REMEMBER the four rules of gun safety:
- All guns are always loaded.
- Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
- Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target.
- Be sure of your target and what is beyond it.
TFB FIELD STRIP: WALTHER PPK
In today’s edition of TFB Field Strip, we’ll cover a U.S. made Interarms licensed copy of the famous Walther PPK. It will likely be one of the quickest field strips, but it disassembles differently than most modern semi-auto pistols. I cheated a little bit while photographing the field stripping process, which I’ll explain in the captions. Remember the aforementioned safety rules, unlike Mr. Lazenby above.
As always, remove the magazine and inspect the chamber to make sure the gun is safe! You’re not crazy if you double or triple check.

The first step to disassembling the PPK is to pull the hinged trigger guard down and move it slightly to one side so that it rests on the bottom of the frame. The trigger guard is also spring loaded so you may have to just hold it to the side with your trigger finger.

A close-up photo of the trigger guard resting on the frame. With the lug on the top of the trigger guard removed, the slide can then be pulled back to its fullest extent.

The recoil spring is stiff, so I cheated by removing it before photographing it. However, if you’ll notice the trigger guard found it’s way back into the frame, but since the spring wasn’t there to compress, I was still able to continue with the process. Pull the slide all the way to the rear to disengage the rails and add upward pressure.

Once the slide is clear of the rails on the frame, the back end of the slide is lifted.

Move the slide forward while keeping it tilted to clear the barrel.

Once the slide is removed, the last step of the field strip is to remove the spring from the fixed barrel.
As noted earlier, this disassembly is strange but simple. If you feel I missed something, have a question, or know of any little tricks to field stripping the Walther PPK, let us know in the comment section below. Which Walther PPK wielding actor is your favorite? Just for the record; no, George Lazenby isn’t my favorite Bond.
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