Norinco Tokarev 213 9mm

D

dhdallas

Inactive
The China North Industries Group Corporation Limited (Norinco) in Beijing manufactures a commercial variant of the Russian Tokarev TT-33 pistol which is a short-recoil operated, locked-breech pistol with a Colt M1911 / Browning-type action.

Known as the Tokarev Model 213 and chambered in the more common 9×19mm Parabellum round, it features a safety catch and thin slide grip grooves.

The 9×19mm model has a magazine well block mounted in the rear of the magazine well to accept 9×19mm-type magazines without frame modification.

I enjoy having something just a little different from the mainstream. I got a decent price on this and although it is heavy and the safety is awkward, it is a reliable shooter at the range. It refinished nicely too!

Before
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After
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Sniper Grey H-234Q & Graphite Black H-146Q Cerakote.
Grips dipped in Big Brain 752.1 Black Straight Grain Hydrographic
Cerakote by Critical Koting, Sterling VA.
Hydrographics by Mid-Ohio Hydrographics, Mansfield, OH.
 
Trigger is decent for what it is. The safety is a poorly designed, poorly added afterthought, it looks like something that was retro-fitted for some manner of dodging an import restriction. I removed the safety on mine with no regrets.

What I love best about mine is that it may be "one of a kind." The lettering is obviously hand stamped, letter by letter by someone earning a low wage. When he did my pistol, he wasn't paying full attention -- my pistol is stamped "MADE IN CHIAN" and it makes me chuckle.

I've had this for a half dozen years and though I haven't shot it recently, I definitely did the first year I got it. My log says I've put about a thousand rounds through it... all handloads, most were 125gr cast lead round nose. Fun gun. The sights are tiny but the pistol is capable.
 
Have had three of these. First ones when the Clinton gun ban started. Have had good experiences with them. Of course, all have been 9mm. It is surprising how 9mm and 30 Tokarev get interchanged.
willr
 
I got mine used, and it was shot a lot before I got it. It still functions very well. I ignore the awkward safety. Mine shoots as well as any other average service pistol. I have only shot a few hundred rounds through it, but it hasn't malfunctioned yet.
 
Chinese comercial 9mm version of tokarev. Soft Steel.... very soft. These norinco 213s typically run well once they are broken in. They are best lubed with grease and run wet. Accuracy is service grade. They typically benefit from a good stoning on the rails and the slide. Triggers can be improved if you know the design. Sights are small but you can open up the rear easily and get a better picture with paint. They do not function very well with JHP ammo ussually. Toks have pretty strange ergos for most people as the grip angle is different causing many to shoot low.

Safety issues.... do not carry toks with a loaded chamber and hammer down. If the pistol must have a loaded chamber use the half cock. I also wont shoot +p in my norinco 9mm toks as the slides can bow under the ejection port.

I know these ins and outs of these guns pretty well as I carry one for ccw. They are capable pistols but you kind of have to know the issues and understand the difference in operation. There are some mods that can be done to make them more user friendly.

Dont put comps on this norinco 213s. The slides are so soft the barrel bushing lugs deform and loosen up.

They can be converted to 7.62 but I wouldnt and dont. There are quite a few differences that people like to ignore. The guns will fire when converted but can quickly have function and wear issues.

The safeties work for what they were designed to do but it fuctions to basically lock up the trigger more than anything else.
 
Type 54-1 converted to 9mm Luger

here's my Type 54-1 that I converted to 9mm with a parkerized phosphate finish, I saved my original 7.62 Tok barrel so I can go switch to 7.62 if I ever wanted to, but the ammo is not as common as 9mm, so just leave it alone.

the steel on the Type 54-1 seems very strong (not soft) made like a military pistol quality, the leather holster is Russian KGB issue.

it can use standard military Tokarev 7.62 magazines or the type with a spacer inside magazine for 9mm, they both work fine.

the most noticeable difference is mine has standard slide serrations, the M213 has the angled serrations.

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the 54s can go both ways from what I have experienced. Some slides are military quality and some are more commercial quality. There are so many variations of Norinco tokarevs they seem to never end.

Its easier to convert the 7.62 to 9mm than vice versa. You also need to be careful with barrel changes. Sometimes barrel from some countries dont fit correctly with frames from other countries. I have never been able to achieve full reliability useing 9mm in standard tok mags. there is a lot of extra room for the rounds to slide around in. Typically it has been at least 1 malfunction in each mag. They hand cycle fine but when actually shooting things start happening. I also typically have to fit extractors to better hold the 9mm when setting one up in 9mm.

If you want a 9mm tok with really good steel the Zastavas use excellent steel. However....they can be problematic and need to be tuned sometimes. Once dialed in they run like sewing machines and dont really wear. Externally they look great. Internally they are rough as a file and benefit from stoning. The minor parts fitment is also pretty sloppy. Most of the time its fixable though.
 
I regret not springing for a Tok when they were a lot more common some years ago.

I've always admired the Tok. It took a good design and made it even better by modularizing the lock work and magazine feed lips and making it a lot easier to manufacture.
 
well Zastavas are still being made and they are decent starter guns. I just wouldnt expect to get one thinking it will be perfect out of the box. It all really depends on who put it together that day and the condition of the tooling at the time the parts were machined.

I think its a great design but a bit dated. Not many changes have been made to modernize them in terms of operation. The grip angle is still a bit off for most people. The mode of carry is not very forgiving considering how people carry pistols now. Sights are very small .....old school. For most shooters its going to be slow to get into action and harder to hit with than something more modernized.

It would be nice if someone did take a shot at modernizing the design...IE 1911 grip angle, good sights, safer fireing mechanism setup in terms of cocked and locked. I dount thing double action would be possible but something like a fireing pin block would do wonders.

Like I said I ccw one but I have a lot of experience with them and know the ins and outs. I dont recomend them to people typically because they can be down right dangerous for some gun owners. They are not drop safe with the hammer fully down on a loader chamber. Not even really impact safe as the fireing pin rests on the primer with the hammer down. Half cock is fairly safe but it also completely locks the gun up to where the slide cannot be engaged.

They are what they are though. A design almost 100 years old that was an early transition from revolvers to semi autos. There are some quirks as with most guns from the time period before things got more standardized. I am not surprized the russians switched to the makarov. Not only for ease of manufacturing but also for ease of operation. Maks are more inherantly safe and can take more abuse than Tokarevs.

The big advantage for toks is the 7.62x25 as it offers things that few other guns do in a small package. In 9mm ......well..... there are hundreds of 9mms out there which are better in every way for your average pistol shooter, carrier...whatever. For self defense makarovs are the way to go vs 9mm toks.
 
I carry chamber empty with the safety off. The rear sight is such that the pistol can be racked easily off the belt if you only have one free hand. You can carry them pretty much any way you want. I typically do appendix carry with mine.

They are thin and cany be made very, very thin. You can leave the grips off and most parts that putrude can be reduced even further. The safety on the norincos typically sticks out further that the rest of the pistol.

yes it is thinner than the hipower. I will dig one out later and compare. Obvioussly the hipower has thicker grips.

The Hicap norincos are extremely fat in the grips. I would say on par with a para ordnance p14 grip. Some people really like them but they are pretty cumbersome. I carry one sometimes but prefer the single stack toks for carry.

They actually handle and carry very nice once you get used to the quirks they have IE safe carry and grip angle. Again ....ball ammo only which is a big turn off for most people. I carry FMJ in mine. Actually I carry FMJ in all my ccw guns normally.

I just like them and have used them for a very long time. Over thirty years now. I am not one to buy into a lot of hype about guns and try them out for myself. I carry other pistols people would skoff at as well but they are tested designs and I can hit with them.

I will get you some more details later. Have to go jogging.
 
FMJ only, you might want to try something like the ARX poly, or the Lehigh penetrator which are essentially FMJ with flutes that probably would not affect chambering.

Thanks for the detailed response!
 
I leave mine out for home defense, to be safe I never leave it chambered, I prefer to rack the slide before firing, and use any standard ball ammo from Walmart.
 
compared the tokarev to the hipower. Tokarev is smaller all around just by a little. The thickness is a pretty big difference. Take the thickest part of a HP slide (the front) and that pretty close to the thickness of the tokarev.

Obvioussly the egos on the HP are supreme to the Tokarev. Part of the reason is on a standard tok the grips are pretty short so you end up with a hi grip. The frame in the backstrap area that meets the web of the hand has more material doue to design making it point low. This has been my experience anyways. The Zastavas point a bit better for me as they have a longer grip giveing me a little more room.

So for people who like to hold the pistol really deep in the hand It might be a bit strange. You tend to pull the pistol down especialy if your running it fast. Its much easier to dump a mag and stay on target with a more ego friendly design. I dont think the russians were to concerned with ergos though. Tokarev design was succesful more from a manufacturing and serviceability standpoint.

as people have seen there are wraparound grips that improve upon the angle by putting a hump on the backstrap of the grip bringing the up more in line but they tend to fatten the pistol quite a bit to doublestack levels and take away from the nice thin ease of carry qualities.

be back later.
 
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I have a number of Tokorev’s but shooting them today is not the same as when the surplus ammo was dirt cheap and making a pile of empty cases was commonplace and a lot of fun. A year ago I decided a 9 mm Tok would be a bit of fun so rather than a conversion I purchased a Zastava Compact to fill the nich. The pistol is well machined but lacks the final polish of a more expensive weapon and some edges are a bit sharp. My other Zastava .32 was a police issue and exhibits nicer finish work than my commercial. The nine is fun to shoot, reasonably accurate but for me does not have a natural pointing quality, it gobbles Blazer Brass 9mm ball like it enjoyed it and I cannot recall a malfunction. Recoil is very manageable.
 
mr bolo said:
here's my Type 54-1 that I converted to 9mm with a parkerized phosphate finish, I saved my original 7.62 Tok barrel so I can go switch to 7.62 if I ever wanted to, but the ammo is not as common as 9mm, so just leave it alone.

the steel on the Type 54-1 seems very strong (not soft) made like a military pistol quality, the leather holster is Russian KGB issue.

it can use standard military Tokarev 7.62 magazines or the type with a spacer inside magazine for 9mm, they both work fine.

the most noticeable difference is mine has standard slide serrations, the M213 has the angled serrations.

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Wow! Really nice and the holster is first rate!
 
9mm barrel

Hi I am new to this forum. I thought I would share my Tokarev chambered for 7.62x25mm, buy. Back in the late 80's or early 90's ( a little memory loss) I was at a gun show and saw this semi-auto for $90.00. I took a double look and said to myself, I don't think I could go wrong. It is new and comes with a extra mag, so I bought it. Great buy, shot it several times no misfires or any other problems. I would like to know if anyone knows where I can purchase a 9x19mm barrel for this gun. The only place I have found one is on eBay auction, and I don't know how this will turn out. I will take an after market if the price is right. Thanks
 
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