Guns of the Cold War: The Tokarev TT-30

The namesake of this pistol design comes from its maker, Fedor Tokarev. When it comes to the TT-30 pistol and the 7.62x25mm cartridge, we have a chicken and egg situation. The TT-30 pistol was in development by Mr. Tokarev at the same time as the 7.62x25mm round. Both were officially released in 1930. 

Back during the pre-WWI era, the bottle-neck pistol cartridge was en vogue and the parent of the 7.62x25mm is the 7.63x25mm Mauser. The Mauser C96 was very popular during WWI and during that time frame until the 9mm Luger surpassed it in popularity as a military caliber. As an interesting sidenote, when the C96 Mauser pistol was converted to 9mm Luger, a big red painted “9” was put into the wooden grips to make that model stand out. 

Getting back to the TT-30, Fedor Tokarev borrowed heavily from John Moses Browning to design his single action, semi-automatic pistol. Some have called this pistol the “Soviet 1911.” The TT-30 uses a single-action trigger, exposed hammer, single-column magazine and short recoil action. There’s a slide lock on the left side and a magazine release button that’s operated by the shooter’s right thumb. Original military pistols included a lanyard loop for cavalry troops. Yes, there were still horse soldiers back when this gun was made. 

The “TT” in the model names stands for Tula-Tokarev for the Tula arms plant and the designer. The TT-33 is an upgraded version of the original model. Original production run of the TT-30 was just shy of 100,000 units. Variations of the Tokarev pistol chambered in 7.62x25mm are estimated at 1.6 million. 

During WWII and the Cold War, the Tokarev pistols fought for supremacy with the Makarov pistol chambered in a more conventional straight-walled case 9x18mm Makarov. Even though the Mak eventually won the battle, as noted, there were hundreds of thousands and then over a million Toks produced.  

Soviet Licensing and Lending

Just as we saw with the AK-47 and AKM, the allies of the Soviet Union began to make both licensed copies as well as slightly modified versions of their own pistols. Not surprisingly, communist China built a Type 51 version with an oddly designed manual safety lever. Then the Chicoms made a Type 54 upgrade which again, not surprisingly, ended up in the hands of the North Vietnamese communists who used them in their proxy war against the west.

Romania built their TTC pistol based on the Tokarev with a manual safety lever on the frame above the trigger. Yugoslavia (Serbia) produced the M57 in the Zastava Arms plant with a slide mounted safety lever on the left side as well as a magazine disconnect safety. The M57 had a longer frame than the original TT-30 and used a 9-round single-column magazine versus the traditional 8-rounder.  

Hungary and North Korea both tried their hand at making Tokarevs and even the Pakistanis made their own God-awful version. Poland made one called the Pistolet wzór 1933 in their famous Radom factory. 

The original TT-30 and TT-33 pistols didn’t have a manual safety which isn’t all that shocking. Back during that era of history it was common practice, both in the United States and abroad, to carry single-action pistols with the hammer down on an empty chamber. The shooter was expected to draw the pistol and run the slide to chamber a round as a part of their drawstroke to put the gun into action.

Regardless of the country in question, militaries have always been leery of allowing troops — even officers — to carry pistols with a round chambered. Of course, this leads to the end-user treating live, loaded guns like they’re empty guns because it’s okay, the chamber is empty. But, that’s a topic for another day.

7.62x25mm: The Original Automag? 

We used to joke that until the modern era, the only barrel reamers that the Soviet Union possessed were .30 caliber. The 7.62x54R, the 7.62x39mm, and the 7.62x25mm were all very different cartridges, but they shared a .30 caliber projectile. In addition to the pistols, many submachine guns were produced for the 7.62x25mm round.

Back in the day, we used to kid that if American gun makers wanted to reignite interest in the old 7.62x25mm cartridge all they had to do was rename it the “7mm Automag.” The cartridge, though having a relatively small .30 caliber projectile, was truly a “magnum” round.

Numerous FMJ military loads have been produced and most of them launch their bullets at speeds exceeding 1500 feet per second. The “slow” cartridges average between 1250 and 1350 FPS. The fast ones between 1500 and 1600 FPS. Folks, an 85 grain FMJ bullet at 1600 FPS from of a pistol is cooking. The Soviets produced both FMJ and JHP projectiles. By comparison, the 95 grain FMJ bullet from the Makarov only traveled 1050 FPS.

With the widespread popularity of the 9mm Luger (NATO) even the Russians got on the bandwagon and there have been Tokarev pistols built to chamber that round. Of course, if you once more compare apples to apples, the 7.62x25mm is more of a magnum cartridge than even the 9mm +P loads.

Gone but Not Forgotten

While active production of the Tokarav ended more than 50 years ago, the fact that over 1.5 million variations of the pistol were produced ensured that they can still be found worldwide, even to this day. As with the SKS and AKM, the Soviet Union as well as China made a habit of arming their client states with their used or old guns by selling or simply giving them away to those who spouted support for a worldwide People’s Revolution. 

The Tokarev pistols saw combat use during WWII, in Korea, and Vietnam as well as in armed conflicts and revolutions in eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa. American GIs in Afghanistan captured TT pistols from combatants on the battlefield as recently as the GWoT from 2001 to 2021.

Here in the United States, the breakup of the Soviet Union during the 1990s ensured that thousands and thousands of surplus TT-style pistols from various makers ended up on the American market. During those days, the Tokarevs could be had for a song, as could ham cans full of ammo. I once purchased a 1250-round ham can of 7.25x25mm Polish surplus ammo for $99. Sadly, those days are long gone. 

There are still foreign producers making new ammunition in this chambering for those willing to pay for it. No, you aren’t going to find it for under 10¢ a round like the good old days, but it’s still out there for about 50¢ a shot. If you can get your hands on one, the “Soviet 1911” is a worthy addition to any serious shooter’s firearms collection and it’s definitely a gun of the Cold War. 

Specifications: Tokarev TT-30

Caliber 7.62x25mm (also 9x19mm)
Action Single Action
Capacity 8 rds (others)
Furniture Black Polymer
Barrel Length 4.6 inches
Overall Length 7.7 inches
Weight (empty) 30 ounces
MSRP Varied based upon seller

 

Paul G. Markel is a combat decorated United States Marine veteran. He is also the founder of Student the Gun University and has been teaching Small Arms & Tactics to military personnel, police officers, and citizens for over three decades.