Profile of the Daewoo DP51

Compared to other pistols I’ve covered, background information on this 9mm was tough to come by. All my internet search turned up was a single page on Daewoo International Corporation and three paragraphs of promotional verbiage that probably appeared originally in an annual report. Though the overview listed 15 divisions, one very large auditing office, one domestic plant, and a department store, there was no mention of Daewoo Precision Industries, manufacturer of the DP51 in the late 1990s.

Do you suppose the folks from Seoul, Korea, were too shy of the Brady Bunch to mention their pistol on the internet? Be that as it may or may not be, the pistol is a recoil-operated semi-auto in 9mm Parabellum. Its overall length is 7-1/2 inches. It’s only 1-3/8 inches wide, weighs 29 ounces, and originally had a magazine capacity of 13 rounds.

The DP51 we received from Century International Arms, the current importer, arrived with a Korean-made 10-round magazine. (With the recent demise of the inept "assault-weapons ban," we assume the 13-round version will again become available.) Page 11 of the Daewoo’s owner’s manual gives instructions on how the pistol can be fired three ways. The double-action mode is available only after the slide has been racked, the hammer manually lowered by pulling the trigger and controlling the hammer’s forward movement.

Single-action is available after the first shot is away and for each subsequent shot. The trigger pull for DA is 13 pounds. Pull for SA is 5-1/2 pounds. Then, there’s "fast-action." Say what? Fast-action is what makes the DP51 unique. The feature is made possible by a two-piece hammer design. When the pistol is cocked, the hammer can be pushed forward to its lowered position without touching the trigger.

In an S&Wor Colt, for example, this would indicate an unsafe condition known as "push off." Not so with the Daewoo. When the hammer has been thumbed forward—regardless of whether the safety is engaged or not—the trigger will return forward. Then, lightly pulling the trigger will cause the hammer to jump back to full cock. The net result of this is a first-shot double-action trigger pull with a single-action pull weight of 5-1/2 pounds instead of 13 pounds.

Of course, all single-action pulls thereafter are at the lower weight. This is possible because of the hammer insert (#43). When the hammer is cocked, the rear of the trigger bar (#18) is forced down and forward, and the notch on the insert engages the sear (#38). This frees the hammer to be pushed forward and allows the trigger to return to its original DA position. Ingenious, those South Koreans. Field Stripping You know how it’s done with a M1911.

You don’t do it exactly the same way with the DP51—except for removing the magazine, checking the chamber, and wearing eye protection.

Hold the pistol in your right hand. Retract the slide until the take-down notch (see photo) is aligned with the front end of the slide stop (#34). Press on the slide stop, right to left, with a finger of your left hand. This will get it started out of the frame to the left. From there you can get under it, if necessary, with a small screwdriver wearing protective tape on its blade to lever the stop all the way out. The slide will move forward under pressure from the recoil spring and will slide off the frame.

Invert the slide. Compress the recoil spring slightly, then lift it and its recoil guide up to clear the barrel and control the release of spring tension. Tilt up the lug end of the barrel and remove it to the rear. The bushing (#1) is soldered to the slide. It stays put. Detail Stripping the Slide Pin #11 retains the firing pin. It’s a 3/32-inch roll pin, and drifts in either direction. Invert the slide and depress the firing-pin catch (#10). The rear of the firing pin (#7) will pop out a little.

Grab it, and pull it and the firing-pin spring (#8) from the slide. Release the pressure on the catch, then lift it out followed by its spring (#9). The extractor pin (#4) is a 1/16-inch roll pin you drift downward to release the extractor (#5) and its spring (#6). If you need to remove the rear sight, it drifts out in either direction. Detail Stripping the Frame Remove the grip panels by backing out the grip screws (#48). Each screw wears an O-ring (#47) to ensure lasting tightness.

If you lose one or more of the rings, replacements can be purchased at any hardware store. Now locate part #40, the magazine-catch spring, on the schematic. It looks something like a fish hook with a bend where the barb should be. Look in at the forward side of the magazine well. About 2-1/2 inches up from the bottom on the right-hand side, you’ll see how #40 fits in a hole in the frame. There’s another hole just like it on the left side of the well. Push on the magazine catch (#41).

See how the long leg of the spring runs through the catch? All you have to do to switch the catch from rightto left-hand operation is to pry the spring from its frame hole, lift it out of the gun, reverse the catch, insert it back into the gun, spear it with the long leg of the spring, and snag the bent end of the spring in the opposite frame hole. Every conversion should be so simple. You next remove the hammer spring (#49) and hammer-spring retainer (#50).

To get at them you must drift out the retainer pin (#45), but that’s not as easy as it sounds. Ideally, you’ll have 1/4 inch of a Reversing the catch from rightto left-hand operation is described in the text.

Daewoo DP51 9mm Semi-Auto Pistol (Specificationssubject to changewithoutnotice) 1 Barrel Bushing 2 Slide 18 Trigger Bar 3 Sight, Rear 19 Hammer Bushing 4 Extractor Pin 20 Hammer 5 Extractor 21 Firing Pin Safety Lever 6 Extractor Spring 22 Hammer Plunger Spring 7 Firing Pin 23 Right Safety 8 Firing Pin Spring 24 Hammer Plunger 9 Firing Pin Catch Spring 25 Ejector 10 Firing Pin Catch 26 Trigger Bar Spring 11 Firing Pin Lock Pin 27 Slide Stop Detent 12 Barrel 28 Slide Stop Spring 13 Recoil Spring 29 Slide Stop Plunger 14 Recoil Spring Guide 30 Slide Stop Safety Lever/ 15 Trigger Spring Detent Pin 16 Trigger 31 Left Safety 17 Trigger Pin 32 Safety Spring 33 Safety Plunger 34 Slide Stop 35 Ejector Pin 36 Sear Pin 37 Sear Spring 38 Sear 39 Hammer Pin 40 Magazine Catch Spring 41 Magazine Catch 42 Frame 43 Hammer Insert 44 Hammer Strut 45 Hammer Spring Guide Pin 46 Left-Hand Grip 47 O-Ring 48 Grip Screw 49 Hammer Spring 50 Hammer Spring Guide 51 Grip Plate (R.

H.) 52 Magazine Bottom 53 Magazine Spring Plate 54 Magazine Spring 55 Magazine Follower 56 Magazine Body 1/4-inch-diameter hardwood dowel sticking up from your bench for this purpose. If you don’t, embed one in apiece of 2×4, and press the bottom end of the retainer down on it. It’s okay then to drift out #45, because you’ll have control of the hammer spring as it pushes out the retainer. Some might not consider the next step a must, but it will protect the frame and make further disassembly easier.

This next step is rigging your vise jaws with some form of protection. It could be of leather, lead, or a couple layers of duct tape. It’s also advisable to insert a block of hardwood in the mag well to prevent deforming the grip frame when you secure it between your just-protected vise jaws. Did I mention having a plastic bag on hand? You’re going to be working on the left and right safety levers. Pin #30 is one of two on the schematic. Both are 3/64-inch roll pins.

The one I speak of now retains the left safety lever (#31) plus the lever-safety spring (#32) and plunger (#33). When you drift #30 downward and out, #32 and #33 will want to take off in great haste. Ergo, the plastic bag. Once those parts’t he lever and pin #30"are "in the bag, you can slide the other half of the safety (#23) off to the right.

Looking closely at the trigger bar (#18) from the top, note how the hooked end of the trigger-bar spring (#26) rides in a slot under the bar and the other end of the spring is located in a frame slot. Reach in with a small tool, depress the spring, and swing it out from under the bar. The stud at the front end of the bar remains captive, being held in by the trigger spring (#15).

The legs of this spring are the same length; one rests on the stud, the other extends forward to sit on a flat just in front of the trigger. Push the leg in contact with the trigger-bar stud off the stud to the left, remove the trigger bar, and lift the trigger-bar spring from its frame slot. The trigger (#16) and its spring are lifted out as a unit later to be separated by pushing out the trigger pin (#17) with a toothpick.

The hammer pin (#39) has to be pushed out from right to left because it has ahead on its left end. The hammer (#20) and the firing-pin safety lever