A catch device for the breech of a pistol, in which a spring acts upon a pivotable holding lever so that the latch thereof passes out of the path of the breech and the handle thereof is pressed away from the breech. Part of the holding lever is pivoted by the magazine slide, after the final cartridge has been pushed in counter to the force of the spring, so that after the cartridge has been fired, the breech is caught against the latch and remains in the region of the rear end position thereof. In order to increase service life, the spring is a compression spring, pretensioned between two claws of the holding lever and arranged in a slot of the housing so that one end bears against the base of the slot and the other end bears against the claw.