Any guess on the next surplus deal?

If you don't have a Beretta 84 I would jump on one of those. I have a Bulgarian and a Baikal Makarov. They are nice, but just don't compare to the smoothness of the Beretta.
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:( Yeah, I've heard they are nice. My problem is that I have 5 pistols in 9x18 and a goodly supply of ammo, and no .380's. It seems like it would be a redundant caliber for use, and a little pricey to stock up on, for just the one pistol.

That's why I've gathered the 9mm Parabellum variants of several pistols, and avoided the .40 (and 7.62 in the Tokarev's case). Economy of ammo.
 
scoobysnacker,

Yes, back in 2000-2005, I overloaded Tokarevs, CZ52s, and a C96.
I measured the RC hardness of a dozen CZ52 barrels.
I made steel stress calculations.
I wrote about it on a lot of forums.
I posted pics of blown up CZ52s.
I emailed gunwriters and load book writers.

"I guess it just goes to show that anyone can make a difference, but they probably shouldn't" - Marge Simpson
 
Hey Clark, sorry if that brought up bad memories, I know you took a lot of heat for it. I remember, as a guy who bought a Tokarev, finding your info very interesting and helpful.
I have no plans to overload anything, but it was reassuring to learn that the basic model was a stout design, and not likely to kaboom with factory 9mm (or +p).
There seemed to be a theory floating that the Toks were more fragile than the CZ 52, and you debunked that (or at least proved the TT design was solid).

I'm hearing now that the Chinese models are "soft steel" with a life expectancy of around 2000 rds before the frame warped. I figure that with all the work you did, you would have some idea whether that is a valid concern, or if these pistols should continue to be fine with standard 9mm factory loads (your basic 124 gr FMJ variety, no +P or "hot" loads). Guns in question are T-54 (not 213) with matching serial numbers for each, so not cobbled together; Sportarms rollmarks so I guess imported in the late 90's or so, with the 9mm barrels.
I ran into a little trouble awhile ago with the older gun that made me worried, but it turned out that the safety was shearing and leaving metal grit, causing the slide to bind up. Removal of the safety and a good cleaning fixed it, but that "2000 rd life" deal still floats around in my head.

Thanks for anything you could provide.
 
I have never seen any wear in a dozen or so Tokarevs I have. But I have not fired half of them and have not shot the others much. I think the Russians may be the most collectable, but the Chinese make some of the best and the worst.
I have spoken with someone that owned a Tokarev that got metal peening where the slide comes back and cocks the hammer.
It looks to me that the only metal on at Tokarev that needs heat treat are the springs. The rest is beefy.

Try swapping parts between Tokarevs made in different countries and the interchangeability is good. Then there are the 213s. My conspiracy theory is that some country could not import guns that were interchangeable with military guns, so they designed some new parts. I have regular Tokarevs with 9mm barrels that run flawlessly. I just can't see any functional justification for all the 213 changes.
 
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