An endoscopic surgical instrument which is able to be disassembled in order to facilitate cleaning of the instrument or replacement of certain components. The instrument comprises a handle portion at the proximal end of an elongated rotatable shaft, the handle portion including a pair of handles biased into a normally open position and movable between the normally open position and a closed position. Movement of the handles within the normal range serves to axially move an elongated working element situated within the hollow interior of the elongated sleeve, the proximal end of the working element shaft having a stud adapted to be received within a stud recess in one of the handles. The stud recess has a front slotted wall and an open top end. A spring means is provided in order to bias the handles during normal operation and a latch means is provided in order to disengage the spring. When the spring is disengaged, the handles may be moved beyond their normal range of motion so they may be placed into a disassembly position in which the stud on the proximal end of the working element may be pulled distally from the stud recess in order to enable the working element to be removed from the instrument.