Disassembly and Reassembly Of the Zastava M88 Pistol

Several times in previous articles in this series, I’ve commented favorably on the skills and imagination of the Serbian gunmakers. This pistol is no exception. While it borrows here and there from other highly successful handguns, it is a clone of none. It uses the great John M.

Browning’s link-down barrel as a fundamental part of the design, adds a trigger bow that will fool you into believing it’s identical to the one you see in an M1911, and then blends in a touch of Makarov, a drop of Tokarev, and a dash of Smith & Wesson revolver. At a casual first glance, it’s easy to mistake the Zastava for yet another mirror image of the legendary Colt .45 ACP. It is not, of course, but that doesn’t become obvious until you start to disassemble the M88.

And then the differences become immediately apparent and more significant as the takedown process continues. Let’s take a look at those differences as we disassemble the pistol. Field Stripping On the right side of the frame is the slide-stop retainer (#24). After the magazine has been removed and the chamber checked (it is empty, right?), the retainer is pushed to the rear. This unlocks the slide stop (#1). The slide (#3) is moved back slightly which allows you to push the stop out right to left.

With the stop removed, the slide assembly is pulled forward and off the frame (#30). There’s a major glitch in the Zastava’s owner’s manual. It doesn’t clearly explain the takedown of the slide assembly’except to state that the recoil spring is very strong. That it is. In any case, the entire spring assembly (parts #17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23) has to be removed ahead of the barrel (#13) and its bushing (#16). Otherwise, you’ll never get the barrel and bushing out of the slide.

This omission is sure to give M88 owners fits’ and likely to bring you some business. Be ready to solve the problem as the customer looks on. He’ll be convinced you’re a genius. Okay, budding geniuses, take a look at the schematic. The rear guide (#18) of the spring assembly is pinned to the center guide (#19) by a pin (#20). The rear guide will pivot on Instead, it’s a blend of several different handgun designs, all with admirable and extensive histories. that pin.

Raise the rear guide with the spring still attached to clear the barrel, and withdraw the recoil assembly from the slide. This frees up the bushing. You don’t need a bushing wrench to rotate it until it can be easily pulled off. Pivot the barrel link (#14) flat to pass through the recoil-assembly tunnel before you slide the barrel out the muzzle end. Total time required to amaze onlookers: about 20 seconds.

This part serves as a good first clue that the M88 and the M1911 are not identical twins. Trust me, your brilliance at resolving a customer’s quandary with the M88 will not go unnoticed. Eventually, I’m sure, the pistol’s importer, European American Armory, will seek to have proper instructions for basic disassembly appear in the owner’s manual. But for now, you’re in on a secret most Zastava owners won’t know. Detailed Disassembly Start with the slide by going after the safety (#10).

There’s a black dot near the safety cutout in the slide. That dot doesn’t represent the manual safety’s "off" position (that’s a prominent red dot). The black dot marks a depression for the safety detent (#12). The detent captures the detent spring (#11). Both are contained within the body of the safety. If you’re not careful, both can depart for parts unknown when the safety is removed. In the next paragraph, I’ll tell you how I avoided this potential problem.

Feel free to do as I did or come up with your own solution. The firing pin (#8) has to be fully depressed before the safety assembly can be pushed and pulled out of the A B slide. Since I don’t have three hands, I placed the slide inside a large, clear plastic bag and used abroad-face Starret punch to push in the pin and hold it inward. With my hand, slide, and punch inside the bag, I positioned the slide flat on my bench with the safety upward.

I could then grasp the thumbpiece between my fingernails, rotate it, and pull it out. Of course, the spring and detent ball flew from the safety body as expected, but at least they remained inside the bag.

This leaves the extractor (#5) and extractor spring (#7) still to be removed. Though the extractor pin can be drifted in either direction, I recommend it be moved upward from inside an inverted slide. There’s no need to drive it out completely. Just drive drive it far enough to free the extractor parts.

A few words about the M88s sights: The front and rear are drift adjustable, but their dovetails are unique to the M88. (The pistol shoots well, but it’s not a target gun.) If anyone ever requests that you install adjustable sights, night sights, or anything other than the factory originals, you’ll have to file and fit them to the existing dovetails or else mill anew set of dovetails in the slide.

The M88 leans strongly in the direction of a reliable, economical personal-defense pistol, so it’s unlikely you’ll be asked to install target sights. Nevertheless, you should be aware of what it takes to replace the factory sights if you’re ever called upon to do so. Now, moving onto the frame, you can lift out the entire firing mechanism’if it hasn’t already fallen out on its own. Getting the grips off has to happen next, and they’re attached in a most unusual manner.

In the first place, the grip locking-lever 1 Slide Stop 2 Front Sight 3 Slide 4 Rear Sight 5 Extractor 6 Extractor Pin 7 Extractor Spring 8 Firing Pin 9 Firing Pin Spring 10 Safety 11 Safety Detent Spring 12 Safety Detent 13 Barrel 14 Barrel Link 15 Link Pin 16 Barrel Bushing 17 Recoil Spring 18 Rear Guide Rod pins (#36) do not unscrew. In the second place, they don’t come out at all.

The pins serve as pivot points for the left locking lever (#35) and the 19 Center Guide Rod 20 Rear Guide Rod Pin 21 Front Guide Rod Plug 22 Front Guide Rod Pin 23 Guide Rod Bushing 24 Slide Stop Retainer 25 Trigger Spring 26 Trigger 27 Magazine Release 28 Magazine Release Spring 29 Magazine Release Button 30 Frame 31 Trigger Spring Pin 32 Magazine Block Safety 33 Magazine Block Safety Pin 34 Left Grip 35 Left Grip Locking Lever 36 Grip Locking Pin 37 Right Grip 38 Right Grip Locking Lever Zastava M88 Semi-Automatic Pistol (Specifications subject to change without notice) 39 Sear & Hammer Housing 40 Hammer 41 Hammer Spring 42 Hammer Pin 43 Hammer Spring Detent Spring 44 Trigger Disconnector Lever 45 Sear Pin 46 Hammer Plunger 47 Sear 48 Sear Spring right locking lever (#38).

Both levers can be seen by holding the frame upside down and shining a light into the magazine well. The left lever is T-