In addition, the hammer is slightly shrouded by the slide. Their profile is different from many Browning designs, because of the sharper grip angle, which gives them a unique appearance. The pistols are very slender and have good balance. They are essentially a simplified version of the John Browning locked-breech design. They are locked-breech, recoil-operated semi-automatics capable of holding eight rounds. As part of the treaty, the Soviet Union sent technical advisors and machinery to China, which made the process of arms manufacture easier.Īll Chinese Tokarev pistols are the same in terms of form and function as their European counterparts. The production of small arms in China was also facilitated by a mutual aid treaty between the Soviet Union and China signed in 1950. Likewise, it was natural for China to adopt a version of the TT-33. China did not have the firearm design infrastructure of the Soviet Union, so it was expedient to adopt existing designs that were both proven and simple to manufacture. Examples of similar arms include the Chinese Type 53 rifle, which is a copy of the Russian Model 44 bolt-action, and the Type 56 rifle, which is nearly identical to the Soviet SKS. Several Soviet satellite countries-including Poland, Romania, Yugoslavia and Hungary-adopted pistols styled after the Tokarev.ĭuring the 1950s, China began producing many small arms of Soviet design. A simple, reliable and easy-to-maintain pistol, it was in service until the early 1950s when it was replaced by the Makarov (also known as the Pistol Makarova or PM). The TT-30 was simplified and adopted in 1933 as the TT-33 (Tula Tokarev 33). Tokarev began the process of designing a semi-automatic handgun in the 1920s, and the Soviets adopted one of his early designs in 1930, naming it the TT-30 (Tula Tokarev 30). The Tokarev pistol was the brainchild of Fedor Tokarev, a famous Russian small arms designer.
The gun, imported by Sportarms, was chambered in 9 mm Luger and was retrofitted with a frame-mounted safety.Ĭhinese Tokarev pistols are as interesting as they are ubiquitous.
This factory-original box depicts a commercial Norinco Model 213 variant of the Chinese Tokarev. Chinese Tokarev Pistols–Military And Commercial Modelsīy Cameron S.