 2.8 Yoke 2.9 Yoke Locking Bolt 2.1 Yoke Housing 2.11 Yoke Pin Spring 2.12 Extractor Center Pin hand (6.4) will still be attached to the trigger (6.1) and is under spring tension by the hand spring pin (6.2) and hand spring (6.3).

Remove the trigger screw (8.11) from the right side of the frame and keep your 4.2 Grip Screw-Upper 4.3 Grip Screw-Lower 5 Rubber Stock 5.1 Grip Madallion 5.2 Rubber Grip Screw 6 Trigger Assembly 6.1 Trigger 6.2 Hand Spring Pin 6.3 Hand Spring 6.4 Hand 6.5 Trigger Spring Assy. 6.5.1 Trigger Spring Pin 6.5.2 Trigger Pin 6.5.3 Trigger Spring Swivel 7 Front Sight Assembly 7.1 Front Sight 7.2 Front Sight Insert 7.3 Front Sight Pin 2.13 Cylinder Yoke Axis 2.14 Yoke Plunger Spring 2.15 Yoke Plunger Guide 3 Hammer Ass’y 3.1 Hammer 3.2 Key Lock 3.3 Sear 3.4 Key Lock Ball 3.5 Sear Spring 3.6 Key Lock Spring 3.7 Key Lock Pin 3.8 Main Spring Assembly 3.8.1 Main Spring Center Pin 3.8.2 Main Spring 3.9 Hammer Pivot 3.1 Hammer Pivot Nut 4 Grip 4.1 Grip Screw Nut thumb over the back of the trigger to capture the hand spring pin and hand spring while pulling the trigger and hand assembly down and out from the frame.

Reinstall in reverse.

Taurus 605 Poly Protector (Speci ications subject to change without notice) 8.1 Thumb Piece 8.2 Thumb Piece Screw 8.3 Firing Pin Spring 8.4 Firing Pin 8.5 Transfer Bar 8.6 Bolt 8.7 Bolt Spring 8.8 Cylinder Stop 8.9 Cylinder Stop Plunger 8.1 Cylinder Stop Spring 8.11 Trigger Screw 8.12 Cylinder Stop Screw 8.13 Firing Pin Bushing 8.14 Firing Pin 9 Hammer Support 9.1 Main Spring Support 9.2 Hammer Pivot Bushing Finally, remove the cylinder stop (8.8) cylinder stop plunger (8.9) and cylinder stop spring (8.10) by first unscrewing the cylinder stop screw (8.12).

Use your thumb to apply forward pressure on the cylinder stop while pulling the cylinder stop screw out as that will keep the cylinder stop spring and plunger from jumping out. To reinstall, insert the cylinder stop spring into the frame, then the plunger and hold forward pressure on the cylinder stop while inserting the cylinder stop screw into the frame. This completes disassembly of the revolver. Reassembly Tips Reassemble the cylinder stop assembly and trigger/hand assembly back into the frame first.

Next, place the transfer bar back onto the trigger while holding the trigger fully forward and work the top of the transfer bar into the frame opening. Once in place, move the trigger rearward and this will keep the transfer bar in place in the frame. Move the transfer bar fully rearward so that you can insert the bolt (8.6) into the frame housing. Do NOT insert the bolt coil spring (8.7) yet.

Note, you will find that the schematic has labeled the bolt coil spring (8.7) with the same part number as the cylinder stop (8.7) but the cylinder stop should be (8.8). With the bolt in place and the transfer bar back up in the frame covering it, hook the trigger return spring assembly (the bushing, 6.5.3) back onto the mainspring support (9.1). Straighten the two paper clip wires holding the trigger return spring assembly and hammer spring assembly together and feed them into the grip (4) while working

the grip (4) back onto the frame (1). Don’t force it on as it will eventually find the correct path and will slide onto and over the mainspring support (9.1). Just make sure that the trigger is rearward and gets fed back into the trigger guard cut out for it in the grip, and work the grip upwards close to the frame. Once close, put a dab of grease on the bolt coil spring (8.7) and place it in the groove for it on the bolt. The accompanying photo shows this relationship.

This spring simply gets pressed into place while working the grip back onto the frame as there is no hole or other catch for it other than a flat inside of the grip on the left side. Watch inside the grip/hammer opening while pressing the two halves back together to make sure that the spring doesn’t get caught in the frame during reassembly. Also watch the trigger return spring assembly as it needs to align with the rear of the trigger as much as possible while pressing the two halves back together.

Once everything is aligned and correct, press the two halves together and insert the two grip screws (4.2 upper and 4.3 lower) and install the grip screw nuts (4.1) and tighten up. Check now to make sure that the cylinder stop (8.8) moves under spring pressure up and down and that the trigger return spring assembly (pin) is resting in the detent for it at the back of the trigger.

If needed, you can use a small pin punch to move the end of the trigger return spring pin into the groove for it in the back of the trigger. If all good thus far, insert the hammer (3.1) down into the frame and align the hole in the hammer with the frame holes and then insert the hammer pivot (3.9) securing the hammer to the frame. Install the hammer pivot screw (3.10) on the left side of the frame and tighten.

Cock the hammer rewards and pull out the paper clip wire that was used to contain the hammer spring assembly. Then release the hammer fully forward. You can now grab the other paper clip wire and pull it out from the frame as this will release the tension on the trigger return spring assembly. It helps to pull the trigger fully rearward when removing this paper clip wire.

At this point, the hammer should cock and stay cocked in single action, the trigger will release the hammer when pulled, and the double action will work as it should. If it doesn’t, you’ll need to go back in and correct that issue following the steps above. If working properly, go ahead and install the thumb piece (8.1) with the thumb piece screw (8.2) and tighten.

Now install the cylinder assembly by inserting the yoke into the frame slot for it and insert the yoke axis screw (2.13) in from the front of the frame and tighten. Close the cylinder and perform safety and function testing to make sure it is operating properly for both single and double action. If so, you can install the grip or stock (5) and then secure it with the rubber grip screw (5.2). This completes the reassembly.

Important note: If after reassembling the revolver the hammer will not lock fully rearward in single action or when pulling the trigger in double action the revolver will not fully operate (feels like the hammer or trigger is getting stuck) this will be due to the hammer spring strut, called the main spring center pin (3.8.1), being not far enough up into the hammer recess, allowing the main spring center pin to come into hard contact with the trigger spring swivel (6.5.3).

If this happens, cock the hammer rearward enough to insert the wire in the strut hole to relieve tension on the main spring center pin and spring assembly, move the hammer spring center pin upward all the way, and then cock the hammer and remove the wire. Basically it is possible to install the main spring center pin assembly too low into the back of the hammer and this causes the all stop of the hammer and trigger about half way back when testing.

My goal with this article was to provide you with a disassembly and reassembly firing order so that you won’t have to send the disassembled revolver back to Taurus to reassemble. I also wanted to point out that if the revolver on your bench is missing apart, any part, you won’t be able to purchase it from Taurus as they require the guns to be shipped back to them for repairs/reassembly for the $50 fee.

And if it is missing apart, it could take years for it to finally show up in the mail at Taurus USA since they cannot specifically order individual parts from the Brazil factory. I also know this to be true as I have two part orders still open at Taurus USA since 2018 and those parts are still not in, nor are there any timelines available for them to arrive and then ship to me. It should be noted that Taurus USA Customer Support representatives are very friendly and they try to be helpful.

In the case of the revolver that has been with them for a year now, they offered the customer a chance to purchase another firearm at a reduced price rather than wait on the gun. However, the customer declined this offer as he didn’t want to purchase another firearm, had already paid the $50 fee for the one that is still not repaired, and was concerned that if the new firearm had an issue he would have to pay another $50 fee and be back in the same position of waiting for a repair with absolutely no end in sight.

Just be aware of this as it is very frustrating. I know of many shops that are no longer accepting any Taurus products in for repairs now due to these very reasons. I, on the other hand, will at least try to get them repaired first before informing the customer of the issue of sending a firearm to Taurus USA for repair or reassembly. Hopefully this information will help you with your next repair. AG