At the Phoenix gun show yesterday, looking for a Tokarev that I could illustrate for a coming article, I chanced on a variation I had not seen before. I understand it's somewhat rare here. This is the Yugoslavian M57 Tokarev. These were introduced in 1957 and became the standard sidearm there. They were made at the Crvena Zastava (Red Banner) state arsenal in what is now Serbia. In roughly 1959, they began to be factory-equipped with a manual safety that operates in the same manner as the 1911 safety. Very positive in operation, unlike some of the tacked-on-for-importation "safeties" I have seen applied to other Tokarevs.
Some changes were made to the original TT-33 design. First, the frame and the magazine were lengthened to allow holding 9 cartridges in the magazine instead of 8. As mentioned, a manual safety was implemented. The recoil spring and guide assembly is a captive unit. The grips carry Yugoslav markings instead of the Soviet "CCCP" (SFRJ = Socialist Federative Republic of [J]ugoslavia). A magazine safety was incorporated (easily removable). The Yugoslavian crest was stamped on the slide just in front of the rear sight. There are 24 slanted gripping serrations on the slide.
Caliber on this one is the standard 7.62x25, although some were made in 9mm parabellum. I estimate this one was made circa 1971 by the "N" prefix on the serial number, although no date or date code is visible on the gun.
J&G Sales of Prescott, AZ has these for about $200. Not bad for a pretty rare variant of a classic pistol. The deal includes an issue holster, one extra magazine and a cleaning rod.
Here's some pics:
Here's a closeup of the Yugoslav crest on the slide. The six torches represent the constituent republics - Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Hertzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia. Although hard to make out, the date at the bottom is 29 November, 1943, the date that Yugoslavia was "founded" by Yugoslavian resistance fighters in 1943.
This one is in excellent shape, still loaded with cosmoline. As soon as I get it taken apart and cleaned up, I'll shoot it with some Sellier and Bellot ammo I also picked up at the show.
John