cleaning tokarev

vicv

Member
EE Expired
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Location
Southern Ontario
i'll be shooting my new norinco tomorrow and i've got 500 rounds of chech surplus which is corrosive. besides the barrel are there any other parts in particular i should make sure i clean which will get covered in a lot of the salts. thanks
 
Id pull the trigger block and clean that as well...basically, anywhere the expelled gas will come into contact with the inner workings. (inner part of the slide, etc)
 
LOL I dip the whole gun into Warm Water, and then Dry it fully and re-lube :D:D

If you are shooting surplus, corrosive ammo, make sure you are disassembling the entire pistol before you start using whichever method you prefer to clean/remove the corrosive residue.

I have had my own start to corrode on the surface after only a week between shooting being able to find time to clean it. The firing pin was showing signs of corrosion but more importantly the entire chamber area was developing a fine layer of "rust". It's easy to clean but each cleaning like that takes away a small layer of steel, shortening the lifespan of your pistol.

Keep in mind, if you are using a WW2 era Tokarev, you are firing a piece of history to start with and every little bit of rust and damage takes away from the historical pool of what is left out there (Yes my bias for military surplus firearms shows). They may only seem like a couple hundred dollar cheap gun now, but years ago so did all the German WW2 firearms. Look what happened to them.

Plan time to get it home and clean it after every shoot. It might seem like a pain and a time drain but in the long run you will be preserving your gun better and preserving a little bit of WW2 history.
 
The Tok design is tailor made for cleaning by dunking. The action just lifts out and can go into it's own swirl around tin or tray for cleaning and lubing. Once out the rest of the gun is almost wide open. And the plastic grips, though cheezy as heck, won't be damaged by washing in water, solvent or from the final oil. These things are actually a brilliant design in so many ways that I can't help wondering how much better it could be if the frame and magazines were just a little longer to suit larger hands and if they were made to a higher level of fit and finish to ensure a higher level of consistent accuracy.

I haven't ever looked up what sort of cleaning is needed to get rid of the corrosive residue. But if it IS hot soapy water then you could do worse than to field strip the gun, lift out the hammer action to be dunked in it's own little tin and then dunk and swirl the rest in a tub of hot soapy water, rinse well in extra hot water then shake out, blot the excess off, blow dry with a hair dryer and then swab everything down with some WD-40 or some homemade Ed's Red and blot off the excess with some paper towel and barrel patch. Then a drop of CLP on the slides when re-assembling the slide and yer done.

The action needs a touch of extra attenton. The big pin is held in by the hammer spring pressure but the smaller pin for the disconnector is free floating. So be careful to not lose it when you are handling the action. Just learn to hold it by that area so it can't jump for freedom. Dunk in hot soapy water, rinse with hot water, blot, blow it dry with a few hard mouth puffs and some more hair dryer action then oil it up with CLP and insert during re-assembly.

The whole thing from start to finish shouldn't take more than 20 minutes even including the slow part with the hair dryer.

If you've got those slip on stretch grips I wouldn't dunk the whole frame. The grips would hold too much water and it would never dry in there. Instead just brush out the dust cover area and maybe push a damp rag down through the mag well to clean it followed by a light application of oil using an old toothbrush to hit all the spots.
 
I just strip it, dunk it in hot soapy water and heat it up on the stove to dry. Then oil. I remind myself of how cheap it is as I do this.
The finish doesn't affect accuracy, and I like the grip (I am strange). The lockup on mine is very good.
 
I spray mine liberally with windex and let it stand for a few hours. After the Windex has evaporated it can be coated with CLP.

Unless the corrosive residue reacts with the Windex in some way this won't really do much. And even if it does react and neutralize the corrosive stuff you still haven't cleaned the particles away.

I'm sorry but this just doesn't sound like a good method for a few reasons.
 
Unless the corrosive residue reacts with the Windex in some way this won't really do much. And even if it does react and neutralize the corrosive stuff you still haven't cleaned the particles away.

I'm sorry but this just doesn't sound like a good method for a few reasons.

Well, I didn't mean I just spray with the Windex and then apply the CLP. The pistol is field stripped and then sprayed. After drying I use a cloth and toot-picks to take away the bits of green lacquer from the casings. Everything is wiped down and spick and span before the CLP goes on.
 
i'll be shooting my new norinco tomorrow and i've got 500 rounds of chech surplus which is corrosive. besides the barrel are there any other parts in particular i should make sure i clean which will get covered in a lot of the salts. thanks

You're about to learn Russian ingenuity = the gun is so simple and easy to maintain, that it's crazy.

Cleaning:

1. Clean the barrel
2. WD-40 trigger mechanism (easy to take away, sprey, dry, put it back)
3. Wipe the slide from the inside next to pin, WD-40 the pin area, wipe.

That's all.
 
I thought that WD-40 was usually frowned upon? I have a ton of the stuff and would love to put it to good use cleaning my TOK. Spray on and leave on or spray on and wipe off?
 
As a cleaner and light rust inhibiting oil finish there's not much that will beat it. But stories about WD-40 have reached the height of urban legend. It's a water displacing solvent and light bodied oil and that's all it is. It'll perform light lubricating tasks similar to what you'd use something like 3in1 or sewing machine oil for and it does a semi decent job of stopping rust from forming if the conditions are not overly harsh. It's also good for a first treatment if the metal is wet since it gets under any water that is on the metal.

Haven't tried it as a gun cleaning solvent myself. I thought something more volitile was needed to remove the powder residue.

And I'd spray it on, then blot or wipe away and blow out the excess from the trigger group and follow it up with a gun oil of known good lubricating value in the trigger group and on the rails when re-assembling. For the trigger group let the majority of it drain into a wad of paper towel. You only need a very light coat.

But if it isn't removing the black powder residue completely then stop and switch to something else. If this is the case you may want to goggle for "eds red gun cleaning" to get a simple recipe for a pretty good cleaning soup that leaves a light coat of good oil.
 
Back
Top Bottom