Big Mak Attack: A Pile of Warsaw Pact Pistols

The early 1990s to about 2015 was a Golden Age of sorts for military surplus firearms, the likes of which we will never see again. The combination of the fall of European communism along with the 50th anniversary of WWII created a situation where millions of guns became qualified as curios and relics, much to the delight of collectors. During this mythical time, one could acquire a pointy garbage rod Mosin-Nagant 91/30 for $100, along with a sealed 440 round tin of ammo. Russian captured K98ks were common, cheap, and sneered at by collectors, unmolested P38s could be had for less than a mortgage payment, and literally piles of former Warsaw Pact pistols were released on the US market at very reasonable prices. The first article I wrote for this blog was about one of them: the Pistolet Makarov, which is still one of my favorite surplus pistols. I like the simplicity, functionality, accuracy, history, and looks of the PM. The 9x18mm Makarov cartridge is cheap to shoot (assuming you reload and cast your own bullets, and you should) and provided you can find your brass, the cases last a long time. The PM has a lot going for it, but it was far from the only handgun chambered in 9x18mm used by the former Eastern Bloc. There were other “makarovs” as well, and only very recently was I able to round out my collection of them. Joining my Bulgarian-made PM, I have acquired a Czechoslovakian Vz.82, Polish P-64, Polish Wanad P-83, and most recently, a Hungarian PA-63. So, how do they stack up against the one and only PM?

The circle is now complete. Clockwise: PM, P-83 Wanad, Vz.82, P-64, PA-63

During the surplus boom, it was not uncommon to hear someone talk about their “Polish Makarov” or “Hungarian Makarov” and see them advertised as such by importers. This of course is incorrect, as any knowledgeable collector can tell you. While the pistols mentioned above are chambered in the 9x18mm cartridge, are straight blowback designs, and feature double/single action triggers, they aren’t Makarov pistols. Nikolay Fyodorovich Makarov did not have anything to do with their design. As we know, Warsaw Pact countries (like NATO) standardized on ammunition requirements, but not necessarily on weaponry. The Soviet Union did not give away the rights to its designs for free (how capitalist of them), and many nations either didn’t want to pay for the licensing or felt they could produce a superior design based on their own specific requirements. The end result is a pile of pistols which share the above similarities, but each has its own unique qualities that make it an interesting specimen for the collector of Cold War relics.

Pictured above: two genuine Makarovs. Note the trigger discipline.

The first pistol on our list is the Polish P-64. The Poles were looking for a replacement for their excellent version of the TT-33 pistol (which was an exact clone of the Soviet Union's model) and they took some cues from the PM on the design. Like the PM, the P-64 is a Walther PP style pistol, but in a PPK sized package. The fit and finish on these guns is excellent, with few tooling marks and well-polished slides with deep bluing. In fact, if you put some nice wood grips on a P-64, it could easily be sold as an upscale commercial carry pistol. On that note: it seems clear that the Poles were looking to make the smallest service pistol they could for their police and military. The grip is rather short as the gun holds only six cartridges in its single stack magazine, so those with ham hands will experience slide bite or a floating pinky, maybe both. The sights are small, with a drift adjustable rear, and despite its size the pistol has a nice heft to it. Takedown and internal operation is like the PM, but instead of a leaf mainspring it has a coil. And let’s talk about that spring: it delivers one of the worst double action trigger pulls I’ve ever felt. And I own an M1895 Nagant. Seriously, the double-action trigger is so heavy that dry-firing this pistol qualifies as physical therapy with most insurance companies.

Thanks Pam. Note the round hammer on the early model P-64. 

So yes, the P-64s pull is as heavy as the Nagant, but mine also has a *wall* that you hit that makes it feel worse. I replaced the mainspring with a lighter one from Wolff Gunsprings. Now the DA pull is only comically heavy instead of uselessly heavy, but reliability is still 100%. Fortunately, the single action trigger is fantastic for a service pistol, perhaps even too light. It has typical military take-up, but breaks under 4 pounds. Combined with the fixed barrel the P-64 is capable of fine accuracy, but be warned: recoil is brisk with full power loads. The early models had a round, commander/ring style hammer, while later examples featured a triangular hammer. The triangular hammer’s profile is such that it is very easy to cock the pistol. This was likely the intent of the hammer style change, as I speculate that thumbing the hammer was the preferred method of firing the first shot since the DA trigger is essentially useless.

My P-64, made in 1977. The "circle 11" stamp was Poland's country code under the Warsaw Pact.

While the Poles were fielding their P-64, the Hungarians worked on their own design. The famed Fegyver-és Gépgyártó Részvénytársaság (FEG), Hungary’s state-run arms manufacturing company, also took heavy cues from the Walther PP series of pistols when working on their new pistol. At first look, the neophyte might even mistake a PA-63 for a PP, though the internal parts do not interchange. One major difference is that the PA-63 features an aluminum alloy frame, which was relatively rare at the time. The Walther P1, which equipped the Bundeswehr had a similar frame, but to my knowledge no other capitalist or communist country fielded any pistols like this in the 1960s. As a cost-cutting measure, the PA-63’s frame was not anodized and was left “in the white”. This again was unusual for a service pistol, but the resulting two-tone exterior is visually striking. I have seen multiple examples of the PA-63 and some had polished blue slides, while others featured a matte finish. Mine has a polished blue slide and is quite pretty. Keep your silicone-impregnated cloth handy, because it picks up fingerprints easily.

It's okay to stare. This is a beautiful pistol.

Since the frame wasn’t anodized, the aluminum can discolor over time, resulting in a yellowish to brownish tinge on some pistols (mine had a yellow tinge and I cleaned it up some, it's still not perfect). There is some debate as to the actual metallurgy of the PA-63 frame, with reports of (very) small amounts of titanium being used in the alloy to add strength. I don't know the truth, but anything is possible, I guess. Since the exact composition of the frames is unknown, the long-term durability is therefore a question. One could argue this is always a question with aluminum alloy frame pistols, but it seems unlikely that a collector would put enough rounds through a PA-63 to cause a failure, especially since the light weight of the frame combined with the relative snappiness of the 9x18mm cartridge makes this gun, like the P-64, somewhat unpleasant to shoot. Unfortunately, this pistol also has an overly heavy mainspring, so the double action trigger does not lend itself to accuracy. Again, Wolff Springs makes reduced power mainsprings for it, but I found going below a 13 lb. spring resulted in multiple failures to fire on my pistol with anything but Federal primers. The 13 lb. spring does clean up the double-action some, but probably isn't worth the reliability risk, especially if you conceal carry the gun (you shouldn't, there are better choices for less money). As you may notice, the left grip does have a thumb rest which you may like if you are right-handed and you choose to fire the pistol one-handed like folks did in the BC years (BC=Before Cooper).

Note the color difference between the magazine (top) and frame on my pistol

So as 1965 closed out, the 9x18mm cartridge was seeing decent adoption in the Warsaw Pact, a good 20

years after it debuted. East Germany and Bulgaria had of course joined the 9x18mm club and produced the PM under license, but Romania, Yugoslavia, Albania, and Czechoslovakia stuck with their 7.62x25mm pistols. I can understand this. The TT-33 and Vz.52 were good service pistols, they hadn’t been around all that long, there were vast stocks of ammunition on hand, and as we’ve discussed…pistols don’t win wars. As the 1980s dawned, along with glasnost and perestroika, the Czechoslovakians took another look at the 9x18 cartridge and the different pistols that used it, and said (in typical Czech fashion) “we can do better”.  And once again, they were right.

Arguably the pinnacle of Warsaw Pact 9x18mm pistols: the Czechoslovakian Vz.82

What Česká zbrojovka Uherský Brod (CZ) produced was a modern, Western-style compact pistol that in my opinion is objectively the best of the 9x18mm bunch. At first look, there’s not much to distinguish it from the other pistols we've discussed. Yes, the new Vz.82 was designed with a straight blowback mechanism (no roller delay like the Vz.52) and a fixed barrel, and old-fashioned all-steel construction. However, it also featured a double column magazine that held 12 rounds, an ambidextrous frame-mounted safety that allowed the option to carry “cocked and locked” as well as traditional DA/SA fire, and a chrome-lined polygonal barrel. The above features hadn’t been seen before in an Eastern Bloc service pistol, and for 1982 were somewhat "new" in parts of the West: recall that the United States was still using the 1911A1 as its standard issue sidearm at the time. The polygonal barrel has thrown many a neophyte (or Fudd) for a loop, with declarations of "the commies forgot to rifle this thing!" or "the da-gum barrel is shot out!". They didn't, and it isn't. That said, if you do own a Vz.82 (or most GLOCKs, for that matter), it's generally agreed that you should avoid shooting traditional cast lead bullets with these barrels, as excessive leading has been reported. I do shoot powder-coated cast bullets through mine (Lee) as well as the excellent Berry's Bullets 95 grain .364 projectile. Both have fine accuracy with zero leading or safety issues in my gun.

Unlike some of its contemporaries, the Vz.82 also had larger, combat style sights, a traditional frame mounted button magazine release, and a double-action trigger that was actually useable. The double column magazine provided a welcome boost in firepower over the Hungarian and Polish guns. The Vz.82 was finished in a black enamel paint which was a far cry from Cerakote, but it did the job for the most part. There is debate about the black paint formula on pistols over the years, with claims of varying degrees of quality and therefore durability. Many surplus examples show extensive chipping and flaking of the finish. My particular pistol was made in 1986 and has one of the nicest finishes I've seen on a Vz.82, so it was either lightly used or was sprayed with a more durable paint than others. I paid $450 for it in 2023, with four magazines, a holster, mag pouch, and lanyard. I consider that a good deal. 

This is one of the nicest Vz.82 pistols I've ever seen, and with four mags I couldn't say no.

Czechoslovakia issued the new pistol to both military and police forces and produced it for about six years. In another very capitalist move for a communist country, they also developed a Vz.83 model, which was intended for export. These guns were identical to the Vz.82 except for a squared off trigger guard, a nicer blued finish (in many examples), and they could be had in .32 ACP and .380 ACP as well as 9x18mm, with the .32 ACP guns having 15 round magazines. Fifteen rounds of .32 ACP in a semi-auto pistol makes me chuckle a little bit, as the select-fire Vz.61 Skorpion only came with 10 round and 20 round magazines, but it sounds like a really fun gun to shoot. Of note: the Vz.82/83 doesn’t have a de-cocker, so be careful lowering the hammer if you choose to carry one in the chamber but want to use the DA/SA method of firing. The preferred method is to firmly grasp the hammer with the thumb and forefinger of the non-firing hand and squeeze the trigger with the muzzle pointed in a safe direction, while allowing the hammer to lower. It will stop about 6mm from the firing pin, and you're good to go to holster and then fire that first round double action from there.

So that was that. Everybody who wanted a 9x18 service pistol had one by around 1983. But there was one more pistol yet to come. Around the same time that the Vz.82 was being developed, the Poles decided that they wanted a new pistol. As it turned out, the P-64 was expensive to produce and machine, too difficult to shoot with its small frame, sights, and double action trigger, and it held only 6 rounds of ammunition. The pistol they came up with to replace the P-64 is the P-83 “Wanad”. The Wanad doesn’t look like anything special at first glance, and as far functionality goes, it isn’t. But from an engineering and manufacturing standpoint, it’s something to admire. The pistol is unique in that it was comprised primarily of steel stampings which are welded together. Indeed, the entire frame is stamped steel, along with some of the small parts such as the de-cocker and ejector, which is just an extension of the frame. The slide, while not a stamping, isn’t milled from a solid block of steel either. Instead, a thick, flat piece of steel was formed into a U-shape, and the barrel bushing and bolt were then welded into place. This isn’t readily apparent at first, but upon closer inspection, you can see the seams where things are joined together. It's not bad workmanship at all, but it is noticeable. 

One can see the seam of the P-83 barrel bushing quite clearly here

These design decisions saved valuable machining time and raw material, which is important for any manufactured good, but particularly so for weapons of war, a lesson that was well-learned by the Soviets in WWII. In fact, I like to think of the P-83 as the PPS-43, or perhaps even the AKM of pistols. Like the AKM, it was a durable, well-constructed firearm that neither looked nor felt cheap. The welds are very well done, the stampings are solid, and while not finished quite as nicely as the P-64, the bluing is still attractive. While the new pistol didn’t excel in any area over the PM, it was never intended to do that. Its purpose was to address all the shortcomings of the P-64: be cheaper to produce, easier to shoot accurately, and hold more ammunition. It fully succeeded in those areas. I really have to take my hat off to the men who engineered and manufactured it. Like its counterparts in Hungary and Czechoslovakia, the P-83 was issued to the police and military and would be the last 9x18mm service pistol Poland would produce prior to the fall of communism. Fin.

Top: P-64, bottom is P-83. I find the P-83 to be the superior pistol.

So, back to my original question: how do they all stack up against the PM? Well, I came up with a completely subjective scoring system and plugged my completely subjective scores into it. Each category has a maximum of 5 points. This is how the pistols fared:

Feel free to disagree. This is America, and you are entitled to your erroneous opinion.

According to my chart, the Vz.82 wins. Objectively, it should, and I recognize this. However, if you asked me which was my favorite, for my money the PM is the best of the five. It's just the most fun to shoot. The trigger is great, the sights are good, it's a simple, reliable, and effective design, and if you aren't left-handed there's nothing missing in the ergonomics department. And frankly, it's just a great-looking, well-finished pistol. I may place too high of an importance on how guns look, but I appreciate well-finished guns that are blued with wood grips in a world of flat-black coatings and polymer. And only two of these pistols are worthy in my eyes to wear grips from Mr. Denis Marschal of MarschalGrips, who does fantastic work that is well worth the price and the current 8 week order turnaround (plus shipping time) to the United States. His red shellac grips (in wattle) have adorned my PM almost as long as I've owned it, and soon after I bought my P-64 I ordered a set of black stained shellacked grips for it as well. To be fair, the P-83 is almost as well-finished as the P-64, but its stamped nature is a bit more utilitarian, and therefore it seems correct to me to leave it with its issued plastic grips. As far as collectability goes: yes. Collect them all. These pistols are pieces of history, they will never be made again, and in 20 years people will be saying "man, I wish I'd bought 3 of each when they were $200 a piece". Some are already saying that. The Golden Age of Surplus Firearms is gone, but if you're willing to spend a little time searching and a little more money than you would have in 2008, you too can still collect a small pile of "Makarovs". For now.

The original is still the best, in my humble opinion.

Little Bee: The Zastava M70

If you ever want to start an argument amongst gun people, go to a local gun shop and ask a group of them which caliber they recommend for every day carry and self-defense. There's generally three types of people you'll encounter. The first type will tell you that the minimum adequate handgun cartridges one should consider for defensive use are the venerable .38 Special, or John Browning's .380 Auto. Then, your second type will sneer at that, and tell you that if you don't have at least a 9mm Luger (preferably a GLOCK)  in your holster, you might as well be throwing sticks and stones. Lastly, there is a (admittedly shrinking) third type who laughs at the other two, and firmly believes that any useful handgun cartridge must start with the number "4", and preferably end with a "5". These folks extoll the virtues of the larger holes and ft/lbs of energy these cartridges deliver vs. smaller calibers. Despite their differences, there's usually something all three people can agree on: the 32 ACP just doesn't cut it.

Well, unless you're this guy. But you're not.

Though it may seem surprising, it wasn't terribly long ago that 32 caliber cartridges were considered more than adequate for many tasks, to include law enforcement. Cartridges like the .32 Smith and Wesson and 32 Colt New Police were commonly found in revolvers and gun belts of constables on patrol throughout the United States. In Europe, the .32 ACP (or the 7.65x17mm Browning, as the Euros call it) proved far more popular in small framed semi-auto pistols than any of the American revolver loads. Out of a 4" barrel, the 7.65mm produced velocities of around 950 fps with a .309, 73 grain full-metal jacketed bullet. The guns (like the PP and PPK) chambered for Browning's cartridge were generally of simple blowback construction, easy to carry, had minimal recoil, and just plain worked. The Zastava M70 is one of those guns.

A Zastava M70 pistol with accessories, as imported to the US in recent years.

We talked a little bit about Zastava in my write-up on the M48. Zastava is a Serbian company who has a history of making solid and utilitarian firearms (if not automobiles). I'm not sure what it is about the nomenclature "M70" with them, but they sure do make a lot of different guns under that model number. I'll demonstrate: are you looking to add a rugged, factory-built Kalashnikov to your safe that won't break the bank? You should check out the M70. Do you like the Tokarev pistol, but prefer 9mm Luger to 7.62x25mm? The M70 is right up your alley. Heading out for a hunting trip, and want a reliable, Mauser-pattern, controlled-feed bolt-action rifle? Never fear: Zastava has an M70 for that. And of course, if none of those options tickle your fancy, there's always the subject of this article: the Zastava M70!

Official spokeswoman for Zastava Arms.

The M70 "Little Bee", as it was (affectionately?) called by some in Serbia, is somewhere between a Walther PP and PPK in size, but besides the cartridge chambering, there are a few other similarities. The Bee is a simple blowback, single-action only affair with a magazine capacity of 8 rounds, and a barrel length of just shy of 3 3/4". It has a frame mounted safety lever, as well as a magazine "safety" disconnect that prevents firing the pistol unless you have inserted a magazine. On my postal scale it weighs in at 25.7 ounces, unloaded. Not heavy, but not exactly a lightweight, either: a modern GLOCK 19 weighs actually weight about an ounce less.

My M70 (top) vs. my PPK. The Bee weighs about 1/4 pound more, and is a bit larger in size.

The Little Bee (which is a great nickname, given the chambering and size of the pistol) has been called a "Baby Tokarev" by some, which is another decent nickname. Though the Tokarev TT-33 and the M70 use two different lockups (simple blowback vs. short recoil), one can see the influence of the former on the latter. The takedown is similar for both, with the same style rotating barrel bushing and removable slide stop, though the retaining clip for the slide stop on the TT-33 is absent on the M70. The other main similarity is the unitized firing mechanism. Like the Tok, the Little Bee's hammer and mainspring assembly is easily removed for cleaning and replacement. This is a great feature that simplifies maintenance, and it's nice to see it in a duty pistol. From what I've been able to research, this pistol was indeed intended to be used as a side arm for police in Yugoslavia.

Professional Serbian police officers, with sidearms. Wow.

Unfortunately, besides being an Eastern Bloc cop gun, there's not much else I've been able to learn about this little pistol just yet. What I can tell you is that many of these guns arrived in the US in the last four years or so, and at very reasonable prices. I picked mine up in 2017 from www.aimsurplus.com, an excellent retailer with fair prices and great service (no, I am not compensated by Aimsurplus in any way for saying this). It came with two magazines, a leather holster, and a cleaning brush. The gun and mags were covered in cosmoline. This cosmo wasn't that bad, it was thinner than what I'm used to and it cleaned up easily with some mineral spirits and a GI toothbrush. Once it was cleaned up, a nearly-new pistol with only some storage and minor handling marks was revealed. The slide reads "CRVENA ZASTAVA - Cal 7.65mm Mod.70". Hmm..maybe to avoid confusion we should just call it a CZ-70, right? Oh, wait...

Hammer/mainspring mechanisms compared: Tokarev TT-33 (left), Zastava M70 (right)

When I first took my Bee to the range, it didn't sting. I'd pull the trigger, and *click*. No boom. Upon further disassembly and inspection, I found that cosmoline in the firing pin channel was gumming things up. I guess it wasn't so easy to clean up after all...I should know better by now. After a more detailed and thorough cleaning, I headed back out and it worked like a charm. The gun is very pleasant to shoot, the trigger and sights are decent for what they are, and the gun hits to point of aim. Unlike some surplus guns from the Eastern Bloc, it doesn't launch cases into the next time zone (I'm looking at you, Pistolet Makarova!), so retrieving your spent brass for reloading is relatively easy.

Pictured above: alternative uses for cosmoline in the former Eastern Bloc.

Speaking of reloading, I've learned some interesting things about the 32 ACP over the years. As I mentioned here, I reload for every caliber I shoot. Reloading for the 32 is quite economical considering the cost of factory ammo, though it's not without its challenges. Tiny cases and projectiles require dexterity to handle, and the tiny powder charges can cause real problems when 2/10ths of a grain is the difference between starting load and max loads. But those problems can be mitigated with the right equipment and attention to detail. What's not immediately apparent, however, is that not all 32 ACP brass and bullets are created equal. In the US, the 32 ACP typically uses a .311-.312 sized bullet. In Europe, .308-.309 is the rule. Why? To piss you off, that's why. Because of this, I learned that case wall thickness is also different: US cases have thinner walls whereas European cases are thicker. Where this poses a problem is when one tries to load a .311 sized bullet into a European case, or a .309 sized bullet into an American case. In the case of the former, you get a cartridge that looks like a snake that swallowed a softball, and it doesn't feed. For the latter, you don't get adequate neck tension, which causes bullet setback during feeding, and results in unsafe pressures. But wait, there's more: some European 32s just don't like factory American spec'd ammo. My Little Bee is one of those guns. Yes, reloading 32 ACP can be a pain, and I learned all these things the hard way. Long story short: shoot Euro spec 7.65x17mm ammo in your Little Bee. Sellier and Bellot (S&B), Geco, and PPU are good options, with the S&B ammo being the best in my experience. For reloading, I use European brass with Berry's .312 plated 71 grain bullets that I run through a Lee .309 sizing die and load to an COAL of 0.948". It works great!

S&B 7.65x17mm vs. my reload. The S&B is good stuff, but it's not cheap. Do the plunk test if you reload.

All in all, the M70 (not that one...no, the other one), is a well-built, fun little gun. Prices are still reasonable, though the guns are getting harder to find in nice condition, which is how it goes with all surplus guns. I see many places are out of stock altogether. The good news is that Zastava is making new ones, and offering custom services like chrome finishing and engraving, making for a very attractive piece. Considering the pistol's role and how it compares to the Walther PPK, I have to think Serbian James Bond would approve. And what's good enough for him should be good enough for you, no?

Seated, left: Popov. Duško Popov. AKA, Serbian James Bond. Yes, he was real, and was an inspiration for Fleming's 007.

A Tale of Two Tokarevs: The TTC and M57 Pistols

My appreciation for Soviet and Eastern Bloc firearms is, by now, well known, as one can tell from the multiple articles I've written on them. In those articles, I've mentioned the 7.62 x 25mm Tokarev cartridge, and indeed the Tokarev Pistol itself. I've gone into some detail about the origins and merits of the cartridge, and covered two firearms that used it. Heck, I've even written about the Russian revolver that preceded the Tokarev cartridge and pistol, as well as the sidearm and cartridge that succeeded them. But somehow I've avoided giving the TT Pistol its due. It's past time to correct that.



In a iconic photo, a Soviet Officer leads his men with his TT-33 drawn.

Developed by Fedor Tokarev, the TT-30 (and improved TT-33) were, as I stated, intended to replace the obsolete-as-issued 1895 Nagant revolver, which you can read my take about (warts and all) here. Born in czarist Russia in 1871, Tokarev entered into the Imperial Russian Army and eventually earned a commission. As an army officer, he oversaw the manufacture and modernization of Russia's military arms through the Great War. His first notable contribution to firearms design occurred in 1910, when he engineered a conversion of the Mosin-Nagant 1891 Three Line Rifle which allowed it to fire semi-automatic. But it wasn't until 1930, at age 59, that he developed the TT pistol that would arm the Soviet forces in the Great Patriotic War. Yes, at a point in life when lesser men are contemplating retirement, Fedor Tokarev was just hitting his stride. He followed up his TT pistol (by this time well into his late sixties!) with the excellent SVT-38 and SVT-40, which became the Soviet Union's first reliable, mass produced semi-automatic battle rifles. Later in life, he consulted on the development of the Pistolet Makarova, and opined on the merits of Mikhail Kalashnikov's AK-47. When Fedor Tokarev died at the impressive age of 96, he had been awarded the Soviet Union's highest honors and was still writing articles and commentary on firearms design. 

Fedor Tokarev, Hero of Socialist Labor and general bad ass, shows off his SVT-40 and impressive mustache.

A single action, semi-automatic affair, the TT pistol was of course chambered in the 7.62mm x 25 Tokarev cartridge, and was fed by an eight round magazine that could be easily dropped with a push button release. This was in stark contrast to contemporaries like the German P.38 and (perhaps inexpicably) the later Makarov PM, both of which employed slower, but more deliberate heel magazine releases. Tokarev's early design, the TT-30, was slightly modified and issued en masse starting in 1933 as the TT-33. Primarily issued to officers (as most pistols were and are), it served alongside the Nagant revolver throughout WWII. I imagine the officers who carried the Nagant were justifiably envious, and probably constantly bugged their comrades to "trade" sidearms.

A wartime manufactured Soviet TT-33. The TT pistol lacked an external safety, meaning it was carried in condition three until needed. The half-cock is *not* a safety, despite what Internet Commandos might tell you.

Tokarev's pistol was your stereotypical Soviet design: it was simple, it was reliable, and it was effective. But, unlike some other Soviet designs, the TT pistol was also slim, sleek, and relatively modern. Some folks say it's a flat-out copy of the M1911, or the model 1903: neither of those statements are true. It's a fact that the TT-33 used Browning's short recoil design, complete with barrel link and bushing. But, compared to JMB's masterpiece, the TT had a different style bushing, lacks a grip safety (and frame safety for that matter), and most interestingly, it has a very different firing mechanism. The TT has a simplified hammer, sear, and mainspring assembly that any illiterate peasant conscript can instantly remove from the weapon. This allows the pistol to have its vitals replaced in seconds, making maintenance in the field an absolute breeze.

Considering the Russian Army's past (and present) fondness for vodka, easy maintenance is a Good Thing (TM).

The Soviet Union produced nearly 2 million TT-33s, phasing it out of front line service in favor of the Pistolet Makarova in 1952. When comparing the two pistols, the PM is certainly the more modern design, but I've always wondered what the Soviets were thinking when they replaced the 7.62x25mm cartridge with the 9x18mm Makarov. Ballistics wise, the 7.62x25mm is easily superior. It seems many of the Eastern Bloc nations felt the same, because they manufactured their own variants of the TT-33 in the 1950s, and they continued to issue them as front line pistols throughout the Cold War. Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Yugoslavia all produced the TT pistol and ammunition. In recent years, a great many of these Eastern Bloc pistols have found their way to American shores. Though actual Russian TT pistols are pretty rare and tend to command high prices, the Polish, Romanian, and Yugoslavian pistols are more available and comparatively cheap. I've acquired two Tokarev variants over the years, both interesting in their own ways: a Romanian TTC, and a Yugoslavian M57.

East meets West in this photo taken at the end of WWII. Note the Soviet officer with TT-33 with wood grips (far left), and P.38 in the hand of the US lieutenant. The Soviet captain and US lieutenant seem to be quite, um, fond of each other.

Produced at the famed Cugir factory, the Romanian TTC is almost a straight copy of the Soviet TT-33, with the only real difference being the machining of the slide serrations. Fit and finish is good, with the main serial numbered parts being the firing mechanism, the frame, and the barrel. My Romanian shows a manufacture date of 1953, and upon close inspection, it appears to have been arsenal refinished at some point. Unfortunately, the examples we see today in the US have been marred. In order to comply with the Gun Control Act of 1968, an ugly hole was drilled into the frame, and a basic trigger blocking safety was added prior to importation. This detracts from the aesthetics of the gun, but no moreso than the import mark that's also required by the same law. These are things that US collectors have to live with, BECAUSE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!! Thanks, LBJ.

Lyndon Baines Johnson, (rank: Asshole First Class), surrounded by his harem of Lesser (but equally dangerous) Assholes, signs the 1968 Gun Control Act into law. Sigh.

The Yugoslavians made a few additional changes with their version of the TT pistol. First, and most noticeably, the M57 has a longer grip, which allows it to hold nine rounds in a single stack magazine instead of eight. The longer hand grip also has the added benefit of giving ham-fisted individuals (I'm not one) another half-inch or so of real estate to hold onto when firing the weapon. The Yugo Tokarev boasts a full-length guide rod with captured recoil spring, a good feature for a military issued sidearm as it's harder for soldiers to misplace springs. The front sight is dovetailed into the top of the slide rather than brazed, and is therefore both replaceable and drift adjustable for windage. Along with these positive changes, there's one I don't care for: a magazine disconnect safety. This "feature" effectively disables the firing mechanism when a magazine is removed from the pistol. The idea is to prevent accidental discharges, and a secondary reason might be that if someone's grabbing for your gun, you can drop the magazine and render it harmless. Both of those sound more like malarkey than reality to me, and the "feature" goes against the Soviet mantra of simplicity: it's just something else that could go wrong at the worst possible moment. The M57 has its own add-on external safety as well. This one is better thought out than the one on the TTC: it looks more like a safety you'd find on a 1911, so it doesn't detract from the gun's appearance as much. From what I can tell, my Yugo M57 was made in the 1980s, toward the end of the Cold War. Though all the numbers match and the bore was like new, the slide has a plum tone to it, and shows wear internally, indicating an aresenal rebuild at some point.

My Two Toks. Top: Romanian TTC; bottom, Yugoslavian M57. 

I prefer the Romanian TTC over the Yugsolavian. My TTC is better fitted (if not finished) than the M57. The bushing to slide contact is tight and the trigger is excellent, (I estimate about 4-5 pounds), two things I can't say about my Yugo. I don't know if this is the rule or the exception, but it is the case with my two particular pistols. I don't find the short-ish grip to be a problem in my medium sized hands, and I can shoot 2" groups at 10-15 yards without too much concentration with the TTC. The trigger on my M57 is much heavier than the TTC, and despite all the other upgrades over Fedor Tokarev's original design, I just don't shoot that well with it. It's possible to disable the magazine safety on the M57, and some say this will give you a better trigger pull. However, based on how the mag safety works, I'm not convinced it would make much difference. Don't get me wrong: the Yugo is not a bad gun by any stretch, and I appreciate the Yugos wanting to improve it and make it their own. But in my opinion, the M57 is classic case of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

Apparently, this flow chart was not available when the Yugos built the M57.

A few years back 7.62x25mm surplus ammo was widely available and cheap; alas that is no longer the case. Fortunately, good commercial ammo is available (though not cheap), but reloading is an option and unlike some rounds, there's ample data and dies available. As for the guns themselves: I haven't seen Romanian and Polish TTs in quantity for about 3 years now. Yugo TT type pistols are still relatively plentiful today, and very good to excellent ones can be had for $250. As with all surplus firearms, the supply will dry up sooner or later, and people will be wistfully talking about how they should have "bought a crate when they were $150". Don't be one of those people. Buy one, two, or six today. After all, they aren't making any more of them. Or are they?

The Zastav M70AA!

A visit to Zastava Arm's website does show several models available for sale. These are newly manufactured, with various small changes to the safety mechanism. The M70 models are chambered in 9mm Luger, which makes for an economical shooting pistol. I've not handled any of the new civilian Yugo Tokarevs, but they might be worth checking out if you're interested, and they're likely better finished and fit than the surplus guns on the market these days. In the end, I think Fedor Tokarev would be pleased to see that his basic design is still in production after all these years, and is being sold around the world.





Heavy Metal: The Suomi KP/31

Ah, the sub-machine gun. Much like the drive-in movie theater, the pay phone, and the typewriter, sub-machine guns are a useful, if not revolutionary item whose time has passed. As I mentioned when I wrote about the PPS-43, they're more of a curio these days than anything else, but as a military history and firearms enthusiast, they continue to interest me. The 1930s and 40s were the heyday of the sub-gun. Every major power on the globe used them, and many smaller countries as well. And with good reason! Sub-guns bridged that gap between a battle rifle and a pistol, a gap that only someone who has worked in a military support or leadership role knows so well. For your consideration, I present one such gun that excelled in its niche: the Suomi-konepistooli 31 (Finland automatic pistol 31).*

A beautiful specimen with some honest wear. Note the figuring in the arctic birch stock.

Perhaps you remember Aimo Lahti, the famous self-taught Finnish firearms designer. No? Then go read about the pistol which bears his name.  One of Lahti's most prolific and successful designs was the KP/31 submachine gun. An early-ish sub-machine gun design that was developed during peace time, the KP/31 was somewhat of a labor of love. At the time, Finland's submachine gun was the foreign produced Bergmann. Lahti didn't think much of it. He wanted to develop a cheaper, more reliable weapon on his native soil. Lahti developed a prototype in 1922, but could not get state financing to proceed further. Collaborating with other Finnish Army officers, he raised capital and established his own private company, where work began in earnest. Their initial result was the KP/26, a rather odd looking gun with a highly curved magazine, and chambered in 7.65mm Luger. The Finnish Army wasn't much interested in submachine guns at the time, and the KP/26 was far from perfect, so the military procured only a few examples. As such, the KP/26 never really saw combat, and was relegated to Civil Guard and home defense roles.

The weird KP/26. You can see the influences this weapon had on the later KP/31.

This KP/26 had some reliability problems and was finicky about interchanging magazines between weapons, neither of which are characteristics that are desired in a firearm meant for military service. So, Lahti and team went back to the drawing board. They retained things that worked well (like the quick removable barrel) and eliminated those that didn't, including the curved magazine and odd stock. Internal enhancements to the bolt cured the reliability issues, and with a caliber change to 9mm Parabellum, the KP/31 was born. This time the military paid attention. Lahti sold the production rights for his new gun to the famed Tikkakoski company, and Finland had its first, viable, mass-produced submachine gun in 1931.

KP/31s being built at Tikkakoski. Note the barrel jackets still in the white. Photo courtesy of http://sa-kuva.fi/

The KP/31 was a blowback operated, open bolt, select-fire weapon with a non-reciprocating charging handle, and it was a built like a tank (perhaps from a tank?). Stamped sheet metal parts? Surely you jest. This thing was forged, and parts were milled out of solid steel. Even unstressed parts like the barrel jacket were machined. Topped off with a hardwood stock of arctic birch, the KP/31 was no lightweight. It tipped the scales at nearly 10 1/2 pounds, empty. This was nearly a pound more than a  M1 Garand! Slap a loaded 72 round drum magazine into the KP/31 (and you should!), and weight increased another 3 pounds. Lahti had given birth to a heavy baby boy. The upside to all of this steel meant that the gun was extremely durable and built to last.

This young lady doesn't seem to mind the weight of her KP/31 variant (with coffin mag), which is possibly a Swiss export model. The gun, not the lady.

The Finns put the KP/31 to good use against the Soviets in the Winter War and Continuation War. The gun fired ~900 rounds per minute, and as mentioned, had a unique quick change barrel which made it capable of long periods of sustained fire. Initially equipped with 20 round magazines, the Finns quickly realized this was inadequate and adopted a 72 round drum magazine, and then an interesting four column 50 round "coffin" magazine. Standard load-out during the Winter and Continuation Wars was either five drums or seven coffin mags, giving a soldier quite a bit of firepower. Typically, one soldier per rifle squad was equipped with the KP/31, making it the squad automatic weapon of its day.

Patent drawings of the original 40 round (later 72 rd) drum magazine (left), and quadruple column "coffin" mag (right).

Ergonomically (other than the weight), the KP/31 excelled. It came naturally to the shoulder, the wood stock provided a solid cheek weld, and it had a longer barrel and sight radius than its contemporaries. The weight of the gun actually did have a positive impact: it minimized felt recoil, but reports from the field showed that muzzle rise could be a problem. To counteract this, the barrel jacket was given an integrated compensator. This added about 2 inches to the already long-for-its-kind 12.5" barrel. Reportedly, Lahti was vehemently opposed to this modification as he felt the compensator decreased muzzle velocity and hurt the gun's reliability. All told, the Finns produced roughly 80,000 KP/31s and associated variants (some of which, like the tanker and bunker models, were really cool), with a very small percentage being exported. The gun stayed in front line service until the 1960s, when it was replaced by an AK style assault rifle known as the RK.62. Still, KP/31s were kept as reserve weapons until the late 1990s. Because the damn things just worked.

The Finns loved their Suomis (center), but they weren't above using captured guns like the excellent PPS-43 (left). Safety note: placing one's hand over the muzzle of an open bolt sub-machine gun is an especially bad idea.

Thanks to a myriad of restrictive laws, it's extremely difficult and expensive for an average American citizen to own a fully functioning KP/31. Thanks to American ingenuity, however, the average American can own a pretty cool facsimile of one. In recent years, a firm called TNW Firearms procured a large quantity of demilitarized KP/31 "parts kits". These were basically KP/31s that had been disassembled, with the receivers torch cut per BATFE specifications, but the rest of the gun was largely left intact. Taking these parts and a newly manufactured upper receiver, TNW re-built the KP/31, turning it from an open bolt, select fire submachine gun into a closed bolt, semi-automatic carbine. Outwardly, the only real distinguishing difference between TNW's semi-auto Suomi, and the real deal, is the barrel extension welded onto the original Suomi barrel in order to bring it to NFA mandated 16" length. I acquired mine about two years ago, which was toward the end of the production cycle. That's right: TNW no longer makes these guns. I asked them a while back if they'd make more, and their response was that they would not, since parts kits with serviceable barrels and stocks are no longer available in quantity. The price? About $500, and that included a sling, one 72 round drum magazine, and a 36 round stick magazine (the 36 round magazines are post WWII issue, and they work quite well).

With the 36 round stick magazine. Note the barrel extension is only slightly longer than the barrel jacket. Worth SBR'ing?

Overall, TNW's rendition of the KP/31 is a nice piece of kit. The stocks are like new and all metal is freshly Parkerized in dark gray (the originals were blued). You can see where they did some welding work, but though it's visible it's not what I'd call sloppy. Function? Mine's perfect. Some early TNW guns were striker fired and reportedly had issues; mine is hammer fired. The trigger pull is about as heavy as the gun (no exaggeration here, I'd estimate it's a good 10 pound pull), but ignition is positive. My gun has the integrated compensator on the barrel jacket (so-called SJR version). Best of all, TNW retained the quick-detach barrel system. Meaning, this gun is a prime candidate for a short barreled rifle conversion: once you pay the requisite $200 tax and receive approval on your ATF Form 1, you can attach an original Suomi barrel in seconds. I've not done that to mine as yet, but may get around to it someday. From the shoulder at 25 yards, the gun is as accurate as you could want, and will make short work of any tin cans on the berm. Firing a 72 round drum from this position does get a little tiring, but you probably won't care because of how much fun it is. If you can still find one, and you're someone who appreciates history and military firearms, I highly recommend picking up this iteration of one Mr. Lahti's greatest designs. You won't regret it. 

The last known picture of Aimo Lahti, taken 3 weeks before his death on April 19, 1970. He lives on through the firearms he created.

*For a treasure trove of info on Finnish weapons, including the KP/31, visit http://www.jaegerplatoon.net/, the main resource I used for this blog entry.

Adventures in Reloading: The 7.62x38mmR Nagant

There's still at least a dozen guns in the safe that I've not written about yet, but it's the dead of winter. We got 10" of snow last weekend in the Shenandoah Valley. Though I've done a bit of shooting in December and even one cold day in January, for me winter is really about getting ready to shoot when it warms up. So, I've been puttering around, checking inventories and determining what I need to load. Recently, I acquired another Nagant M1895, this one birthed in 1915, making it a cool 100 years old. Wanting to shoot the old girl, I checked my stocks, and discovered I was nearly zero balance on ammo. Time to fix that.

And then there were two. Top: 1915 M1895 Nagant, bottom: 1944 M1895 Nagant (Izhevsk)

When I bought my first Nagant, a 1944 Izhevsk, I didn’t like that factory ammo was hard to get, fairly expensive, and surplus ammo (at the time, anyway) was non-existent.  Internet commandos told me that the Nagant revolver could shoot the .32 S&W cartridges, and even the more modern .32 H&R Magnum, “without problems”. To that, I say Nyet, Comrade, that's not where you should be trying to save rubles. It’s never good practice to shoot a cartridge in a gun for which it wasn’t designed, so I discounted that “option” immediately. Besides, .32 S&W rounds aren't generally stocked at your local Wal-Mart, so that wouldn't help anyway. Reloading seemed the obvious choice. I do it for every other cartridge I shoot, and I wasn't about to let the peculiarities of the 7.62x38mmR change that. I decided that my criteria for reloading the Nagant would be as follows: the cartridges I made would have to be safe (good), inexpensive (cheap), and provide a gas seal (fast). Basically, I wanted a factory-type cartridge for less money, just like with any other reload, with no compromises. That's doable, right?

I like Venn diagrams, but this one is making excuses so I set out to prove it wrong.

Long story short, after some exhaustive internet research, in which a great many men opined, but only a select few spoke with Truth, here’s what I wound up with:

• Brass: Once Fired Prvi Partizan 7.62x38r
• Bullets: Grafs .308 98gr copper plated DEWC
• Dies: Lee .30 Carbine Sizing Die, Lee .30 Carbine Powder Thru Expanding Die, Lee .32-20 Bullet Seating and Crimp Die (modified), #19 Lee shell plate
• Powder and primers: IMR Trail Boss, CCI 500 Small Pistol Primers

Tools of the trade: Lee .32-20 seating/crimp die (disassembled), Grafs .308 98gr DEWC, and IMR Trail Boss

*DISCLAIMER: I am not a ballistics expert. Actually, I have a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science. If that doesn't scare you off, then I salute your bravery, but know this: following anything I've written after this point is completely at your own risk. If you are unwilling or unable to accept personal responsibility for your decisions and any potential negative consequences resulting thereof, then click here.*

The Dies: You could spend more money (a lot more) on bonafide 7.62x38r dies, but my “inexpensive” criteria ruled that out. Internet commandos told me I could use .30 carbine dies, and they were actually right! I already had a set of 30 carbine dies, and they resized the brass to within a couple thousandths of the factory rounds. Purchasing a .32-20 seating/crimp die was cheap. But Lee Precision had the *audacity* to design their .32-20 seating die to seat a .32-20 bullet, so alas, it wouldn't place the bullet deep enough in my 7.62x38r case in order to give me the coveted gas seal. So, I again deferred to the internet, which told me to cut a section of bolt, and put it inside the die to give some extra length to the seater plug. Lo and behold, it worked perfectly, the internet commandos are 2 for 2! The #19 shell plate came from my 9mm Luger die set, and the small rim of the 7.62x38r case fits it nicely.

Cut a 1/4" piece of bolt and drop it in the seating screw. Then reassemble. A *spent* .22 cartridge case could also work.

The Bullets: Projectiles were an easy choice, after researching. The Nagant’s bore diameter is a subject of debate amongst those who like to debate such things, but I'm not interested in debate, just facts. Here's the truth: the surplus Soviet ammo that I acquired mikes out at .308, so that’s what I went with. No sense arguing with Ivan, he knows best. Sure, I don’t doubt that you could use a lead bullet of .310-.311 diameter without problems, but the weight and caliber of the Grafs bullets are nearly perfect for the Nagant revolver (apparently Grafs has them made specifically for that purpose), and they were pretty cheap at $10 per 100.

The Powder: This part was somewhat of a leap of faith for me. Designed for cowboy action shooting, IMR Trail Boss is a fluffy, donut shaped, fast burning powder which fills cavernous revolver cartridge cases nicely. Believe it or not, IMR actually encourages you to experiment with it, which is both refreshing and kinda scary at the same time. The gist of the link above is that as long as you don’t compress it, you can pretty much fill any cartridge case to the end of the bullet, and have safe pressures. That would be a max load; taking 70% of that volume gives one a starting load. I settled on a load of 3.5 to 3.8 grains. I knew I wasn’t going to get top velocities, but I also knew I wasn’t going to blow up the gun or myself, so hooray. And the Nazis and Red Army deserters I'm shooting at are made of paper, so velocity isn't much of a concern. Primers were a no-brainer; I used what I had on hand, but to avoid confusion, any small pistol primer will do.

They're like little, gray, explosive donuts. Breakfast of champions.

The Process: I load everything on a Lee Classic Cast Turret Press. In my opinion, if you’re only going to own one press, this is the one to buy. It’s a great compromise between a progressive and single stage, and still allows you to load larger rifle cartridges (up to .30-06 with auto-indexing!) without any trouble. I set the sizing and expander dies up normally, and run the cases through as my Lee Autodisk Pro dispenses the Trail Boss. Seating the bullet and getting the appropriate crimp takes a bit a of time to set up correctly, but once it’s done you won’t need to touch the dies again. Here's how I do it:  First I screwed the seating die in to provide zero crimp, then I adjusted the bullet seating screw to seat the flat nosed wad cutter about 0.06” below the case mouth. This is a bit deeper than the commercial factory loads (but shallower than the ~0.08" below flush surplus bullet), but it’s necessary to get the correct crimp. Without a crimp, the cartridge will be too fat to enter the Nagant’s “forcing cone” (it doesn't have one, hence the quotes), and you won’t be able to cock the revolver.

This is a good indicator that your crimp is small enough to allow the round to chamber when you cock the hammer.

Once seating depth was where I wanted it, I backed out the adjustment screw completely, and screwed the die in about one full turn. I ran the cartridge through it and inspected my crimp. You really don’t need to crimp the case mouth too much…again, just enough to allow it to provide the gas seal. You want to use the least amount of crimp possible in order to prolong case life. I test fitted my completed cartridge after removing the cylinder from my Nagant . If it fits, place the cartridge back into the press, run up the ram and adjust the seating depth screw down until it touches the bullet. You’re done, and can now seat bullets and crimp the cartridge mouth in one smooth stroke for all subsequent cartridges.

From left to right: Ivan's cartridge (surplus), Fiocchi commercial, and mine (reloaded Prvi Partizan). The top of mine is shiny because I buffed with 000 steel wool so you could see the crimp better.

So, how do my reloads shoot? Better than I do, which is actually better than it sounds. The heavy single action trigger on the Nagant doesn't lend itself to accuracy, as I mentioned, but my rounds shoot at least as good as the surplus stuff, and a mite bit better than the commercial offerings. I have chronographed loads from 3.5 to 4 grains, and am seeing 930-990 fps. Though I don't know *exactly* what the pressures are, the cases drop out of the cylinder without trouble, ready for reloading again. And for less rubles. How much less?

1. Used brass: Free! (after the first shooting, anyway)
2. Bullets: 10 cents per round ($10 per hundred)
3. Powder: 1.5 cents per round ($16 per 9 oz can)
4. Primers: 3.5 cents per round ($35 per 1,000)

Total: 15 cents per round, which works out to $7.50 per box of 50. Compare that to $22 per box of 50 for commercial ammo, or $13 for surplus, and we have a winner.

Score one for the proletariat!

I honestly was quite surprised that my rounds are about as fast as the Russian surplus. I'd love to see real data on pressures and velocity from a major bullet manufacturer, or even better, a powder company, but until then it's Trail Boss for me. Regardless, there's something inherently Russian about reloading the 7.62x38mmR in this way: my reloads are definitely reliable and economical. I think the Party would be pleased, no?

And that's all that *really* matters, right?