Glock Disassembly Guide: How to Take Apart a Glock

Whether you are about to do a modification to your Glock, an in-depth cleaning, or hiding evidence from a horrible crime; you’ll need to know how to disassemble your Glock in its entirety. The following article will walk you through how to take apart certain aspects of your gun so you can save your hard earned cash, learn your firearm, and do the needed work yourself.

• Disassembly tools
• Field stripping instructions
• Slide disassembly
• Frame disassembly
• Trigger disassembly

Glock Disassembly Tools

Glocks are simple designs, which is largely why they are so reliable. Due to the simple design, they are fairly easy to take apart completely, and expensive, specialized tools are not needed. All you need is one cheap and readily available tool, and you can perform all needed work!

- Glock Disassembly Tool

Glock Field Stripping Instructions

The first step in completely disassembling your Glock, is just a simple field strip. This requires no tools other than your hands, and can be done in mere seconds.

Step 1- Unload the Gun and Make it Safe

Always check the chamber to make sure the gun is safe to handle

This is the most important step of the entire disassembly process. I don’t care if you butcher the rest of the steps and cause irreversible damage to your gun. Please, please, PLEASE do not fail to check and clear your firearm before disassembly.

Step 2- Remove the Slide and Barrel

A basic field stripped Glock Slide

In order to pull down the takedown tabs and separate your slide from lower receiver, you will need to dry fire the weapon to disengage the striker. Once dry fired, pull the slide back about a quarter inch, and simultaneously pull down the takedown tabs and pull the slide forward off of the lower. Now that they are separated, pull the recoil spring and barrel out of the slide. Your Glock is now field stripped!

Glock Slide Disassembly

Now that your gun is field stripped, any further disassembly is going to require tools. We will start with the slide components, such as cover plate, extractor, and firing pin assembly.

Step 3 - Remove Slide Cover Plate

Many springs have been launched into orbit from rushed Glock disassemblies

This is a super common modification as people like to customize their cover plate to suit their style. Luckily, this ‘upgrade’ is also super easy to do! Locate the small gap at the end of the firing pin assembly. Now, taking your Glock Tool, depress the spring found in the gap, and slide the cover plate off. Be careful to keep your thumb over the firing pin and extractor plunger, as they are under pressure until you slide the new cover plate on.

Step 4 - Remove Firing Pin and Extractor Plunger

In order to remove the firing pin assembly and extractor plunger, simply see the previous step, and slowly move your thumb out of the way to allow the pressure on the spring to decompress. Pull the parts out accordingly.

Step 5 - Remove the Extractor and Safety Plunger

Now that your firing pin assembly and plunger are out, draw your attention to the outside of the slide. Next to the extractor, you will find the firing-pin safety lock, it resembles a small round button. Press it in using your Glock Tool, and you can now remove the extractor as well as the pin.

Glock Frame Disassembly

Hopefully you have made it this far, and are now ready to tackle the disassembly of your Glock frame. Short of swapping a trigger, or fixing a broken part, you have no real business being this far into the guts of your gun. But Im here to relay information and not judge, so here we go.

Step 6 - Push Out the Lock Pin

Using your Glock tool, push out the lock pins that are located just above the trigger pin. The lock pin is a smaller diameter pin, located above the larger diameter trigger pin.

Step 7 - Push out the Trigger Pin

This has a trick to it

Now use your Glock Tool to push out the trigger pin. Because the trigger pin has ridges in it that the trigger and slide stop rest in, you will need to wiggle the slide release while pushing this pin in. You will need to do this a bit during re-installation as well. 

Step 8 - Remove Slide Stop

Now that your lock and trigger pins are out, you can remove the slide stop and the trigger subframe.

Step 9 - Remove the Locking Block

Now gently pry out the locking block from the frame. In new guns this can be very tight, and may require some effort.

Glock Trigger Disassembly

This truly is important to know, as it will give you the ability to change the trigger weight and travel, as well as replace any parts that may wear or break over time.

Step 10 - Remove the Trigger Housing Pin

The Glock Tool will also push out the trigger housing pin found in the rear of the frame. If you have a Glock Gen 4, or a Glock Gen 5, this is also the pin that you can remove to change your backstraps and grips.

Step 11 - Remove the Trigger Assembly

The trigger assembly at this point should just lift out of the frame. If something is catching or hanging up, go back and make sure you have correctly completed the previous steps. Pull the trigger assembly out by grabbing under the ejector, and gently wiggling it upwards. Don't worry about things twisting or coming separated. It's a Glock, you can't really hurt it.

Step 12 - Disassemble the Trigger Assembly

This is where things will start to get confusing, so pay attention.

Holding the trigger housing in one hand, and the trigger bar in the other; pull the trigger bar straight back toward the ejector end of the trigger housing, and then rotate the bar out and away from the housing. This will disconnect the trigger from the trigger housing, now remove the trigger bar from the spring. It can be a bit finicky, but once you do it once or twice, you'll get the hang of it. Reassembly is just reattaching the spring, and popping it back in place.

Step 13 - Remove the Connector

Now take your Glock Tool and push the connector all the way out of the trigger housing, this will leave you with just the physical trigger. Your trigger assembly is now completely disassembled.

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