The legendary weapon is the TT pistol. What does T T mean?
This question may seem strange - indeed, if you look through our weapons literature, you may get the impression that we have comprehensive information about the TT pistol and its creator Fedor Vasilyevich Tokarev. However, in reality, everything is not so simple, and there are many blind spots in the creation of TT.
I was able to thoroughly study the work of Fyodor Vasilyevich Tokarev after my third year in the weapons and machine gun department of the Tula Mechanical Institute. Thanks to the recommendation of the deputy dean of the faculty, Markov, me and my roommate in the hostel, Vladimir Zharikov, had the opportunity to work part-time at Tula plant No. 536. We had to clean out all the small arms and aircraft machine gun and cannon weapons stored there in the factory museum. I have a collection of almost all (including experienced) Tokarev self-loading rifles and pistols.
The classic version of the Browning pistol mod. 1903
Incomplete disassembly of the classic Browning mod. 1903
TT pistol
While putting these samples in order, I could not help but notice that the former Cossack esaul was an excellent craftsman and a very inventive designer.
These qualities of Tokarev are confirmed, in particular, by the fact that at the end of his career, working in the Moscow Aviation and Missile Design Bureau of A.E. Nudelman, where Fyodor Vasilyevich was given the opportunity to continue his weapons creativity, he preferred to improve the FT panoramic camera he had invented -2. The movable lens of this camera made it possible to take pictures on 35 mm film with a width of not 36 mm, as usual, but 130 mm!
"Browning 1903 K" and TT. Left view
"Browning 1903 K" and TT with incomplete disassembly
But let's return to the TT pistol. The main question that arises about this weapon is: “What did Fyodor Vasilyevich do in this sample himself, and what did he borrow?” The validity of such a statement becomes obvious after getting acquainted with the 9-mm pistols of John M. Browning of the 1903 model. Moreover, the conclusion suggests itself that the TT is in its purest form a copy of one of Browning’s models.
The pistols of John Moises Browning were developed on the basis of his own patent of 1897. The following samples of Browning pistols are considered the most typical: the 1900 model pistol in 7.65 mm caliber, the 1903 model pistol in 9 mm caliber and the 1906 model pistol in 6 caliber, 35 mm.
The last sample is not a military-type weapon due to its small caliber. A cartridge was simultaneously developed for each of these pistols. At one time, it was popular to classify these models and their corresponding cartridges by numbers from one to three. The first number designated the 6.35 mm cartridge and pistol, the second 7.65 mm caliber and the third 9 mm caliber.
Browning pistols were produced in large quantities in Belgium at the Fabrique Nationale d.Armes de Guerre S.A. plant. Herstal-Liege. Products directly from Belgium are distinguished by the stylized abbreviation “FN” on both plastic cheeks of the handle.
Pistols were in service with the army and police of many countries.
The 1903 model of the 9-mm Browning pistol was actively used in Russia - it was used by gendarmerie officers.
The peculiarity of the 9-mm Browning of the 1903 model is the inertial locking of the barrel, although its cartridge in terms of ballistic impulse is not much inferior to the 9-mm cartridge of the Parabellum pistol of the 1908 model. The length of the Browning cartridge is 1.5 mm less than the Parabellum ( 28 mm versus 29.5 mm), but the sleeve is 1.3 mm longer (20.3 mm versus 19 mm). According to our now established practice, this cartridge is designated 9x20.
"Browning 1903 K" and TT. Right view
The pistol has smooth external contours and a closed trigger position, which makes it convenient for pocket carry. The trigger is placed inside the rear of the frame and rotates on an axis, which is the safety pin. The mainspring is plate-type, it is located in the rear wall of the handle and consists of two branches. The long branch acts on the trigger through a roller, which is mounted on the protrusion of the trigger, and the short branch rests against the trigger rod jumper. The hammer and spring are located in the drilling of the bolt casing. In the bolt, the firing pin is held in place by a transverse pin.
On the same axis with the trigger there is a block with two feathers that guide the cartridge case removed from the chamber. The left feather has a tooth that serves as a reflector. The next cartridge rests on the protrusions of both feathers from below. The block has a through drilling for passage of the disconnector. We see exactly the same feathers and a similar arrangement of the reflector and disconnector on the removable assembly of the hammer firing mechanism of the TT pistol.
The trigger mechanism with a disconnector allows only single fire. The trigger is made integral with the trigger rod; the rod covers the magazine on both sides and moves in a socket inside the pistol frame.
The rear link of the rod acts on the sear; in the same part above the rod there is a disconnector that lowers the rod and disengages it from the sear when the bolt is rolled back.
Protection against unauthorized firing is provided by a safety lever and an automatic safety device, which releases the sear when the pistol grip is squeezed with the palm of your hand. A safety device against premature firing is a disconnector that prevents the trigger rod from acting on the sear before the bolt reaches its extreme forward position. The safety lever can be activated by turning its notched head upward only when the hammer is cocked. When the trigger is pulled, the safety cannot be turned, which serves as a signal that the trigger has been pulled.
Using the safety catch, the pistol is partially disassembled, for which it is necessary to pull the bolt casing so that the fuse tooth fits into the cutout on the left side of the bolt casing. After this, the barrel can be rotated 120 degrees and the bolt casing and barrel can be removed from the frame, moving them forward.
A box-type magazine with a capacity of seven rounds with a single-row arrangement. The relatively small, according to modern views, number of cartridges in the magazine can be explained by the desire for a weapon that is compact in height. The magazine is placed inside the handle and is locked with a latch at the bottom of the magazine. When the last cartridge is used up, the magazine feeder raises a tooth located on the right side of the shutter stop frame. The tooth, entering the cutout of the shutter casing, stops it in the rearmost position.
Pistol "Colt" mod. 1911
The sight is permanent and consists of a rear sight and a front sight. They are located on the shutter casing.
This pistol design, featuring a massive slide covering the entire length of the barrel and a recoil spring under, above or around the barrel, is protected by a patent dated 1897 in the name of John Moises Browning. Browning borrowed the location of the removable magazine in the handle from Hugo Borchardt. Since then, a similar scheme has been used by many designers.
When comparing the 1903 Browning with the TT, the first thing that catches your eye is their external similarity, but within these samples there are many differences - completely different locking mechanisms, significantly different trigger mechanisms (the Browning has a closed trigger, the TT has an open trigger and removable). It would seem that in such a situation there is no need to talk about Tokarev blindly copying the Browning pistol. But there are still grounds for such assumptions!
I was able to discover in the weapons collection of the technical room of the Tula TsKIB SOO a very unusual version of the 1903 Browning, which differs from the classic one in that it has an external trigger. Let's call it conventionally “Browning arr. 1903 K.”
"Browning arr. 1903 K" can be considered an extremely rare specimen, since it is not described either in domestic or foreign literature. In the weapons collection of the technical office of the Tula TsKIB SOO, where it is listed under the name “Browning” 1903.” In appearance, overall dimensions and weight, this pistol is completely similar to the model described above chambered for 9x20 mm, but differs from it in the design of the trigger mechanism, the absence of an automatic safety and a flag safety mechanism.
Pistol "Colt" mod. 1911 with incomplete disassembly
There are no factory marks or inscriptions on the bolt casing and frame of the pistol. The marking is only on the breech of the barrel in the area of the sleeve window.
The sample belongs to the class of weapons with inertial locking of the barrel. Its barrel, recoil mechanism, and interchangeable seven-round magazine are interchangeable with the 1903 Browning pistol described above.
To partially disassemble this sample, it is necessary, by retracting the bolt casing and trying to rotate the barrel, to find by touch the position when the supporting protrusions of the barrel disengage with the pistol frame and enter the cutout of the bolt casing.
The trigger mechanism of the pistol is a separate unit in the form of a block, which contains a trigger with a mainspring located inside it, a sear with a leaf spring and a disconnector. After separating the bolt casing, this unit is separated from the pistol frame.
Externally, the unit and its parts are indistinguishable from similar TT pistols.
In the Tula city museum of weapons there is an experimental pistol made by F.V. Tokarev, which can be considered a prototype of the TT and which differs from the Browning pistol only in that it uses a 7.62 mm Mauser cartridge.
Thus, we can definitely say that it was initially intended to completely copy the TT from a rare modification of the Browning pistol with a removable trigger mechanism.
Pistol F.V. Tokarev arr. 1938
The Mauser cartridge was chosen by Tokarev only because at the end of 1920, by decision of the Art Committee of the Artillery Directorate of the Red Army, a license for its production was purchased from the German company DWM (since 1922 Berliner Karlsruhe Industriewerke - BKIW). However, this ammunition turned out to be too powerful for inertial locking. To correct the situation, Fedor Vasilyevich in the next version of the TT used locking the barrel bore in the image and likeness of the Colt pistol of the 1911 model - with a swinging barrel controlled by an earring. Note that the 1911 Colt was developed by the same Browning at the Colt factories.
This begs the question, why did Tokarev, a very inventive designer, resort to obvious copying when developing such a basically simple weapon as a self-loading pistol? Still in the same Tula weapons museum there are his original samples of self-loading rifles, which are structurally much more complex than the TT. For example, its SVT-38 self-loading rifle, adopted for service in 1938, is completely original in design. The same can be said about the Tokarev pistol of the 1938 model.
There can only be one answer here. The designer was simply ordered to copy a certain sample. Apparently, someone in the Soviet military leadership dealt with the Browning 1903 and considered it an ideal pistol, which, due to its simple design, could be easily produced at our not very advanced arms factories at that time. In fact, Tokarev’s task was not to create an original domestic pistol, but to re-barrel the Browning to chamber the domestically produced 7.62x25 cartridge. It was based not on the most common pistol model, but on its simplest, albeit rare modification with a removable trigger mechanism. But the powerful ammunition still forced the designer to change the locking system in the pistol.
Such an option for creating a TT is quite likely, since in Soviet weapons history there are often cases when military and political leaders forced designers to make technical decisions dictated by their own predilections.
For example, at the same TT, Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny strongly did not recommend that Tokarev use an automatic safety lock that blocks the trigger if the pistol is released from his hand. And finally he achieved his goal - there is no automatic fuse on the TT!
Designer Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov told me that Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov insisted on replacing his SKS carbine with a simple and technologically advanced folding faceted bayonet, oxidized black, also folding, but bladed and shiny. Allegedly, infantry attacking with bayonets shining in the sun will terrify the enemy. Sergei Gavrilovich spat, but together with his design bureau technician Volkhny Vasily Kuzmich, they bungled such a bayonet.
Front and back sides of a business card, presented upon personal acquaintance to the author of the article, Fyodor Vasilyevich Tokarev
From the editors of the magazine "Weapons"
The discovery by the author of the article, weapons engineer Dmitry Shiryaev, of a new, nowhere described modification of the 1903 Browning pistol can be considered a minor sensation. Moreover, the presence of a “Browning” with a removable trigger mechanism in the technical room of TsKIB is confirmed by employees working there. However, there is reason to believe that its origin is not as obvious as it seems to the author of the article, which means that the question of Tokarev copying this sample is not so clear-cut. Therefore, the editors of the magazine turned to gunsmith specialists and weapons historians with a request to express their opinion in the upcoming issues of our publication on the origin of the mysterious sample and on the possibility of copying it by Tokarev during the development of the TT pistol.
The city of Tula is famous throughout the world not only for its delicious gingerbread cookies and samovars, but also known for its arms factory, which produces legendary rifles, pistols and revolvers. It is one such legendary firearm that will be discussed in this article. The focus is on the TT pistol - technical characteristics, design and principle of operation, modernization and all kinds of modifications.
Historical reference
The development of the pistol began in 1929 by weapons designer Tokarev at the Tula plant. Hence the name TT - Tula Tokarev. The development of new pistols was initiated by a tender launched throughout Russia, the purpose of which was to replace foreign weapons in the army with domestic ones and reduce the cost of production. Along with the Tokarev pistol there were weapons from Prilutsky, Korovin, Makarov and many other fairly famous designers. But in 1930, success came precisely to the design bureau, headed by
Tests of the TT pistol at the training ground showed excellent destructive power, high firing range and good accuracy. The weapon did not have a single malfunction or misfire when firing quickly after immersion in water and sand. There were flaws in the aiming system, security and mobility. Due to its enormous weight, the TT pistol, the technical characteristics of which completely satisfied all members of the jury, was sent for revision, which lasted almost a year. But as a result of modernization, the weapon had no equal among pistols not only domestic, but also foreign-made.
Technical characteristics of the combat unit
The TT pistol - a combat copy - of 1933 differs from the latest modification of 1947 only in minor modifications in terms of ease of use and cost reduction, and their characteristics are almost the same.
- The weight of the pistol when loaded is 0.9 kg.
- The operating principle is based on short-stroke recoil with a skewed bolt.
- The magazine holds 8 rounds, and the 7.62x25 mm TT cartridge itself was borrowed from Mauser (7.63x25) with a “three-line” adjustment. In museums you can find a modification of the 1942 TT pistol with a two-row magazine designed for 15 rounds.
- The sighting range is 50 meters, with a maximum bullet range of 1650 m. An open sight with a non-adjustable rail.
- The initial bullet speed is 430-455 meters per second.
- There is no fuse in the TT as an independent unit. The pistol is set to safety by retracting the trigger to half its stroke.
TT pistol design and operating principle
Many foreigners who have little knowledge of weapons like to say that the design of the Tula Tokarev pistol was copied from a modified Browning. One complete disassembly of the TT pistol will put an end to this issue. All its mechanisms have their own separate components, which can be disconnected from the frame in case of incomplete disassembly and lubricated. If there is a need to completely disassemble the weapon, it is very convenient to disassemble and reassemble each unit separately.
When you press the trigger, pressure occurs on the protrusion of the sear, which turns and releases the trigger. Under the action of a spring, the trigger hits the firing pin, firing a shot. Under the influence of powder gases, the cartridge case moves in the opposite direction of the shot, causing the bolt to roll back until it meets a reflector, due to which it is ejected from the barrel. The bolt, evacuated by the sleeve, pulls the barrel behind it, keeping it locked in the grooves. When the gas pressure drops to a minimum value, the barrel hits the pistol frame and stops, disengaging the bolt-barrel system. Continuing to move backward, the bolt disengages the sear-trigger system, cocking the hammer. The breech of the barrel, open for a moment, accepts a new cartridge, which is immediately fixed by the bolt, which returns after cocking the hammer, by inertia.
Foreign-made modifications
The TT pistol, whose technical characteristics were unmatched among all competitors in the mid-20th century, quickly attracted the attention of many countries that had difficulties developing their own modifications. Naturally, all states keeping pace with the USSR to build communism were provided by the Soviet Union with all the necessary technologies for the production of the legendary Tula Tokarev weapon.
- Friendly mastered the production of Soviet TT in the 50s of the 20th century under its own brand “TT-58”.
- An entire line was transferred to China for the mass production of legendary weapons. At the end of the 60s, having orientated themselves on the global arms market, the Chinese launched the production of their own M20 pistol chambered for 9x19 mm.
Pakistan, Iraq, Yugoslavia, Vietnam, Romania and Egypt were also not left without support. By supporting the USSR, they received not only a huge number of combat units, but along with the supply of equipment for the production of TT pistols, they were provided with highly qualified technical specialists in the field of weapons creation.
Serious argument
In the countries of the post-Soviet space, the TT combat pistol, the technical characteristics of which do not correspond to many international parameters, has been withdrawn from service. Judging by numerous reviews from experts, there are few actual reasons for switching to a smaller caliber.
- Bullets with a caliber of more than 5.45 mm cause less harm to the body, piercing through it.
- Reducing the size and weight of the cartridge allows the clip to accommodate more cartridges.
- It is not cheap to produce a cartridge case for the TT caliber, and it is much more convenient to put one cartridge on the conveyor, but for all modifications of Russian pistols.
However, it is still too early to write off the 7.62 mm TT. Weapons have taken root in all private and state security structures, including bank collections. You can find many reviews from happy owners who use this legendary firearm in service. And many security guards who retired acquired a copy of the 1930 model combat TT. This is Love.
Traumatic weapon
The great popularity of the legendary firearm has led to the fact that the TT pistol, the production price of which still remains very low, has found a second life. At the beginning of the 21st century, on the threshold of the popularity of traumatic weapons, many factories became interested in TT pistols gathering dust in military warehouses, which had been stored since the end of the Great Patriotic War. Only the barrel, breech and cartridge underwent changes. As a result, traumatic weapons appeared on the markets of the post-Soviet space at a very low price. Following the requirements of the Weapons Law, all traumatic pistols exclude the possibility of converting it into a combat unit.
- VPO-501 “Leader” is a traumatic pistol that uses a cartridge case instead of a barrel. The TT caliber was changed to 10x32 mm.
- TTR is a nine-millimeter representative of a traumatic weapon produced by the Sobr company in the city of Kharkov.
- “Izhmekh” presented its creation in the form of a traumatic pistol under a 9 mm bullet, called MP-81.
- “Tula Tokarev traumatic” has a modified TT cartridge 10x28 mm and is produced by the Degtyarev plant.
Permitted pneumatics
Many world giants are trying to reproduce the legendary firearms. It was thanks to them that the TT pneumatic pistol from very well-known manufacturers appeared on the market.
- IZH MP-656 cannot even be called a copy, because it is a real combat pistol of the 1947 model, with a modified design that does not allow it to be put into service again. Even though the initial speed of a bullet is 100 meters per second, a combat pistol in your hands is much more attractive than plastic toys.
- A Chinese-made miracle called Smersh H51 may interest the buyer due to its similarity to the original. Its only drawback is the stationary shutter during shooting.
- It showed good performance during shooting. Only the strange grip linings raise doubts, they are very huge.
- But the Gletcher TT, made of silumin, was immediately received negatively by customers. In specialized sources of information you can find ridicule of an American-made pistol, the trigger and safety of which have been replaced with a button. Then it becomes clear why Gletcher TT has negative reviews.
Legendary weapons in sports
Starting from 2011, the TT-S signal pistol was produced on the basis of the VPO-501 “Leader” traumatic weapon. Its difference from a combat pistol was only in the absence of a barrel, instead of which a simulator was installed. Welded from two misaligned tubes with cuts on the side, the homemade barrel was not designed to fire live ammunition, but the shot was very loud. To fire a shot, the Zhevelo capsule is used, well known and very popular among Russian hunters. Interestingly, the pistol has a cartridge supply system. Special brass sleeves accommodate plastic cartridges with Zhevelo, and then, assembled into a cartridge, this entire structure is placed in a clip. It’s a little tricky, but it’s still better to shoot in semi-automatic mode than to have to remove the cartridge case from the breech of the barrel after each shot and install new ammunition.
Excitement among collectors
In 2013, the Russian government passed a law banning the conversion of military weapons. If with a traumatic pistol, for which there is great demand, the issue was resolved by manufacturing it from foreign-made components available on the market, then the TT signal pistol simply ceased to be produced. Because of this law, there was a stir on the world stage among all gun collectors. Naturally, the price of converted legendary firearms went up. Over the past few years, you can see the dynamics of demand for a TT starting pistol, the price of which per unit is about 20 thousand rubles, despite the fact that the cost of any other pistol does not exceed ten thousand rubles. One conclusion emerges - from year to year the need to replenish the collection with a TT pistol will grow along with its price, accordingly, the purchase of a signal TT will be an excellent investment for the average Russian. The repeal of the law could ruin the picture.
Little oddities around the legend
As you know, any weapon that has gained worldwide fame and is in demand among buyers receives a new life in the form of models, pneumatics and toys for recreational shooting. If you look at the market, not a single manufacturer has released the legendary TT chambered for Flaubert. It’s a pity, 4mm pistols are in great demand in Russia, and it could add to more than one gun lover’s collection.
It is unclear the attitude of gun connoisseurs towards copies of the 1930 model TT pistol. After all, logically, this is the same thing from one of the country’s military warehouses. A barrel is cut into it and a huge pin is sealed. The striking part of the trigger is also cut off, a tooth is missing in the ejector and the magazine is damaged. But the kit comes with an excellent leather holster. Not original, but looks decent. And yet, collectors bypass the copy, preferring shooting copies.
Weapon Upgrades
Like any product from the Izhmekh plant, the TT pistol, a pneumatic version with the IZH MP-656 modification, can be improved. The gas system and firing mechanism cannot be changed. You can fine-tune all the elements in the gun. Replace something, sharpen it, saw it, but you don’t need to count on a bullet speed of more than 120 meters per second. External specialists are subject to change. Films and TV series of the 90s of the last century firmly planted information in the heads of the male population of the country that the best weapon in the countries of the former USSR is a TT pistol with a silencer. The miracle pistol, which was repeatedly captured on camera, will forever be remembered by future shooters. And after a while, when the time comes to acquire a legendary weapon, the new owner upgrades his toy by screwing a muffler onto the end of the barrel.
Weapon accessories
Owners of a legendary weapon or its copy may find a TT holster useful. There are several ways to find a worthy copy. In any case, it is up to the buyer to decide whether he needs a holster or whether the gun does not need it.
- Buying a ready-made holster in a store. The easiest way. I came, I saw, I tried on, I bought.
- Tailoring products to order. Although such a solution will cost more than purchasing it in a store, the holster will be much more comfortable to wear than a consumer product.
- Recently, the “black market” of accessories for military weapons has been gaining momentum. In addition, at many online auctions you can find expensive lots offering to purchase a holster for the legendary TT model of 1930.
Finally
Before purchasing a weapon, any buyer needs to know that there is a law “On Weapons”, which sets out the rules that classify weapons and determine the right to purchase, store and carry them.
- All pneumatic gas pistols with a shot power of less than 7.5 Joules (the legendary TT is included in this list) do not require any permits or documents.
- All signal weapons with a caliber of less than 6 mm (this also applies to TT, because it uses 4.5 mm Zhevelo) do not require a license or permits.
- All traumatic pistols using the energy of powder gases with a caliber of more than 4 mm (including TT, the caliber will be more than 7.62 mm) require permits for purchase, storage and carrying.
It doesn’t matter which manufacturer and modification the buyer will give their preference to in the store. It is important that the future owner of the legendary weapon knows and honors its history.
What does T T (abbreviation) mean, what is the history of this weapon from its creation to the present day.
Rearmament
After the revolution and subsequent Civil War, the issue of modernizing the army became acute. And if there were no problems with the rifles, then the Nagan system revolver was clearly obsolete. And in the early 30s, the government gave the defense design bureaus the task of developing new personal weapons.
What does T T mean?
After a series of demonstrations, tests and evaluations, it was decided to adopt a pistol designed by Tokarev. This is where its name came from - “Tula Tokarev”. It was distinguished by its reliability, light weight, combat accuracy and, most importantly, ease of manufacture, which was also important in those difficult times. However, it did not completely replace the Nagan system revolver - there were so many of them left in warehouses that to this day some departmental departments are armed with them and given away for drying with subsequent sale to collectors.
War
During the Great Patriotic War, the German occupiers learned well what T T means as a combat unit. The pistol had excellent characteristics, and soon the command of the Nazi army began to arm individual units of the Wehrmacht forces and paramilitary units with captured TTs. By the end of the war, this weapon became one of the symbols of victory, along with the PPSh, the T-34 tank and
Post-war years
When World War II ended, the pistol quickly spread throughout almost the entire world. It was bought or produced (sometimes even without a license) by many countries, and today it can be found even on the African continent. By the way, over the years, the US Army also learned what T T means as a pistol - it was widely used by partisans.
Much later, it spread to those countries where the ownership and carrying of short-barreled weapons was legalized. Tokarev's brainchild has earned a reputation as a powerful, reliable and simple weapon. True, there were also drawbacks - the lack of a safety lock of a standard shape and action, a not very comfortable handle and a small number of cartridges in the magazine. The magazine lock also wore out quickly, causing it to fall out. Well, in the hard years after the collapse of the USSR, the criminal contingent fell in love with the T T. They liked the pistol because it penetrated most light-class body armor, which other models could not boast of. This was due to the fact that many samples stolen from military warehouses were not registered in the bullet-case library, and after the crime it was impossible to trace the pistol and the owner.
It is also used in the armed conflict in the south of Ukraine - the militia got it from military warehouses.
Our days
Now TT can be purchased in the form of MMG (weight and size model), or pneumatic. The first two, by the way, are almost always made by remaking old samples from the war and pre-war years, which makes them a collector's item. It is also available and its price ranges from 10 to 15 thousand rubles.
Created in 1930 by Soviet weapons designer Fedor Vasilyevich Tokarev, semi-automatic TT pistol(Tula, Tokarev) became the first domestic self-loading pistol adopted by the army. The purpose of the tests carried out in this direction since the mid-20s of the last century was to create a modern self-loading pistol capable of replacing the Nagan system revolver in service with the Soviet Army, model 1895, by that time obsolete and low-power, and also replacing a number pistols purchased abroad for the needs of the Soviet Army. Among the self-loading samples imported into the territory of the Soviet Union, the then famous Mauser S-96 of 7.63 mm caliber was quite popular, the main advantage of which was the use of a powerful 7.63x25 mm cartridge, and the main disadvantage of this Mauser was its large dimensions and heavy weight. Having appreciated the advantages of the 7.63x25 cartridge, Soviet arms industry leaders decided to create a similar cartridge and their own model of a self-loading pistol for it, but more compact and easy to use than the Mauser S-96.
Weapons designer, creator of the TT pistol Fedor Vasilievich Tokarev
For these purposes, the Soviet Union acquires a license for the above-mentioned cartridge from the German company Mauser, after which it begins its production, but in caliber 7.62x25 (for the purpose of unification with Soviet technological equipment and equipment). Several gunsmith specialists began designing pistols for this cartridge at once, among whom, in addition to Tokarev, were Korovin and Prilutsky, who presented their models to the high commission. However, after official field tests were carried out, in June 1930 the commission made a clear choice in favor of the sample made by F.V. Tokarev, called TT-30. After eliminating some of the shortcomings of this pistol regarding accuracy and safety of handling, as well as after other modifications related to the wishes of the commission members, in December 1930 the TT-30 pistol was tested again, according to the results of which this pistol was approved by the commission and recommended for adoption by the Soviet Army. Over the next few years, the first batches of these weapons were released, tests of which led to disappointing conclusions. The pistol was unreliable, very dangerous to use, parts quickly failed, there were frequent delays in firing, the TT-30's lifespan was ridiculously short, amounting to about two hundred shots. After this, the designers made certain conclusions and the main shortcomings were eliminated, and the pistol also underwent several upgrades in order to simplify and reduce the cost of production. And finally, in 1934, a modified version of the Tokarev system was adopted by the Red Army under the name TT-33, which became the massive pistol that was tested in the battles of World War II.
It is worth noting that Tokarev at one time did an internship at the Belgian arms factory FN, where the arms genius John Moses Browning worked at the same time. It was this fact that influenced the design of the TT pistol, built according to the Browning system. And let’s be honest, Comrade Tokarev clearly tried to be similar in appearance to Sir Browning, at least in photographs. (I hope I won’t be bombarded with rotten tomatoes by adherents of the genius of exclusively domestic gunsmiths).
Left - photo by F.V. Tokarev, right - photo by J.M. Browning
In February 1931, the first batch of TT-30 pistols entered the troops for comprehensive testing, and mass production of an already modernized model called TT-33 began in 1933 at the Tula Arms Plant (TOZ), and by the time of the German attack on the USSR and the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the number of manufactured TT pistols reached more than six hundred thousand pieces. During the years of that terrible war, this pistol received recognition among the troops, although very dubious, and was widely used as a personal weapon for officers, intended for close combat at distances of up to 50 m, and at these distances the TT worked very effectively, thanks to a powerful cartridge. During the war years, the production of TT pistols, as well as other small arms, of course, increased significantly, as required by the developing situation. It should be admitted that the TT pistol was never and was not considered a good weapon, but in the absence of an alternative, the military could only get this pistol. The pistol essentially did not receive nationwide or “all-army” recognition, it only received enormous distribution, and the fame and popularity of the TT pistol were only a consequence of the widespread use of this weapon. The TT-33 was unreliable and dangerous to handle, and was also afraid of dirt, which is a very significant factor in war. But, nevertheless, it was widely used; there was no other way. For example, in comparison with the German Walter P38, which was used by the Wehrmacht in the same war, the TT looked like an unfinished homemade gun.
After the war, in 1946, the pistol was once again slightly modernized in order to further reduce the cost of production and eliminate shortcomings. It was not possible to eliminate all the shortcomings, but this will be discussed below. An external distinctive feature of post-war models is the presence of small corrugations on the bolt casing, instead of vertical depressions in the shape of pointed ellipses in pre-war models.
The Tula Tokarev was the most popular personal short-barreled weapon of the Soviet Army and Soviet police until the early 50s, when it was replaced by the Makarov pistol and the TT was discontinued. But even after this, the TT continued to serve the Motherland in the army and in the police until the early nineties, until it was completely replaced by Makarov pistols (the TT was removed from police weapons a little earlier, in the seventies). In total, about 1.7 million pieces were produced over the years of production of the TT pistol. After the army and police finally said goodbye to this pistol, the TT was in service with the paramilitary guards (VOKhR) and criminal gangs, in which, due to the weapons illiteracy of most bandits, it was and is considered an excellent pistol, which is why this opinion spread to the people and remains stable among the masses to this day.
The popularity of the TT in the criminal world is explained mainly by the cheapness of the pistol and the penetrating ability of the cartridge, which ensured reliable destruction of a target through glass or car doors, as well as penetration of light body armor of class 1 protection.
It should be noted that in addition to the Soviet Union, the TT pistol was also produced in other countries, such as Hungary, China, Vietnam, Yugoslavia, Egypt, Iraq, and Poland. It makes no sense to consider each of them, since the TTs produced abroad generally repeated the design of the Soviet model with minor differences. For example, one of the Chinese samples called “Model 213” had a caliber of 9 mm and used a 9x19 Parabellum cartridge, and was also equipped with a mechanical flag-type fuse. Some foreign-made models differed in barrel and handle length and magazine capacity.
Nowadays, on the basis of TT pistols accumulated in military warehouses, the production of traumatic weapons has been launched as a means of self-defense for citizens. After making appropriate design changes, TT pistols are adapted to fire rubber bullets. Modern names of traumatic TTs are “Leader”, produced by the Vyatsko-Polyansky plant “MOLOT”, as well as Izhevsk MP-81 and MP-82. Such pistols can often be found on the shelves of gun stores. However, this weapon, apart from its external similarity, has nothing in common with the legendary TT, and is more suitable for the role of its firing model. In addition to traumatic options, Izhevsk also produces a pneumatic TT, powered by a standard cylinder with compressed carbon dioxide, called MP-656K.
Design
In general, the design and operation of the automatic pistol TT repeated the design of the famous Colt M1911 pistol designed by John Moses Browning, with the difference that the TT used a block trigger mechanism system, like the Mauser S-96. This was done to simplify production and to simplify the repair and maintenance of the weapon. The automatic operation of the pistol is based on the principle of recoil of the barrel during its short stroke, according to the Browning system. The differences also affected some other components and mechanisms, which will be described in more detail below.
Briefly, the automation system in TT pistol as follows. When fired, the sleeve exerts an impact on the bolt, the bolt moves back along with the barrel, which is engaged with the bolt frame by lugs. The barrel is attached to the pistol frame by means of a swinging earring, which ensures that the breech of the barrel is lowered and moves backward. With this reduction, the barrel disengages from the bolt frame, that is, the protrusions of the bolt frame come out of the corresponding grooves on the thickened part of the barrel. After this, the bolt frame moves backward by inertia, cocking the hammer and ejecting the spent cartridge case. On the reverse stroke, under the action of the return spring, the bolt sends the next cartridge from the magazine into the chamber and places the previously warped barrel in its original place, locking it in its original position on the lugs. More details about the operation of the automation will be written below.
The difference from the Browning design in terms of automatic operation is that the barrel of the TT pistol does not have protrusions for engagement with the bolt, but on the contrary, in its thickened part it has two grooves into which the protrusions of the bolt frame fit when locked.
The absence of a separate mechanical safety was a consequence of the simplification of the trigger mechanism, while an accidental shot was prevented by a disconnector and a special groove for setting the trigger to the safety cock. That is, the TT could be put on safety only by means of the trigger, putting it on the safety cock, without bringing it to the combat cock. Such a system ensured the safety of the weapon in the event of a fall or accidental blow to the trigger, because even an uncocked hammer upon impact could transfer this blow to the firing pin, causing the cartridge in the chamber to fire. But people often ignored the safety platoon, which resulted in many accidents. For this reason, an order was even issued banning the carrying of a TT pistol with a cartridge in the chamber.
At first, Tokarev also assumed there would be an automatic safety on the back of the handle, like on the Colt M1911 pistol. But military officials were against it, which left the TT with the only safety feature - the middle position of the trigger. Legend has it that Comrade Budyonny, who, as is known, at that time had enormous influence on the country's military leadership, forbade equipping the new Soviet pistol with such an automatic safety. He explained the reason by saying that once during the Civil War, when he was being chased by “whites,” he turned back while sitting on a horse and tried to shoot his Browning backwards. But cavalry gloves and an awkward position did not allow squeezing the safety on the back of Browning's handle. This turned out to be enough for such a fuse not to be installed on the TT.
The pistol is fed with cartridges from a box-shaped single-row magazine with a capacity of 8 cartridges, with a push-button locking system. Sights, front and rear sights, non-adjustable, which were sighted by the manufacturer at a distance of 25 meters.
The gun consists of the following parts:
The frame is one piece with the handle and trigger guard. Designed to connect parts of the pistol, being its basis.
The handle cheeks are a decorative element that covers the side windows of the handle, and also serve to conveniently hold the weapon in the hand. The cheeks were made of corrugated plastic and wood.
Magazine latch – holds the magazine in the frame handle.
Barrel - designed to tell the bullet a certain direction when fired. It is completely closed with a shutter casing and connected to the frame with a Browning earring. The barrel bore has 4 right-hand rifling with a pitch of 240-260 mm (depending on the year of manufacture), to impart a rotational movement to the bullet, stabilizing its flight path. In the breech of the barrel there is a chamber, which serves to accommodate the cartridge during loading and before firing. The barrel has two annular grooves on a special thickening in the breech area, which ensure adhesion of the bolt to the barrel due to the insertion of the supporting protrusions of the bolt frame (lugs) into them. At the bottom of the thickened part of the breech there is a boss with an eye for the Browning earring; on the rear section of the chamber there is a protrusion for hooking the ejector, as well as a bevel at the bottom for feeding the cartridge from the magazine into the chamber.
Earring – connects the barrel to the frame, and also serves to engage and disengage the barrel with the bolt, ensuring the barrel swings and skews in a vertical plane.
The bolt is integral with the casing and performs the bulk of the functions of the pistol. The bolt ensures the ejection of a spent cartridge case or unused cartridge, the supply of a new cartridge from the magazine to the chamber, cocks the hammer and locks the barrel before firing. On the outside of the bolt casing there are sighting devices (front and rear sights), an ejector window, a groove for placing the ejector, notches for conveniently holding the bolt when retracting it to the rear position when reloading in case of a misfire and when chambering a cartridge. The bolt also has a hole for the striker, in the casing there is a cutout to accommodate the bolt stop protrusion, a tube for the return spring, and in the rear there is a groove for the trigger.
The firing pin is designed to break the cartridge primer and is located in a special groove in the bolt between the hammer and the barrel chamber.
Ejector - to hold the cartridge case (cartridge) until it meets the reflector when the bolt moves to the rear position, which ensures the ejection of the cartridge case (cartridge) from the ejector window.
Return spring - serves to return the bolt to the forward position after it has been rolled back.
The tip of the return spring is a stop for the return spring.
The guide rod also serves as a stop for the return spring and limits the movement of the bolt back, and most importantly, it guides the return spring.
Guide sleeve - serves to guide the muzzle of the barrel when the bolt moves, and also serves as a stop for the tip of the return spring.
Bolt stop - ensures that the bolt is locked in the rearmost position when the magazine is empty, which ensures quick loading of a cartridge into the chamber from a new magazine.
Slide stop spring - secures the delay to the frame and holds it in the lower position until the bolt is locked after the magazine is empty.
The trigger mechanism consists of the following parts:
Block - connects the trigger, mainspring, sear and disconnector.
Trigger – strikes the firing pin.
Mainspring - activates the trigger, giving it rapid movement for a sufficiently strong blow to the firing pin.
Sear - holds the trigger on the combat and safety cocks and ensures that the hammer is released when the trigger is pressed, which on a TT is essentially a button.
Disconnector - designed to disconnect the trigger rod from the sear after firing a shot. This is necessary in order to exclude the possibility of firing a shot when the shutter is not fully closed.
The trigger is made as one piece with the trigger rod. When you press the trigger with your finger, it pulls the sear back, causing the trigger, under the influence of the mainspring, to break off and hit the firing pin, and when the rod is in the forward position, it acts on the disconnector, raising it to the top for safe handling of the weapon.
Trigger spring - pushes the trigger forward and upward.
Magazine - serves to accommodate eight rounds and consists of a steel box, feeder, feeder spring and cover.
Operation of parts and mechanisms
When the bolt is moved to the rearmost position, acting on the trigger, it rotates, thereby cocking the trigger. Also, due to the impact of the supporting protrusions on the annular grooves of the barrel, the bolt retracts the barrel back. If there is a cartridge case or cartridge in the chamber, the ejector removes it and, using a reflector, throws it through a special window.
The barrel, when moving backwards, due to the rotation of the earring, lowers its thickened breech down, which causes the barrel to skew, and at the same time disengages with the bolt, since the supporting protrusions of the bolt come out of the annular grooves of the thickened part of the barrel.
The disconnector goes down under the action of the recess in the lower part of the bolt, while deflecting the trigger rod towards the bottom, thereby disengaging it from the sear.
The return spring, when the bolt moves backward, is compressed.
The sear, under the action of a spring, is pressed against the front of the trigger and successively goes behind the safety cock, and then behind the firing cock. The disconnector is then released.
As the bolt moves forward (due to the force of the return spring), the bolt moves the upper cartridge from the magazine along an inclined bevel into the breech of the barrel, into the chamber.
The barrel, due to the pressure of the bolt mirror on the bottom of the new cartridge case, moves forward and upward through the earring, while the supporting protrusions of the bolt enter the annular grooves of the thickened part of the barrel. The barrel is locked with a bolt.
The ejector hook fits into the annular groove of the cartridge located in the chamber. When you press the trigger with your finger (while firing a shot), the actions of the pistol parts will be as follows: The trigger rod, by pressing the sear ledge, moves its lower part back, which leads to the sear nose coming out of the cocking groove of the hammer, after which the trigger turns on its forward axis, under the action of the mainspring, strikes the firing pin. The firing pin, moving forward, hits the cartridge primer, igniting it. From the pressure of the gases formed during the combustion of gunpowder, the bullet begins to move along the rifling and flies out of the barrel, while part of the powder gases affects the walls and bottom of the cartridge case, forcing the barrel and the bolt coupled to it to move back. After this, the pistol parts repeat the same actions as when manually retracting the bolt to the rear position (described above). As the bolt moves backward, the ejector hook removes the spent cartridge case from the chamber, continuing to hold it until it meets the reflector, upon impact with which the cartridge case flies out into the bolt frame window located on the right. At the same time, the next cartridge in the magazine, under the action of the feeder spring, rises upward. If there are no cartridges in the magazine, after the last shot, the feeder, with its hook, raises the bolt stop, which, in turn, stops the bolt in the rearmost position. The trigger, in the absence of pressure from the finger, due to the elasticity of the trigger spring, returns to the forward position, while the disconnector rises upward, entering the bolt recess with its stem.
And this is how the automatic operation of a TT pistol looks more clear. Especially for you, I found an animation of the operation of parts and mechanisms in a TT pistol during and after a shot. (God bless the one who did this. Otherwise, in such animations, all Colts and Glocks...)
Advantages and disadvantages
The simplicity of the design makes Tula Tokarev pistol inexpensive to manufacture and easy to maintain pistol. The main advantage of the TT is a powerful cartridge that provides high muzzle energy of about 500 J, a significant direct shot range and excellent penetration ability. And due to the relatively long barrel and short trigger stroke, the pistol provides good accuracy and shooting accuracy, which allows an experienced shooter to hit a target even at a distance of more than 50 meters. Also, good accuracy of combat is facilitated by the automatic operation system, which ensures that the bullet leaves the barrel without shifting the axis of the barrel in the vertical plane and without the movement of other mechanisms, which can negatively affect the trajectory of the bullet. When fired, the barrel moves backward, and the barrel is skewed and disengaged from the bolt frame only after the bullet leaves the barrel. The flat and fairly compact TT is well suited for concealed carry.
As for the shortcomings, the main one is considered to be the pistol’s low lifespan. This drawback follows from the advantage of the pistol: the use of a high-power cartridge causes intense wear on the barrel locking unit. Often, after several hundred shots, delays in the operation of the pistol appeared in the form of jamming of the cartridge case in the chamber, misalignment of the cartridges, or tearing off of the bottom of the cartridge case. Other disadvantages include the excessive sensitivity of the pistol mechanisms to clogging and minor deformations, which requires careful handling and careful maintenance of the weapon.
Another serious drawback is the unreliable fastening of the magazine in the handle; the latch mechanism, especially on worn-out TTs, often does not hold the magazine, which simply falls out of the pistol, of which there are many examples, especially from the fronts of the Second World War.
The practice of using the TT pistol has shown the low stopping power of its ammunition. The reason for this drawback lies in the relatively small caliber of the bullet, its shape and high initial speed, which in turn resulted in its undeniable advantage - excellent penetration ability.
The lack of a manual safety can also be considered a serious flaw, causing numerous accidents involving this pistol. So, if you fall or accidentally hit the trigger, if the cartridge is in the chamber and the trigger is not set to safety cock, the possibility of the primer being punctured by the firing pin cannot be ruled out, which will lead to a spontaneous shot.
The high persistence of the ammunition and the retention of sufficient energy by the bullet to inflict a wound at a distance of 800 - 1000 m are another disadvantage when using a pistol in urban conditions: in case of a miss when shooting at the enemy, there is a high probability of causing harm to third parties (civilians).
Complaints about the ergonomics of the pistol can hardly be called a significant omission in the design; it is rather an individual feature of the weapon, and besides, it is not fair to demand something outstanding from a pistol developed at the beginning of the last century. However, it would not be correct to compare this pistol with modern models created using high technologies and new scientific achievements.
The TT went down in history as a legendary pistol of its time, tested in the battles of the bloodiest war in human history. And the geography of its production and popularity in many countries of the world give reason to be proud of the thought of the Russian gunsmith and once again confirm the need for such weapons for the era, in the fate of which he occupied not the last place.
The first army self-loading pistol of the USSR, created by Soviet designer Fedor Vasilyevich Tokarev in 1930.
History of creation
The TT pistol was developed for the 1929 competition for a new army pistol, announced to replace the Nagan revolver and several models of foreign-made revolvers and pistols that were in service with the Red Army in the mid-1920s. The standard cartridge was the German 7.63x25 mm Mauser cartridge, which was purchased in large quantities for the Mauser S-96 pistols in service.
The competition commission, headed by M. F. Grushetsky, considered the pistol designed by F. V. Tokarev the most suitable for adoption, provided that the identified shortcomings were corrected. The commission's requirements included improving shooting accuracy, easing the trigger pull, and making it safer to handle. After several months of work, the shortcomings were eliminated. On December 23, 1930, a decision was made to carry out additional tests.
Based on the test results, the TT pistol, designed by a design group led by F.V. Tokarev at the design bureau of the Tula Arms Plant, won the competition. On February 12, 1931, the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR ordered the first batch of 1000 pistols for comprehensive military testing. In the same year, the Tokarev pistol was put into service under the official designation “7.62 mm self-loading pistol mod. 1930" together with the 7.62x25 cartridge. The pistol, called TT (Tula Tokarev) was quite simple and technologically advanced in production and operation.
At the same time, the USSR bought a license for the production of the cartridge from the German company Mauser and began production under the designation “7.62 mm pistol cartridge “P” mod. 1930."
Several thousand copies were produced in 1930-1932. In order to improve the manufacturability of production, in 1932-1933. the weapon was modernized: the barrel lugs were not milled, but were turned; the frame was made in one piece, without a removable handle cover; The disconnector and trigger rod were modified. At the beginning of 1934, a new pistol entered service under the name “7.62-mm self-loading pistol mod. 1933.”
At the end of 1941, the equipment for the manufacture of TT was moved to Izhevsk. During 1942, Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant No. 74 managed to produce 161,485 Tokarev pistols. Also in 1942, Izhevsk Plant No. 74 produced a small batch of Tokarev pistol with a double-row magazine with a capacity of 15 rounds. The thickness of the handle was 42 mm (30.5 mm for a standard TT). The magazine latch was moved to the base of the handle.
In 1947, the TT was again modified in order to reduce its cost: large vertical grooves, alternating with small grooves on the bolt casing for convenient retraction of the bolt, were replaced with small grooves (corrugation).
Design
The TT pistol combines design features of different systems: the bore locking design of J.M. Browning, used in the famous Colt M1911, the Browning M1903 design, and a cartridge originally developed for the Mauser C96 pistol.
According to some experts, when developing the design of the pistol, it was initially planned to completely copy the design of a modified Browning pistol with a removable trigger trigger mechanism (trigger mechanism). However, in the process of work, the designers were forced to abandon complete copying (due to the lack of a technological base for producing a complete copy of the original). It was necessary to reduce production costs by simplifying the design.
At the same time, the pistol has original design solutions aimed at ease of handling of the weapon: combining the trigger mechanism (trigger mechanism) in a separate single block block, which, when disassembling the weapon, is freely separated from the frame for cleaning and lubrication; placement of the mainspring in the trigger, which reduced the longitudinal width of the handle; fastening the cheeks of the handle with the help of rotating bars attached to them, which simplified the disassembly of the pistol, the absence of a safety mechanism - its function was performed by the safety cocking of the hammer.
Browning's short-stroke bore locking design with a swinging pin, the automatic operation system, as well as the trigger, borrowed from the Colt M1911 pistol, were modified to simplify production.
Single action trigger. The impact mechanism is made as a single unit, which simplifies factory assembly. (A few years later, Swiss gunsmith Charles Petter used exactly the same layout in the French Model 1935 pistol).
The pistol does not have a safety as a separate part; its functions are performed by the safety cocking of the hammer. To put the trigger on the safety cock, you had to pull the trigger back a little. After this, the trigger and bolt will be locked, and the trigger will not touch the firing pin. This eliminates the possibility of a shot if the gun is dropped or the trigger head is accidentally hit. To remove the hammer from the safety cock, you need to pull the trigger. In order to put the cocked hammer on the safety cock, it must first be released by holding it and pressing the trigger. And then you need to pull the trigger back a little.
Carrying a pistol with a cartridge in the chamber with the trigger pulled is not recommended and does not make sense, since in order to fire a shot, the trigger must be cocked in the same way as a trigger set on the safety cock.
On the left side of the frame there is a shutter stop lever. When the ammunition in the magazine is used up, the bolt is delayed in the rear position. To remove the shutter from the delay, you need to lower the slide stop lever.
Magazine capacity 8 rounds. The magazine release button is located on the left side of the grip, at the base of the trigger guard, similar to the Colt M1911.
When shooting at 50 m, hits in each of 10 series of 10 shots are placed in a circle with a radius of 150 mm.
Sights consist of a front sight, integral with the bolt, and a rear sight, pressed into a dovetail groove in the rear of the bolt. The cheeks of the handle were made of bakelite or (during the war) of wood (walnut).
Advantages and disadvantages
The TT pistol is distinguished by its simplicity of design and, therefore, low production costs and ease of maintenance. A very powerful cartridge, atypical for pistols, provides unusually high penetrating power and muzzle energy of about 500 J. The pistol has a short, light trigger and provides significant shooting accuracy; an experienced shooter is able to hit a target at distances of more than 50 meters. The pistol is flat and quite compact, which is convenient for concealed carry. However, during operation, shortcomings also appeared.
Before the Great Patriotic War, the military put forward a requirement that a pistol could be fired through the embrasures of a tank. TT did not satisfy this condition. Many experts consider this requirement absurd. However, nothing prevented the Germans from making such a requirement for their weapons: the Luger P08, Walther P38 and even the MP 38/40 fully satisfied it.
Another drawback is poor magazine retention.
Without a safety lock, the TT was placed in a safe position by the so-called half-cocked hammer, and this made it difficult to bring the pistol into the firing position. Involuntary cases of self-inflicted gunfire were recorded, one of which was described by Yuri Nikulin in the book “Almost Seriously.” Ultimately, the Charter directly prohibited carrying a pistol with a cartridge in the chamber, which further increased the time it took to bring the pistol into firing position.
The ergonomics of the TT raises many complaints compared to other designs. The angle of inclination of the handle is small, its shape is not conducive to comfortable holding of the weapon.
The TT pistol is distinguished by its flat trajectory and high penetrating effect of a pointed bullet, which is capable of piercing an army helmet or light body armor. The penetrating effect of a TT bullet exceeds the penetrating effect of a 9x19 mm cartridge bullet (a “7.62 P” bullet with a lead core, after being fired from a TT pistol, penetrates class I body armor, but does not penetrate class II body armor even when fired at point-blank range. The “Pst” bullet "with a steel core penetrates body armor of class II protection, or NIJ IIIA+ according to the American classification). At the same time, the stopping effect of the 7.62 mm TT bullet is inferior to that of the 9x19 mm cartridge bullet. But still, in the TT pistol it is possible to use several variants of 7.63x25 mm Mauser cartridges with bullets of increased stopping power:
30 Mauser LLC - a cartridge with a jacketless lead bullet from Old Western Scrounger (USA);
-cartridge with an expansive bullet from Old Western Scrounger (USA);
-7.62x25 mm Tokarev Magsafe Defender - a cartridge with a bullet of increased stopping power from Magsafe (USA)…
Options and modifications
Pistols made in the USSR
-“7.62 mm self-loading pistol mod. 1930" - the first serial modification, only in 1930-1933. no more than 93 thousand units were produced.
-“7.62 mm self-loading pistol mod. 1933" (pre-war production) - in order to improve manufacturability in production, changes were made to the design of the trigger mechanism (trigger rod and disconnector), the shape of the barrel and frame was simplified (the back wall of the handle was made solid, without a detachable cover). By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, about 600 thousand TT pistols entered service with the Red Army
-7.62 mm training self-loading pistol mod. 1933 - training version of the Tokarev pistol, produced before the war. It differed from the combat one only in its carbolite cheeks, painted green (not black). The letters “UCH” were stamped next to the serial number.
-“7.62 mm self-loading pistol mod. 1933" (wartime release) - was distinguished by a simplified design and poorer quality of parts processing; Some pistols had wooden cheeks installed.
-“7.62 mm self-loading pistol mod. 1933" (post-war edition)
Foreign-made pistols
Hungarian People's Republic - in 1948-1960, an exact copy of the Soviet TT was produced at the FEG company under the name "Tokarev 48M" (with the coat of arms of the Hungarian People's Republic on the handle plates). At the end of the 1950s, a modernized version was created - the TT-58, with a more comfortable handle, made like the handle of a Walter P-38 pistol, and a modified magazine design.
-Vietnam - during the Vietnam War, partisans of the National Liberation Front in the field assembled TT pistols from Chinese parts.
-Egypt - at the end of the 1950s, for Egypt, the FEG plant began producing a modification of the TT-58 chambered for the 9x19 mm Parabellum cartridge, equipped with a fuse. The Egyptian police were armed with the Tokagypt-58 pistol. In total, up to 15 thousand of these pistols were produced, and some of the pistols were sold on the commercial market, mainly in Germany, under the Firebird brand.
China - produced in several modifications:
- “type 51” - an army pistol, a copy of the Soviet TT.
- “type 54” - an army pistol, a copy of the Soviet TT, was in service with the PRC army until 1971. Also made for export under the name M20.
- “model 213” - a commercial version produced by the Norinco company chambered for a 9x19 mm cartridge with a magazine capacity of 8 rounds.
- “model 213A” - a commercial version produced by Norinco, chambered for a 9x19 mm cartridge with a magazine capacity of 14 rounds.
- “model 213B” - a commercial version produced by Norinco, chambered for 9x19 mm, equipped with a non-automatic safety lock that blocks the trigger.
DPRK - a copy of the TT pistol, produced under the name Type 68 or M68.
Poland - the pistol was produced under the name PW wz.33 (Pistolet Wojskowy wzor 33 - army pistol of the 1933 model) and remained in service until the end of the 1960s. It differed from the Soviet TT in markings on the bolt and handle plates.
Socialist Republic of Romania - A copy of the TT pistol called the Cugir Tokarov was produced in the 1950s.
Yugoslavia:
Zastava M54 - a copy of the Soviet TT mod. 1933, production started in February 1954
Zastava M57 - a modernized version of the TT with a magazine capacity increased to 9 rounds, designed in 1956-1960, mass-produced from 1961 to 1990.
Zastava M70 is a compact version of the Zastava M57 army pistol chambered for less powerful 7.65x17 mm or 9x17 mm (9mm Kratak) cartridges.
Zastava M70A is a modernized version of the Zastava M57 pistol chambered for the 9x19 mm Parabellum cartridge, the production of which started in the early 1970s.
Zastava M88 is a modernized version of the Zastava M57 pistol chambered for 9x19 mm Parabellum and .40 S&W cartridges.
Iraq - a copy of the Soviet TT was in service with the Iraqi army for more than thirty years.
Pakistan - a copy of the Chinese TT was produced at the POF (Pakistani Ordnance Factories) plant specifically for the police. In addition, there have been recorded cases of manufacturing copies of TTs in semi-handicraft conditions by weapons workshops in the Khyber Pass area.
Conversion options and modifications
Sports weapons
Tokarev Sportowy is a Polish sports pistol chambered for a small-caliber cartridge. 22 Long Rifle with liners in the shape of a standard chamber chambered for 7.62x25 mm.
In the 1950s in the USSR, on the basis of the TT, the R-3 sports training pistol was created for a small-caliber 5.6 mm cartridge with a blowback action.
In May 2012, in Russia the TT pistol was certified as a sports weapon under the name S-TT sports pistol
Traumatic weapon
Several models of traumatic civilian self-defense weapons have been developed based on the pistol.
VPO-501 “Leader” is a “barrelless” traumatic pistol chambered for 10x32 mm T cartridge. Developed and produced since 2005 by the Vyatsko-Polyansky machine-building enterprise “Molot”. In accordance with forensic requirements, changes were made to the design to eliminate the possibility of firing live ammunition.
VPO-509 “Leader-M” is a “barrelless” traumatic pistol chambered for 11.43x32 mm T. Designed by the Vyatsko-Polyansky machine-building plant “Molot”.
TT-T is a traumatic pistol chambered for 10x28 mm T. Developed and produced by JSC Plant named after. V. A. Degtyareva." On sale since 2011. It has design differences from the combat TT: a barrel with removed rifling; there is one partition pin in the channel that prevents the firing of a solid bullet.
MP-81 - traumatic pistol chambered for 9 mm P.A. Developed and produced since 2008 by the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant. The design retains the main components of the base model: (frame, bolt, trigger mechanism), the original historical markings of the original and the identity of the pistol handling techniques are fully preserved.
MP-82 is a variant of the MP-81 chambered for .45 rubber, developed and presented in the form of a model in 2008 by the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant. Not serially produced.
TTR - traumatic pistol chambered for 9 mm P.A. (manufacturer - SOBR LLC, Kharkov).
TT-GT is a smooth-bore traumatic pistol chambered for 9 mm P.A. cartridge. (manufacturer - Erma-Inter LLC, Kyiv).
Airguns
Several variants of 4.5 mm air pistols are produced: MP-656k (production discontinued in 2013 based on the requirements of the Law banning the alteration of military weapons); Gletcher TT; Gletcher TT NBB; TTP "Sobr"; Crosman C-TT.
Signal versions
Since 2011, the TT-S signal pistol, designed on the basis of the TT-Leader pistol, has been produced (production discontinued in 2013 based on the requirement of the Law banning the alteration of military weapons). For shooting, Zhevelo or KV21 capsules are used.
At the exhibition "Weapons and Hunting - 2014" in Moscow, the company OJSC "Molot" presented a cooled version of the TT pistol, MA-TT-SKH, chambered for a 10x31mm blank cartridge
Combat use
1930-1945
USSR - TT pistols were in service with the Soviet armed forces, and during the Great Patriotic War they were also supplied to Soviet partisans and for the arsenal of foreign military formations on the territory of the USSR.
-Finland - captured TT pistols captured during the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. and the “Continuation War” of 1941-1944. were in service with the Finnish army until 1951. In 1959-1960. the pistols were sold to the American company Interarmco.
-Third Reich - captured TTs under the name Pistole 615(r) entered service with the Wehrmacht, SS and other paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany and its satellites.
-Yugoslavia - deliveries to the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia began in May 1944 and continued until 1947
After the end of World War II
After the war, the TT was supplied to USSR-supported states and movements (in particular, the armies of the Warsaw Pact countries).
USSR - production of the pistol continued until 1954 (a certain amount was collected in 1955 from stockpiles of parts) and was completed. Since the 9-mm Makarov pistol was adopted for service. Subsequently, the TT was withdrawn from service and gradually replaced by the PM - by the beginning of the 1960s. in the Soviet Army (it remained in service with rear and auxiliary units for a little longer), by the mid-1970s - in the police, but in paramilitary security units it remained in subsequent times. TT pistols were stored in mobilization reserve warehouses at least until the early 1990s.
also, at least until 2000, TT was operated by geological enterprises. According to the regulations of the USSR Ministry of Geology, senior employees of geological parties and expeditions could be armed with a pistol.
-Yugoslavia - after the war, Soviet TTs remained in service with the Yugoslav People's Army at least until 1968
-Russia - at the end of 1998, the TT was officially adopted by the Federal Bailiff Service. At least until July 2002, TT pistols were in service with the private security forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. At the beginning of winter 2005, it was included in the list of award weapons. As of mid-2006, they were in service with the units of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Security" of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, employees of the courier service and collectors
-Belarus - as of 2002, was in service with legal entities with special statutory tasks
-Kazakhstan - was in service with the departmental security of railways and collectors of the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan
-Latvia - was in service with the army at least until mid-autumn 2001
-Ukraine - in the early 1990s, a certain number of TTs from the warehouses of the mobilization reserve of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine were given to some units of the patrol service (PPS) of the police, they were also used for training cadets and employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine (due to a shortage of 9x18 mm cartridges ). As of mid-2005, the Ministry of Defense had 95,000 units in storage. TT pistols (75,000 serviceable and 20,000 intended for disposal); as of August 15, 2011, only 10,000 TT pistols remained in the custody of the Ministry of Defense. It is in service with the state security service. It is also a reward weapon. As of June 2014, they remained in service with railway guards and collectors
-Estonia - in the early 1990s, a number of pistols from the warehouses of the mobilization reserve were given to the paramilitary organization "Kaitseliit"
TTX
Weight, kg: 0.854 (without ammunition) 0.94 (loaded)
-Length, mm: 195
-Barrel length, mm: 116
-Height, mm: 130
-Cartridge: 7.62x25 mm TT
-Caliber, mm: 7.62
-Principles of operation: recoil with a short barrel stroke, bolt misalignment
-Initial bullet speed, m/s: 420-450
-Sighting range, m: 50
-Maximum range, m: 1650
-Type of ammunition: magazine for 8 rounds
-Sight: open, non-adjustable