Tokarev: Polish vs. Romanian?

[Deus Machina]

Found sources for both, they're within $10 of each other, and since tomorrow's my birthday and I may (finally) get promoted up to full time, I think it's worth keeping an eye on a treat for myself. I've always wanted a Tok, and I'm not afraid of reloading. Especially if they use the same primers and Red Dot powder as my 9mm.

So, expected condition and accessories being equal, is there a preference between the two? One with my common or cheaper mags, if they're not to the same spec? Or if they're on the same level all told, does either look more like the original design?

 

[Fishbed77]

I'm guessing you got the Aim Surplus email too.

Personally, I'd choose Radom over Cuiger.

 

[commygun]

Polish. Better quality and it has the classic old-school slide serrations.

 

[Deus Machina]

That's the one, Fishbed.

Commygun, that's exactly what I was wondering about. Quality comes over tradition, but the original style is a bonus if they're the same. Or better. I'm guessing by the name you might have been a guy to ask.

 

[1858remington]

Polish is FAR better than Romainian. RADOM makes quality guns.

 

[RON in PA]

Definitely Polish. Excellent workmanship and as already posted made with the original design slide grasping grooves.

 

[jhb]

It's a luck draw on these mil surp pistols. I own both and a couple other toks. In my particular case my romanian is far nicer than my polish. Course i got a bad one. Can happen.

All things equal the Polish is a nicer grab and closer to the original russian......but only if ya get a nice one.

 

[GBExpat]

For that close a price differential, I would purchase the Polish Variant.

My TT33 & Variants collection includes 2, each, of the Romys and Poles.

By the AIM pics, it appears that the add-on safety (trigger blocker) has been updated on the Polish pistols to be the same as the ones on the Romanians. That is a good thing.

The older Polish safeties (pistols purchased ~10-12 years ago), while in the same place and, therefore, in a comfortable position to manipulate, required too long of a pivot to disengage ... like, 75°-80°. No good. Because of that, I only carried the Romys (only one of them, actually, as I painted the sights) concealed.

My Poles appear to be of noticeably better quality than my Romys ... which only matches the Polish reputation for excellent firearms craftsmanship.

A little detail for all:
I have 3 Soviet TT33s; 1942, 1945, 1952. By 1952 they had changed to the new-style slide serrations. FYI.

 

[oldironsights]

I own several Polish pistols & rifles.(M48, wz78, TT33, P64 & P83)
I own only one Romanian.(PSL in 54r)
The Polish armories turn out firearms much better than most commercial efforts while the Romanian armory's efforts are at best just adequate.(Usually very crude & poorly constructed).
You can get both, but I would first put my money & trust in the Polish TT.

 

[nathan]

The Pole is the one to get.... My Norinco 54 -1 has a lot of rough machining but it shoots quite good. Im not getting any more Tokarev as ammo surplus has been long gone. I only have one tin left for the rainy days.

 

[OilyPablo]

I understand why they did the safety, I'll never understand why the safety looks like it was installed with a rock and an axe by a drunken iguana on a cold night.

 

[GonzoGeezer]

I think you should add a third option, the Yugo M57. An improvement over the old TT33 form, and the safety is in a much better place. Just sayin'...

 

[GBExpat]

I also have a few M57s and I have found the safety positioning shown on the pistols in the AIM email (like the 2 Romys that I own) to be more ergonomic than the 1911-esque location on the M57s.

When I grip my Romys the forward inside edge of my right thumb actually rests on the safety so I don't even have to shift my grip to slip off the safety.

 

[OilyPablo]

THAT looks very sweet. It's the round I love, the Tok is a pretty OK gun, but wow standard Tok sights are horrible. Even by 1950 standards.

 

[Deus Machina]

Hmm. Yes, Gonzo, that's a good one. And I've had a chance to handle a Tok at the local place. Not sure what country it was from, but it didn't have the forward safety. Not sure if it was the Chinese one with both Tok and 9mm barrels he had.

Don't Yugos use a different mag to hold an extra round, and make it harder to find? Or am I thinking of some sort of Makarov?

 

[GBExpat]

Not sure what country it was from, but it didn't have the forward safety.

Just in case you are referring to GG's pic, that's not the safety, that's the slide lock. The safety is the thing to the rear of it.

And, yes, the M57 mags are longer than the standard TT mags.

 

[Deus Machina]

I know about the slide lock and safety, GBExpat. I meant like the ones on AIM's guns, like so.



There's a reason Browning designs have them at the back.

 

[GBExpat]

OK, DM, just checking.

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Sad thing is (maybe), those Billboards are beginning to look less offensive to me. I suppose that it also helps that many are now done much more cleanly and blued to match the firearm.

I find myself looking at the Billboard in that pic and thinking that I doubt that they could do a better job of making that look good, yknow?

 

[nathan]

The only gripe i have with my Norinco 54-1 is the very high rear sight notch. Most of my shots hit high from POA especially just shooting at 15 yrds. I notice the Romanian and Yugo M57 have high sights as well as these are sighted for 50 meters . Now the Polish has the lower rear sight which i really like.

Again, get the Polish TT33 .

 

[il.bill]

Of the two choices listed by the OP, I would definitely go with the Polish Tokarev made by Radom.

Nothing more to add, except that I really, really like the Zastava Yugo M57.