The autoloading handgun is a short recoil, locked breech, semiautomatic service pistol. A rear located safety latch is provided for ambidextrous usage. A hold-open lever opens the pistol after the last round in the magazine is fired. A recoil spring guide rod, which alone is used for field stripping, is provided. Only three moving elements, a trigger, trigger bar, and a striker are required for firing. The hold-open lever is formed from a single piece lever acting laterally and cooperating with the magazine follower. A standard Browning swinging barrel lock is utilized wherein at the instant of firing, barrel and breechblock remain locked with each other, recoil backward for a small distance, and then swing vertically away from each other via cam elements. The swinging barrel lock construction has no intermediate parts.