Tokarev TT-33 For first handgun?

98/29 said:
Get a Star Model B for the same price or any .22.
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When I went to buy my first pistol (which turned out to be my first two pistols, haha), I went into Frontier Firearms and said "I'm here to buy a pistol, a Remington R1, but I want to hold as many different pistols as possible, so I hope you've got a little free time!" The staff there were great by the way, the guy helping me spent about an hour and a half showing me guns and giving valid feedback as to what I was leaning towards and what would suit me. Anyways, they had a Star Model B Super in stock, and I was THIS close to walking out with that pistol, but I had my heart set on a .45, and I ended up buying the SP-01 Shadow the second I held it. Literally, one second and I said "pack that up too!" The Model B is basically a 9mm 1911 at, mmm, around 85-90% the size? Felt great in the hand, had a really nice trigger, and was only $130 more than a tt-33.

I now own a TT-33 and while it is a fun little gun, the ammo can be pricey and harder to find locally, it is a harder gun to shoot well as the grips are small, and accuracy can be hit or miss. It doesn't recoil much, but it is kind of a snappy recoil, and there is more muzzleblast with this round. For a first pistol I'd recommend a 9mm or a .22 if you want to spend a lot of time honing your skills. I grew up with long guns and just got into pistols a year ago, and at least for me, it is a whole different ball game! Practice, swear, practice, swear, practice, cheer!, practice, swear a lot, practice,..........:d
 
I've had a couple of them but would rather shoot a 1911 or my revolvers. I thought accuracy was decent with mine. I was shooting similar accuracy compared to other shooters with different guns. Mine is about as accurate as the Norinco 1911's I have were before I did any work on them, plus a better trigger too. I've decided to sell mine though because I haven't shot it since I got my first 1911 a couple years ago, but they are a neat little gun and fun to shoot, as well as a piece of history. Maybe I should hang on to it after all.
Kristian
 
98/29 said:
Get a Star Model B for the same price or any .22.
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Yeah. And break a part after 500 rounds, and you now have a paperweight because parts for a Spanish-made 1911 clone from the 1940s are pretty much non-existent.

Get something more modern, so you can replace parts if needed down the road. Any of the common 22s would be good, so would any number of the 9mm semi autos available. If you can afford it, a Smith and Wesson M&P9, or a Girsan regard (beretta 92 clone) are both good guns for around $600. If you can't afford that, look at Norinco's. They aren't the best workmanship, but they are usually reliable functioning guns.

I wanted to get a TT-33 for my first handgun due to price too, but eventually decided against it because of all the negatives (trigger, parts breaking/being hard to replace, sights, grip, ammo) - and the fact I wanted something that I could use in IPSC if I ever got around to that.

Keep in mind that most handgun shooters spend far more money on ammo than they do their guns - If you go to the range once a week, and shoot only one box of ammo (50 rounds) each time, thats 52 boxes, at $17/box, or over $880 in ammo for a year. So rather than pouring that ammo through some sub-par mediocre milsurp pistol you might as well save a bit more, and get something that is of better quality.
 
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Great guns, love them and hate them equally.

As a first pistol YES it is very affordable but it can irritate you quickly. (Trying to find spare mags or parts......can be difficult)

Lost track how many TT33's I've had so far........just like Mosin's or SKS's they just pile up hah.


My only honest real dislike is some magazines can catch badly on the trigger bars as they are inserted, can see that in my video I had one mag just being a right ####.

As a range toy that doesn't matter much but it is annoying.
 
Get a polish TT33. nice finish. AS for ammo. Cheap but corrosive. Mags are relatively easy to get. Since you like surplus guns it will add to the collection regardless if you shoot it a lot. I shot mine once when I got it and have two now. Price is right on them. Recoil isn't bad. Just snappy. You can buy a compensator to curb that.
 
Rugerboy said:
I would recommend a Ruger Mark II, III or 22/45. Great accurate pistols and cheap to shoot. It was my first pistol and I still have it.
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Good advice....a Ruger Mark 2 with a bull barrel was my first handgun as well....and I still have it . They are rugged , accurate , and cheap to shoot....
 
gewehr76 said:
Toks are great pistols. Once you buy one then you would know that they are not target pistols. These are millitary handguns designed to give an officer self defence capability,, nothing more and nothing less.
One can not learn to shoot tok unless one reads and understands this Наставление по стрелковому делу. Револьвер обр. 1895 г. и пистолет обр. 1933 г. which shows how to hold it properly and use it properly.
Due to its grip Tok is handgun thats designed to be used by one hand thus the need for proper position and grip in the hand. Soviets even adopted margolin to teach bad shots in the army how to shoot tok properly.
So those of you who have trouble with accuracy when shooting toks, hell you are not the only ones who had trouble with them. But once you master the technique then these pistols are very accurate and reliable for what they are.
Then once you buy one you can't stop buying them. I know, I have the desease.:)
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Nice, I love my TT-33. It's fun to shoot, I'd love to be able to master shooting it. Is there a English translation to that manual? All I could find online were in Russian,which I do not speak or read.
 
I bought a TT-33 as my first handgun. I'm quite happy with it. Mine came with a decent trigger right out of the box. I also picked up a Zastava M57 which has a heavier trigger. The TT-33 is real value if you ask me. Buy a crate of ammo with it and just shoot it. I'm starting to get the hang of mine and find its making me better at shooting my buddies hand guns too.

Milsurp ammo is still the cheapest around at 2250 rounds for $499.
 
Phat Eagle said:
Only problem is a lot of those bits are sold out with no restock in sight. Will Numrich ship to Canada?
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Numerich ships to Canada so long as the part is not worth over a $1000. I know on Numrich a bunch of parts are out of stock but there are other suppliers you can get the parts from. The original poster claimed parts were non-existent, my intent was to show that they do exist.

Also I've shot 600 rounds out of my Star B (knock on wood), nothing has broken yet and considering what I paid for this pistol, I've already gotten my money's worth. It's a 9mm with the ergonomics of a 1911 which can be a great platform for a new hand gun user to train on. To me who owns a TT33 for it's collectors value and nothing more, the Star B is a far greater of a first pistol for $200-300 and it uses the affordable 9mm.
 
Mark-II said:
No. Don't do it.

They are a novelty for folks who like milsurps. As a pistol in their own right, quite frankly they are a poor choice. They are a mean little blaster with interesting yet fragile guts, lousy triggers and worse sights.

They are not a first pistol.
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Here you go, this is gold. I have one and it is truly a vile piece of crap when judged as a sidearm. It is only in my safe because of its historical interest/value.
 
Just try and remember that when someone says any firearm is "inaccurate" (they mean not precise) -- it's them. They just don't know how to shoot it. The TT-33 and its variants are plenty precise for what they are, 2" groups at 7m and 15m are completely attainable and sometimes I can do better. I am not good enough to do that well at 25m, but that's my lack of skill.

For those who say the pistols aren't reliable, well, they probably aren't maintaining them well. I have the same or more of these pistols than gewehr76 and I've never had a failure beyond the expected "X part will start to wear out after Y thousand rounds" which every firearm has.

They have too much recoil and too awkward a grip for a first pistol, though, I suggest something in 22LR. I have given maybe 5 or 6 new shooters of different ages and genders a TT-33 to try and none of them did well with it. They all did well with a 22LR revolver though.
 
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bp2626 said:
Just try and remember that when someone says any firearm is "inaccurate" (they mean not precise) -- it's them. They just don't know how to shoot it. The TT-33 and its variants are plenty precise for what they are, 2" groups at 7m and 15m are completely attainable and sometimes I can do better. I am not good enough to do that well at 25m, but that's my lack of skill.

For those who say the pistols aren't reliable, well, they probably aren't maintaining them well. I have the same or more of these pistols than gewehr76 and I've never had a failure beyond the expected "X part will start to wear out after Y thousand rounds" which every firearm has.

They have too much recoil and too awkward a grip for a first pistol, though, I suggest something in 22LR. I have given maybe 5 or 6 new shooters of different ages and genders a TT-33 to try and none of them did well with it. They all did well with a 22LR revolver though.
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You are right, but with some handguns you are naturaly more accurate "out of the box", like for me its with my 1911 RemR1 way better from the first mag!
 
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