80s Russian Tokarev Ammo a Good Deal?

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There's a store around here that I check sometimes, purely because they get in surplus Tok ammo. Today I noticed the 50s Czech variety had been replaced by 80s Russian ammo that appears to be that legendary steel core stuff.

80s is certainly newer. It's also when the USSR was getting ready to die. Rounds could be full of baby powder for all I know. Anybody trust this stuff?
 
As long as you don't get it from Tradeex.
I bought a 2250 round case of Sellier Bellot 7.62x25mm from them and it is 50-60% duds.
They didn't even have the courtessy to reply to my emails about getting a bad batch.
I have shot LOTS of surplus ammo, four different cartridge sizes, from a few different manufacturers and this is my first bad batch.
I will NEVER buy from tradeex again due to their complete lack of customer service.
If they even took the time to say sorry about your luck, results may vary, we're not liable etc I'd consider dealing with them, but they completely ignored me.
 
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Got 1000 rounds of various 50's Czech from them too. Some of it looked like ass, but only one dud after getting about halfway through. Sorry for your luck, all my dealings with them have been top shelf so far.
As for the Ruskie surplus, I say giver! Just find out if it's steel core and check your range's policy on that first.
 
Tradeex can speak for themselves, but I'd probably look for a culprit other than the ammo in my search for a solution. Hammer spring?? Did you donate 100 rounds to a buddy to try it?? Clean pistol??
 
"...is certainly newer..." I don't shoot it, but newer doesn't equate to better. IVI vs Dominion Arsenals .303 Ball ammo is the best example. DA ammo is fabulous. IVI is reliable, but inaccurate.
"...don't get it from Tradeex..." Where you bought it from is irrelevant. They didn't make it. S&B isn't surplus ammo either.
 
During some misadventures is trying to make an inertial firing pin work in a tok I thought I was getting misfires once or twice a mag, but it turned out to be bits of primer blocking the firing pin channel from cases whose primers had punctured.

I'd say gather a sample of fired rounds and see what they look like. I just hung a bag on my pistol and fired a few shots, rather than try to find casings 20 feet away in the weeds.
 
my 1953 czech stuff seems as reliable as any ammo. Hundreds of rounds with no problems. Doesn't seem that corrosive either. I left some cases outside and none have any rust yet...
 
The Czech surplus 7.62x25mm has really hard primers. In my TT33 sometimes I have to re-#### the hammer 2 or 3 times before it fires
 
Actually I remember after cleaning mine that it did have a piece of primer stuck in the pin channel. Didn't affect function or happened near the end

During some misadventures is trying to make an inertial firing pin work in a tok I thought I was getting misfires once or twice a mag, but it turned out to be bits of primer blocking the firing pin channel from cases whose primers had punctured.

I'd say gather a sample of fired rounds and see what they look like. I just hung a bag on my pistol and fired a few shots, rather than try to find casings 20 feet away in the weeds.
 
Maybe hard and brittle primers in some of it...

Mine was like a cookie cutter, with a chunk of primer right in the mouth of the channel. It took a good tap on the back to dislodge it. But this was one of those short firing pins that isn't "positive" as is intended in the TT-33. I've since found out that they are Chinese pins that Numrich is selling, and they are a half arsed attempt at an inertial pin like a 1911.

But that is getting off topic, other than to say that if I was getting that many misfires I'd be checking that ammo in a different gun just for due diligence to make certain of where the problem lay.
 
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