Prince Yamato
Member
For a while, I had been eyeballing this little pistol. I love Soviet weapons and this gun just sort of radiated cool to me. I'd never shot a Tokarev before today so I guess I was kind of gambling on my purchase. I traded a Steyr M95 rifle and 200 rounds of ammo for this pistol (a TT-33). So, here's my impressions of the gun.
Appearance:
Like all Soviet guns, it's rough. Not a real pretty gun, but it still has that "bad-guy chique" to it that I love.
Fit and Feel:
Contrary to what most of you probably hear, the grip angle isn't that bad on this pistol. It's a little different, but it's easy to get around.
The next thing everyone probably wants to know about is the manual safety. To be honest, I think that it was cut off of a PPK clone and then heaved into this pistol. It's rough and burred but none of that is noticeable until you physically touch the safety. It is positively functional. It never felt like it would activate itself. It clicks in where necessary. The safety's sole purpose is to deactivate the trigger. You can theoretically carry the pistol "cocked and locked" or perhaps better described as "cocked and trigger blocked". I wouldn't, but you theoretically could. In addition, the safety is easily removed from the pistol, by means of field stripping. If you completely remove the slide release retainer, you can remove the slide release AND the manual safety. You are left with a hole in the pistol, but it is still functional.
Some may be wondering if the rear sight is fragile. It looks it in pictures. I assure you that it's VERY tough. It is thick and hard, but not sharp.
Shooting impressions:
I only purchased 50 rounds of Winchester ammo for this so I didn't test it THAT extensively. The 7.62x25 round feels a lot like a 9mm round to me. The recoil isn't bad at all. I described it to the guys at the range as follows:
"It feels like a 9mm round with something different about it."
It is louder than 9mm, but not perceptibly so to me (though the range master said that he thought it was indeed loud to him).
One thing I thought odd was that I could distinctly feel the recoil of the slide. Like I could almost sense the entire compression and movement of the spring- sort of like on a Kalashnikov, you hear the "click-click" of the bolt going back and then forth. Same thing with this little guy. You hear the slide "click". I found it a different experience.
The sight picture was fine for me. I didn't have any trouble acquiring the sights, I don't understand why people complain.
The trigger is fine. I don't know why people complain about it. Cock the hammer, pull the trigger, gun goes bang.
Accuracy:
I am not the best shot in the world and I usually spend the first two magazines on a new gun getting used to it (read: I shoot all the hell over the target because I get scared of recoil). Frankly, I thought the gun would be some sort of mythical beast, but it wasn't. After I grew accustomed to it, I was easily able to get 3 inch groups at 7-10 yards.
I had exactly ONE failure to eject that I blame on limp wristing. In fact, I'm positive that's what it was. I was trying to obtain a different grip on the weapon and didn't have a positive grip on it. I cleared the failure in less than a second and resumed shooting
Maintenance:
The pistol is stripped similarly to a 1911, though it is much easier to do and you don't get an idiot mark, because the slide release pops right back out and in once you remove the retaining piece.
Summary:
I'm not a "large caliber" guy. I find .45 ACP unpleasant and prefer 9mm. I was thinking MAYBE the trade I made today wasn't so hot... I was wrong. For those of you who hear horror stories of this gun's recoil- don't worry it's mild. The weapon is TOTALLY controllable and a blast to shoot. It feels just like a 9mm, except there's something a little different about it
.
One other thing: Sometimes, when you play with these guns in the store, they feel a little mushy. That's because they have a lot of cosmoline in them. Once you remove all that gunk from the gun, it operates very smoothly.
Appearance:
Like all Soviet guns, it's rough. Not a real pretty gun, but it still has that "bad-guy chique" to it that I love.
Fit and Feel:
Contrary to what most of you probably hear, the grip angle isn't that bad on this pistol. It's a little different, but it's easy to get around.
The next thing everyone probably wants to know about is the manual safety. To be honest, I think that it was cut off of a PPK clone and then heaved into this pistol. It's rough and burred but none of that is noticeable until you physically touch the safety. It is positively functional. It never felt like it would activate itself. It clicks in where necessary. The safety's sole purpose is to deactivate the trigger. You can theoretically carry the pistol "cocked and locked" or perhaps better described as "cocked and trigger blocked". I wouldn't, but you theoretically could. In addition, the safety is easily removed from the pistol, by means of field stripping. If you completely remove the slide release retainer, you can remove the slide release AND the manual safety. You are left with a hole in the pistol, but it is still functional.
Some may be wondering if the rear sight is fragile. It looks it in pictures. I assure you that it's VERY tough. It is thick and hard, but not sharp.
Shooting impressions:
I only purchased 50 rounds of Winchester ammo for this so I didn't test it THAT extensively. The 7.62x25 round feels a lot like a 9mm round to me. The recoil isn't bad at all. I described it to the guys at the range as follows:
"It feels like a 9mm round with something different about it."
It is louder than 9mm, but not perceptibly so to me (though the range master said that he thought it was indeed loud to him).
One thing I thought odd was that I could distinctly feel the recoil of the slide. Like I could almost sense the entire compression and movement of the spring- sort of like on a Kalashnikov, you hear the "click-click" of the bolt going back and then forth. Same thing with this little guy. You hear the slide "click". I found it a different experience.
The sight picture was fine for me. I didn't have any trouble acquiring the sights, I don't understand why people complain.
The trigger is fine. I don't know why people complain about it. Cock the hammer, pull the trigger, gun goes bang.
Accuracy:
I am not the best shot in the world and I usually spend the first two magazines on a new gun getting used to it (read: I shoot all the hell over the target because I get scared of recoil). Frankly, I thought the gun would be some sort of mythical beast, but it wasn't. After I grew accustomed to it, I was easily able to get 3 inch groups at 7-10 yards.
I had exactly ONE failure to eject that I blame on limp wristing. In fact, I'm positive that's what it was. I was trying to obtain a different grip on the weapon and didn't have a positive grip on it. I cleared the failure in less than a second and resumed shooting
Maintenance:
The pistol is stripped similarly to a 1911, though it is much easier to do and you don't get an idiot mark, because the slide release pops right back out and in once you remove the retaining piece.
Summary:
I'm not a "large caliber" guy. I find .45 ACP unpleasant and prefer 9mm. I was thinking MAYBE the trade I made today wasn't so hot... I was wrong. For those of you who hear horror stories of this gun's recoil- don't worry it's mild. The weapon is TOTALLY controllable and a blast to shoot. It feels just like a 9mm, except there's something a little different about it
.One other thing: Sometimes, when you play with these guns in the store, they feel a little mushy. That's because they have a lot of cosmoline in them. Once you remove all that gunk from the gun, it operates very smoothly.
