One of my friends has a Russian heritage, and collects all sorts of Russky stuff. I told him I was going to do an article on the TT-33 Tokarev pistol, and asked him if he had an original unaltered pistol that he would let me borrow to photograph.
He said he had just such a gun, and today I went over to his work location to photograph it. Now understand that original, unaltered Tokarevs are pretty rare on these shores. The U.S. Government, in all its wisdom, has decreed that to import these guns, a safety latch has to be tacked on. Unfortunately, where they put these "safeties" is usually where the date stamp is on the original Russian guns, and that obliterates an important stamping on the firearm.
When I first held this gun, I was a bit taken aback. It's not a thing of beauty. I've seen this kind of corrosion before, and it's known as "blood pitting." Pretty distinctive. I'm pretty sure this gun has "been there." The date stamp is 1945, which could place it (or maybe not) at the invasion and sacking of Berlin at the end of the war.
My friend obtained the pistol from another Russian friend who got it from an old gentlemen who no longer wanted to keep such things. I don't know if he was a WWII vet, or if he was, what country he served with. At any rate, I thought you might like to see what an original TT-33 Tokarev looks like.
John
He said he had just such a gun, and today I went over to his work location to photograph it. Now understand that original, unaltered Tokarevs are pretty rare on these shores. The U.S. Government, in all its wisdom, has decreed that to import these guns, a safety latch has to be tacked on. Unfortunately, where they put these "safeties" is usually where the date stamp is on the original Russian guns, and that obliterates an important stamping on the firearm.
When I first held this gun, I was a bit taken aback. It's not a thing of beauty. I've seen this kind of corrosion before, and it's known as "blood pitting." Pretty distinctive. I'm pretty sure this gun has "been there." The date stamp is 1945, which could place it (or maybe not) at the invasion and sacking of Berlin at the end of the war.
My friend obtained the pistol from another Russian friend who got it from an old gentlemen who no longer wanted to keep such things. I don't know if he was a WWII vet, or if he was, what country he served with. At any rate, I thought you might like to see what an original TT-33 Tokarev looks like.
John
BTW, that looks eerily like a lock on the right side behind the trigger.
