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Dissecting a Buck Mark

101K views 118 replies 59 participants last post by  Rick67 
#1 · (Edited)
The picture hosting site I've been using made some changes that made pictures inaccessible to everyone - me included - when attempting to use the links. Additionally, several people asked about posting pictures so they wouldn't have to go back and forth between the RFC and picture sites. This AM I finally got around to addressing those problems. This is no longer "dialup friendly", but most of us have ditched the dialup anyway. Due to the limitations (10 images per post) this will be split into three separate posts with a "Click Me" at the end of each post so you can proceed in the right order.

From time to time, shooters have asked questions that could have been answered better with some pictures. So tonight I grabbed the camera and a few Buck Marks. Only one pistol is completely stripped down, a Contour I picked up a while back. I did partially disassemble a couple others to illustrate some differences, mostly the variations in Buck Mark slides and a newer pistol with a magazine disconnect. The "innards" are pretty much the same otherwise.

My plan is to plagiarize something I have already posted, but add some comments and pictures along the way.

Remove the barrel/rib assembly. All you need to do is make sure the gun is empty and lock the slide back, remove the mag, remove the rearmost screw of the rear sight (or rib if so equipped). Note the locations of the washers. Now loosen the screw in the front of the triggerguard. The barrel will lift off. Carefully release the slide to relieve most of the tension on the spring.

Looking at the top of the pistol with the sight removed, you will see something that looks like either the top pistol (a newer Buck Mark with the plastic firing pin guide) or the lower pistol (IIRC, a pre-2001 model) in the picture below:



Note on New Slides / Firing Pin Housing Removal

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Last night I became enlightened. Who says I'm too old to learn? Apparently I've been looking at something from a different perspective than some shooters without realizing it. Some here have commented that the plastic firing pin housing was very difficult to remove.

When I described removing the PFPH by lifting it with a dental pick, this was AFTER the slide was removed from the pistol. When I do any disassembly on Buck Marks, it starts with the removal of the barrel. Most of my pistols have optics on them. For that reason, my standard procedure is to mount the optic forward enough to clear the rearmost rib (or sight) mounting screw. That screw and the barrel screw are what I remove to take the barrel and rib off as one piece, after locking the slide back.

Last night I was checking the differences between the old and new slides so I could answer a question. The "old" gun was a pre-2000 with a Varmint barrel. I disassembled this in my normal fashion. The "new" pistol was one with a standard rear sight. Since I already had the allen wrench that fit the sight screw in my hand, I figured I'd depart from my standard procedure and just remove the rear sight leaving the barrel in place.

That's when the light went on. I finally found the reason some people have complained about removing the PFPH and probably why some shooters have a bent recoil spring guide rod.

On the older Buck Marks, the slides are made so the giude rod can pivot inside the slide. This allows the slide to simply be lifted off (whether or not the barrel is still on the frame). On the newer models, the guide rod can't pivot and there isn't enough space between the breech and recoil post for me to get the guide rod forward sufficiently to disengage from the hole in the recoil post in the rear. I had to remove the barrel in order to get the slide off so as not to damage the guide rod.

To remove a slide with the plastic firing pin guide, it's necessary to gently pry the buffer forward just far enough to disengage the recoil spring guide rod from the recoil lug as shown below. When the rod is clear of the hole, the slide will lift straight off:



Same for reassembly. On the older guns, the slide can be dropped on without the recoil assembly. Then the buffer can be slipped into place, and the recoil assembly can be put in by simply inserting the back end of the guide rod into the hole through the buffer and the little plastic "tombstone" at the front end can be slipped into the slot in the front. On the newer guns, it's a lot easier to get the slide, recoil assembly and buffer all together and drop it in as a complete unit - just a matter of helping the buffer slide over the recoil post by compressing the spring a tiny bit - again, without the barrel in place.

Didn't intend to take up so much space on the server, but I felt an explanation was in order because I now understand some of the comments regarding difficulty of disassembly..................chim

If it is an older one, the slide will pretty much just lift off at this point. Unless you're missing the "C" clip retainer for the slide return spring, no parts will fly off.

To remove the plastic firing pin guide, use a dental pick to get under it and pry it up and out. There's space between the plastic and the slide to work the hook of a dental pick in below the plastic housing. The housing needs to come straight up so it doesn't bind. So don't try to get it out without moving the pick to the front and rear to keep it even on the way out.) Here's a shot of that:



Place the pistol flat on a table and remove the right grip. Note where the parts are located. The "T"-shaped flat mag button spring is installed so it humps up in the middle. It and the button are only held in by gravity at this point. The disconnector is held in place (not securely with the grips off) with the "V" shaped spring. Here is a picture of a "pre-mag safety" Buck Mark. Nothing special, but for those of you with very recently built guns, here's what the previous ones look like:



For those of you with older Buck Marks, here's how the newer ones look. My mag disconnect "accidently" came off right after getting the pistol. I reinstalled it for the series of pictures.



Lift the loose parts off of the gripframe, pull the disconnector spring out and lift the disconnector. Turning the pistol over will dump the mag button. Here's a shot of the disconnector being lifted off with a dental pick:



When the disconnector is raised a bit, it can be unhooked from the mag safety link. The link itself can be easily removed by using a mag to depress the spring plunger that the lower end of the mag link engages:



On the left side, the slide stop will be loose, and will be easy to lift out. Note how the small hook on the spring goes through the slide stop in the picture below. If the end of the spring misses the tiny hole in the slide release button, the slide may fail to lock open on the last round, or fail to drop out of the way after inserting a loaded mag:



Continue to Page 2 http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1702853#post1702853
 
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#61 ·
Kayl, that looks good. It will be more useful to people without having to open the pics separately.

Since I may be too familiar with the document to pick out things that could be stated more clearly (I know what I was trying to say, but did I really say it?) a good approach might be to go ahead and post it with a note that people should feel free to offer suggestions on revisions. Thank you for your efforts...............chim
 
#74 · (Edited)
Call Browning directly. Ask for Shannon, if not available, ask for Laura. They are the two best customer service parts reps for Browning. Ask any other cs rep for what parts you need to convert, say a Buck Mark Camper into a Varmint and they will say that they can't help you! Shannon and Laura will take care of you though.

800-322-4626 x863 for parts

Does anyone have a part number for the Pre-2000 Buck Mark Slide that has the ears? I've got a Camper made in '95 with the smooth slide and I'd love to get one with the ears.

Thanks,
D
 
#76 ·
Thanks Chim!

Chim and f2,
Thanks for the original informative post and your response to my question. I talked to Laura at Browning today. Apparently Browning is no longer selling slides w/o the ears. Even the slides for the older models like mine now come with ears.

I gotta get one now. I had a "disagreement" with a table saw a few years ago resulting in damage to the fingertips of my left hand. The ears will be a big help in cycling the slide.
 
#77 ·
I talked to Laura at Browning today. Apparently Browning is no longer selling slides w/o the ears. Even the slides for the older models like mine now come with ears.
Thanks for letting us in on that. It's very good info, and this is the first I've heard it...............chim
 
#81 ·
Apparently "Hunt101.com" has made some changes that affect access to the photos. I have a Word file with pics that Laredo57 made up and sent me a while back that has some updated info on the newer guns with the plastic firing pin guide. If there's a way to load it here or somehwhere else for access, tell me how and I'll be happy to do so. If not, PM me your e-mail address and I'll send you a copy. Heads up if you're on dialup - it's 1.3 megs..............chim
 
#82 · (Edited)
Dissecting Page Two

From Page 1 http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=164502&highlight=dissecting

Page Two:

As an aside, here's a picture of the three different slides I am familiar with. The one on the left is a pre-2001 without the "ears" I sometimes reference. The one in the center is roughly the same vintage, but is equipped with the ears. The one on the right is from my Contour:



Next, push the sear spring pin out with a small punch. There's little tension, and it should come out easily:



With that out of the way, the sear pin needs to be removed. On most pistols I have been in, it is peened very slightly on the end that sticks out through the safety click plate, and most have the frame staked slightly on the right side. I have a small awl and a very light hammer for this. The pin comes out by tapping the smaller end that sticks through the click plate. This end is almost hidden by the safety lever. See the picture below:



After the pin is pushed in slightly, you can slide the safety click plate forward and off, by
gently lifting the front of the click plate off of the hammer pin, and sliding it toward the front of the gun as shown below:



Next you'll need to temporarily lock the mainspring down. Pull the hammer back while having a small punch ready to push through the hole as shown in the picture below. The idea is to get the punch through the frame with the spring and plunger held captive below it. This will remove all tension from the hammer:



If you wish to remove the mainspring and plunger, simply use another punch as shown in the photo below to depress the plunger. The punch in the picture that is sticking up is lined up in the cupped end of the plunger. It takes quite a bit of force to depress the plunger so the first punch can be removed. "Don't shoot your eye out, kid".



Now the hammer pin can be pushed out from right to left without removing the hairpin-shaped slide stop spring:



The safety lever rotates for removal and reinsertion. Absolutely no force is required. The original owner of my first Buck Mark didn't understand this concept, and I was never able to get the safety to operate smoothly. The picture below shows approximately how far the safety needs to be rotated for easy removal:



Page2 is continued in next post below, and is the last page
 
#83 · (Edited)
Page 2, continued

If you want to remove the trigger, the pins should be driven left-to-right. Start with the top pin first. Note that on reinstallation, the depth that this pin is driven in is important. Not far enough, and it will drag on the grip. Too much, and it may allow the disconnector to slip off, or it could act as a crossbolt safety by sticking so far to the left that it goes into the hole the factory left for the punch. See photo:



Here's a shot of the disassembled Hunter:



Here's the part of the hammer that I polished. Note the word "polish". Not "grind". Very little material should be removed. Simply removing tool marks and polishing:



Here's the part of the sear I polished. Again, it is important to simply polish, and not change the shapes or angles of the parts:



A few things to note for reassembly:

The hammer strut generally doesn't cooperate, and sometimes you need to try a couple of times to get it.

The sear spring will try your patience also. The one leg of the spring has a habit of slipping out of position and getting tied up between the frame and the sear. I think certain planets must be perfectly aligned to have this go together the first attempt ;-) Here's how it was done tonight. A hemostat on the spring, a punch to assist with alignment and the pin started:



The sear pin is sometimes difficult to get through the safety click plate. One thing I do is work a small pick around in the sear pin hole to get the slightest amount of clearance. For reassembly, I also made a tool from a cheap pair of pliers. I ground most of it away to form a sort of pincher
that I can reach around the frame and squeeze the pin through the plate. It can be done without the tool, but it takes 3 or 4 hands. Here's the crude, but effective pincher:



For older pistols, to reinstall slide, place it on the frame without the recoil spring assembly. Position the rubber recoil buffer so the bump fits into the recess on the frame's recoil post. Put the pointed end of the recoil spring assembly into the small hole in the buffer. Pull the tombstone-shaped plastic piece on the other end of the recoil spring guide back so it drops into the recess for it.

NEW MODEL W/ PLASTIC FIRING PIN GUIDE - To reinstall the slide, place the plastic firing pin guide and recoil spring into the slide first. Get everything in the position it belongs in and lower it into place while gently compressing the recoil buffer into the recoil spring to get it started past the post.

After reassembly, the sear pin should be peened again where the small end sticks through the safety click plate. Otherwise, it can shift out of position. This is fairly easy if you have access to a vise. I clamp one flat-ended punch with a diameter the same size (or slightly smaller than the large end of the sear pin) in the vise and position the gun over the punch so the large end of the sear pin is square on the end of the punch. I then take another (smaller) flat-ended punch and gently tap the small end of the sear pin so it fills and binds in the hole of the safety click plate. This is something that is easier to do with some help from a friend. It can be done without assistance, but it's hard to hold the gun and the second punch where it needs to be with just one hand so the other hand is free for the hammer.

I should note at this point that I didn't peen the pin on the Contour just yet. I thought I'd try it out for a while to see how it felt. I guess that was about a year ago. When I disassembled it tonight, everything was fine. It has had quite a few rounds through it since it was reassembled the last time………………chim
 
#89 ·
#91 ·
The wire that runs in the slot under the right grip (slot that runs up/down) is the disconnector. The mag ejector uses the wire to pull the disconnector down and away from the sear. The grip, disconnector and T-shaped spring for the mag button need to be lifted off.

The mag safety wire has hooks on the top and bottom. Removing the disconnector takes care of the top end, and to loosen the bottom you can use a mag to push the spring-loaded mag ejector button in. With that button pushed in, the wire will rotate out of it..............chim
 
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