Tokarev target conversion pistol (pictures)

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red_bailey

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Picked up an interesting variation on a Soviet Tokarev hand-gun, and I thought people would like to see a review with lots of pictures.

TT_target_01_zps4d923998.jpg


Coming up are some detail shots of how this pistol differs from a standard TT.

(I'm not putting the pictures all in one post, because then people will just quote *every single one* when replying.)
 
The pistol is based on a 1946 Izhevsk frame, which has been re-worked in several specific ways to give it a larger, more comfortable grip, better adjustable sights, and just a fresh new style.

A certain seller on the EE brought in a mere handful of examples like this recently. They are all built on post-War Soviet frames, and are in Cosmoline from the usual stock-piles, sort of appeared by surprise, so they're certainly not recent modifications. Each has a slightly different grip checkering.

It appears that these were modified in the 1950s, probably for target competition and/or training. It's not in the Datig book, and I don't see information on other Tok sites (so point it out if you find one).

TT_target_02_zps98bbe227.jpg
 
Here it is with the special grip plates removed. You can see the back-strap has been shaped by welding on an additional piece, and holes have been threaded to retain the socket screws for the plates. Also the lanyard loop was cut off.

TT_target_03_zps449f2475.jpg


Closer look shows the original serial (PL 1859 Izhevsk 1946), which gets covered up by the left grip. The digits of the serial have thus been re-stamped just ahead of the slide release.

TT_target_04_zps80135f40.jpg
 
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This area of the grip frame is too thin to thread due to the cut-out for the original grip retaining tabs, so an insert is made to fit into an over-sized hole. Remember this so you don't lose it when dis-assembling!

The grips are marked with the serial on the inside with the same punch, and also written ‘L’ and ‘R.’ This might be a clue to the intended market being either German or English (not in Cyrillic).

TT_target_05_zps1eecdd13.jpg
 
The magazine release button has been modified, this is a taller checkered one that's easier to hit. The grips are shaped to flow around the button and the slide release.

Also a closer look at the wood with brass inserts and the socket screws.

TT_target_06_zps75884cb3.jpg
 
Here we see how the new contoured back-strap was first screwed in place to the frame before welding. Also how the wood is shaped into the new profile, making for a very comfortable larger grip.

I didn't get a shot of the magazine, but it's stamped with the same serial punch.

TT_target_08_zps5c92259b.jpg
 
How does it shoot? Well, it's still a Tokarev, the same mechanically. It's got a good bore, but same length and I don't think it's any different from a standard barrel. I didn't take the time to zero the sights, and the ammunition was the common corrosive and very hot '50s Czech surplus.

All of which is to say, in my first test it's as good as any other TT. That's little small-bore bulls at 20m; I was shooting for the centre one only (outer targets are a .22 I was adjusting the sights on).

TT_target_14_zps0524d1a4.jpg


Done!

See if weimajack has any left.
 
muskog said:
Very interesting. Is the trigger modified from the original?
Click to expand...

Not that I've discovered yet. I said it was the same mechanically as a standard Tokarev, but I didn't expand on that. The trigger unit looks the same, the hammer group is interchangeable (though the housing has been cut at the rear for the new angle, and the hammer is obviously modified), barrel the same, various parts and bits the same (though this one has a substitute firing pin retaining pin). I suppose some parts could have been smoothed or different spring rates used, but it doesn't feel like it's radically different.

It's a single action design, with a pretty clean break of the sear after you take up a bit of travel against the trigger spring. The only thing you could do would be to lighten or shorten the travel, I guess (that's without going in and altering the sear geometry)?

misanthropist said:
Makes me think of how things would be if, instead of the 1911 taking off, the 1903 had been the one that became a huge hit.
Click to expand...

It did: millions in the U.S.S.R., Poland, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, China, Korea, Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan, and now Canada and the U.S.A.!
 
Here's a collage of the different grip patterns on the four guns weimajack brought in.

TT_target_grips_zpsf24fc17c.jpg


If I had to speculate, this seems to indicate a lack of mass production, so the number of TT-33s converted to this target configuration might be very low.
 
FYI, the pistol does not have the up-graded ‘hump’ hammer, so it leaves the usual wipe marks on fired primers.

This is another way to assume the date of these conversions, since at some point (since the late 1950s or early 60s it seems), the Soviets were replacing original hammers with the new hump design during factory re-furbishment of old pistols.

(I think weimajack is out of these; don't know if any more will turn up in the ware-houses.)
 
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