How is TT deciphered? TT pistol: specifications. The Tula Tokarev pistol is a legendary firearm. A small argument for a big victory

Considering the technical characteristics of the TT pistol, it is worth noting that the weight is 910 g, in turn, the length is 116 mm.

The clip is designed for 8 bullets, and the length of the sighting line can be considered within 156 mm. 50 m - sight range. The sighting of this pistol is carried out at a distance of 25 m.

The bullet speed is 420 m/s. In the structure of the mechanism, 45 main parts can be distinguished. The pistol functions using short-barreled recoil energy.

The locking function is carried out by connecting the protrusions of the casing-bolt with certain figures on the barrel. Further, the sliding earring lowers the barrel to the level of the breech, based on this, the barrel and bolt are separated. In TT, all parts of the percussion mechanism are combined into one common block.

Expert Note: in order to partially disassemble the gun, no tools are needed, since it is disassembled very easily.

History of creation

In the era of the formation of the Red Army in the early 1920s, the problem of the reconstruction of weapons in general and private weapons used in close combat arose.

Soviet developers had to develop a pistol that would be suitable for firing 7.63 mm bullets from Mauser 1897.

Such designers as Tokarev, Korovin and Prilyutsky participated in the competition held by the government.

Tokarev won by a wide margin from his charges. Since the first TT production was launched in Tula, therefore it was called the Tula Tokarev.

Note: there is no fuse in the TT as a separate element of the body, the protection of the pistol is carried out by setting the trigger to safety.

According to the technical characteristics, he did not give odds to the military pistols of those times, and even surpassed them in a number of characteristic features.

For example, you can consider Western standards for shooting at a distance of 50 m, at which the maximum dispersion is allowed to be 35.5 cm, although when firing from a TT, the dispersion distance is 15 cm.

Along with the pistol, 7.62 mm P-type cartridges (7.62x25 mm) were also used, which were made on the basis of the well-known powerful 7.63 mm Mauser cartridge. However, various cartridges were later introduced, for example with armor-piercing and tracer bullets.

Flaws

The TT pistol is very easy to maintain and has a fairly low cost. The designer Tokarev achieved this effect due to the very simple design of the weapon.

Due to the significant kinetic force of the bullet (slightly less than 500 J), this pistol has a very high penetration power, as well as quite effective accuracy for this type of weapon.

However, during the operation, some shortcomings were revealed. A serious drawback was the lack of an ordinary fuse. Many accidents have been recorded that occurred due to the lack of a fuse.

During the fall of a weapon with a cartridge in the store, a shot occurred. The archive even had a separate section on accidents in order to distinguish them from real crimes, falsified as an accident.

Also, a very important drawback is the insufficiently strong fixation of the store, which leads the shooter to a disarmed state during hostilities.

Back in 1931-32. several thousand copies were made, which were tested in field tests, which revealed some shortcomings, one of which was the clip falling out during use.

The designer Tokarev carried out some reconstruction of the weapon and in 1933 presented an updated TT-33, in which the problem with the magazine falling out was solved.

Already in 1934, this model was adopted. Including the period of the Great Patriotic War, the TT was manufactured simultaneously with.

After a short time, the TT completely eliminated the Nagan from the release. It should be noted that on June 22, 1941. there were approximately 600 thousand TT-33s in service with the Red Army. However, during the war, production increased even more.

Analogues

Usually, when producing a decent, high-quality thing, the manufacturer is accused of plagiarism. What happened to the Tokarev pistol. Often TT, since ancient times, is compared with a pistol

Browning, which was produced in 1903. And in the United States, the TT is often referred to as the Browning-Tokarev.

Maybe people don’t say so in vain, and Tokarev based his development on this Belgian pistol, because if you compare the TT and Browning, they are not much different.

Of course, Tokarev finalized and made the weapon a class higher. I would like to add that the Browning prototype that Tokarev chose had been in production for 37 years and was one of the most popular pistols in Russia and beyond. In Russia, Browning was used to arm the gendarmerie corps.

Watch a detailed video about the TT and its technical characteristics:

Once, when discussing the merits of modern weapons at a police forum, special forces soldiers came to the conclusion that the most reliable weapon is when it hits the head with a drill. However, in this case, the human factor can fail. Seriously, what weapon should not be trusted in battle?

Russian roulette: if you want, you won't shoot yourself

Active fighters pick up weapons for themselves, for their hand. In battle, when seconds count, everything is important: under which finger the fuse is released, how the shutter is retracted, whether the magazine is easily inserted. From someone else's unshooted Makarov pistol, the most experienced sniper will miss. Estimates of weapons in terms of reliability are subjective. For example, the Chinese (contrary to popular belief) do not produce “disposable”, but quite combat-ready pistols copied from the best American designs. The most unreliable is the Japanese pistol, developed by the famous gunsmith Kijiro Nambu.

Pistol Yarygin

This weapon was developed for a competition announced by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. It was supposed to replace the Makarov pistol. Ten years have passed, and the winner of the Yarygin pistol competition was adopted by the army, and then the police under the name "Rook".
It took ten years to finalize the weapon. The first issue had a serious drawback: the skew and jamming of the spent cartridge case in the ejection window, while the casing-bolt stopped. Corrections took time, which could cost the life of a fighter during the battle. In the course of refinement, this drawback was partially eliminated, but the likelihood of a skewing of the sleeve in the PJ is still high.
The flaws in the hull design led to the fact that the plastic frame could not withstand intense shooting and burst. This problem manifested itself when using powerful 9x19 cartridges.

Pistol TT

The first Russian self-loading pistol was created in 1930, it was most widely used in the 50s of the last century due to its simplicity and cheapness. However, the bandits' favorite weapon, capable of penetrating light body armor, the door and glass of a car, was in fact very unreliable.
The fuse conceived by Tokarev on the back of the handle was forbidden to be installed personally by Comrade Budyonny. According to legend, when the whites were chasing the famous army commander, he turned in the saddle to shoot at the enemies from the browning, but the inconvenient location of the fuse on the back of the handle prevented him from firing.

Due to the low resource and rapid wear of the pistol, after a hundred shots, the cartridge case jammed in the chamber, the cartridges were skewed, or the bottom of the cartridge case was torn off.

A significant drawback of the TT is the unreliable magazine latch mechanism in the handle, which is why it simply falls to the ground. This situation was repeatedly repeated on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War and was played up in the cinema.

Cheap but angry Nambu (94 Shiki Kenju)

This pistol, developed in Japan during World War II, holds the palm among the worst small arms. Its disadvantages: low power, bulkiness, uncomfortable and non-ergonomic design is considered more dangerous for the shooter than for the enemy.
Its creator, Kijiro Nambu, began the development of a compact light weapon, but unfortunately the design attracted the attention of the military department. The higher ranks were dissatisfied with the pace of the master's work, and his team was reinforced by state engineers. As a result, the trigger mechanisms of the Nambu Type 94 turned out to be so unreliable that the Japanese shooters tried to keep the pistol as far away from themselves as possible and in no case carry it in a holster.

The Liberator

A special-purpose pistol welded from sheet metal was considered disposable. Its purpose: the elimination of single opponents. Designed specifically for the Resistance during the Great Patriotic War, this pistol came with 10 live rounds stored in the handle. From it you can shoot the German invader without a miss from 5-10 meters, pick up his personal weapon and fight on.
In total, 1,000,000 copies of the Liberator were produced by the American gunsmith George Heid.
Reloading was done like this: the drummer was pulled back and turned 90 degrees. A cartridge was manually inserted into the opened bore and into the chamber. When the drummer was put into place, the mainspring of the drummer was cocked.
After the shot, it was necessary to open the barrel manually and remove the spent cartridge case by hooking it with an improvised object. During a military operation, it was impossible to do this.

rapid fire weapon

The designer Korobov said that he would like to create an automaton that would help a soldier survive in a trench, and not outlive all the soldiers in the trench. Approximately these words can be redirected to the authors of the following automatic weapons.

Chauchat machine gun

This weapon is distinguished by a very clumsy design, in which the back of the receiver, when fired, was under the shooter's cheek. According to rumors, the French soldiers who were armed with this machine gun preferred to switch to rifles. The rate of fire was too low, and the magazines were designed to clog up with snow and mud in the field. Combat crews were specially trained to change magazines on the go.

Volkssturmgewehr VG-45 (militia rifle)

The German semi-automatic carbine, which was supplied to the Volkssturm militia at the end of World War II, was made in handicraft workshops. In fact, a knee-mounted carbine was unreliable and comparable in accuracy to partisan sawn-off shotguns. It was possible to use such weapons only in the desperate situation of the last days of the battles for Berlin.

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. The impact mechanism is 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 a 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 one only in carbolite cheeks, painted green (and 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

The Hungarian People's Republic - in 1948-1960, an exact copy of the Soviet TT was produced at the FEG enterprise under the name "Tokarev 48M" (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 the 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 sports weapon under the name S-TT sports pistol.

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 they were 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 until at least 1968
-Russia - at the end of 1998, the TT was officially adopted by the Federal Bailiff Service. 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 with the state security service. 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

TT, Tula Tokarev pistol mod. 1933 (GRAU index - 56-A-132) - the first army self-loading pistol of the USSR, developed in 1930 by the Soviet designer Fedor Vasilyevich Tokarev.

TT pistol - video

The TT pistol was created in the design bureau of the Tula Arms Plant in order to replace the Nagan revolver and several models of foreign-made revolvers and pistols that were in service with the Red Army by the mid-1920s. The Nagant revolver did not have the necessary rate of fire, firepower and firing efficiency. It was necessary to create personal weapons with higher combat and service performance. The then widespread Browning and Mauser 7.65 mm pocket pistols were not suitable for use in the army due to the small stopping effect of the bullet, the Belgian Browning 1903 caliber 9 mm did not have an external trigger and was designed for a rather low-power cartridge, the American M1911A1 was too large and heavy, rather difficult to manufacture weapons, although very effective in shooting, the Mauser C-96, beloved by many Red Army commanders and revolutionaries, was hopelessly outdated, and the German Parabellum P.08, which had excellent combat and operational qualities, was too expensive and labor-intensive to manufacture .

In general, the reason for the rejection of foreign systems was the need to re-equip the arms industry with new production equipment and the introduction of new standards, which required gigantic expenses that were not acceptable at that time for Soviet Russia. The new weapon for arming the command staff of the Red Army was to have a large range of actual fire, small dimensions, low weight, an open trigger and the simplest possible fuse, as well as a beautiful appearance, but most importantly, be simple in design and adapted to cheap mass production on an outdated and primitive equipment.

For use in the new pistol, a powerful cartridge of 7.62 mm caliber with an initial bullet speed of 420 m / s was chosen. It was a redesigned cartridge "7.63mm Mauser", which later received the designation "7.62 × 25 TT". The use of this cartridge did not require re-equipment of production, in addition, the warehouses had a fairly large number of 7.63 mm cartridges purchased from the Germans for Mauser C-96 pistols. The tasks set regarding the qualities of the pistol itself were fulfilled thanks to the new design solutions of Tokarev, who took the Browning locking system as the simplest and best suited for use in compact weapons chambered for such a powerful cartridge, as well as the layout and design of the FN Browning model pistol. 1903. In June - July 1930, the first field tests of the F.V. pistol took place. Tokarev together with domestic designs by S.A. Prilutsky and S.A. Korovin chambered for 7.62 × 25, as well as foreign pistols FN Browning model 1922 and Walther PP caliber 7.65 mm, Parabellum P.08 caliber 9 mm and Colt M1911A1 45 caliber. During these tests, the Tokarev pistol demonstrated excellent ballistic qualities and accuracy. When firing at 25 meters, the dispersion radius was 7.5 cm.

Tokarev's weapon turned out to be easy to handle and operate, surpassed other samples in terms of weight and size characteristics, and reliable in operation during prolonged firing. A huge advantage for the Soviet arms industry of those years was the manufacturability and ease of production of this pistol. The competitive commission headed by M.F. Grushetsky considered the Tokarev pistol the most acceptable and suitable for adoption, provided that the identified shortcomings were eliminated. The commission's requirements included improved shooting accuracy, lighter trigger pulls, and safer handling. Tokarev completed the task in a few months of work. The decision on additional tests was made on December 23, 1930. In January of the same year, in Solnechnogorsk, Moscow Region, tests were held at the firing range of the Higher Shooting School "Shot", which were attended by the main military leaders of the state: K.E. Voroshilov, M.N. Tukhachevsky, I. P. Uborevich, as well as many high-ranking officials. According to the test results, the advantages of the improved Tokarev pistol over other samples were noted. 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 adopted by the Red Army under the official designation "7.62-mm self-loading pistol mod. 1930" together with the cartridge 7.62 × 25 under the designation "7.62-mm pistol cartridge" P "mod. 1930". Unofficially, this weapon began to be called TT (Tulsky Tokarev), later this name was assigned to it.

The Tokarev pistol combines the design features of various systems: the Browning bore locking scheme used in the famous M1911, the FN Browning model 1903 design and the 7.63mm Mauser cartridge. At the same time, the pistol has original design solutions - the combination of the trigger mechanism in a separate single block - a 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, the function of which was performed only by the safety cocking of the trigger. Automation works according to the scheme of using recoil with a short barrel stroke. Locking is carried out using a falling barrel. Two lugs located on the outer upper side of the barrel in front of the chamber enter the corresponding grooves made in the inner surface of the shutter-casing. The lowering of the breech of the barrel occurs by means of an eyelet, the axis of the eyelet is pivotally connected to the barrel, and to the frame - the axis of the slide stop. The trigger mechanism of the hammer type, single action, with a safety cocked trigger. When setting the trigger on the safety platoon, the shutter-casing is also blocked.

The direction of feeding the cartridge from the magazine to the chamber in the TT pistol is carried out by the guide surfaces of the protrusions of the trigger block, which increases the reliability of chambering if the bent upper edges of the side walls of the neck of the magazine box would be damaged. On the left side of the frame there is a slide delay lever, on the right side there is a split slide delay spring that fixes it and is used to disassemble the weapon. Magazine latch, located at the base of the trigger guard, on the left side of the frame. Sights consist of an unregulated front sight, made as part of a shutter-casing and a rear sight fixed in a dovetail groove with the possibility of making lateral corrections. A box magazine with a single-row arrangement of cartridges in the side walls has holes for visual determination of their number. These holes are staggered, seven on the right and six on the left. The angle of the handle is 102°. The cheeks of the handle are plastic, with a large notch. The cheeks of early release pistols are fully grooved. In 1935 pistols with brown cheeks were produced. Later, with the exception of wooden ones, only black cheeks were made. On the cheeks of a later issue, in the center, there is a five-pointed star with a stylized inscription "USSR". The weapon was made of carbon steel. The surfaces were treated by oxidation.

Production of the Tokarev pistol began in 1930 at the Tula Arms Plant. In 1930 - 1932 several thousand were manufactured, while in 1932 - 1933. a number of changes were made to the design of the pistol in order to improve the manufacturability of production: the lugs of the barrel were now turned by turning, and not milled as before; the frame was made in one piece, without a removable handle cover; the uncoupler and trigger pull were modified. In this form, the mass production of Tokarev pistols began in 1933, and the pistol was adopted under the name “7.62-mm self-loading pistol mod. 1933". The Red Army received a modern personal weapon - a self-loading pistol, created on the basis of the best design solutions, with sufficiently high combat and service-operational qualities.

Nevertheless, the Nagan revolver, the Tokarev pistol, which was in service with the Red Army, which was in service with the Red Army, was trouble-free in operation and accurate in shooting, at the same time had an unacceptably low rate of fire and low stopping effect of the bullet of the used cartridge, the Tokarev pistol still could not be produced in parallel with the "7, 62 mm Nagant revolver mod. 1895 until the end of World War II. The production of a pistol either decreased or increased in volume. In 1941, in connection with the advance of German troops to Tula, the USSR government decided to transfer the production of Tokarev pistols to the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant. However, after the evacuation of the equipment, the Tula gunsmiths were able to establish a small-scale production of pistols, repairing obsolete machines and tools, as well as repairing old pistols coming from the front. After stopping the offensive of the Wehrmacht near Moscow, production at the Tula Arms Plant was restored within a few months. Pistols produced during the war years were distinguished by poor workmanship and surface treatment, as well as wooden handle cheeks. The post-war production of Tokarev pistols was carried out at the Tula and Izhevsk factories.

TT received its baptism of fire in 1938-1939. in the battles at Khalkhin Gol and near Lake Khasan, and then used during the Soviet-Finnish "Winter" war of 1939-1940. During the years of the participation of the USSR in the Second World War, Tokarev pistols were most widely used in all branches of the Red Army. In the Finnish army, captured TTs were used until the end of the 1950s. They can be distinguished by the brand with the letters "SA" in a rectangle located on the left side of the frame, above the butt plate of the handle. In the Wehrmacht, Tokarev pistols were in service as weapons of a limited standard under the designation Pistole 615 (r) and were available mainly in the rear and security units of the Wehrmacht and the police. TT pistols, along with other samples of Soviet small arms, were used in the Russian national armies of the RONA, the 1st RNA, the Russian Corps and the KONR Armed Forces operating on the side of the Third Reich, as well as in various formations of the SS Troops consisting of Slavs and Cossacks. It should be clarified here that out of approximately 1.24 million citizens of the USSR in parts of the Wehrmacht from 1940 to 1945. about 400,000 Russians and 250,000 Ukrainians served, fighting against the Bolshevik terror. After the war, in 1946, the production technology was improved again. The shutter-casing of the modernized pistol has a corrugated notch, instead of alternating large and small grooves, but this year pistols with a large alternating notch were also produced. Production continued until the end of 1953. Total from 1930 to 1953. about 1,740,000 pistols were produced, of which about 4,700 were pistols of the 1930 model. In the armed forces of the USSR, the Tokarev pistol was used until the 1970s.

Incomplete disassembly of the TT

In the course of combat use, Tokarev's weapons demonstrated high combat qualities. The pistol has a high penetrating effect of a bullet and a long firing range, as well as high accuracy of firing at long distances, which is due to a flat flight path and a high muzzle velocity. The weapon has a small width, in the absence of strongly protruding parts. Placing the trigger in a separate unit greatly facilitates the care of weapons and eliminates the risk of losing small parts. Ease of handling is ensured by a single-acting trigger. Such a trigger is optimal for pistols used in real combat operations, as it has the simplest principle of operation and design. But there were also shortcomings. The constant tension of the mainspring with the trigger put on the safety platoon leads to its gradual draft and a reduction in survivability. Weak fixation of the magazine with a latch, which leads to its spontaneous loss. Over time, the earring wears out, which leads to delays in firing. The possibility of breaking the sear, in case of severe wear, when the pistol falls on the trigger, set to the safety cock, which entails a spontaneous shot if the cartridge is in the chamber. The small angle of inclination of the handle does not provide the accuracy of "instinctive" aiming when shooting offhand. Due to the reduced quality of the steel, wartime weapons could only withstand 700 to 800 shots without failure.

To ensure reliable operation of the weapon, it is necessary to store the pistol with the trigger released and without a cartridge in the chamber, replace the magazine latch spring with a stronger one, and when disassembling, before separating the slide delay, you must first separate the barrel guide sleeve and unload the return spring, which prolongs its service life . Pistols manufactured at the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant in the period from 1947 to 1953 are considered the most reliable and of the best workmanship. This circumstance is explained by the well-established production technology and a significant reduction in the output plan. TTs produced at the Tula Arms Plant before the USSR entered World War II also possessed high quality. High-quality samples withstand up to 10,000 shots. Despite the adoption of the Makarov pistol in 1951, the TT was in service with the Soviet army until the early 1960s, and in law enforcement until the mid-1970s. Currently, TT is used in the police, VOKhR-e, hunting supervision, fish supervision and other organizations, as well as by operatives of special forces groups.

The Tokarev pistol and its modifications after the Second World War became widespread throughout the world. Their production was established in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Romania, China, North Korea, Vietnam and Iraq. Pistols designed by Tokarev were in service with more than 35 countries around the world. These weapons have participated in every major and minor armed conflict throughout the 20th century and continue to be used in modern warfare areas. The wide popularity of the TT is a result of a combination of its low cost, high combat qualities, as well as ease of handling and maintenance. The opinion of an employee of a special unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation with extensive combat experience about the TT: “A lot has been said about him, quite a bit can be added. More suitable for military use when it is on alert. For its relatively small size, one of the most powerful pistols in the world. And it is much more pleasant to the touch, for example, PYa and all sorts of Glocks. Completely unsuitable for urban shooting and self-defense. The large penetrating power of the bullet and the lack of self-cocking can lead to prison (right through and into a random passerby) or to the cemetery (you need to have time to cock the trigger).” Karden

The main and most attractive for both special forces soldiers, and for shooting enthusiasts and weapon collectors, is the powerful 7.62 × 25 TT cartridge, originally created for the C-96 “pistol-carbine” and having a very high penetrating action for a pistol cartridge. bullets and good ballistic qualities - the bullet has a flat flight path, which facilitates aiming when firing at long distances. When using cartridges with high-performance expansion bullets, such as Wolf Gold JHP, the stopping effect is also significantly increased. It is the shooting of these cartridges that is the highlight of the TT, along with the ascetic design and simplicity. The wide popularity of variants under 9mm Parabellum is explained by the lower distribution of 7.62 × 25 TT cartridges and their greater cost than 9 mm cartridges. Currently, the TT pistol is consistently in demand among fans of shooting from military weapons in the United States and Europe. The largest producer is China, leading large-scale exports. But the disadvantage of Chinese weapons is the lower quality compared to European ones. TTs produced in Serbia are not limited to using only 7.62x25 TT and 9mm Parabellum cartridges, but are also chambered for other popular pistol cartridges.

One of the best pistols based on the TT design is certainly the M57, created in Yugoslavia by Zastava and currently produced by Zastava Arms (Zastava oružje) for export to various countries of the world, including Western Europe and the United States of America. Compared to the Tokarev pistol, the design of the M57 has a number of changes that have significantly improved the ergonomics and safety of handling weapons. The most important change was the flag fuse, when turned on, the blocking trigger mechanism and the shutter-casing. Its oversized lever is very easy to handle and makes it easy to bring the weapon to full combat readiness even when it is drawn. In addition, the handle was lengthened, which increased the capacity of the magazine by one round, and the magazine latch was enlarged. In 1990, the Hungarian T-58 pistol, a modernized version of the Tokagypt 58, entered the international arms market. This weapon has ergonomic grip cheeks, like the P.38, and a safety lever on the left side of the frame. The pistol uses 9mm Parabellum and 7.62×25 TT cartridges. The kit includes 9mm and 7.62mm barrels and matching magazines. The T-58 is the most advanced version of the TT. The weapon itself, created by Fedor Tokarev, still has great potential for modernization.

Variants and modifications

7.62 mm self-loading pistol mod. 1930- the first serial modification, only in 1930-1933. no more than 93 thousand pieces were produced.

(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 June 22, 1941, about 600,000 TT pistols had entered service with the Red Army.

7.62 mm training self-loading pistol mod. 1933- a training version of the Tokarev pistol, produced before the war. It differed from the combat one only in carbolite cheeks, painted green (and not black). The letters "UCH" were embossed next to the serial number.

7.62 mm self-loading pistol mod. 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 mod. 1933(post-war issue)

Sports weapon

Tokarev Sportowy- a Polish-made sports pistol chambered for a small-caliber cartridge .22 Long Rifle with liners in the form of a standard chamber chambered for 7.62 × 25 mm.

in the 1950s in the USSR on the basis of TT was created sports and training pistol R-3 under a small-caliber 5.6-mm cartridge, which had a free shutter.

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

Traumatic weapon

Based on the pistol, several variants of traumatic civilian self-defense weapons have been developed.

VPO-501 "Leader"- "barrelless" traumatic pistol chambered for 10 × 32 mm T. Designed and produced since 2005 by the Vyatka-Polyansky machine-building plant "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 11.43 × 32 mm T. Developed by the Vyatka-Polyansky machine-building plant "Hammer".

TT-T- a traumatic pistol chambered for 10 × 28 mm T. Developed and produced at OJSC Zavod im. V. A. Degtyarev. On sale since 2011. It has structural differences from the combat TT: barrel with removed rifling; there is one partition-pin in the channel, which prevents the firing of a solid object.

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 to create a modern self-loading pistol capable of replacing the Nagan revolver in service with the Soviet Army, model 1895, by that time obsolete and low-power, and also to replace a number of pistols purchased abroad for the needs of the Soviet Army. Among the self-loading models 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 heavy 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 a license for the above cartridge from the German company Mauser, 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 doubtful, and was widely used as a personal weapon of officers, intended 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 must be admitted that the TT pistol was never and was not considered a good weapon, but for lack of an alternative, the military could only get this pistol. 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. An external distinguishing feature of 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 used a block trigger system, 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 ejecting the spent cartridge case. On the return stroke, 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 an accidental shot was prevented by a disconnector and a special groove for setting the trigger on the safety cock. 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 is known, had a huge influence on the military leadership of the country at that time, forbade equipping a new Soviet pistol with such an automatic fuse. He explained the reason by the fact that once during the Civil War, when the “whites” were chasing him, he turned back, sitting on a 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 casing of the shutter, there are sights (front sight and rear sight), an ejector window, a groove for placing the ejector, notches for convenient retention of the shutter 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 a sufficiently strong blow to the striker.

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 drawback lies in the relatively small caliber of the bullet, its shape and high muzzle velocity, 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 a legendary pistol of its time, tested 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.