This is a field test of the Russian Tokarev pistol vs the Chinese Tokarev. Please note that the Chinese Tokarev is the Chinese military version, and NOT the new manufacture ones that are currently out. The new Chinese ones usually have a rib that runs on top of the slide from front to rear sight, and they are stamped as manufactured by Norinco. The military version does NOT have this rib and has "form 54" written, in Chinese, on the top of the slide.
The players:
The Russian Tokarev was manufactured in 1945 (so it's a war time piece). It arrived in good to very good condition, with slight holster wear around the muzzle and slide area. The gun came coated in cosmoline grease, with 2 mags and an almost brand new looking holster.
The Chinese Tokarev has no data of manufacture, however I believe it to be one of the earlier models. I base that on the fact that everything was machined on the gun INCLUDING THE FIRING PIN. The Chinese Tok came in a box with two mags but no holster, the gun was in unissued (new) condition. And, thank God, no cosmoline.
Getting started.
The very first thing I had to do was get the damn cosomline off of the Rus Tok. It took a large can of carbeurator cleaner and 1/2 a can of WD 40 to get the job done. I completely disassembled the gun and gave it a through cleaning. I spent about 3 hours cleaning the barrel alone, now don't get me wrong; the barrel did not appear to be very dirty, nor did it look like it was fired very much. But I did not stop until the cleaning patches came out completely clean.
Comparison.
At first look, both guns appear almost completely identical. But there were some differences. the Chinese Tok has a little thicker frame and the butt area of the grip is a little more ergonomically machined (ie it's more rounded). The gripping surface on the slide has a bunch of thin vertical lines, the Russian has alternating fat/thin vertical lines. In general, the Chinese Tok seems to have a better job of machining.
Internals:
Both guns have chrome bores (I have seen others with blued barrels). The Chicom barrel appeared to have been better made and had a much better muzzle crown. All the coil springs in the Russian Tok were noticeably shorter. The magazines springs were also shorter (and one was blued). Both guns had matching serial numbers on the internals. The Chicom mags also had matching serial numbers, the Russian did not. The Chicom had a much more rounded spring guide.
The striking surface of the hammers was also different. the Russian has a flat striking surface, the Chicom has a little "hump" in that area. That hump increases the force required to move the slide at the start of the slide travel.
The hammer housing on the Russian Tok was not as "beefed up" as the Chicom. That caused some extra play in the trigger which initially made it difficult to shoot with accuracy.
The best thing about the Russian Tok was that it was fully throated. The feed ramp on the frame meshed perfectly with the feed ramp on the barrel. The Chinese had a gap between the ramps (this some times made the first round difficult to feed). I believe the difference comes from the possibility that all the Russian guns were built from the ground up on one site. The Chinese one was probably assembled from parts made at different factories. Also, having a fully throated frame means that any replacement barrels must be machined for a perfect fit, otherwise the barrel feed ramp will "overhang" the frame feed ramp and cause failures to feed (which is probably why the Chinese left a gap, ie there would be no overhang no matter what).
Firing results.
Initially, the Russian Tok was difficult to shoot accurately because of a lot of movement of the hammer housing. With a little practice I got used to it, but I later replaced the housing with a Chinese military replace- ment part. The Russian now has a better trigger action than the Chicom. I also replaced all springs on both guns with a set of Wolff gunsprings, including +5% mag springs. I shot an x-3 target at 15 yards (it's 4 small targets on one sheet of paper). The Russian shot a slightly low and to the left with a 1 inch group. All shots appeared in a circle around a center shot. The Chicom shot a 1/2 inch group slightly high and to the left (the shots seemed to track along the "9" arc.) I probably could have done better with both guns had I taken more time and had better targets.
Clocked velocities:
The following velocities where clocked on a Chrony F1 in 60 deg. clear weather at 8 ft. I try to list ammo: country of origin, followed by year of manufacture and factory of manufacturer, followed by the rest of the stuff on the head stamp.
Example: Chicom 80 11- Chinese made in 1980 at factory eleven.
Chinese tok Russian Tok
Bulgarian 54 10 1451fps 1449fps
comment: the last round I call the fireball express,
because of the huge fireball and muzzle blast. The ammo
comes in 16 count paper wrapped bundles.
Chinese 80 11 1433fps 1434fps
Chinese 88 11 1418fps 1417fps
Chinese 80 947 1443fps 1440fps
Polish 52 (21) 33 19 1486fps 1488fps
Polish 54 (21) 1 1519fps 1524fps
Polish 53 (21) 32 1-19variable 1600fps 1590fps
Comment: that last batch of ammo was EXTREMELY difficult
to clock, for reasons unknown sometimes I would get no
readings other times it would say 500-700 fps. Most of it
appeared to read between 1590 and 1610 fps. I shot this
ammo on two different days and different distances and the
above was the best I could figure out. the case head stamp
had the last set of numbers varying between 1-19
Polish 54 (343) 1503fps 1504fps
Comment: that last round had a rock steady velocity , at
maximum it had a high/low of only +/- 2 fps from average.
Modern S&B 1520fps 1526fps
Comment: the jacket on this round does not have as thick
steel as on the older rounds, and the lead appear to be
softer.
Polish 53 (343) 33 1461fps 1461 fps
Comment: this last round was sold as NON corrosive
Hungarian by Paragon, I believe it to be corrosive Polish. Minor problems
Before I replaced the firing pin spring on the Russian Tok, the recovered brass had primer swipe marks on it (looks sort of like a comet with a tail). This comes from a slightly longer firing pin combined with a slightly shorter firing pin spring. That problem was almost completely solved with the Wolff gunspring. Also the spent brass had dented case mouths. This was fixed with a new extractor spring and by removing a burr from the inside of the extractor (the burr occurred when the retaining pin was hammered into place and struck the extractor hole slightly off center). The brass was also slightly gouged (reason unknown).
Also, the one thing I did not like about the Russian Tok was the fact that the hammer could drop through out most of the slide recoil. The trigger would not disconnect until the slide was almost 100% to the rear. This could cause out of battery firing and even full auto after some wear. This all was caused by a disconnector that was shorter than it should be. It however was not short because of wear. I replaced this part with a Chinese military extra and the problem was solved. I STRONGLY suggest that if you buy any sort of pistol like this that you make sure that the hammer will not drop after the slide is out of battery. And make damn sure the gun is empty as you pull the trigger.
All the Chinese parts did fit the Russian, however the Russian slide would not fit onto the Chinese frame.
Safeties:
These guns did not originally have safeties, the safeties where added to meet import requirements. The Russian has a hammer block safety, the Chicom has a safety that works on the disconnector. The Russian safety is much better, the Chicom safety works in the wrong direction (ie forward is safe) and it can jump to the safe position during recoil. I am removing the safety from mine.
Both guns have a half cock notch, the slide cannot be operated with the gun at half cock. One must manually cock the hammer in order for the slide to move. The Russian safety prevents the hammer from moving (either down or back). So, if you have the Russian Tok at 1/2 cock with the safety on, only a person familiar with the gun will be able to chamber a round (except maybe for children). In that mode one can not move the slide or move the hammer. To chamber a round, you would have to take the gun off of safe and then manually thumb back the hammer.
Both guns are very thin (8/10 inch at slide, 1.1 inch at grip) and are easily concealed. The standard Tokarev round is a hole puncher, it can defeat all soft body armour, penetrate 50+inches of water, penetrate 16+ inches of pine, and drop a grizzly bear from end to end (with perfect shot placement). For defense use, the only ammo available that I know of is made by Magsafe; it's expensive, but previous testing shows excellent penetration and fragmentation. For carry use I suggest a Pachmyer #4 slip on grip (it's the one that fits .22 and .25 autos). The cost on these guns is between $89 and $99 dealer, 9mm barrels are also available. Ammo costs about 10 cent surplus, 20 cents new and $18 for 6 rounds of Magsafe.
If I were to get one of these guns sight unseen, I would definently get the Russian, if not for its throat job alone.
I hope you found this informative.