How to Field Strip the Model PPSH 41

As German forces invaded the Soviet Union during World War II, the PPSH 41 sub-machine gun was fast-tracked through the design and engineering process to arm Russian troops. Six million of these inexpensive, mechanically unsophisticated automatic weapons were eventually produced at a rate of over 3,000 per day by Soviet factories. The PPSH 41 fires 7.62 mm Tokarev pistol ammunition from a circular drum magazine with a capacity of 71 rounds or from a 35-round box magazine. With a cyclic rate of fire of 900 rounds per minute, it has a muzzle velocity of 1,600 feet per second and an effective range of 165 yards. The PPSH 41 submachine gun contains only 87 components and is designed for straightforward field stripping in a battlefield environment.

Things You'll Need

  • Screwdriver
  • Small metal punch
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Instructions

    • 1

      Slide the safety switch inside the trigger guard forward until it clicks.

    • 2

      Pull the magazine release lever located just forward of the trigger guard to release the magazine.

    • 3

      Push the upper chamber latch forward while pulling down on the barrel shroud to pivot the chamber open.

    • 4

      Slide the bolt assembly all the way back while lifting it up and out of the chamber.

    • 5

      Remove the bolt return spring and the buffer block from the bolt.

    • 6

      Unscrew the stock-to-receiver screw located at the upper rear of the receiver.

    • 7

      Pivot the trigger group down and out of the receiver.

    • 8

      Separate the stock from the receiver.

    • 9

      Depress the firing pin with any small object the size of a toothpick or nail and lift it out of the strike plate.

    • 10

      Push up on the extractor and slide a small screwdriver under the extractor spring.

    • 11

      Insert a small nail or push pin into the spring hole and tap the spring forward and out of its recess. Remove the extractor spring and extractor.