A couple of months ago I acquired a Romanian Tokarev pistol in 7.62x25 and was quickly addicted to this 30 caliber round. I have managed to become quite good at reloading this cartridge. The light recoil and fast bullet are my type of ammo, so much so that yesterday, I ordered a Polish made pps43c pistol replica of the WWII Russian submachinegun. It comes with two 35 round mags. I know that these can be fin-a-kie feeders and prone to jams. If you have one of these guns from Pioneer Arms, please share your experience and comments on ammo and overall performance of this gun.

One of my favorite cartridges to reload although I shoot mine through a CZ 52!

I have one....feeds all my ammo very well...just kind of a "fun gun"...

Have had CZ52s since they were imported almost 25 years ago.. Bought one of the Zastava Toks about 5 years ago...can't say I really "love" shooting either of them but I have a ton of cheap ammo bought decades ago...

Also bought one of the Sterling SMG look-a-likes but neither mine or my friends would feed so they were sent back...

Bob

A fun gun to take to the range is my Korean War vintage Chi-Com model 54. Accurate, dependable, and LOUD with an impressive fireball.. Ammo is readily available. Always a conversation piece .

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John

The Toks are copied from John Browning and are natural shooters. The Tok round is crisp without the thump from a .45acp and thus very accurate in my opinion. CZ52's are great only because of the round. The Tok is the master.

Dave

The Tokarev was the Communist Blocs' 1911. The military side arm of no less than 11 countries. Also similar to the 1911, the Viet Nam war was it's last official military use.

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John

I'd be interested in a Tokarev that the Finns took off the Russians.

Never had a Romanian pps43c but I do enjoy my Chicom 54 that came home with me from the RVN. This one lead a hard life in the jungles and swamps before we liberated it (killed the guy who was carrying it).

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I have one of the pps43c pistol's in 7.62x25 that I bought when they were first being imported. All I ever shot in it was Polish surplus, had numerous jam's with it. Somehow the spent brass would end up inside the receiver jamming up the works. That Polish ammo is the absolute filthiest stuff I've ever fired. After running a couple of mag's through the gun my hands would be black. Never tried it with any other ammo so I don't know if the issues were ammo related. Haven't shot it in probably 8-10 years. There was a 9mm version of that pistol imported, have never fired one. If the 9mm version had been available when I bought mine I would have gotten that caliber instead of the 7.62x25.

Most Tokarevs are quite reliable, fairly accurate, and the cartridge is a powerful high-velocity screamer.

I own the Yugoslav version, the M57, made in 1971. It's still virtually brand new. It has one more round in the magazine (9) than the Soviet original and has a manual safety. I have been very impressed with it.





A friend has this original Soviet gun, a TT-33, vintage of 1945. It was made at the Izhevsk arsenal in Russia, which had been relocated near Tula near the end of the war. I photographed it for my book 101 Classic Firearms. It has considerable blood pitting. These are very hard to find in original configuration - most have doo-dad manual safeties attached to satisfy U.S. import requirements.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

A design characteristic that needs to be mentioned here is the simple ingenious modular firing system designed by Fedor Tokarev. It allows the user to change out the whole system ( magazine feed arms, main spring, sear and spring, hammer, disconnector, and pins ) in the field, with no tools, in 5 minutes. Interest that the highly touted Sig 210 uses a very similar system.

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John

I think they have a great design and like the looks.

Here’s one I have..

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Linda
SWCA #1965, SWHF #245

My first gun was a ČZ52, which shoots the same round. Nobody has accused it of being a good-looking gun.

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Not in jail.

Load up with a full charge of AA9.
That'll blow the hats off the heads of the shooters in the next lane.


Signed-
One Who Knows

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I'm with her

I've never shot a Tokarev, but I've fire plenty of 7.62x25 through my CZ52. It's a hoot to shoot in low light and watch that flame thrower like muzzle blast. I find that even though it's loud and flashy, the recoil is quite tame.

I've never really found a good use for the round aside from plinking and punching holes in paper.

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- Change it back -

I have a Romanian MilSurp TT33C which I bought a couple years ago with the original intention of it being a gift for my brother, but it was in such poor condition that I ended up keeping it for myself.



I actually posted a total of three threads detailing the struggle that I went through with this pistol, but it can be summarized as follows; the online retailer that I ordered it from took forever to ship it, then blatantly ignored the shipping instructions that I had provided them with so it took forever for my FFL to get it in, then once I had finally gotten it home, I discovered that they had advertised it falsely as; "Meticulously fefinished and recondishioned" yet it was clearly worn on the outside and dirty/rusty on the inside. The magazine was in the worst condition of all, completely rusted out internally, and to top it all off, the safety lever fell out during the first time that I field stripped it for cleaning. Last but not least, the retailer made up some nonsensical excuse about how they couldn't accept returns or issue refunds because of COVID-19.

It's still a nice gun overall, I'm just sour over the fact that the one I received was falsely advertised by the retailer, and the whole experience surrounding it was miserable.
If I could do it all over again, then I would have either ordered one from another retailer, or better yet, spent the money on a police trade-in Beretta 92S instead.

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Shooting Comfort is bilateral.

My first ever pistol was a Norinco T-54 from Navy Arms, which came with a 9mm barrel and the Tokagypt grips. I never liked the grips, and got some replacements (regular plate) asap. Outside of the ****** safety which has since been removed, I've never had a problem with that gun. I'd long been using standard mags without a hitch.

At the start of the panic, I picked up a Hungarian 7.62x25 barrel, which dropped right in, and a case or more of Tok ammo (which was cheaper and more available than 9mm at the time). Groups remain tight, point of impact shifted just a hair. Due to the ease of conversion back and forth, it will remain a keeper.

I wish the Star Super (with the 9 Largo rd) was as reliable, but the surplus Largo I found was ******. The new Steinel loads are great.

I looked into the PPS when it came around, remember hearing the 7.62 versions were reliable but the 9mm versions were glitchy. If they had come out during the 'ok for braces' era I probably would have bought one.

I found a pair of 9mm barrels not long after I got a pair of CZ52s. 9mm capability really makes the old CZ52s adaptable.
I really wish that I could find another pair of 9mm barrels to try boring out to 38super.

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I'm with her

I've had a few TT33 Toks, one was a Chicom 9mm, am down to one a 1955 Polish version made by Radom finished in a nice bright polished blue.
Have a CZ52 as well , it's ok.
Used to have an old Broomhandle Mauser chambered in the pricey 7.62 Mauser, found out later that it would also chamber and fire the cheap old Russian copper washed 7.62x25 Tok ammo which produced a huge fireball which I quit using in that old gun quickly, apparently the Reds loaded that ammo hot to cycle the heavy PPSH bolt reliably in full auto.