Tokarev feed / firing problem

human

human

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First off, the obligatory "sorry if this was asked before", I searched and couldn't find a similar problem here.

Russian Tokarev 1944, taken for a ride once by myself. Apparently unissued. Cleaned and oiled properly. My range won't allow surplus ammo, so I had to buy Sellier & Bellot 7.62x25. And here's what happened: every 2 or three rounds, the case would eject but the slide did't close on the next round. I had to either rack it (thus ejecting a good round and load the next one), or push it by hand until it locked. (And then it would fire just fine.)

I was told it might have to do with the recoil spring, and I'm about to order a Wolff replacement, but I wanted to ask here first - if anyone had this problem or know what's going on, please help out an ignorant soul.

Thanks in advance.
 
Everything. I'm bit OCD when it comes to cleaning my weapons and I wouldn't shoot one without prior thorough inspection and proper cleanup / lubrication.
 
Yes, I have an unissued Polish t-33 with the exact same problem. I have put a Wolf spring kit in it and it still has the same problem. I'm thinking of polishing the feed ramp next when ever I get around to it.
 
human said:
And here's what happened: every 2 or three rounds, the case would eject but the slide did't close on the next round. I had to either rack it (thus ejecting a good round and load the next one), or push it by hand until it locked. (And then it would fire just fine.)

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Was the round jamming on the frame, just below the barrel feed ramp? That area I'm calling a "frame feed ramp", and my reloads were hitting this area and not riding up it into the barrel. The slide would stop about 1/4" before being fully closed.

In my case, my reloads weren't crimped enough and the projectile was being set back into the case. However, I did take a small file and some 300 and 1000 grit sandpaper to that area, as it was very rough.

Hope this helps.
 
When you load the magazine slap the back of it against your hand once or twice so the bullets "nose up" in the mag a little bit, that solves the problem on mine.
 
Thanks everyone for the input. To answer a few questions:


MotorwayRacer said:
Maybe unknowingly limp wristing it?
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I qualify on handguns for work, so I don't think I was doing that :)

parts-man said:
slap the back of it against your hand once or twice
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Yup, old Army trick, I do that on every stacked mag I have, rifle or pistol.

stevebc said:
Was the round jamming on the frame, just below the barrel feed ramp?
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No, not really. The round clears the feed ramp and goes about halfway into the chamber, and the slide stays about halfway open too. Then if I push the slide by hand, it locks in place and fires just right. Also I didn't fire any reloads, but Sellier & Bellot (first and only experience with this brand TBH, don't know if it's crap or not; I prefer sticking with Federal or Blazer on the cheap, but no such thing for Toks.)
 
Next time it happens, eject the round that didn't chamber and examine the bullet and the neck of the case for signs of contact with the barrel. My 1911 has the same issue with the cast Lee 200gr SWC round, but loads round nose like a champ.

Like was already mentioned, you may need to do some polishing. I really doubt it is the recoil spring.
 
I've seen this issue pop up on my High Point and Norc 1911. It was resolved in both pistols with new magazine springs. Just something to consider.

Where are you guys finding wolf kits for the Tokarev?
 
One of the business partners here is ordering them every now and then. Forgot who, but it's somewhere in the pistols thread if you search for "Tokarev".

(Hope they still bring them in.)
 
As you've described the issue I think that it either magazine didn't push round strong enough or recoil spring is not as strong. But I would guess that most likely it a recoil spring and Wolf spring should fix the issue based on what you said. I had different feed issue when sometimes slide just locks open and didn't feed next round. manually pulling slide a bit back and let it go will always feed a round. But it happened only with two magazines of three I had. One magazine did it occasionally, second - almost every round and third magazine always worked flawlessly. Ironically the magazine with the same serial number as a gun was the worst After I installed Wolf spring in the gun, all 3 magazines didn't give me any issues. So I think that war time TT have not the best recoil spring, maybe after 70 years in storage spring lost some of its strength.
 
Grab some of the Polish mags Corwin sells. They are excellent quality for an excellent price. Even if mags isn't the problem, you'll have quality extra mags. I'm betting it is a mag problem.

Edit - do you only have one mag or two? If you only have one mag I'd put money on a mag problem. If same problem with multiple mags, more likely a gun problem. Either way grab some Corwin mags, they're great, and so is Martin.
 
human said:
No, not really. The round clears the feed ramp and goes about halfway into the chamber, and the slide stays about halfway open too. Then if I push the slide by hand, it locks in place and fires just right. Also I didn't fire any reloads, but Sellier & Bellot (first and only experience with this brand TBH, don't know if it's crap or not; I prefer sticking with Federal or Blazer on the cheap, but no such thing for Toks.)
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Still having a hard time picturing this- is the round entering the chamber cockeyed, or straight, but then jamming somehow?

I've used the S&B in mine, and found it too snappy, so I switched to reloads, but I had no issues at all with it feeding or firing. It's not crap.
 
I had an issue with my 1945 tt33 using my JLRN reloads, the frame and barrel feed ramps were causing a ton of feed issues, used the dremel and a cotton polishing wheel with jewelers rouge and white diamond and took it from dull to a chrome like shiny with no deep scratches and it went from 95% failure to 100% success.
 
PinkyPlinker said:
Grab some of the Polish mags Corwin sells. They are excellent quality for an excellent price. Even if mags isn't the problem, you'll have quality extra mags. I'm betting it is a mag problem.

Edit - do you only have one mag or two? If you only have one mag I'd put money on a mag problem. If same problem with multiple mags, more likely a gun problem. Either way grab some Corwin mags, they're great, and so is Martin.
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I don't see them on the site anymore, probably all sold out!
 
stevebc said:
Still having a hard time picturing this- is the round entering the chamber cockeyed, or straight, but then jamming somehow?
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It goes in pretty straight. There's almost no resistance when I push the slide forward and lock it properly. It went like this every 3-5 rounds consistently, through two boxes of 50.
 
human said:
It goes in pretty straight. There's almost no resistance when I push the slide forward and lock it properly. It went like this every 3-5 rounds consistently, through two boxes of 50.
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Try marking your rounds with a sharpie or something to see where it's hanging up, but this sounds like a spring issue. There isn't enough force to strip the next round from the mag and fully chamber it.
 
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