Field Stripping a Zastava M57 Tokarev Pistol

I’ve been messing around with a Zastava M57 “Tokarev” pistol lately, and it’s been fun. Here’s how to field strip this rugged-and-simple semi-auto handgun for cleaning.

The first thing to do is to unload the pistol by removing the magazine and clearing the chamber. Check the chamber just to be sure, even if you feel certain it’s unloaded. I also like to de-cock the hammer before I proceed.

There’s a flat spring clip on the right side of the pistol; start by sliding it to the rear. Use a non-marring tool such as a wooden object if you can’t get it to move with, say, a thumbnail.

The Century International Arms manual calls this “the fork-like lock.” The round projection that’s been freed is the end of the slide release.

Push the right end of the slide release that you just freed, and pull it through and out of the left side of the frame.

Now you can slide the slide assembly forward off of the frame.

The hammer assembly is really easy to remove for cleaning, so why not do so? In the photo above, the part with the hand-etched number is the hammer assembly housing.

Grasp it and pull upward; it should come right out. The first time I removed this one, there was a little resistance, but not much.

The guide rod on this pistol is full-length, but hinged. Take note of how the rear end of the guide rod is situated, because it has a top and a bottom. The curved side goes towards the barrel.

Compress the spring towards the front of the slide and lift the rear end of the guide rod.

Lift the rear of the guide rod and allow the spring to decompress, then remove it towards the rear of the slide.

Guide rod & spring stay together as one assembly.

The barrel pushing on this one is loose and easily turned by hand. Rotate it 180 degrees and remove it by pulling out the front of the slide.

The barrel comes out the front of the slide. Fold the barrel link against the barrel, or it won’t fit through the slide.

Now just move the barrel forward, out of the slide. If it doesn’t want to move at first, move the rear of the barrel away from the slide to release it from the grooves with which it locks.

And that’s how you disassemble an M57 pistol for cleaning & maintenance.

Assemble it in reverse order, making sure the slide release goes through the barrel link when you slide it through the frame.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.