lsudave
Member
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2007
- Messages
- 1,042
I just completed this little project, something I'd thought about doing but had never gotten around to it. Due to current ammo shortages and prices, I decided it was finally time.
Brief background- I have a Norinco T-54 that I got NIB at a gunshow decades ago; it was my first purchased handgun. It came in 9mm, has 9mm stamped on the slide. Has a 9mm barrel, the original magazines are fullsize Tokarev with spacers at the rear of the mag. This is different from the Model 213, which has a spacer in the magwell and smaller mags. The ejection port is large enough to eject a 7.62 casing easily, you can drop a full 9mm round in, it's not QUITE long enough to place a loaded 7.62 with bullet in unless you go at a slight angle.
The gun was imported by Sportarms Miami, Fl, the marking are nicely engraved, and not just a cheap stamp of dots.
The gun, as puchased, had the wraparound Tokagypt grips. Many years ago I replaced them with "correct" panels. A little over a year or so ago, I replaced them again, with a set of fairly crude handcarved Russian TT-33 wooden grips that someone on Gunboards had listed. They ain't Hogues, but they're attractive if you like wood, they're correct to the model, ... and I like 'em.
It retains the cheapo rear safety on the frame that was required by import. No big funky thing by the trigger like on the Polish or Romanians. As a lefty, those always bugged me.
I missed out on the ultra-cheap surplus ammo, by the time I started looking into a conversion to 7.62 it was still cheaper to shoot bulk 9mm. It kinda makes me cringe that I missed out, but no use crying over spilt milk, as they say. I remember looking back when we could still buy stuff from Canada (Marstar), at one point I was on the phone with them talking about ordering a barrel. I had this gun since I had dialup internet...
Anyway, I decided on looking into converting this again, due to current ammo shortages and prices. 9x19 is no longer 16-20 cents a round, and you're pretty lucky if you can find it for sale. Tokarev ammo is not cheap either, but it hasn't skyrocketed to the extent 9mm has. I think new manufacture had been going around 40 ct around... I came across some surplus for around that price.
*note: this isn't a "you should have bought more 9mm" reaction. I have several cases tucked away. I have a full case of Gold Dot, and plenty of range, both brass and steel, and I have aluminum too btw.
THIS is more of a "what if we don't see any 9mm" hypothetical... I have .45 acp, 9x18 Makarov, .32 acp. I DIDN'T have any Tokarev ammo or a firearm capable of shooting it. It DOES come and go, sometimes in bulk surplus. I decided I would add the caliber to the mix, in order to increase my odds of finding usable ammo.
Final notes- the Norinco seems to have been a solid interchange option. The external diameter of the 9mm barrel matches the 7.62 barrel I found (Hungarian, from Numrich). It did not come with a link or pin, but I had an extra 9mm barrel from somewhere in the past; so I took the pin and link from that. I did not need to change barrel bushings. I already had standard Tok mags, they run fine with either rd. Recoil spring was fine, extractor is fine. In order to swap from 9mm to 7.62 and back, all I need to do is remove the slide, swap the barrels, replace the slide. Accuracy- acceptable for me- standing at 10 yds, I could "group" into an ammo box without trouble. If there's a different point of aim between the two rds, I didn't notice it.
Brief background- I have a Norinco T-54 that I got NIB at a gunshow decades ago; it was my first purchased handgun. It came in 9mm, has 9mm stamped on the slide. Has a 9mm barrel, the original magazines are fullsize Tokarev with spacers at the rear of the mag. This is different from the Model 213, which has a spacer in the magwell and smaller mags. The ejection port is large enough to eject a 7.62 casing easily, you can drop a full 9mm round in, it's not QUITE long enough to place a loaded 7.62 with bullet in unless you go at a slight angle.
The gun was imported by Sportarms Miami, Fl, the marking are nicely engraved, and not just a cheap stamp of dots.
The gun, as puchased, had the wraparound Tokagypt grips. Many years ago I replaced them with "correct" panels. A little over a year or so ago, I replaced them again, with a set of fairly crude handcarved Russian TT-33 wooden grips that someone on Gunboards had listed. They ain't Hogues, but they're attractive if you like wood, they're correct to the model, ... and I like 'em.
It retains the cheapo rear safety on the frame that was required by import. No big funky thing by the trigger like on the Polish or Romanians. As a lefty, those always bugged me.
I missed out on the ultra-cheap surplus ammo, by the time I started looking into a conversion to 7.62 it was still cheaper to shoot bulk 9mm. It kinda makes me cringe that I missed out, but no use crying over spilt milk, as they say. I remember looking back when we could still buy stuff from Canada (Marstar), at one point I was on the phone with them talking about ordering a barrel. I had this gun since I had dialup internet...
Anyway, I decided on looking into converting this again, due to current ammo shortages and prices. 9x19 is no longer 16-20 cents a round, and you're pretty lucky if you can find it for sale. Tokarev ammo is not cheap either, but it hasn't skyrocketed to the extent 9mm has. I think new manufacture had been going around 40 ct around... I came across some surplus for around that price.
*note: this isn't a "you should have bought more 9mm" reaction. I have several cases tucked away. I have a full case of Gold Dot, and plenty of range, both brass and steel, and I have aluminum too btw.
THIS is more of a "what if we don't see any 9mm" hypothetical... I have .45 acp, 9x18 Makarov, .32 acp. I DIDN'T have any Tokarev ammo or a firearm capable of shooting it. It DOES come and go, sometimes in bulk surplus. I decided I would add the caliber to the mix, in order to increase my odds of finding usable ammo.
Final notes- the Norinco seems to have been a solid interchange option. The external diameter of the 9mm barrel matches the 7.62 barrel I found (Hungarian, from Numrich). It did not come with a link or pin, but I had an extra 9mm barrel from somewhere in the past; so I took the pin and link from that. I did not need to change barrel bushings. I already had standard Tok mags, they run fine with either rd. Recoil spring was fine, extractor is fine. In order to swap from 9mm to 7.62 and back, all I need to do is remove the slide, swap the barrels, replace the slide. Accuracy- acceptable for me- standing at 10 yds, I could "group" into an ammo box without trouble. If there's a different point of aim between the two rds, I didn't notice it.
