Norinco 54-1 or Polish Tokarev TT-33?

[wnycollector]

If you had the choice between a LNIB Norinco 54-1 commerical tok or the Polish TT-33's at AIM...which one would you pick and why?

If it matters the norinco is ~$50 cheaper!

[ev239]

It comes down to which "safety" you'd prefer...or even if you're going to use it. If you don't think you'll ever use it, get the Norinco. That safety's easier to ignore or even remove. I modified some grips to cover up the hole that's left behind. But if you think you'll actually use the safety probably get the Polish copy as I've heard it's easier to manipulate. Of course, take into consideration the overall condition as well.

[wnycollector]

I cant imagine ever using the safety. ALL of my pistols are DA/SA with no safe (SIGs), the 1/2 cock "safe" of the tok is fine with me!

[Erich]

I've owned both, and I prefer the Polish. The quality of machining and finish were higher.







The safety got in the way of my trigger finger as well, so I removed it. A machinist friend made me a part that would block the hole in the frame where the safety had been. I blued it and installed it, and am happy as a clam with it.







The Tokarev is a most fun gun to shoot. It has enough recoil to let you know that you've launched something of consequence, but the fast-moving 86-grain pill imparts so pleasant a little push that a child would enjoy it. There's a satisfying CRACK! that gets the attention of onlookers, and the bottlenecked rounds never jam. The trigger on the Pole is pretty nice, too - I helped it out with some strategically placed dollops of Militec TW-25B. One thing that strikes me as negative on the Polska Tok is that it seems to want to rust . . . even here in the desert! I wax mine after I clean it, and it seems to do okay. I've thought about having my gunsmith friend hard-chrome it, but that it would look right.

It gives nice velocities. The easily found S&B 86-gr FMJ (also marketed as Winchester USA ammo for slightly more money) does an average of 1531 fps out of this slender pistola. Romanian surplus ammo does 1516. I have some neat Yugo stuff on which . . . gee . . . . the bullets are attracted to magnets. I'll bet that's a decent penetrator!

[Erich]

Couple more pix:

[Tom2]

Unless you are broke for 50 bucks I would avoid the Chinese. I had one once and I do think the Poles I have seen look better. The serrations on the Pole look like old prewar Russian style to me. The only Chinese worth having are the VN capture ones, which are rare, but with any documentation are valuable collectables but probably still not as well made as Eastern bloc versions.

[woad_yurt]

The Norincos that you're likely to see are commercial offerings. They tried to sell them here 15-20 years ago and no one bought them because 7.62 was hard to find. They're usually very lightly used compared to real military pistols. The Norincos are good pistols and an honest to goodness, like-new one costs about $175-$225, which is the same as some arsenal refinished military pistol. I have two Norincos and they're both great pistols.

[Tom2]

My Norinco was a 9MM factory version. It did go bang, shot nowhere near the sights, and was somewhere between 2nd and 3rd world craftmanship. I still say the European versions have a brighter future. But for something cheap to shoot, if it suits you, good shootin.

[B.N.Real]

Erich,that's the best looking one of those I've ever seen.

Very nice.

Did you have it reblued or did it look like that when you bought it?

[DMK]

I'm a huge fan of the Polish Tok also. I got mine from J&G and I really like it.

Aim's look pretty good too.

http://www.aimsurplus.com/acatalog/P...25_Pistol.html

[King Ghidora]

I had a Norinco and it was completely trouble free except the sear spring broke at one point. It was easily fixed and a great gun afterwards. I also removed the safety which seemed to just an afterthought to make the anti's happy. It never worked well and there just wasn't any point to having it.

I traded mine off because the ammo got hard to find. I wish I had kept it because the ammo is plentiful now. It was certainly the best deal I ever got on a pistol. I paid $75 for it. I saw one about a month ago that had been switched over to 9 mm. It was in great shape and had a $150 price tag on it. I went back to the same store later and it had been sold. I was thinking seriously about buying it myself.

[B. Lahey]

I've got a 9mm 54 that is outstanding. It shoots to the sights just fine and prints nice groups. It seems well-made and has a nice blue finish. I meant to swap barrels so I could shoot up the cans of 7.62x25mm I bought for my PPSh41, but now the filthy Russian is running well after a trip in for service, so I never got around to it.

I'll pick up a regular Tokarev at some point, but there is nothing wrong with the Chinese ones.

[kozak6]

I'd get the Polish one.

It has better fit and finish, and some of the Chinese Tokarevs suffer from soft steel.

[daveydoo]

Go pole!!! Or get both keep the Chinese and give the other to me

[wnycollector]

I ended up getting the polish tt33. When I called AIM at 5pm yesterday there were only 8 left! I will post pics and a range report when I get it next week.

Also does anyone know if the norinco mags at cdnn work well in the polish TT33?

[DMK]

I never minded the safety on mine until I saw Erich's pictures.

As far as mags, I picked up a bunch from Century Arms for cheap. I think they were Romanian. Nice shape too, just packed in lots of cosmo, which was a pain to clean.