The TPH is blow-back operated and does not have a breech locking system. The barrel is fixed to the frame and fits tightly in the slide so that no bushing is needed. The recoil spring is assembled around the barrel and is retained and compressed by the slide such that no bushing is necessary. Unlike the Walther TP, with its open-top slide, the TPH has an enclosed breech with an ejection window. The extractor is an L- shaped piece of steel which is spring supported and positioned in a groove on the right side of the frame beside the striker. The one-piece firing pin and the striker spring protrude through the safety arbor and are held in position by it. There is a break-trough on the left side of the slide where the safety lever, which is fixed to the arbor, is positioned. It has a 60-degree turn similar to the late PPK models, with down as the safe position and up as the firing position simultaneously showing a red mark.