0. Make sure the rifle is empty. Always. Never load your gun, ever.
1. Cock the bolt - With the safety off (all the way to the right) and the bolt in the rifle, raise and lower the bolt handle.
2. Flip the safety to the middle (raised) position.
2a. If you have an after-market Buehler (or similar) safety lever designed to allow for a scope that doesn't let the bolt open when on 'safe,' skip this.
3. Remove the bolt - With the safety in the middle position, lift the bolt handle, and pull it back. When the bolt stops, pull the trigger, and pull the bolt out of the receiver.
3a. If you have a Buehler safety lever, clamp the cocking indicator / cylinder-sticking-out-of-the-back-of-the-cocking-piece in a vice (between rubber to prevent marring) De-cock the bolt by depressing the bolt sleeve stop (little shark fin near the bolt handle) and turn the bolt sleeve counter clockwise about 1/4 turn. Pull hard. While pulling, flip the safety lever to the middle position. Take the bolt out of the vice.
4. Remove the case extractor - rotate the extractor counter clockwise around the bolt sleeve until it comes out of its channel. Push it towards the bolt face. I don't take off the ring that holds the case extractor to the bolt sleeve.
5. Remove the firing pin assembly - depress the bolt sleeve stop (if you haven't already: little shark fin near the bolt handle) and unscrew the the firing pin assembly counter-clockwise (lefty-loosey) until the assembly comes out of the bolt sleeve.
6. Remove the firing pin spring stop and spring - (I do this blind, with a heavy blanket over my hands, because parts are about to fly all over the place.) Place the firing pin assembly on a non-slip surface, with the firing pin pointing up. Firmly grasp the spring stop, and press it towards the cocking piece. Rotate the spring stop a 1/4 turn, and slowly and firmly raise the spring stop off of the firing pin. Now that the firing spring is fully decompressed, slip it off.
7. Remove the safety lever - turn the safety lever to the left position, and pull it out. If you have a Buehler safety lever, and are putting the Buehler safety lever back in, no problem. If you have an original safety lever on, and are planning to keep that original safety lever on the bolt, don't take it out. It's going to be a hassle to put back in.
Notes:
I don't take the firing pin out of the cocking assembly, and don't know how to. I'm guessing that you need to unscrew the screw right next to the springed rod hole (See assembly step 0). I'm not going to do that because that screw might adjust firing pin protrusion, which I don't want to mess with.
Bolt Assembly
0. Put the safety lever back in. You shouldn't have taken it out in the first place, but if you needed to, stick a 2mm allen wrench in the hole in the safety lever sleeve to depress the springed rod that puts friction on the safety lever. Slip the safety in from the back of the cocking assembly, and push the allen wrench out of the way with the safety lever, sliding over the springed rod. If you are installing a Buehler safety lever, all is done. If you are installing an original lever, even though the lever is partially in, you'll have to use something (I used a cut off bobby pin clamped in needle-nosed pliers) to further depress the springed rod while you push the safety lever in the rest of the way.
1. Now, reverse the disassembly procedures.
Notes on the spring stop: orient the spring stop to the firing pin so that the firing pin "exits" the bottom of the "cup" rather than "enters" at the bottom of the cup.
key terms: Winchester 54 bolt, winchester 54 bolt disassembly, winchester model 54 bolt, winchester model 54 bolt disassembly
Installing a Redfied TR - WPeep Sight
The TR-W, unlike the Lyman 48 series, does not require any material to be removed from the stock in order to install the sight onto the receiver of the rifle. As well, the TR-W is significantly cheaper than the 48. The 48 was an option on the M54 and pre-64 M70. I am guessing that they are pricier than the TR-W because collecters / traders want to return the rifles to stock, and want to fill the ugly hole in the stock that's left when a 48 is removed.
Installation is simple. Unscrew the retention screw that is on the aft of the sight. The sight arm will come out of the sight base with a little force. Remove all screws from the side of the receiver. Stock, the M54 has two screws. Mine had three because the rifle once had a side mounted scope. The screws that come with the TR-W fit perfectly (the receiver is tapped to 6-48 if you have to find your own). Screw down tightly. Put the sight arm back in, and tighten the retention screw. I took off the long, thin elevation screw that's used to quickly find zero if/when you take off the sight arm. I won't be taking off the sight arm, so it's unnecessary for me. If you choose to do this, the hole left in the sight arm might be filled by one of the plug screws that you took off of the receiver.
That's it! Now just do a manual boresight, and head to the range!
Making Your Own Rear Sight Dovetail Blank with a Buffalo Nickel
I lightly scribed two parallel lines 9/32" apart (the distance at the height of the dovetail) on the buffalo side, framing the part of the buffalo that I wanted to show. Then I heavily scribed two lines 3/8" apart, on the outside of the first lines. I put the nickel between two pieces of thin rubber in a vice, and took the hacksaw to it, cutting just outside the heavily scribed lines. Then, I filed down the corners on the buffalo side, until I hit the lightly scribed line. I rounded off the side of the nickel, because the nickel is wider than the dovetail slot, and the image that I wanted wasn't in the exact center of the coin. For fitting. I filed judiciously until it jammed in after about 5 taps with a wooden mallet and an aluminum-tipped bit driver. (I know, I know, wrong tool / wrong job).
If/when you do this, make sure that you always file parallel to your cuts. I did a few swipes perpendicular to the cuts, and went a little deep. Also, make sure that you don't use too much force when putting the coin into the slot.
Wow. I just had a much better idea than what I did. Next time, I'll scribe two 9/32 lines into the side of the coin that I don't want to see, file down that side of the coin outside of the scribed lines, and then tap the whole coin into the slot. There will be a gap under the coin, but I think it'd look pretty sweet!
