Surplus TT33 - Tokarev as first pistol?
- Thread starter TheSmartShooter
- Start date
I think the OP has got his answer from this thread. How about we turn it into: TT-33 as a first pistol, tips and advice for shooting and maintenance?
Will be taking my new to me Tok for a first range visit tomorrow.
Will be taking my new to me Tok for a first range visit tomorrow.
Travis Bickle
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Upper Lower Middle Alberta
I think the OP has got his answer from this thread. How about we turn it into: TT-33 as a first pistol, tips and advice for shooting and maintenance?
Will be taking my new to me Tok for a first range visit tomorrow.
Fair enough and good idea!
Buy two. Honestly. I bought a second one off the EE and stripped it down just for spare parts. Not many people carry the parts that you are going to need after shooting thousands of rounds through it. Firing pin, firing pin retaining pin, extractor etc Better to just buy a whole other TT33 off EE and strip it down for parts. Plus then you get 4 mags total!
Best way I found to clean mine after hundreds of rounds of corrosive was to field strip it down. Drop everything (minus the frame) into an old pot from a yard sale. Fill it up with boiling water, wipe all the parts down. Dump the water. Then use Eds Red, dump it into the pot and cover all the pieces. Let it soak for 5 minutes, pull the parts, wipe them off and pour the eds red back in the can for later use. Reassemble and 100% good to go. It's been my number one pistol for as long as I've owned guns and I never had a single spec of rust from corrosive ammo. Literally 10 minutes of cleaning with zero elbow grease.
Tips for shooting, I have found over the years that using the tip of my finger on the TT33 trigger helps me shoot it much more accurately. May just be me.
Holster sucks. Make your own out of Kydex. I usually holster with a loaded mag and empty chamber but with the hammer cocked. Then draw from the hip and rack the slide as it comes up. The hammer precocked makes racking the slide effortless. I am very fast with it using this method.
I'll think of some more.
Also I filed the rear sights open a little bit with a small file to get a bigger notch. I found this helped a lot with improving accuracy/ease of shooting.
Which model did you get, Russian/ Polish/ Yugo/ Chinese etc;? Either way, enjoy!I think the OP has got his answer from this thread. How about we turn it into: TT-33 as a first pistol, tips and advice for shooting and maintenance?
Will be taking my new to me Tok for a first range visit tomorrow.
Good info, do you have any problems with occasional stove piping with lacquered surplus? I do with my refurb Russian copy but not so much with the Polish non refurb tt. I was thinking of running them through the tumbler for a couple hours to clean them up! With the price of the surplus going up, it's almost as cheap to get the non cor. Chinese x25 in bulk when they go on sale!Fair enough and good idea!
Buy two. Honestly. I bought a second one off the EE and stripped it down just for spare parts. Not many people carry the parts that you are going to need after shooting thousands of rounds through it. Firing pin, firing pin retaining pin, extractor etc Better to just buy a whole other TT33 off EE and strip it down for parts. Plus then you get 4 mags total!
Best way I found to clean mine after hundreds of rounds of corrosive was to field strip it down. Drop everything (minus the frame) into an old pot from a yard sale. Fill it up with boiling water, wipe all the parts down. Dump the water. Then use Eds Red, dump it into the pot and cover all the pieces. Let it soak for 5 minutes, pull the parts, wipe them off and pour the eds red back in the can for later use. Reassemble and 100% good to go. It's been my number one pistol for as long as I've owned guns and I never had a single spec of rust from corrosive ammo. Literally 10 minutes of cleaning with zero elbow grease.
Tips for shooting, I have found over the years that using the tip of my finger on the TT33 trigger helps me shoot it much more accurately. May just be me.
Holster sucks. Make your own out of Kydex. I usually holster with a loaded mag and empty chamber but with the hammer cocked. Then draw from the hip and rack the slide as it comes up. The hammer precocked makes racking the slide effortless. I am very fast with it using this method.
I'll think of some more.
Also I filed the rear sights open a little bit with a small file to get a bigger notch. I found this helped a lot with improving accuracy/ease of shooting.
I am also looking at a Yugo TT33, does anyone know where to get extra Mags?
A Bulgarian T58 Super 12 was my first pistol.
With the first box of Russian surplus ammo, the rear sight and safety lever fell off
Rear sight was punched and re-installed and has been great since.
Easy to clean and fun to shoot.
Added a Hogue slip on grip and fills my hand nicely.
After 20 years, I still giggle when I shoot it.
With the first box of Russian surplus ammo, the rear sight and safety lever fell off
Rear sight was punched and re-installed and has been great since.
Easy to clean and fun to shoot.
Added a Hogue slip on grip and fills my hand nicely.
After 20 years, I still giggle when I shoot it.
Russian 1943, simply because it was available for me to handle.
A Polish or Yugo will come in the future.
Try Corwin Arms for magazines, he is here on CGN but you have to search for him.
Travis Bickle
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Upper Lower Middle Alberta
Another thing I would say is try and take the pistol completely apart.
The hammer and sear group included.
Trigger, trigger spring, mag release etc. There are a couple good youtube videos on hos to take it down completely. It really is an ingenious design (borrowed/stolen and improved Soviet style).
When the gun is completely apart you can look at every piece and especially parts where the machining is rough and there may be burs of metal where there shouldn't be.
Ie inside the edges of the trigger part where the magazine slides up into. You can use a light file to remove burs on the edges and even polish up the insides of the trigger collar with 400 and then 600 grit paper. That alone can actually make the trigger lighter as the collar slides back while the magazine is in the center of it. If it's rubbing it's one of the reasons the TT33 trigger feels "gritty" it's actually usually rough spots inside the trigger collar rubbing on the magazine. Polish the inside and file any edges off. Huge improvement.
Same with the magazine catch button. Sometimes they can be roughly machine which will prevent your mag from dropping free when you push the mag release. You can use a small file and take any of the burred edges off the nub inside.
All small stuff but it can make the gun run a lot smoother.
There is a way to modify the trigger/sear to lighten it up. Simply polishing it with a dremel tool on very low setting and a polishing cloth bit with some polishing paste on it will improve it drastically.
Will put some pics up of my Kydex home made Tok Holster
The hammer and sear group included.
Trigger, trigger spring, mag release etc. There are a couple good youtube videos on hos to take it down completely. It really is an ingenious design (borrowed/stolen and improved Soviet style).
When the gun is completely apart you can look at every piece and especially parts where the machining is rough and there may be burs of metal where there shouldn't be.
Ie inside the edges of the trigger part where the magazine slides up into. You can use a light file to remove burs on the edges and even polish up the insides of the trigger collar with 400 and then 600 grit paper. That alone can actually make the trigger lighter as the collar slides back while the magazine is in the center of it. If it's rubbing it's one of the reasons the TT33 trigger feels "gritty" it's actually usually rough spots inside the trigger collar rubbing on the magazine. Polish the inside and file any edges off. Huge improvement.
Same with the magazine catch button. Sometimes they can be roughly machine which will prevent your mag from dropping free when you push the mag release. You can use a small file and take any of the burred edges off the nub inside.
All small stuff but it can make the gun run a lot smoother.
There is a way to modify the trigger/sear to lighten it up. Simply polishing it with a dremel tool on very low setting and a polishing cloth bit with some polishing paste on it will improve it drastically.
Will put some pics up of my Kydex home made Tok Holster
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Travis Bickle
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Upper Lower Middle Alberta
If it's stove piping it could be your extractor getting weak. It may not be gripping the case rim strong enough to get a strong enough ejection and getting jammed up on the return cycle of the slide.
One more reason to buy a second cheap parts gun lol
Could be, it was a cheap refurb and not in great shape, I heard that the lacquer heats up and makes the casings stick a bit too, I will try it with copper washed to see if it makes a difference! Maybe I will get a spare repro for parts $170 ish isn't bad insurance.
Russian 1943, simply because it was available for me to handle.
Try Corwin Arms for magazines, he is here on CGN but you have to search for him.[/QUOTE
I spend a lot of money at Corwin Arms, Martin is a great guy, I will be buying a 5 pack of tt mags but I think they are the regular ones, I believe the M57 Yugo is a bit longer to take 9 rounds, I will ask him if he has those in stock too!
Travis Bickle
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Upper Lower Middle Alberta
I don't think its the lacquer though. I've only ever shot lacquered through mine.
The bottle neck cased 7.62 Tok is a pretty stout little round. It's a blowback design. There should be plenty of power to pull that case out of the chamber regardless as long as the extractor and spring are working.
More good info, I did stone one of my mag release buttons as it was a bit rough, but as yet, I haven't done anything to the triggers.Another thing I would say is try and take the pistol completely apart.
The hammer and sear group included.
Trigger, trigger spring, mag release etc. There are a couple good youtube videos on hos to take it down completely. It really is an ingenious design (borrowed/stolen and improved Soviet style).
When the gun is completely apart you can look at every piece and especially parts where the machining is rough and there may be burs of metal where there shouldn't be.
Ie inside the edges of the trigger part where the magazine slides up into. You can use a light file to remove burs on the edges and even polish up the insides of the trigger collar with 400 and then 600 grit paper. That alone can actually make the trigger lighter as the collar slides back while the magazine is in the center of it. If it's rubbing it's one of the reasons the TT33 trigger feels "gritty" it's actually usually rough spots inside the trigger collar rubbing on the magazine. Polish the inside and file any edges off. Huge improvement.
Same with the magazine catch button. Sometimes they can be roughly machine which will prevent your mag from dropping free when you push the mag release. You can use a small file and take any of the burred edges off the nub inside.
All small stuff but it can make the gun run a lot smoother.
There is a way to modify the trigger/sear to lighten it up. Simply polishing it with a dremel tool on very low setting and a polishing cloth bit with some polishing paste on it will improve it drastically.
Will put some pics up of my Kydex home made Tok Holster
As I said earlier, I am looking hard at an M57 but looking around for mags,, seems hard to find, do you know any suppliers? Martin at Corwin Arms is trying to source some but won't know till 2017 some time!
I'm not a fan of the 1911 series either (despite owning 3: 9mm, .45ACP and 22lr)
if you're looking for a reliable .22lr of the 3 I own my M&P22 is great and matches my M&P9 in every respect but weight (aluminum slider instead of steel) and chamber, obviously.
individual results may vary
I bought one off of TradeEx. If you really can't find one I'll sell you mine for what I payed.
Things didn't go quite like I had hoped with my new (and first pistol) Tok. I started out at 10m and got a pattern that was 18 inches low and six inches
to the left of where I was aiming (now that I think of it, I should have checked to see whether it was a consistent pattern rather than trying to compensate)
I moved the target back to 5m and got an acceptable (to me) group of six inches around the point of aim. Then I tried shooting at 15m and again the
bullets were hitting low and to the left (two feet low and one foot to the left)
I had an opportunity to shoot a Tok about a year ago and was able to make a nice eight inch group at 10m, so that was what I was hoping to see.
What should I do?
to the left of where I was aiming (now that I think of it, I should have checked to see whether it was a consistent pattern rather than trying to compensate)
I moved the target back to 5m and got an acceptable (to me) group of six inches around the point of aim. Then I tried shooting at 15m and again the
bullets were hitting low and to the left (two feet low and one foot to the left)
I had an opportunity to shoot a Tok about a year ago and was able to make a nice eight inch group at 10m, so that was what I was hoping to see.
What should I do?
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Robert Low Left is 99% shooter. Check your grip and trigger pull. Do a lot of dry firing at home and watch the front site. If your trigger finger is not coming straight back you, if you are right handed, will have a tendency to push the gun left at the trigger break. Low is often a body reaction to recoil. You start anticipating the recoil and tend to drive the gun downward at the break.
Try shooting the pistol from a firm rest slowly and see where the bullets hit.
Yotube can be your friend as there are a number of short videos their illustrating the proper grip and trigger pull. I will add the Tok is not the best [pistol to learn how to shoot a handgun reasonably well due to the design and cartridge (recoil).
Take Care
Bob
Try shooting the pistol from a firm rest slowly and see where the bullets hit.
Yotube can be your friend as there are a number of short videos their illustrating the proper grip and trigger pull. I will add the Tok is not the best [pistol to learn how to shoot a handgun reasonably well due to the design and cartridge (recoil).
Take Care
Bob
It's not a straight blowback where all the pressure is starting to push the casing out the rear while the bullet is still leaving. It's got a slot in the barrel's heel and lugs that engage in the slide and the barrel moves back and down just like any other delayed blowback gun. The delay means that there's only a partial amount of pressure left to help the extractor pull the casing out of the chamber. But the primary extraction is going to be from pulling on the rim groove.
Things didn't go quite like I had hoped with my new (and first pistol) Tok. I started out at 10m and got a pattern that was 18 inches low and six inches
to the left of where I was aiming (now that I think of it, I should have checked to see whether it was a consistent pattern rather than trying to compensate)
I moved the target back to 5m and got an acceptable (to me) group of six inches around the point of aim. Then I tried shooting at 15m and again the
bullets were hitting low and to the left (two feet low and one foot to the left)
I had an opportunity to shoot a Tok about a year ago and was able to make a nice eight inch group at 10m, so that was what I was hoping to see.
What should I do?
Practice and change things so you are doing them more correctly.
You might be holding too hard if the grips don't fit you all that well. That makes it hard to move only the trigger finger in total isolation from the rest of your hand(s). So for starters relax just a little. I like to suggest you hold it like a firm handshake. Or with the amount of pressure you'd use on a shovel which you know you'll be doing for a while. Or like you'd hold a base ball bat if you've ever played. You want support without making your nails go white or wrist tendons stand out unduly.
Next up is to focus on a smooth pressure build of the trigger finger. Avoid any tendency to "click" or "snap" the trigger when you feel the sights are spot on. Snatching at the trigger that way is a great way to induce a flinch. Instead just hold the sights "close enough" and over about a half second smoothly increase your pressure on the trigger until the trigger passes through the break and is pressed at the rear travel limit. And HOLD it back. When the recoil kick is done you should still be holding the trigger fully back. Only then ease up and allow the trigger to push your finger forward.
