Where were the TT-33's refurbished before storage? and before that?

[avroe]

With all of the recent threads that have been going on regarding the current loads of TT-33's coming into Canada from the Ukraine, it got me thinking a little about the history of these firearms.

It seems the vast majority of these were Tokarev pistols that have been coming in were arsenal refurbished before being stored long term in the Ukraine.

But where was this work done before these pistols were crated and forgotten about?

Also where did all of these pistols come from prior to being refurbished?

I realize the original manufacture arsenal marks on them, but again, they were refinished, so must have been in some way treated that ruined them to the point of needing work again in the time between the original manufacture and the refurb.

Because most of the pistols seem mismatched with new grips etc, is it safe to assume they were issued at some point somewhere else and not simply manufactured to be stored in the Ukraine as their first destination?

Maybe a lot of my assumptions here are wrong, and i'll fully admit a lot of the above is assumptions.

Anyone care to pipe in with some thoughts and background?

 

[can14]

The Soviet Union always re-built and re-finished all their guns before going into long term storage. Most of the guns were built in factories and re-built in gvt armories. All the german equipment was done the same way.

 

[ArtyMan]

they were refinished, so must have been in some way treated that ruined them to the point of needing work again in the time between the original manufacture and the refurb.

War

 

[avroe]

But in the way most of the manufacture work on these TT33's was all done at two plants, was this refinishing work done at the same two plants?

Or did another location exist that served to refinish them before storage?

 

[Hawkshadow]

There was refurb work done on soviet arms in the Ukraine, not exactly sure where though.

 

[avroe]

There was refurb work done on soviet arms in the Ukraine, not exactly sure where though.

I guess that would sort of make sense, ship them as-is to the Ukraine and have them refinished and serviced there before being put into long term storage within the Ukraine as well.

Can anyone else confirm this was likely the case? Or does anyone know if another facility was setup elsewhere to process these millions of TT33's?

 

[spacesaver]

I'm sorry I can't add to the knowledg base here, but I was wondering this; the Russians weren't really known for thererecord keeping during the war. Having said that, how in the hell did they manage to get back all these arms for re-furb? Or, did they make so manty that even with some falling through the cracks we still end up with a huge amount today?
Cheers.

 

[gaff]

When I was in Bosnia, refurbing goverment equipment was one of the local industries.there was still WW II small arms stacked outside waiting to be processed.
the local wood shop had crates of mg34 and 42 butt stocks that they maked.

 

[eos]

I'm sorry I can't add to the knowledg base here, but I was wondering this; the Russians weren't really known for thererecord keeping during the war. Having said that, how in the hell did they manage to get back all these arms for re-furb? Or, did they make so manty that even with some falling through the cracks we still end up with a huge amount today?
Cheers.

Quantity made for one. No less important is a lesson thrifty Mother Russia learned from arms shortages in two world wars (and yes, they had difficulty at times keeping the troops in arms): Never throw away a serviceable weapon. If it shoots, store it till you need it.

 

[spacesaver]

I have heard/read that for decades after,( pick whatever conflict you like and insert), the Russians went through every tank, truck, aircraft, and so on, and put them into longterm storage. Always wondered about that.
Cheers!!

 

[avroe]

I have heard/read that for decades after,( pick whatever conflict you like and insert), the Russians went through every tank, truck, aircraft, and so on, and put them into longterm storage. Always wondered about that.
Cheers!!

It makes sense to store everything long term, why destroy something that has value and might at one point be better than nothing?

Here is to hoping some of these "long term storage" sites still remain intact today, and havent all been sold off at this point.

Would love to see some of these start to show up now that every government in the world is trying to raise money by whatever means possible.

 

[damuralt]

After the Soviets got pushed back into the Moscow suburbs during the Second World War, they made sure that it was never going to happen again. Part of that was having many, many weapons on hand. Seeing as they had no idea of how many they even manufactured, I think we'll be seeing stuff continuing to come into the country.

If you are going to need a rifle or pistol for the next war, you want to make sure it will work: hence, the rebuild programs.

Dave