The history of the appearance of the pistol vols. TT pistol: specifications. Pistol Tula Tokarev - legendary firearms Tt decoding

Free circulation of short-barreled weapons in Russia is prohibited. Weapon lovers can only purchase non-combat versions of TT pistols. On the basis of the Tokarev pistol, signal pistols, pneumatic and several varieties of traumatic civilian self-defense weapons were developed and produced. Let us briefly consider the options for signaling and traumatic weapon, made on the basis of the design of the TT pistol, as well as pneumatic pistols structurally similar to the TT.

This model is the only design of a traumatic pistol, made on the basis of a combat TT, in which the native barrel is left. The only structural change in the barrel is its reaming and the installation of a pin in the channel that prevents equipment from being loaded with solid objects. The barrel is fixed in the bolt and is non-removable.

3. Traumatic gun "Leader". Traumatic pistol "Leader-M"

Traumatic pistol "Leader" produced since 2005 by the Vyatka-Polyansky machine-building plant "Molot" on the basis of combat pistol CT with index VPO-501. This traumatic pistol Designed for the use of a cartridge 10 × 32 mm T.
The barrel has been replaced with a simulator. Removed slide latch from pistol. Automatic pistol works on the principle of "free shutter".

Traumatic pistol MP-81 chambered for 9 mm Parabellum is manufactured by the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant by reworking TT combat pistols. The MP-81 pistol was first introduced in 2008. Since this traumatic pistol uses the widely used 9 mm RA cartridges, it is possible to use gas or blank charges.

Combat stops on inner surface bolt removed, but have a pin to lock the barrel. The barrel is held on a swinging earring, as in a combat TT.

Traumatic pistol MP-82 differs from the previous model in the cartridge used. 45 Rubber. The MP-81 single row box magazine holds 8 rounds, while the MP-82 model holds 6 rounds.

5. Traumatic pistol TTR

Traumatic pistol TTR chambered for 9 mm R.A. developed and produced by SOBR LLC. The design of the pistol includes a barrel simulator, tightly welded to the frame. The inner diameter is 5 mm, and from the muzzle there is an extension of up to 7 mm to a depth of 9 mm.

Due to the fact that pneumatic weapons are also popular, several variants of 4.5 mm pneumatic pistols have been developed that use the parts of a regular TT pistol: Gletcher TT NBB; Gletcher TT; TTP "Sobr"; MP-656k; Crosman C-TT.

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• Moscow city

Have we been told everything about the TT pistol?

This question may seem strange - indeed, if you look through our weapons literature, you may get the impression that we have exhaustive information about the TT pistol and its creator Fedor Vasilyevich Tokarev. However, in reality, everything is not so simple, and there are many blank spots in the history of the creation of TT.

I managed to thoroughly study the work of Fedor Vasilyevich Tokarev after the third year of the weapons and machine gun faculty of the Tula Mechanical Institute. Thanks to the recommendation of the Deputy Dean of the Markov Faculty, my roommate Vladimir Zharikov and I had the opportunity to earn extra money at the Tula plant No. 536. We had to clean up all the samples of small arms and aviation machine-gun and cannon weapons stored there in the factory museum. I had a collection of almost all (including experienced) Tokarev self-loading rifles and pistols.

The classic version of the Browning pistol mod. 1903

Incomplete disassembly of the classic Browning arr. 1903

Pistol TT

Putting these samples in order, I could not help but notice that the former Cossack Yesaul was an excellent craftsman and a very inventive designer.

These qualities of Tokarev are confirmed, in particular, by the fact that at the end of his career, working in the Moscow Design Bureau of Aviation and missile weapons A.E. Nudelman, where Fyodor Vasilyevich was given the opportunity to continue weapons creativity, he preferred to improve the FT-2 panoramic camera he invented. The movable lens of this camera made it possible to take pictures on 35 mm film not 36 mm wide, as usual, but 130 mm wide!

"Browning 1903 K" and TT. Left side view

"Browning 1903 K" and TT with incomplete disassembly

But back to the TT pistol. The main question that arises about this weapon is: “What did Fedor Vasilyevich do in this sample himself, and what did he borrow?” The legitimacy of such a statement becomes obvious after getting acquainted with the 9-mm pistols of John M. Browning of the 1903 model. Moreover, the conclusion suggests itself that the TT is a pure copy of one of Browning's models.

The pistols of John Moises Browning were developed on the basis of his own patent in 1897. The following samples of Browning pistols are considered the most typical: a 7.65 mm pistol of the 1900 model, a 9 mm pistol of the 1903 model, and a 1906 pistol of the caliber 6, 35 mm.

The latter sample does not apply to military-type weapons due to its small caliber. For each of these pistols, a cartridge was also developed at the same time. At one time, it was popular to classify these models and their corresponding cartridges by numbers from one to three. The first number denoted the cartridge and pistol caliber 6.35 mm, the second caliber 7.65 mm and the third caliber 9 mm.

Browning pistols were produced in large quantities in Belgium at the Fabrique Nationale d.Armes de Guerre S.A. Herstal Liege. Products directly Belgian production is distinguished by a stylized abbreviation "FN" on both plastic cheeks of the handle.

Pistols were in service with the army and police of many countries.

The model of the 9-mm Browning pistol of the 1903 model was also actively used in Russia - the gendarmerie officers were armed with it.

A feature of the 9-mm "Browning" model 1903 is the inertial locking of the bore, although its ballistic impulse cartridge is not much inferior to the 9-mm cartridge of the Parabellum pistol sample 1908. The length of the Browning cartridge is 1.5 mm shorter than the Parabellum ( 28 mm vs. 29.5 mm), but the sleeve is 1.3 mm longer (20.3 mm vs. 19 mm). According to the practice that is now rooted in our country, this cartridge is designated 9x20.

"Browning 1903 K" and TT. Right side view

The pistol has a smooth outer shape and a closed trigger position, which makes it convenient for pocket carrying. The trigger is placed inside the back of the frame and rotates on an axis, which is the flag fuse rod. The mainspring is lamellar, it is located in the rear wall of the handle and consists of two branches. The long branch acts on the trigger through the roller, which is mounted on the ledge of the trigger, and the short branch rests against the trigger rod jumper. The drummer with a spring is located in the drilling of the casing-shutter. In the gate, the drummer is held by a transverse pin.

A block with two feathers is installed on the same axis with the trigger, guiding the sleeve removed from the chamber. The left feather has a tooth that serves as a reflector. Another cartridge rests against the protrusions of both feathers from below. The block has a through drilling for the passage of the uncoupler. We see exactly the same feathers and a similar arrangement of the reflector and disconnector on the removable assembly of the trigger mechanism of the TT pistol.

The trigger mechanism with a disconnector allows only single fire. The trigger is made integral with the trigger rod, the rod covers the magazine on both sides and moves in a nest inside the pistol frame.

The rear jumper of the thrust acts on the sear, in the same part above the thrust there is an uncoupler that lowers the thrust and disengages it from the sear when the shutter rolls back.

Protection against unauthorized shots is carried out by a safety catch and an automatic safety catch, which releases the sear when the pistol grip is squeezed with the palm of your hand. The uncoupler serves as a fuse against premature firing, which does not allow trigger pull act on the sear until the shutter comes to the extreme forward position. The lever safety can be turned on by turning its notched head up only when the hammer is cocked. When the trigger is released, the safety cannot be turned, which serves as a trigger release signal.

With the help of a safety lever, the pistol is partially disassembled, for which it is necessary to pull the casing-bolt so that the fuse tooth goes into the cutout on the left side of the casing of the shutter. After that, the barrel can be rotated 120 degrees and removed from the frame casing-bolt with the barrel, moving them forward.

Box-type magazine with a capacity of seven rounds with their single-row arrangement. The relatively small, according to modern views, the number of cartridges in the store can be explained by the desire for a weapon that is compact in height. The store is placed inside the handle and is locked with a latch from the bottom of the store. When the last cartridge is used up, the magazine feeder raises a tooth located on the right side of the shutter stop frame. The tooth, going into the cutout of the casing-bolt, stops it in its rearmost position.

Pistol "Colt" arr. 1911

The sight is permanent, consists of a rear sight and a front sight. They are located on the casing-shutter.

This pistol layout, featuring a massive breechblock covering the entire length of the barrel, and with a return spring under the barrel, above the barrel, or around the barrel, is protected by an 1897 patent in the name of John Moises Browning. Browning borrowed the location of the removable magazine in the handle from Hugo Borchardt. Since then, a similar scheme has been used by many designers.

When comparing the Browning of 1903 with the TT, the first thing that catches your eye is their external similarity, but inside these samples there are many differences - completely different locking mechanisms, significantly different trigger mechanisms (the Browning has a closed trigger, the TT has an open trigger and removable). It would seem that in such a situation it is not necessary to talk about blind copying of the Browning pistol by Tokarev. But there are still grounds for such assumptions!

I managed to find in the weapons collection of the technical office of the Tula TsKIB SOO a very unusual version of the "Browning" of 1903, which differs from the classic one by the trigger brought out. Let's call it conditionally "Browning arr. 1903 K".

"Browning arr. 1903 K "can be considered an extremely rare specimen, since it is not described in either domestic or foreign literature. In the weapons collection of the technical office of the Tula TsKIB SOO, where it is listed under the name "Browning" 1903 " By appearance, overall and weight data, this pistol is completely similar to the model described above chambered for 9x20 mm, but differs from it in the device of the firing mechanism, the absence of an automatic fuse and a safety lever mechanism.

Pistol "Colt" arr. 1911 with incomplete disassembly

There are no factory marks and inscriptions on the casing-bolt and frame of the pistol. Branding is available only on the breech in the area of ​​the sleeve window.

The sample belongs to the class of weapons with inertial locking of the bore. his trunk, return mechanism and a seven-round interchangeable magazine are interchangeable with the Browning pistol of the 1903 model described above.

For incomplete disassembly of this sample, it is necessary, by retracting the casing-bolt and, trying to turn the barrel, find by touch the position when the bearing projections of the barrel disengage from the pistol frame and enter the notch of the casing-bolt.

The trigger mechanism of the pistol is a separate unit in the form of a block, in which the trigger is assembled with the mainspring inside it, a sear with a leaf spring and a disconnector. After separating the casing-bolt, this unit is separated from the pistol frame.

Externally, the unit and its parts are indistinguishable from similar TT pistols.

The Tula City Museum of Weapons has an experimental pistol made by F.V. Tokarev, which can be considered a prototype of the TT and which differs from the Browning pistol only in that it uses a 7.62-mm Mauser cartridge.

Thus, we can definitely say that it was originally supposed to completely copy the TT from a rare modification of a Browning pistol with a removable trigger trigger mechanism.

Pistol F.V. Tokarev arr. 1938

The Mauser cartridge was chosen by Tokarev only because at the end of 1920, by decision of the Artillery Committee of the Artillery Directorate of the Red Army, the German company DWM (since 1922 Berliner Karlsruhe Industriewerke - BKIW) bought a license for its production. However, this ammunition was too powerful for inertial locking. To correct the situation, Fedor Vasilievich in the next version of the TT used the locking of the bore in the image and likeness of the Colt pistol of the 1911 model - a swinging barrel controlled by an earring. Note that the "Colt" of the 1911 model was developed by the same Browning at the Colt factories.

This begs the question, why did Tokarev, a very resourceful designer, go for explicit copying when developing such a basically simple weapon as a self-loading pistol? All in the same Tula Museum of Weapons there are his original samples of self-loading rifles, structurally much more complex than the TT. So, for example, his self-loading rifle SVT-38, which was put into service in 1938, is completely original in design. The same can be said about the Tokarev pistol of the 1938 model.

The main characteristics of the pistol "Browning" arr. 1903 "

The main characteristics of the pistol "Browning" arr. 1903 K" Caliber, mm 9 Pistol weight with empty magazine, kg 0.93 Muzzle velocity, m/s 330 Barrel length, mm 128 Pistol length, mm 205 Pistol height, mm 120 Weight of one cartridge, g 11.3

The main characteristics of the TT pistol Caliber, mm 7.62 Pistol weight with empty magazine, kg 0.825 Muzzle velocity, m/s 420 Barrel length, mm 116 Pistol length, mm 195 Pistol height, mm 120 Weight of one cartridge, g 11.9

There can be only one answer here. The designer was simply ordered to copy a certain pattern. Apparently, someone in the Soviet military leadership dealt with the Browning of 1903 and considered it an ideal pistol, which, due to its simple design, could easily be produced at our not-so-advanced weapons factories at that time. In fact, Tokarev's task was not to create an original domestic pistol, but to rearrange the Browning chambered for the domestically produced 7.62x25 cartridge. They took as a basis not the most common pistol model, but its simplest, albeit rare modification with a removable trigger mechanism. But the powerful ammunition still forced the designer to change the locking system in the pistol.

Such an option for creating a TT is quite likely, since in Soviet weapons history there are often cases when military and political leaders forced designers to take technical solutions dictated by their own preferences.

For example, on the same TT, Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny strongly advised Tokarev not to use an automatic fuse that blocks the trigger if the pistol is released from his hand. And yet he achieved his goal - there is no automatic fuse on the TT!

Designer Sergey Gavrilovich Simonov told me that Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov insisted on replacing a simple and technologically folding SKS on his carbine faceted bayonet, oxidized to black, also folding, but bladed and shiny. Allegedly, infantry attacking with bayonets shining in the sun will terrify the enemy. Sergey Gavrilovich spat, but together with the technician of his design bureau, Volkhny, Vasily Kuzmich, they bungled such a bayonet.

The front and back sides of a business card given to the author of the article, Fyodor Vasilyevich Tokarev, during a personal acquaintance

The TT pistol, according to its characteristics, was best pistol among its counterparts, therefore it was produced in the largest quantities among pistols of the first half of the 20th century. Popular expert publications on weapons include the TT pistol in the tops of the best combat pistols. In the USSR, the pistol began its glorious journey in the 30s and was part of the armed forces of the USSR for more than a quarter of a century.

The history of the development and development of the pistol Tula Tokarev (TT)

By the 1920s, the Soviet Army was using the 1895 Nagant pistol. The country's leadership understood the need to develop a new small arms corresponding to modern realities.

By order of the Revolutionary Military Council, in the late 20s of the XX century, the development of a new pistol began. Of the presented series of developments, the pistol of the Tula designer Fyodor Tokarev most met the technical requirements.

Already in 1930, the Revolutionary Military Council adopted a resolution on the start of testing new small arms.

During these tests, on January 7, 1931, the potential of the pistol was noted, and after 3 months an order was received for the manufacture of 1000 pieces of new weapons, which received the code "TT-30".

After testing in military units, in 1930 the pistol was adopted by the Red Army.

For the period from 1930 to 1936. about 93 thousand TT pistols were manufactured.

Simultaneously with the start of production, the designers began to change the gun in accordance with the requirements of the military. Some changes have been made to the design: the changes have affected the barrel, disconnector, trigger and frame.

A modified version of the pistol began to be produced in 1934, it received the code TT-33. The gun was widely used Soviet troops During the Second World War .

According to official data, by 1941, about 600 thousand pistols were manufactured, although due to the secrecy regime of those years, more than a million copies of weapons could be manufactured.

In November and December 1941, the production of the TT-33 was transferred to Izhevsk, to the machine-building plant No. 74.

In 1946, the design of the pistol was simplified to reduce production costs, but the performance characteristics of the TT were no worse before the changes were made.

In 1952, the pistol was finally discontinued with the introduction of the Makarov pistol (PM).

Due to the great popularity of the pistol in the USSR, the weapon was exported to the countries of the socialist bloc and the countries of Asia.

The gun was issued various countries the communist bloc under license, including China (as type 52, 54, M20), Poland (as PW wz.33), North Korea(like type 68/M68), Romania (like TTC or Cugir Tokarov) and Yugoslavia (like M57, M65, M70A). Weapons were also exported to Egypt. The pistol is still used in Pakistan and some countries in Africa.

Design features

The Tokarev pistol is a single-action semi-automatic pistol.

Externally, the TT-33 is very similar to the Model 1903 FN semi-automatic pistol, while internally it uses the short Browning muzzle recoil system of the M1911 pistol. The TT differs from Browning's design in that it uses a much simpler sear assembly.

Soviet engineers made several changes to ease the manufacture and maintenance of the mechanism, in particular, the simplification of the locking barrel tips, which reduced the number of processing steps. Some models use a recoil spring grip attached to a guide rod that depends on the barrel bushing to keep it energized.

The TT lacks a safety latch other than a half-tap notch that prevents the trigger from being released until the hammer is returned and then manually lowered to the semicircle position.

One of the design features of the gun is the ability to produce a large number of shots without experiencing problems with the gun, in other words, the design of the gun is able to withstand huge loads.

The TT pistol was designed for the 7.62x25mm cartridge. The cartridge of this caliber is powerful, has an extremely flat trajectory and is able to penetrate thick clothing and thin body armor.

The principle of operation of the TT pistol

In the device of the TT pistol, all mechanisms have the principle of a “block” connection, which makes it possible for the owner of the weapon to disconnect each mechanism from others and make partial or complete disassembly, clean and lubricate the parts.

From a user point of view, this is very convenient, especially when there is no need to disassemble the entire gun.

Clicking index finger on the trigger, it acts on the protrusion of the sear, which is pressed and rotated, thereby releasing the trigger. Further, due to the directional action of the spring, the trigger hits the drummer, a shot occurs. Powder gases act in the opposite direction of the bullet movement. Due to this, the gases move the sleeve parallel to their movement. The bolt reverses until it hits the reflector, then the sleeve is ejected from the barrel. The shutter simultaneously drags the barrel in the course of its movement.

After the release of gases and their pressure decreases, the movement of the barrel stops, disengaging the "gate-barrel" system. And the shutter, which is still moving, disconnects the sear-release system. This allows the trigger to produce a combat platoon. For a fraction of a second, the breech of the barrel opens, where the next cartridge enters. Due to the inertial movement of the shutter, a new cartridge is fixed for a new cycle.

Tactical and technical characteristics

Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages:

• Powerful caliber;
• Great penetrating power;
• Low cost of production;
• The hook lift is very soft.

Flaws:

• Bad ergonomics;
• No fuse;
• Small magazine capacity;
• Effective only at close range from the enemy;
• Poor store fixation.

Modification options

The TT pistol has not only combat applications. Gun got new life through new uses.

Airguns

Today in the world there are many options for the TT air pistol. All of them are united by a 4.5 mm BB caliber for a carbon dioxide cylinder. Pistols of many companies are produced in the world, but the most popular are tt pneumatic pistols manufactured by Gletcher.

Gun Gletcher TT-P

Let's focus on the model, the purchases of which are growing at the fastest pace. This model began to be produced in 2014 and was appreciated by fans of pneumatics. Due to the fact that the body is made of plastic, the weight of the TT pistol is only 0.4 kg. The trigger mechanism is made of metal. The shutter is stationary. The pistol has a safety catch that allows you to block the trigger.

The cost of weapons varies up to 3500 thousand rubles, depending on the region of purchase.

Specifications Gletcher TT-P:

Airsoft guns

Since in the article we decided to discuss with you only the best modifications of the TT pistol, I will bring to your attention the Gletcher TT-A Soft Air airsoft gun.

The weapon completely copies the original combat pistol, even in size and weight. Thanks to this similarity, you will not leave the feeling that you are holding a real combat TT in your hands.

You can fire a shot after a preliminary platoon. The pistol has a fuse, a movable bolt, a delayed bolt. 6 mm plastic balls are used as cartridges.

Thanks to the installed Blowback system, the recoil is simulated, like that of a combat TT, and the bolt carrier is also set in motion. The gun of this model is made qualitatively, its reliability is beyond doubt. Thanks to timely care and cleaning, you can use the gun for a very long time.

Tactical specifications Airsoft Gletcher TT-A Soft Air:

Traumatic weapon

The TT traumatic pistol is one of the modifications of the famous Soviet combat pistol Tokarev, designed for self-defense. The main difference from its combat counterpart is the absence of a barrel. Another feature of the pistol is that rubber bullets of 10x32T caliber act as cartridges.

For those readers who are just starting to get acquainted with trauma, I will say that from military weapons only the appearance remains. It is very similar to combat, and if necessary, can produce a psychological effect on the attacker. And the internal mechanisms, of course, are changed.

The TT traumatic pistol retained all the performance characteristics of the combat one: dimensions, weight. I believe that one of the advantages of a traumatic pistol is automatic charging, which is carried out at the moment of recoil of the shutter.

A striking representative of such weapons is the Russian-made Leader traumatic pistol.

Tactical and technical characteristics of the traumatic pistol "Leader":

Collectibles

TT pistols are also of great collection value. Of particular value are combat specimens with marks or commemorative inscriptions.

Collectible pistols are allowed to be purchased and stored legally in accordance with the law. I note that such weapons cannot be fired with live ammunition.

According to the established tradition, annually by May 9, various jewelry companies release collectible TT pistols - modified versions, decorated with gold or other valuable stones.

Of particular value are pistols, which also have award sheets, a passport, where the serial number of a particular TT is indicated.

The cost of collection pistols ranges from several tens of thousands to several million rubles.

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Created in 1930 by Soviet weapons designer Fyodor Vasilievich Tokarev, semi-automatic TT pistol(Tulsky, Tokareva) became the first domestic self-loading pistol adopted by the army. The purpose of the tests carried out in this direction since the mid-20s of the last century was the creation of a modern self-loading pistol capable of replacing the Soviet army revolver of the Nagant system, model 1895, by that time obsolete and low-powered, as well as to replace a number of pistols purchased abroad for the needs of the Soviet Army. Among the self-loading samples imported into the territory of the Soviet Union, the then famous Mauser S-96 of 7.63 mm caliber was quite popular, the main advantage of which was the use of a powerful cartridge of 7.63x25 mm, and the main disadvantage of this Mauser was its large dimensions and big weight. Having appreciated the advantages of the 7.63x25 cartridge, the Soviet arms industry leaders decided to create a similar cartridge and their own model of a self-loading pistol for it, but more compact and easy to handle than the Mauser S-96.

Weapons designer, creator of the TT pistol Fedor Vasilyevich Tokarev

For these purposes, the Soviet Union acquires German company"Mauser" licensed the above cartridge, after which it begins its production, but already in caliber 7.62x25 (in order to unify with Soviet technological equipment and equipment). Several gunsmiths began to design pistols for this cartridge at once, among which, in addition to Tokarev, were Korovin and Prilutsky, who presented their models to the court of a high commission. However, after the official field tests were carried out, in June 1930 the commission made an unequivocal choice in favor of the sample made by F.V. Tokarev, named TT-30. After eliminating some of the shortcomings of this pistol regarding the accuracy and safety of handling, as well as after other improvements related to the wishes of the members of the commission, in December 1930 the TT-30 pistol was re-tested, as a result of which this pistol was approved by the commission and recommended for adoption by the Soviet Army. Over the next few years, the first batches of these weapons were released, the tests of which led to disappointing conclusions. The pistol was unreliable, very dangerous to handle, parts quickly failed, there were frequent delays in firing, the resource of the TT-30 was ridiculously small, amounting to about two hundred shots. After that, the designers made certain conclusions and the main shortcomings were eliminated, and the gun also underwent several upgrades in order to simplify and reduce the cost of production. And finally, in 1934, a modified version of the Tokarev system was adopted by the Red Army under the name TT-33, which became the most massive and proven pistol in the battles of World War II.

It is worth noting that Tokarev at one time had an internship at the Belgian arms factory FN, where the weapons genius John Moses Browning worked at the same time. It was this fact that influenced the design of the TT pistol, built according to the Browning system. And to be honest, Comrade Tokarev clearly strove to be outwardly similar to Sir Browning, at least in photographs. (I hope that adherents of the genius of exclusively domestic gunsmiths will not shower me with rotten tomatoes).

Left - photo by F. V. Tokarev, right - photo by J. M. Browning

In February 1931, the troops received the first batch of TT-30 pistols for comprehensive testing, and mass production of an already modernized model called TT-33 began in 1933 at the Tula Arms Plant (TOZ), and by the time Germany attacked the USSR and the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the number of manufactured TT pistols reached more than six hundred thousand pieces. During the years of that terrible war this pistol received recognition among the troops, although very dubious, and was widely used as a personal weapon of officers, designed for close combat at distances up to 50 m, and at these distances the TT worked very effectively, thanks to a powerful cartridge. During the war years, the production of TT pistols, as well as other small arms, of course, increased significantly, as required by the current situation. It should be recognized that the TT pistol has never been and was not considered good weapon, but for lack of an alternative, the military could only get this gun. In fact, the pistol did not receive nationwide or "all-army" recognition, it only received a huge distribution, and the fame and popularity of the TT pistol were only a consequence of the wide distribution of this weapon. The TT-33 was unreliable and dangerous to handle, and was also afraid of dirt, which is a very significant factor in a war. But, nevertheless, it was widely used, there was no other. For example, in comparison with the German Walther P38, used in the same war by the Wehrmacht, the TT looked like an unfinished homemade gun.

After the war, in 1946, the pistol was once again slightly modernized in order to further reduce the cost of production and eliminate shortcomings. It was not possible to eliminate all the shortcomings, but this will be discussed below. external hallmark post-war samples is the presence of fine corrugation on the shutter casing, instead of vertical depressions in the form of pointed ellipses in pre-war models.

The Tula Tokarev was the most massive personal short-barreled weapon of the Soviet Army and the Soviet police until the early 50s, when the Makarov pistol came to replace it, and the TT was discontinued. But even after that, the TT continued to serve the Motherland in army units and in the police until the early nineties, until it was completely replaced by Makarov pistols (TTs were removed from police weapons a little earlier, in the seventies). In total, over the years of production of the TT pistol, about 1.7 million pieces were produced. After the army and the police finally said goodbye to this pistol, the TT was in service with the paramilitary guards (VOHR) and criminal gangs, in which, due to the weapons illiteracy of most bandits, it was and is considered an excellent pistol, from which such an opinion went to the people and stably retained among the masses until now.

The popularity of the TT in the underworld is mainly due to the cheapness of the pistol and the penetrating ability of the cartridge, which ensured reliable hitting of the target through glass or car doors, as well as piercing light bulletproof vests of the 1st protection class.

It should be noted that in addition to the Soviet Union, the TT pistol was also produced in other countries, such as Hungary, China, Vietnam, Yugoslavia, Egypt, Iraq, Poland. It does not make sense to consider each of them, since the TTs produced abroad generally repeated the design of the Soviet model with minor differences. For example, one of the Chinese samples called "Model 213" had a caliber of 9 mm and used a 9x19 Parabellum cartridge, and was also equipped with a mechanical flag-type fuse. Some foreign-made models differed in the length of the barrel and handle, and in the capacity of the magazine.

Today, on the basis of TT pistols accumulated in military warehouses, the production of traumatic weapons has been launched as a means of self-defense for citizens. After making appropriate design changes, TT pistols are adapted for firing rubber bullets. The modern names of traumatic TTs are "Leader", produced by the Vyatka-Polyansky plant "MOLOT", as well as Izhevsk MP-81 and MP-82. Such pistols can often be found on the shelves of gun stores. However, this weapon, in addition to external resemblance, has nothing to do with the legendary TT, and is more suitable for the role of its firing layout. In addition to traumatic variants, a pneumatic TT is also produced in Izhevsk, powered by a standard cylinder of compressed carbon dioxide, called MP-656K.

Design

In general, the design and operation of the automation of the TT pistol repeated the scheme of the famous Colt M1911 pistol designed by John Moses Browning, with the difference that the TT was used block system trigger mechanism, like the Mauser S-96. This was done to simplify production and to simplify the repair and maintenance of weapons. The operation of the automatic pistol is built on the principle of recoil of the barrel with its short stroke, according to the Browning system. The differences also affected some other nodes and mechanisms, which will be described in more detail below.

Briefly, the automation system in TT pistol as follows. When fired, the cartridge case acts on the bolt, the bolt moves back along with the barrel, which is engaged with the bolt carrier by lugs. The barrel is attached to the frame of the pistol by means of a swinging earring, which ensures the lowering of the breech and its movement back. With this reduction, the barrel disengages from the bolt carrier, that is, the projections of the bolt carrier come out of the corresponding grooves on the thickened part of the barrel. After that, the bolt carrier moves back by inertia, cocking the hammer and throwing out spent cartridge case. On reverse course, under the action of a return spring, the bolt sends the next cartridge from the magazine into the chamber and puts the previously warped barrel in its original place, locking it in its original position on the lugs. More details about the operation of automation will be written below.

The difference from the Browning design in terms of the operation of automation lies in the fact that the barrel of the TT pistol does not have protrusions for engaging with the bolt, but, on the contrary, in its thickened part it has two grooves, into which the protrusions of the bolt frame enter when locking.

The absence of a separate mechanical fuse was the result of a simplification of the firing mechanism, while random shot the disconnector and a special groove for setting the trigger on the safety platoon prevented. That is, the TT fuse could only be put on by means of a trigger, putting it on a safety platoon, without bringing it to a combat platoon. Such a system ensured the safety of the weapon in the event of a fall or an accidental blow to the trigger, because even an uncocked trigger could transfer this blow to the striker upon impact, from which the cartridge in the chamber could fire. But often the safety platoon was ignored by people, from which many accidents occurred. For this reason, an order was even issued to ban the carrying of a TT pistol with a cartridge in the chamber.

At first, Tokarev assumed the presence of an automatic fuse on the back of the handle, as on a Colt M1911 pistol. But military officials were against it, from which the TT was left with the only fuse - the middle position of the trigger. The legend says that Comrade Budyonny, who, as you know, at that time had a huge influence on military leadership countries, banned equipping a new soviet pistol such an automatic fuse. He explained the reason by the fact that once during Civil War, when the "whites" were chasing him, he turned back, sitting on his horse, and tried to shoot his Browning back. But cavalry gloves and an uncomfortable position did not allow the safety on the back of the Browning handle to be squeezed out. This turned out to be enough so that such a fuse was not installed on the TT.

The pistol is fed with cartridges from a box-shaped single-row magazine with a capacity of 8 rounds, with a push-button locking system. Sights, front sight and rear sight, unregulated, which were aimed by the manufacturer at a distance of 25 meters.

The gun consists of the following parts:

Frame - is one piece with the handle and trigger guard. Designed to connect the parts of the gun, being its basis.

The cheeks of the handle are a decorative element that covers the side windows of the handle, and also serve to comfortably hold the weapon in your hand. Cheeks were made of corrugated plastic and wood.

Magazine latch - holds the magazine in the frame handle.

Barrel - designed to tell the bullet a certain direction when fired. It is completely closed by a shutter casing and connected to the frame by a Browning earring. The barrel bore has 4 right-hand grooves with a pitch of 240-260 mm (depending on the year of manufacture), to give the bullet a rotational motion that stabilizes its flight path. In the breech there is a chamber, which serves to accommodate the cartridge during loading and before firing. The barrel has two annular grooves on a special thickening in the breech area, which ensure the grip of the bolt with the barrel due to the inclusion of the supporting projections of the bolt frame (lugs) into them. At the bottom of the thickened part of the breech there is a tide with an eyelet for a Browning earring, on the rear section of the chamber there is a protrusion for the ejector hook, as well as a bevel from below - for feeding the cartridge from the magazine into the chamber.

Earring - connects the barrel to the frame, and also serves to engage and disengage the barrel from the bolt, ensuring the swing and distortion of the barrel in a vertical plane.

The shutter is one piece with the casing and performs the bulk of the functions of the pistol. The shutter ensures the ejection of a spent cartridge case or an unused cartridge, the supply of a new cartridge from the magazine to the chamber, cocks the hammer and locks the bore before firing. Outside on the shutter casing are located sights(front sight and rear sight), ejector window, slot for ejector placement, notches for easy retention of the bolt when retracting it to the rear position when reloading in case of a misfire and when sending a cartridge into the chamber. Also, the shutter has a hole for the striker, in the casing there is a cutout for accommodating the protrusion of the shutter delay, a tube for the return spring, and in the rear part there is a groove for the trigger.

Striker - designed to break the primer of the cartridge and is located in a special groove of the shutter between the trigger and the barrel chamber.

Ejector - to hold the sleeve (cartridge) until it meets the reflector when the shutter moves to the rear position, which ensures the ejection of the sleeve (cartridge) from the ejector window.

Return spring - serves to return the shutter to the forward position after its rollback.

The tip of the return spring is the stop for the return spring.

Guide rod - also serves as a stop for the return spring and limits the retreat of the shutter back, and most importantly is the guide of the return spring.

Guide sleeve - serves to guide the muzzle of the barrel when the bolt moves, and is also a stop for the tip of the return spring.

Bolt stop - ensures that the bolt is fixed in the rearmost position when the magazine is empty, which ensures that the cartridge is quickly sent into the chamber from a new magazine.

Bolt stop spring - fixes the delay on the frame and holds it in the lower position until the bolt locks after the magazine is empty.

The trigger mechanism consists of the following parts:

Block - connects the trigger, mainspring, sear and uncoupler.

Hammer - performs a strike on the striker.

Mainspring - actuates the trigger, giving it a quick movement for enough hard hit by strike.

Sear - holds the trigger on the combat and safety platoons and ensures the trigger is released when the trigger is pressed, which is essentially a button on the TT.

Disconnector - designed to disconnect the trigger pull from the sear after the shot is fired. This is necessary in order to exclude the possibility of firing a shot when the shutter is not fully closed.

The descent is made as one piece with the trigger pull. When you press the trigger with your finger, he takes the sear back, from which the trigger breaks under the influence of the mainspring and hits the striker, and when the rod is in the forward position, it acts on the uncoupler, lifting it to the top for safe handling of weapons.

Trigger spring - supplies the trigger pull forward and up.

Shop - serves to accommodate eight cartridges and consists of a steel box, feeder, feeder spring and cover.

Work of parts and mechanisms

The shutter, when retracting it to its rearmost position, acting on the trigger, turns it, thereby putting the trigger on the combat platoon. Also, due to the impact of the support ledges on the annular grooves of the barrel, the bolt retracts the barrel. If there is a cartridge case or cartridge in the chamber, the ejector removes it and throws it out through a special window using a reflector.

The barrel, when moving backwards, due to the rotation of the earring, descends with its thickened breech downward, from which the barrel is skewed, and at the same time it disengages from the bolt, since the bolt support projections come out of the annular grooves of the thickened part of the barrel.

The uncoupler goes down under the action of a recess in the lower part of the bolt, while deflecting the trigger rod to the bottom, thereby disengaging it from the sear.

The return spring, when the shutter moves back, is compressed.

The sear, under the action of a spring, is pressed against the front of the trigger and sequentially goes behind the safety, and then behind the cocking of the trigger. The disconnector is then released.

During the movement of the bolt forward (due to the force of the return spring), the bolt moves the upper cartridge from the magazine along the inclined bevel to the breech breech, into the chamber.

The barrel, due to the pressure of the shutter mirror on the bottom of the sleeve of the new cartridge, moves forward and upward through the earring, while the supporting projections of the shutter enter the annular grooves of the thickened part of the barrel. The barrel is locked with a bolt.

The ejector hook enters the annular groove of the cartridge located in the chamber. When you press the trigger with your finger (when firing a shot), the actions of the pistol parts will be as follows: The trigger pull, by pressing the sear ledge, takes its lower part back, which leads to the exit of the sear nose from the cocking groove of the trigger, after which the trigger, turning on its axis forward, under the action of the mainspring, strikes the striker. The striker, moving forward, hits the primer of the cartridge, igniting it. From the pressure of the gases formed during the combustion of gunpowder, the bullet begins to move along the rifling and flies out of the bore, while part of the powder gases affects the walls and bottom of the sleeve, forcing the barrel and the bolt connected to it to move backward. After that, the parts of the gun repeat the same steps as when manually retracting the bolt to the rear position (described above). During the movement of the bolt back, the ejector hook removes the spent cartridge case from the chamber, continuing to hold it until it meets the reflector, upon impact with which the cartridge case flies out of the bolt frame window located on the right. At the same time, the next cartridge in the store, under the action of the feeder spring, rises up. In the absence of cartridges in the store, after the last shot, the feeder raises the bolt delay with its hook, which, in turn, stops the bolt in its rearmost position. The descent, in the absence of a pressing effect of the finger, due to the elasticity of the trigger spring, returns to the front position, while the uncoupler rises upwards, entering the shutter recess with the stem.

And this is how the work of the automation of the TT pistol looks more clearly. Especially for you, I found an animation of the operation of parts and mechanisms in a TT pistol during and after firing. (God bless the one who did this. Otherwise, on such animations, all Colts and Glocks ...)

Advantages and disadvantages

The simplicity of the design makes Tula tokarev pistol inexpensive to manufacture and easy to maintain pistol. The main advantage of the TT is a powerful cartridge that provides a high muzzle energy of the order of 500 J, a significant range of a direct shot and excellent penetrating ability. And due to the relatively long barrel and short trigger stroke, the pistol provides good accuracy and accuracy of fire, which allows an experienced shooter to hit the target even at a distance of more than 50 meters. Also, a good accuracy of the battle is facilitated by the automation system, which ensures the departure of a bullet from the barrel without displacement of the axis of the barrel in the vertical plane and without the movement of other mechanisms, which can adversely affect the trajectory of the bullet. When fired, the barrel moves back, and the skew of the barrel and its disengagement from the bolt frame occurs only after the bullet leaves the barrel. The flat and rather compact TT is well suited for concealed carry.

As for the shortcomings, the main one is the low resource of the pistol. This disadvantage stems from the dignity of the gun: the use of a high-power cartridge causes intense wear of the barrel locking unit. Not infrequently, after several hundred shots, delays appeared in the operation of the pistol in the form of jamming of the cartridge case in the chamber, misalignment of the cartridges, or detachment of the bottom of the cartridge case. Among other shortcomings, one can name the excessive sensitivity of the pistol mechanisms to clogging and minor deformations, which requires careful handling and careful maintenance of the weapon.

Also a serious drawback is the unreliable fastening of the magazine in the handle, the latch mechanism, especially on worn-out TTs, often does not hold the magazine, which simply falls out of the pistol, which there are many examples, especially from the fronts of the Second World War.

The practice of using the TT pistol showed the low stopping power of its ammunition. The reason for this shortcoming is the relatively small caliber of the bullet, its shape and high initial speed, which in turn resulted in its undeniable advantage - excellent penetrating ability.

The lack of a manual safety can also be considered a serious shortcoming that has caused numerous accidents involving this pistol. So, in case of a fall or an accidental blow to the trigger, if the cartridge is in the chamber, and the trigger is not set to the safety cocking, the possibility of the primer being pricked by the drummer is not excluded, which will lead to a spontaneous shot.

The high flatness of the ammunition and the preservation of the bullet with sufficient energy to inflict injury at a distance of 800 - 1000 m are another drawback when using a pistol in urban conditions: in case of a miss when firing at the enemy, there is a high probability of harm to third parties (civilians).

Complaints about the ergonomics of the pistol can hardly be called a significant omission in the design, it is rather an individual feature of the weapon, and besides, it is not fair to demand something outstanding from a pistol developed at the beginning of the last century. As, however, it would not be correct to compare this pistol with modern models created using high technologies and new scientific achievements.

TT went down in history as legendary pistol of his time verified in the battles of the bloodiest war in the history of mankind. And the geography of its production and popularity in many countries of the world give reason to be proud of the idea of ​​the Russian gunsmith and once again confirm the need for such a weapon for an era in whose fate it took far from the last place.

The first army self-loading pistol of the USSR, created by the Soviet designer Fedor Vasilyevich Tokarev in 1930.

History of creation

The TT pistol was developed for the 1929 competition for a new army pistol, announced to replace the Nagant revolver and several foreign-made revolvers and pistols that were in service with the Red Army in the mid-1920s. The German cartridge 7.63x25 mm Mauser was adopted as a regular cartridge, which was purchased in large quantities for the Mauser S-96 pistols in service.

The competition commission, headed by M. F. Grushetsky, considered the pistol designed by F. V. Tokarev the most suitable for adoption, provided that the identified shortcomings were corrected. The commission's requirements included improved shooting accuracy, lighter trigger pulls, and safer handling. Within a few months of work, the shortcomings were eliminated. On December 23, 1930, a decision was made on additional tests.

According to the test results, the TT pistol, designed by a design team led by F.V. Tokarev in the design bureau of the Tula Arms Plant, won the competition. On February 12, 1931, the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR ordered the first batch of 1000 pistols for comprehensive military tests. In the same year, the Tokarev pistol was put into service under the official designation "7.62-mm self-loading pistol mod. 1930" together with the cartridge 7.62x25. The pistol, called TT (Tula Tokarev) was quite simple and technologically advanced in production and operation.

At the same time, the USSR bought a license for the production of a cartridge from the German company Mauser and began production under the designation "7.62-mm pistol cartridge" P "mod. 1930".

Several thousand copies were produced in 1930-1932. In order to improve the manufacturability of production, in 1932-1933. the weapon has undergone modernization: the lugs of the barrel were not milled, but performed by turning; the frame was made in one piece, without a removable handle cover; the uncoupler and trigger pull were modified. At the beginning of 1934, the new pistol entered service under the name "7.62-mm self-loading pistol mod. 1933".

At the end of 1941, the equipment for the manufacture of TT was transferred to Izhevsk. In 1942, Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant No. 74 managed to produce 161,485 Tokarev pistols. Also in 1942, Izhevsk Plant No. 74 produced a small batch of a Tokarev pistol with a two-row magazine with a capacity of 15 rounds. The thickness of the handle was 42 mm (30.5 mm for the standard TT). The magazine latch has been moved to the base of the handle.

In 1947, the TT was again modified in order to reduce its cost: large vertical grooves, alternating with small grooves on the shutter housing for easy retraction of the shutter, were replaced with small grooves (grooving).

Design

The TT pistol brings together the design features of different systems: the J. M. Browning bore locking scheme used in the famous Colt M1911, the Browning M1903 design and the cartridge originally developed for the Mauser C96 pistol.

According to some experts, when developing the design of the pistol, it was originally supposed to completely copy the design of the modified Browning pistol with a removable trigger trigger mechanism (USM). However, in the course of work, the designers were forced to abandon the full copy (due to the lack of a technological base for the production of a complete copy of the original). It was necessary to reduce production costs by simplifying the design.

At the same time, the pistol has original design solutions aimed at the convenience of handling weapons: the combination of the trigger mechanism (USM) in a separate single block-block, which, when the weapon is disassembled, is freely separated from the frame for cleaning and lubrication; placement of the mainspring in the trigger, which reduced the longitudinal width of the handle; fastening the cheeks of the handle with the help of swivel straps fixed on them, which simplified the disassembly of the pistol, the absence of a safety mechanism - its function was performed by a safety cocking of the trigger.

The Browning scheme of locking the bore with a short stroke and a swinging earring, the automation system, as well as the trigger, borrowed from the Colt M1911 pistol, were modified to simplify production.

USM single action. Impact mechanism made in a single block, which simplified the factory assembly. (A few years later, the Swiss gunsmith Charles Petter used exactly the same layout in the French Model 1935 pistol.)

The pistol does not have a safety catch as a separate part, its functions are performed by a safety cocking of the trigger. To set the lowered trigger on the safety platoon, it was necessary to pull the trigger back a little. After that, the trigger and bolt will be blocked, and the trigger will not touch the firing pin. This eliminates the possibility of a shot if the pistol falls or accidentally strikes the head of the trigger. To remove the trigger from the safety platoon, you need to follow the trigger. In order to put the cocked hammer on the safety platoon, it must first be lowered by holding it and pressing the trigger. And then the trigger needs to be pulled back a little.

Carrying a pistol with a cartridge in the chamber with the trigger released is not recommended and does not make sense, since for a shot you need to cock the trigger in the same way as the trigger set to the safety cock.

On the left side of the frame is the shutter release lever. When the ammunition in the store is used up, the shutter gets delayed in the rear position. To release the shutter from the delay, you need to lower the shutter delay lever.

Magazine capacity 8 rounds. The magazine release button is on the left side of the grip, at the base of the trigger guard, similar to the Colt M1911.

Hits when firing at 50 m in each of 10 series of 10 shots are placed in a circle with a radius of 150 mm.

Sights consist of a front sight made integral with the bolt and a rear sight pressed into a dovetail groove at the rear of the bolt. The cheeks of the handle were made of Bakelite or (during the war years) of wood (walnut).

Advantages and disadvantages

The TT pistol is distinguished by its simple design and, therefore, low cost of production and ease of maintenance. A very powerful cartridge, atypical for pistols, provides an unusually high penetrating power and a muzzle energy of about 500 J. The pistol has a short easy trigger and provides significant shooting accuracy, an experienced shooter is able to hit a target at distances of more than 50 meters. The gun is flat and compact enough, which is convenient for concealed carry. However, in the course of operation, shortcomings also appeared.

Before the Great Patriotic War the military demanded that a pistol be able to fire through the embrasures of the tank. TT did not satisfy this condition. Many experts consider this requirement absurd. However, nothing prevented the Germans from making such a requirement for their weapons: Luger P08, Walther P38 and even MP 38/40 fully satisfied him.

Another drawback is the poor fixation of the store.

Without a fuse, the TT was placed in a safe position by the so-called half-cock of the trigger, and this made it difficult to bring the pistol into combat position. Involuntary cases of crossbows were recorded, one of which is described by Yuri Nikulin in the book "Almost Seriously". Ultimately, the Charter was expressly forbidden to carry a pistol with a cartridge in the chamber, which further increased the time it took to bring the pistol into combat position.

Ergonomics of the TT raises many complaints compared to other designs. The angle of inclination of the handle is small, its shape does not contribute to a comfortable hold of the weapon.

The TT pistol is distinguished by a flat trajectory and a high penetrating effect of a pointed bullet, which is capable of penetrating an army helmet or light body armor. The penetrating effect of a TT bullet exceeds the penetrating effect of a 9x19 mm cartridge bullet (a bullet "7.62 P" with a lead core, after being fired from a TT pistol, pierces body armor of class I protection, but body armor of class II does not pierce even when fired at close range. Bullet "Pst » with a steel core penetrates bulletproof vests of the II protection class, or NIJ IIIA + according to the American classification). At the same time, the stopping effect of 7.62 mm TT bullets is inferior to the action of a 9x19 mm cartridge bullet. But still, in the TT pistol it is possible to use several variants of the 7.63x25 mm Mauser cartridges with increased stopping power bullets:

30 Mauser LLC - a cartridge with a jacketless lead bullet from Old Western Scrounger (USA);
- cartridge with an expansive bullet from the company "Old Western Scrounger" (USA);
-7.62x25 mm Tokarev Magsafe Defender - a cartridge with a bullet of increased stopping power from Magsafe (USA) ...

Variants and modifications

Pistols made in the USSR

- "7.62-mm self-loading pistol arr. 1930" - the first serial modification, only in 1930-1933. no more than 93 thousand pieces were produced.
- "7.62-mm self-loading pistol arr. 1933" (pre-war production) - in order to improve manufacturability in production, changes were made to the design of the trigger mechanism (trigger rod and uncoupler), the shape of the barrel and frame was simplified (the rear wall of the handle was made one-piece, without a detachable cover). By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, about 600 thousand TT pistols were in service with the Red Army
-7.62 mm training self-loading pistol arr. 1933 - a training version of the Tokarev pistol, produced before the war. It differed from the combat only in carbolite cheeks, painted in green color(not black). The letters "UCH" were embossed next to the serial number.
- "7.62-mm self-loading pistol arr. 1933" (wartime release) - differed by a simplified design and the worst quality of processing parts; some pistols were equipped with wooden cheeks.
- "7.62-mm self-loading pistol arr. 1933" (post-war issue)

Pistols of foreign production

Hungarian People's Republic- in 1948-1960, the FEG enterprise under the name "Tokarev 48M" produced an exact copy of the Soviet TT (with the Hungarian coat of arms on the handle plates). In the late 1950s, a modernized version was created - TT-58, with a more comfortable handle, made according to the Walter P-38 pistol grip and a modified magazine design.
-Vietnam - during the Vietnam War, NLF guerrillas in the field assembled TT pistols from Chinese parts.
-Egypt - in the late 1950s, for Egypt, the FEG plant began producing a modification of the TT-58 chambered for 9x19 mm Parabellum, equipped with a fuse. The Egyptian police were armed with the Tokagypt-58 pistol. In total, up to 15 thousand of these pistols were produced, and some of the pistols were sold on the commercial market, mainly in Germany, under the Firebird brand.

PRC - produced in several versions:
- "type 51" - an army pistol, a copy of the Soviet TT.

- "type 54" - an army pistol, a copy of the Soviet TT, was in service with the Chinese army until 1971. Also made for export under the name M20.

- "model 213" - a commercial version manufactured by Norinco company chambered for 9x19 mm with a magazine with a capacity of 8 rounds.

- "Model 213A" - a commercial version manufactured by Norinco company chambered for 9x19 mm with a magazine with a capacity of 14 rounds.

- “Model 213B” - a commercial version manufactured by Norinco, chambered for 9x19 mm, equipped with a non-automatic fuse that blocks the trigger.

North Korea - a copy of the TT pistol, produced under name Type 68 or M68.

Poland - the pistol was produced under the name PW wz.33 (Pistolet Wojskowy wzor 33 - an army pistol of the 1933 model) and remained in service until the end of the 1960s. It differed from the Soviet TTs by the markings on the slide and the handle plates.

Socialist Republic of Romania - a copy of the TT pistol called Cugir Tokarov was produced in the 1950s.

Yugoslavia:

Zastava M54 - a copy of the Soviet TT arr. 1933, production started in February 1954

Zastava M57 - a modernized version of the TT with a magazine capacity increased to 9 rounds, designed in 1956-1960, mass-produced from 1961 to 1990.

Zastava M70 is a compact version of the Zastava M57 military pistol chambered for less powerful 7.65x17 mm or 9x17 mm (9mm Kratak) cartridges.

Zastava M70A is a modernized version of the Zastava M57 pistol chambered for 9x19 mm Parabellum, the production of which started in the early 1970s.

Zastava M88 - a modernized version of the Zastava M57 pistol chambered for 9x19 mm Parabellum and .40 S&W.

Iraq - a copy of the Soviet TT was in service with the Iraqi army for more than thirty years.

Pakistan - a copy of the Chinese TT was produced at the POF (Pakistani Ordnance Factories) factory especially for the police. In addition, cases of making copies of TT in semi-handicraft conditions by weapons workshops in the area of ​​the Khyber Pass were recorded.

Conversion options and modifications

Sports weapon

Tokarev Sportowy is a Polish sports pistol chambered for a small-caliber .22 Long Rifle cartridge with inserts in the form of a standard chamber chambered for 7.62x25 mm.

In the 1950s in the USSR, on the basis of the TT, a sports and training pistol R-3 was created for a small-caliber 5.6-mm cartridge that had a blowback.

In May 2012, in Russia, the TT pistol was certified as a sporting weapon under the name sport pistol S-TT

Traumatic weapon

On the basis of the pistol, several models of traumatic civilian weapons of self-defense have been developed.

VPO-501 "Leader" - a "barrelless" traumatic pistol chambered for 10x32 mm T. Designed and produced since 2005 by the Vyatka-Polyansky machine-building enterprise "Molot". In accordance with forensic requirements, changes have been made to the design, excluding the possibility of firing live ammunition.

VPO-509 "Leader-M" - "barrelless" traumatic pistol chambered for 11.43x32 mm T. Designed by the Vyatka-Polyansky machine-building plant "Molot".

TT-T - a traumatic pistol chambered for 10x28 mm T. Developed and produced at OJSC Zavod im. V. A. Degtyarev. It has been on sale since 2011. It has structural differences from the combat TT: barrel with removed rifling; in the channel there is one partition-pin, which prevents the firing of a solid bullet.

MP-81 - traumatic pistol chambered for 9 mm P.A. Designed and manufactured since 2008 by the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant. The main components of the base model are preserved in the design: (frame, bolt, trigger mechanism), the original historical marking of the original and the identity of the methods of handling the pistol are completely preserved.

MP-82 is a variant of the MP-81 chambered for .45 rubber, developed and presented as a mock-up in 2008 by the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant. Not serially produced.

TTR - traumatic pistol chambered for 9 mm P.A. (manufacturer - SOBR LLC, Kharkov).

TT-GT - smoothbore traumatic pistol chambered for 9 mm P.A. (manufacturer - Erma-Inter LLC, Kyiv).

Airguns

Several variants of 4.5 mm air pistols are produced: MP-656k (discontinued in 2013 due to the requirement of the Law on the Prohibition of the Alteration of Military Weapons); Gletcher TT; Gletcher TT NBB; TTP "Sobr"; Crosman C-TT.

Signal versions

Since 2011, the TT-S signal pistol, designed on the basis of the TT-Leader pistol, has been produced (production was discontinued in 2013 based on the requirement of the Law on the Prohibition of the Alteration of Military Weapons). For firing, primers "zhevelo" or KV21 are used.

At the exhibition "Arms and Hunting - 2014" in Moscow, JSC "Molot" presented a chilled version of the TT pistol, MA-TT-CX, chambered for a blank cartridge 10x31mm

Combat use

1930-1945

USSR - TT pistols were in service with the Soviet armed forces, and during the Great Patriotic War it was also supplied to Soviet partisans and to the armament of foreign military formations on the territory of the USSR.
-Finland - captured TT pistols captured during the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. and "continuation wars" of 1941-1944. were in service with the Finnish army until 1951. In 1959-1960. pistols were sold to the American company Interarmco.
-Third Reich - captured TTs under the name Pistole 615 (r) entered service with the Wehrmacht, the SS and other paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany and its satellites.
-Yugoslavia - deliveries to the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia began in May 1944, continued until 1947

After the end of World War II

After the war, the TT was supplied to the states and movements supported by the USSR (in particular, the armies of the countries of the Warsaw Pact).

USSR - the production of the pistol continued until 1954 (some were assembled in 1955 from stocks of parts) and was completed. Since the 9-mm Makarov pistol was adopted. Later, the TT was withdrawn from service and gradually replaced by the PM - by the beginning of the 1960s. in the Soviet Army (it remained in service with the rear and auxiliary units for a little longer), by the mid-1970s - in the police, but in the paramilitary security units it was preserved in the subsequent time. In the warehouses of the mobilization reserve, TT pistols were stored at least until the beginning of the 1990s.
also, at least until 2000, TT was exploited by geological enterprises. According to the regulations of the Ministry of Geology of the USSR, leading employees of geological parties and expeditions could be armed with a pistol.
-Yugoslavia - after the war, Soviet TTs remained in service with the Yugoslav People's Army at least until 1968
-Russia - at the end of 1998, the TT was officially adopted Federal Service bailiffs. At least until July 2002, TT pistols were in service with the private security forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. At the beginning of the winter of 2005, it was included in the list of premium weapons. As of mid-2006, they were in service with units of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Okhrana of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, employees of the courier service and collectors
-Belarus - as of 2002, was in service with legal entities with special statutory tasks
-Kazakhstan - was in service with the departmental protection of railways and collectors of the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan
-Latvia - was in service with the army until at least mid-autumn 2001
-Ukraine - in the early 1990s, a certain number of TTs from the warehouses of the mobilization reserve of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine were put into service with some units of the patrol service (PPS) of the police, they were also used to train cadets and employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine (due to a shortage of 9x18 mm cartridges ). As of mid-2005, the Ministry of Defense had 95,000 in storage. TT pistols (75,000 serviceable and 20,000 destined for disposal); as of August 15, 2011, only 10,000 TT pistols remained in the storage of the Ministry of Defense. Sotoit in service public service protection. It is also a premium weapon. As of June 2014, remained in service with the railway guards and collectors
-Estonia - in the early 1990s, a number of pistols from the warehouses of the mobilization reserve were given to the paramilitary organization "Defense League"

performance characteristics

Weight, kg: 0.854 (without cartridges) 0.94 (equipped)
- Length, mm: 195
- Barrel length, mm: 116
- Height, mm: 130
- Cartridge: 7.62x25 mm TT
- Caliber, mm: 7.62
-Principles of operation: recoil with a short stroke of the barrel, skewed shutter
- Muzzle velocity, m/s: 420-450
-Sighting range, m: 50
-Maximum range, m: 1650
- Type of ammunition: magazine for 8 rounds
-Sight: open, unregulated

This question may seem strange - indeed, if you look through our weapons literature, you may get the impression that we have exhaustive information about the TT pistol and its creator Fedor Vasilyevich Tokarev. However, in reality, everything is not so simple, and there are many blank spots in the creation of TTs.

I managed to thoroughly study the work of Fedor Vasilyevich Tokarev after the third year of the weapons and machine gun faculty of the Tula Mechanical Institute. Thanks to the recommendation of the Deputy Dean of the Markov Faculty, my roommate Vladimir Zharikov and I had the opportunity to earn extra money at the Tula plant No. 536. We had to clean up all the samples of small arms and aviation machine-gun and cannon weapons stored there in the factory museum. I had a collection of almost all (including experienced) Tokarev self-loading rifles and pistols.

The classic version of the Browning pistol mod. 1903

Incomplete disassembly of the classic Browning arr. 1903

Pistol TT

Putting these samples in order, I could not help but notice that the former Cossack Yesaul was an excellent craftsman and a very inventive designer.

These qualities of Tokarev are confirmed, in particular, by the fact that at the end of his career, working in the Moscow design bureau of aviation and missile A.E. Nudelman, where Fedor Vasilyevich was given the opportunity to continue weapons creativity, he preferred to improve the FT panoramic camera he invented -2. The movable lens of this camera made it possible to take pictures on 35 mm film not 36 mm wide, as usual, but 130 mm wide!

"Browning 1903 K" and TT. Left side view

"Browning 1903 K" and TT with incomplete disassembly

But back to the TT pistol. The main question that arises about this weapon is: “What did Fedor Vasilyevich do in this sample himself, and what did he borrow?” The legitimacy of such a statement becomes obvious after getting acquainted with the 9-mm pistols of John M. Browning of the 1903 model. Moreover, the conclusion suggests itself that the TT is a pure copy of one of Browning's models.

The pistols of John Moises Browning were developed on the basis of his own patent in 1897. The following samples of Browning pistols are considered the most typical: a 7.65 mm pistol of the 1900 model, a 9 mm pistol of the 1903 model, and a 1906 pistol of the caliber 6, 35 mm.

The latter sample does not apply to military-type weapons due to its small caliber. For each of these pistols, a cartridge was also developed at the same time. At one time, it was popular to classify these models and their corresponding cartridges by numbers from one to three. The first number denoted the cartridge and pistol caliber 6.35 mm, the second caliber 7.65 mm and the third caliber 9 mm.

Browning pistols were produced in large quantities in Belgium at the Fabrique Nationale d.Armes de Guerre S.A. Herstal Liege. Products directly Belgian production is distinguished by a stylized abbreviation "FN" on both plastic cheeks of the handle.

Pistols were in service with the army and police of many countries.

The model of the 9-mm Browning pistol of the 1903 model was also actively used in Russia - the gendarmerie officers were armed with it.

The peculiarity of the 9-mm "Browning" sample of 1903 is the inertial locking of the bore, although its cartridge in terms of ballistic impulse is not much inferior to the 9-mm cartridge of the Parabellum pistol of the sample of 1908. The length of the Browning cartridge is 1.5 mm less than the Parabellum one ( 28 mm vs. 29.5 mm), but the sleeve is 1.3 mm longer (20.3 mm vs. 19 mm). According to the practice that is now rooted in our country, this cartridge is designated 9x20.

"Browning 1903 K" and TT. Right side view

The pistol has a smooth outer shape and a closed trigger position, which makes it convenient for pocket carrying. The trigger is placed inside the back of the frame and rotates on an axis, which is the flag fuse rod. The mainspring is lamellar, it is located in the rear wall of the handle and consists of two branches. The long branch acts on the trigger through the roller, which is mounted on the ledge of the trigger, and the short branch rests against the trigger rod jumper. The drummer with a spring is located in the drilling of the casing-shutter. In the gate, the drummer is held by a transverse pin.

A block with two feathers is installed on the same axis with the trigger, guiding the sleeve removed from the chamber. The left feather has a tooth that serves as a reflector. Another cartridge rests against the protrusions of both feathers from below. The block has a through drilling for the passage of the uncoupler. We see exactly the same feathers and a similar arrangement of the reflector and disconnector on the removable assembly of the trigger mechanism of the TT pistol.

The trigger mechanism with a disconnector allows only single fire. The trigger is made integral with the trigger rod, the rod covers the magazine on both sides and moves in a nest inside the pistol frame.

The rear jumper of the thrust acts on the sear, in the same part above the thrust there is an uncoupler that lowers the thrust and disengages it from the sear when the shutter rolls back.

Protection against unauthorized shots is carried out by a safety catch and an automatic safety catch, which releases the sear when the pistol grip is squeezed with the palm of your hand. The uncoupler serves as a fuse against premature firing, which does not allow the trigger rod to act on the sear before the bolt reaches its extreme forward position. The lever safety can be turned on by turning its notched head up only when the hammer is cocked. When the trigger is released, the safety cannot be turned, which serves as a trigger release signal.

With the help of a safety lever, the pistol is partially disassembled, for which it is necessary to pull the casing-bolt so that the fuse tooth goes into the cutout on the left side of the casing of the shutter. After that, the barrel can be rotated 120 degrees and removed from the frame casing-bolt with the barrel, moving them forward.

Box-type magazine with a capacity of seven rounds with their single-row arrangement. The relatively small, according to modern views, the number of cartridges in the store can be explained by the desire for a weapon that is compact in height. The store is placed inside the handle and is locked with a latch from the bottom of the store. When the last cartridge is used up, the magazine feeder raises a tooth located on the right side of the shutter stop frame. The tooth, going into the cutout of the casing-bolt, stops it in its rearmost position.

Pistol "Colt" arr. 1911

The sight is permanent, consists of a rear sight and a front sight. They are located on the casing-shutter.

This pistol layout, featuring a massive breechblock covering the entire length of the barrel, and with a return spring under the barrel, above the barrel, or around the barrel, is protected by an 1897 patent in the name of John Moises Browning. Browning borrowed the location of the removable magazine in the handle from Hugo Borchardt. Since then, a similar scheme has been used by many designers.

When comparing the Browning of 1903 with the TT, the first thing that catches your eye is their external similarity, but inside these samples there are many differences - completely different locking mechanisms, significantly different trigger mechanisms (the Browning has a closed trigger, the TT has an open trigger and removable). It would seem that in such a situation it is not necessary to talk about blind copying of the Browning pistol by Tokarev. But there are still grounds for such assumptions!

I managed to find in the weapons collection of the technical office of the Tula TsKIB SOO a very unusual version of the "Browning" of 1903, which differs from the classic one by the trigger brought out. Let's call it conditionally "Browning arr. 1903 K".

"Browning arr. 1903 K "can be considered an extremely rare specimen, since it is not described in either domestic or foreign literature. In the weapons collection of the technical office of the Tula TsKIB SOO, where it is listed under the name "Browning" 1903 " In appearance, dimensions and weight data, this pistol is completely similar to the model described above chambered for 9x20 mm, but differs from it in the device of the firing mechanism, the absence of an automatic fuse and a safety lever mechanism.

Pistol "Colt" arr. 1911 with incomplete disassembly

There are no factory marks and inscriptions on the casing-bolt and frame of the pistol. Branding is available only on the breech in the area of ​​the sleeve window.

The sample belongs to the class of weapons with inertial locking of the bore. Its barrel, recoil mechanism and interchangeable seven-round magazine are interchangeable with the Browning pistol of the 1903 model described above.

For incomplete disassembly of this sample, it is necessary, by retracting the casing-bolt and, trying to turn the barrel, find by touch the position when the bearing projections of the barrel disengage from the pistol frame and enter the notch of the casing-bolt.

The trigger mechanism of the pistol is a separate unit in the form of a block, in which the trigger is assembled with the mainspring inside it, a sear with a leaf spring and a disconnector. After separating the casing-bolt, this unit is separated from the pistol frame.

Externally, the unit and its parts are indistinguishable from similar TT pistols.

The Tula City Museum of Weapons has an experimental pistol made by F.V. Tokarev, which can be considered a prototype of the TT and which differs from the Browning pistol only in that it uses a 7.62-mm Mauser cartridge.

Thus, we can definitely say that it was originally supposed to completely copy the TT from a rare modification of a Browning pistol with a removable trigger trigger mechanism.

Pistol F.V. Tokarev arr. 1938

The Mauser cartridge was chosen by Tokarev only because at the end of 1920, by decision of the Artillery Committee of the Artillery Directorate of the Red Army, the German company DWM (since 1922 Berliner Karlsruhe Industriewerke - BKIW) bought a license for its production. However, this ammunition was too powerful for inertial locking. To correct the situation, Fedor Vasilievich in the next version of the TT used the locking of the bore in the image and likeness of the Colt pistol of the 1911 model - a swinging barrel controlled by an earring. Note that the "Colt" of the 1911 model was developed by the same Browning at the Colt factories.

This begs the question, why did Tokarev, a very resourceful designer, go for explicit copying when developing such a basically simple weapon as a self-loading pistol? All in the same Tula Museum of Weapons there are his original samples of self-loading rifles, structurally much more complex than the TT. So, for example, his self-loading rifle SVT-38, which was put into service in 1938, is completely original in design. The same can be said about the Tokarev pistol of the 1938 model.

There can be only one answer here. The designer was simply ordered to copy a certain pattern. Apparently, someone in the Soviet military leadership dealt with the Browning of 1903 and considered it an ideal pistol, which, due to its simple design, could easily be produced at our not-so-advanced weapons factories at that time. In fact, Tokarev's task was not to create an original domestic pistol, but to rearrange the Browning chambered for the domestically produced 7.62x25 cartridge. They took as a basis not the most common pistol model, but its simplest, albeit rare modification with a removable trigger mechanism. But the powerful ammunition still forced the designer to change the locking system in the pistol.

Such an option for creating a TT is quite likely, since in Soviet weapons history there are often cases when military and political leaders forced designers to make technical decisions dictated by their own predilections.

For example, on the same TT, Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny strongly advised Tokarev not to use an automatic fuse that blocks the trigger if the pistol is released from his hand. And yet he achieved his goal - there is no automatic fuse on the TT!

The designer Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov told me that Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov insisted on replacing on his SKS carbine a simple and technological folding faceted bayonet, oxidized in black, also folding, but bladed and shiny. Allegedly, infantry attacking with bayonets shining in the sun will terrify the enemy. Sergey Gavrilovich spat, but together with the technician of his design bureau, Volkhny, Vasily Kuzmich, they bungled such a bayonet.

The front and back sides of a business card given to the author of the article, Fyodor Vasilyevich Tokarev, during a personal acquaintance

From the editors of the magazine "Arms"
The discovery by the author of the article, gunsmith Dmitry Shiryaev, of a new, nowhere described modification of the Browning pistol of 1903 can be considered a small sensation. Moreover, the presence of a "Browning" with a removable trigger trigger in the technical room of TsKIB is confirmed by the employees working there. However, there is reason to believe that its origin is not as obvious as it seems to the author of the article, which means that the issue of copying this sample by Tokarev is not so unambiguous. Therefore, the editors of the magazine turned to gunsmiths and weapons historians with a request to express their opinion in the next issues of our publication on the origin of the mysterious sample and the possibility of copying it by Tokarev during the development of the TT pistol.