[ADN]

I just had another thought. The sear should remain within the grip under tension. In other words if left alone, the sear will flip back towards the back of the grip without the frame in place. When reassembling the frame/grip I did not have to manipulate the sear in any way other than holding it down and out of the way of the frame. Once the frame was in place the sear just flipped-up into the correct position. The sear spring not only keeps posterior tension on the sear but also pushes it to the right side of the grip.

 

[JW2011]

Everything looks right as you described in your last two post. Sear has the correct orientation and the proper spring location. I used the tip from another member to use a paper clip through the small side hole to keep the sear extended forward while installing the frame.

I was able to get the TCP to cycle double action by taking the reassembled pistol and turning it upside down and tapping it into the palm of my hand, like you would hit your fist in the palm of a baseball glove. This correctly positioned the trigger bar and allowed it to cycle double action for one dry fire. When the slide is racked again the hammer goes to full cock and the trigger release is again single action.

Very odd. I'm about ready for that bag you spoke of.

 

[ADN]

Unfortunately JW, at this point I am just about out of ideas. What do you mean by "correctly position the trigger bar". There is only a small portion of the trigger bar which is visible on the right side of the assembled pistol.
I am sorry I could not figure this one out for you. The good news is that sending the pistol back to Taurus is relatively painless and if it is less than one year old shipping is on their dime. I just cannot imagine what would be loose enough to fall into position with a good whack and then fall out of position with a pull of the trigger. I wonder if somehow the security system is interfering with the travel of the hammer. Have you tried activating the security system then turning it off to see what happens?
Allen

 

[JW2011]

The small portion of the trigger bar that you mentioned is what I am not seeing when the firearm defaults to single action. By turning it upside down and tapping it in my palm the trigger bar is repositioned so when I turn it right side up I can see the small portion of the trigger bar you noted. It will only function in double action when that portion is seen.

Thanks for your help Allen. It was a pleasure to pick your brain. I plan to let the Taurus guys work their magic on it, hopefully they will give me an accounting of the required actions needed to remedy the problem.

Thanks again for your efforts.

Jeff
North Carolina

 

[ADN]

Let us know how it turns out. I am sure the guys in Miami will make it right.

 

[trdonahue7]

Even though you said "STUDY" the sear spring on the tcp 738, I must not have studied it enough. Completely taken apart but having trouble putting the spring back into correct position. Can you take a picture of the spring sitting in the gun assembled? This is driving me crazy!

Thanks, Taylor
p.s. your post was perfect on taking it apart and changing the magazine

 

[ADN]

Tell me exactly what problem you are having and I will see if I can help. When you replace the grip pin introduce it from the left side of the frame and when you have enough pin within the frame wrap the straight part of the spring around the grip pin so it cantacts the back of the frame and will "tension" if rotated clockwise while looking from the right side of the frame. You should then be able to replace the sear and push the grip pin the rest of the way in. The "bent" end of the spring should be facing the left side of the sear and should just slip into the hole in the body of the sear. Make sure the sear is oriented correctly-it is easy to install it backwards if you are not careful. I will try to take some pictures when I get home tonight.

 

[rl69]

thank you thank you thank you i ended up with a pink TCP 738 and had the bright idea i would paint it i ended up pulling the rear grip pin and without this post i don't know if i would have got it back together again thank you the paper clip idea saved the day

 

[ADN]

Aren't forums a wonderful thing!

 

[bigoz71]

Made the switch but the release is a little sticky now. Is that where the dremel comes in?

Big thanks to ADN for the tutorial!

 

[ADN]

I think I would give it a little time to break-in before I took a dremel to anything. After I switched mine it was just as smooth as it was from the opposite side.

 

[sincityagent]

One thing to make re-assembly a bit easier. There is a very small hole on the right side of the grip...just small enough to put a paperclip though. You can pull the sear forward and put the paperclip here to hold it forward while dropping the frame in.

Thanks. This is a must otherwise it won't line up and the trigger will be pressed. I was able to reverse the magazine release pin by lifting the trigger mechanism and using 2 small fliers.

 

[Live_Free_or_Die]

I just started my mag release reversal yesterday on my Taurus TCP PT738 SS and i can't believe the headache i'm going through just to make the conversion! All the trouble we left-handed gun owners have to go through! When i purchased my Taurus 24/7 G2 9mm, I was primarily motivated by the complete ambidextrous controls. I wish anyone goodluck on converting their TCP, there aren't any Youtube videos on it, cuz it would take too long!

 

[ADN]

Having done it without any guidance at all I certaily feel your pain but hopefully the pictures will help. Let me know if there is anything I can help you with if you are still having trouble. I too am a lefthanded shooter and once you make the switch there is no looking back.

 

[ADN]

You might also consider sending the gun into Taurus and I think the smiths there will reverse the mag release for free. I don't know if they will cover shipping or not.

 

[Live_Free_or_Die]

Thank you ADN! I've been busy @ work this past week and i haven't finished the conversion yet. I, like you had to remove the lower receiver from the frame to get @ the mag release button and spring. I was able to convert the release. Now i just need to put the rest of the TCP back together!

 

[HPS61]

I began by pressing the mag release catch until the u-shaped spring came free. With the release out, I could see this was going to be harder than similar work on my other guns. It's an ingenious design for reducing the cost of the release, but a tedious mess for the Taurus owner. When I contacted customer service at Taurus I was told they don't do magazine release switchouts, but that a gunsmith could and wouldn't have to remove the frame from the grip to do so. The operator was partly right. The frame doesn't have to be removed completely, but if you don't unpin the front of the frame there's no way to get the bend in the release spring free from where it is kept from moving upwards by the frame.
After much effort, I reversed the spring so the long end faces right and got it hooked up to the small hole in the top of the release catch, but when I put everything back together, the trigger doesn't function properly. The trigger spring is tensioned and placed right in relation to the trigger bar and the bar is attached to the trigger pivot. I didn't unpin the rear of the frame, so I don't think the sear moved. Anyway, I found an experienced gunsmith in the next town over and he's going to put it right.
One thing that bothers me about the magazine release spring is that in all the squeezing and pulling to get it out and back in (reversed) it lost some of its tension, so the catch doesn't have the same "snap" as before, but my smith says he'll take care of that too.

 

[HPS61]

Short update on mag release

Turns out I let the sear go out of position when I had the front of the frame unpinned. That's what I thought, but I wanted to let my smith look at it. He did and said the easiest way is to completely remove the frame from the grip. Of course. In trying to save effort I created more. The TCP is back together and it shot great at the range a few days ago. Put the Crimson Trace laserguard on it and it looks good. All's well that ends well.

 

[1guyin10]

Have to love owners forums!

I don't think I ever would have figured out how the sear fit back in there without this thread. Thanks guys!

I bought a used PT738 that I discovered had the slide lock spring issue. Being the adventurous type I decided to fix it myself instead of sending it in. You know the rest of the story..... :-[ Working fine now though.

 

[Live_Free_or_Die]

Finally after a few busy months I have the time now to be able to look at my Taurus PT738 TCP and figure out how to put it all back together after having done the mag release swap. I have a photo here of the sear and the sear pin. The sear pin has been a pain in the butt. The straight part of the pin which is currently pointing up can't seem to stay down in the tensioned position without popping back up and the sear is therefor rendered loose. Any thoughts of tools or techniques to keep the sear pin in the correct place before I start to put things back together? Why does it not want to stay in place? Or is the position I have it in the correct one? Lemme know guys, thanks! Desperate to get my TCP back to work as a CCW.