Tokarev: Yugo vs Romanian

[JeeperCreeper]

Just like the title says...

I'm considering getting myself a Tokarev style pistol in 7.62x25 for fun. I'm looking for a shooter, not a collector.

So right now, it seems there are Yugoslavian M57 and Romanian TTC for sale around $200+/-

I don't really know much other than some have weird safeties for import, some have none, some are old, some are newer.

Which one is "best"? What's the difference?

 

[MosinT53Hunter]

Century Arms has some Yugo shooter ones for around 200 bucks. They have the "trigger" safety vs. the frame safety, gives them more original look, and you can replace the trigger with something more original.

Either is good, I prefer the Yugo's since the safety is on the frame vs. having another hole drilled through the frame for that lame safety on the Romanian ones.

 

[jhb]

yugo has different mag holds 1 more round. bit longer grip. I own both prefer the yugo myself. I feel its a better made consistently firearm, but is debatable.

yugos can be surplus or newer made ones. surplus usually has eagle crest. different finish sometimes from what I seen and own. sometimes comes with a trigger type safety..
sometimes the frame one like the Romanians usually have nowadays. the frame safety is not great and awkward position but I'm a southpaw shooter. it's an after thought due to import rules I believe. I've never owned one with the newer trigger type safety so dont know.

Romanian has usually blued finish and is a deep and nicely done. polish ones are closer to Russian with close to the same slide serrations pattern. I find polish better built than Romanians myself from examples I owned and have seen and shot.

triggers on all my versions are similar...they cant be made to 1911 perfection. is what it is and I dont find it that bad. bit heavy but not bad.

my biggest beef is sights are mil spec iron type and hard to see with old eyes.....if you're younger or have good eyes, shouldn't be any issue.

you cant really go too wrong with either.

 

[weregunner]

Just for everyone's knowledge there is this. https://zastavaarmsusa.com/ I've got two of their M57s. The grips, for me, works out better. Yes, they come with a thumb safety. The M57 is more user friendly for me.

 

[TTv2]

I was wondering about this months ago and with some insight from others I decided the Yugo/Zastava's are the way to go if you want a 7.62x25 shooter that's close to the Tok design, but not hassled with add on safeties or crazy expensive.

Mags are available for them too.

 

[GBExpat]

I have multiples of the Russian TT33 and also the Polish, Romanian and Yugo Variants.

When I chose one on which to focus as a carry pistol (yes, they are nice & flat, easily concealable ), I chose one of the Romys primarily because its funky added-on-for-US-Import trigger-block-safety worked the best for me. It was more a specific-pistol thing than an Romanian-over-Polish engineering thing. The 3 Russians ('44,'45,'52 IIRC) are, for the most part, safe queens.

My Poles sport a noticeably better fit&finish than my Romys.

I have found that the TT33 form-factor leaves jussssst enough room on the grip to comfortably accommodate all of my fingers (size large gloves w/long, thin fingers), even with thin leather patrol gloves. With thicker gloves I have to use one of my M57s or leave my pinky curled underneath.

My guess is that for a plain shooter/fun-gun you would probably enjoy the M57 a little bit more because of the longer grip, if nothing else.

As I recall, 2 of my M57s came to me with HORRIBLE triggers. I had to replace the sear springs in both while smoothing/stoning the bearing surfaces. One of those sear springs had been reversed (the other had a hole worn in it ), probably the result of a field-expedient repair by a short-on-parts-but-the-bloody-pistol-doesn't-work unit armorer.

That said, the M57s, especially, seem to be coming in in several different conditions. From reading all the ads for these things over the past few years, many also appear to be newly-assembled from parts. I would not worry about getting worn-out parts. Just check the customer reviews at each site on the pistols.

Good Luck! I am sure that you will enjoy whichever you choose.

 

[Snowdog]

I prefer the Yugoslavian M57s personally. The slightly longer handle (that affords an extra round) sports slightly better ergonomics, IMO.
The safety is in a better location, the same as a 1911... at least on the 2 I have. I understand some of the newer ones instead have a trigger dingus.

The M57s also feature a captured recoil spring which makes disassemble/reassembly slightly easier.

I like both of mine, one appearing unissued/perfect condition while the other seems well used but not abused. Fortunately, the triggers on both are what I would consider good for military surplus. The "nice" one has a fairly heavy trigger but crisp with no grit or slop. The other is quite nice.

 

[MI2600]

I have two Cugirs, two Zastava M57s, and a CZ 52. I agree with the comments on the Cugir grips being short. Of all of them, I have found the CZ 52 the most comfortable to shoot. Just my perspective.

 

[Snowdog]

I had a Cz-52 for years and it was a reliable, accurate pistol. I just couldn't warm up to the ergos. It felt quite blocky, with such a squared-off grip. It was also the only handgun I've ever owned to exhibit trigger slap.
I sold it when prices hit north of $400. I still think it's an awesome looking handgun that fires a hot round.

Cz52 and M57

 

[GBExpat]

I had a Cz-52 for years and it was a reliable, accurate pistol. I just couldn't warm up to the ergos. It felt quite blocky, with such a squared-off grip. It was also the only handgun I've ever owned to exhibit trigger slap. ...

IMO, a good summary.

I still have three. I would sell them but I shipping costs & hassle are so prohibitive.

===

Acoupla years ago some fellows near here were going to open a new gunstore. One of several very interesting (to me) services that they told me would be provided was USPS FFL-to-FFL shipping (for a nominal fee) which would provide us with a massive reduction in handgun shipping costs & hassle. I would be able to easily sell some of my pistols accumulation.

Welp ... one of the first of the new services that quickly died was the USPS FFL-to-FFL shipping. From what they told me, the thing that killed it was the fact that the store opened at 10am and the Mail Carrier made his run thru the little shopping center by 9:30. <sigh> Yeah, I think they could have made that work if they really wanted to, but, apparently, it was not worth the effort for them. Apparently, they were having some issues with their new shop.

Their VCDL Discount on Xfer Fees also disappeared PDQ ... and they increased their fee by, like, $10.

I think that perhaps they underestimated the costs & staffing-issues of running that store front.

They have, apparently, morphed into a much-different more-limited operation.

 

[lsudave]

Of the two, I'd probably lean towards the Zastava. No, it's not a true Tok, but if you get the one with a trigger safety, you can then swap it out to a stock, and you don't have any tacked on crap. As a lefty, I just don't like a bunch of junk near my finger.