New used S&W 63-5 disassembly

I think some soft aluminum jaws clamped into vise then turn the cylinder ( I think) real help will be along in mins. Stand by!

I don’t know about the model 63 but on many current S&W’s that screw turns counter clockwise to loosen.

Howdy

Frankly, I suggest you don't try to disassemble the cylinder.

It is easy to damage it. The ratchet is brazed to the ejector rod, it is easy to bend or damage it.

Unless the thread is loose already, I never try to disassemble the cylinder. If the thread is loose I will go ahead and tighten it, but I never take the whole thing apart. Don't forget, modern Smiths have a reverse thread holding the cylinder together. Older ones have a standard right hand thread.

I simply push the extractor rod all the way in, and clean under the ratchet. Lots of Q-tips and solvent, and canned air. Keep blowing and swabbing and you will remove almost all the fouling. What you don't get doesn't really matter.

You are probably going to want to scrub all the fouling off the front face of the cylinder too.

You probably don't want to hear this, but I never try to scrub the carbon rings off the front of the cylinder. Just give them a good brushing with Hoppes #9 and a bronze bristle brush and leave it at that. No matter what you do, the carbon rings on the face of the cylinder will return the next time you shoot it, and they will be just as stubborn to try to remove.

This Model 63 is just one of many S&W revolvers whose cylinders I don't disassemble. Also one of several stainless Smiths that I don't try to scrub the carbon rings off the front of the cylinder.

S&W has a 10 shot .22 also, model 617. They are very nice.

You can get speed loaders for the .22 revolvers.

Most Smiths had the extractor thread changed to a left handed thread in the early 1960s.

Are they durable? I have Smith & Wesson revolvers that are over 100 years old and I still shoot them.

I would say they are durable.

The 617 is built on the K frame. Yes, it is bigger than your J frame Model 63.

In this photo, for size comparison, top right is an N frame Triple Lock, next down is a K frame 38 Military and Police. Next down on the right is a J fame Chief's Special (the same size as your Model 63.

On the upper left is an I frame 38 Regulation Police.

Bottom left is a tiny M frame Ladysmith.

gregp74 said:

The GP100 and 617 do both look kind of big

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Just to add a data point, I wea medium size gloves and I find both very comfortable to shoot. Of course I also manage ok with N frames but they're definitely a bit large for me.

I've cycled through to this point as well...and don't forget another benefit of not having to chase down brass.

gregp74 said:

I shot both the 63 and my Browning Buckmark today. I've always been a fan of my 22 autoloaders but I'm honestly kind of liking the idea of the revolvers a lot more. No extra money to spend on magazines, no ejection issues (which I had with the Bucky today), any 22 rounds (s/l/lr/cb/etc) will work. I'm seriously considering just selling off the Browning and looking at a 10 shot revolver to go along with the 63.

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I never remove the cylinder in my M63 or any other revolver for purposes of cleaning.

gregp74 said:

Now that I've shot it I'm ready to do a more thorough cleaning job to take care of what I dirtied up today as well as any gunk from the previous owner.

I've undone the screw above the trigger on the right side and removed the (crane?) and cylinder. Going by the youtube video I watched, I should be able to turn that extractor pin clockwise and it'll loosen up. It doesn't seem to want to but I've only tried it by hand no tools yet, so that's what I'm looking for now is advice on how to get this thing apart for cleaing. Any tips on getting it apart and things to try or avoid are welcome.

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The M617 is on the list. 4" for me, too.

gregp74 said:

That 4" 617 has got me thinking though. Bigger than the 63 but not ridiculous like the 6" one

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Gave my Model 63 with box & papers to my grandson last year. He likes it.

gregp74 said:

I've got a pre-model 10 38 from 1948 that I can grip pretty well. I ended up with a model 66 combat magnum not too long ago that's a bit big, but I put a set of the Altamont Combat stocks on and that makes it pretty nice. (I'm a sucker for wood grips. I also have a set of the Altamont Battleur ones on the 63 and it feels absolutely perfect to me)

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Both the pre-model 10 and the Model 66 are K-frames revolvers and will have the same size grip frames. The grips themselves could be different size.

There is one caveat to the above statement, if the Model 66 is fairly new, it will probably have a round butt grip frame while the pre-model 10 will have a square butt grip frame. You should be able to find smaller grips for the Model 66 for a round butt grip frame.

Fortunately, there is a wide variety of choice of grips for S&W K-frame revolvers.

The S&W K-frame is a nice size revolver. My wife, who has small hands shoots a S&W 586 (L-frame revolver) which has the same grip frame as the K-frame revolvers.

gregp74 said:

I finally got some range time today and was able to shoot this nifty little S&W model 63-5 that I bought back at the end of February before all this craziness started.

Back then I did a quick basic cleaning. Ran a brush and patches through the bore and cylinder holes, wiped everything down, and put a drop of oil on a couple spots.

Now that I've shot it I'm ready to do a more thorough cleaning job to take care of what I dirtied up today as well as any gunk from the previous owner.

I've undone the screw above the trigger on the right side and removed the (crane?) and cylinder. Going by the youtube video I watched, I should be able to turn that extractor pin clockwise and it'll loosen up. It doesn't seem to want to but I've only tried it by hand no tools yet, so that's what I'm looking for now is advice on how to get this thing apart for cleaing. Any tips on getting it apart and things to try or avoid are welcome.

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Put some empty shells into the cylinder if you're going to try and unscrew the ejector rod to protect the ejector ring.