Gun Shop Find: $100 Tokarev!

[Apple a Day]

I'll say up front that I never get this lucky. Mostly, if it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all.

I am, however, stubborn and a commie gun fan. I have kept my eyes open for a decent Tokarev to sandwich between my Nagant revolver and my Makarovs. The ones I've seen the last few years have been either a)in horrible shape and/or b)grossly overpriced.

So I stopped by a local pawn shop just to poke around. What to my wondering eyes appear but a Chinese Type 213 (9x19mm Tokarev) which looked to be in really good shape. So, I chat with the guy behind the counter and ask him to let me handle it. The price tag said $199 so I figured I could haggle him down a bit.

After chatting with the guy a few minutes he leans in a little and in a softer voice says that he can drop the price to $125 including tax and background check but didn't want to advertise that he's selling guns for a C-note because of the part of town and the clientelle that tended to frequent the joint. It wasn't the kind of reputation the place needed. He'd fired a few rounds with the gun when it came in and it worked fine.
SOLD! said I. It came with a case and cleaning tool. I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Okay, some of you may be rolling your eyes and thinking "Big whoop. I'm underwhelmed. You could knock me over with a freight train. You could buy a stick for cheap but it's still just a stick." It ain't the latest plastic fantastic but it's got a certain style. I started shooting with old commie surplus guns and they seem to fit me both in body shape and personality. We're not old... we're retro!

The purists among you may be groaning, "But Apple, it's just a Chinese copy and not even in 7.62x25mm! Blasphemy! Sin! You must go and fire 70 rounds of the really stinky Nagant target ammo in penance!" Well, I don't need another caliber. I got rid of my CZ-52 partly because it was tough to find decent ammo for it. I already have 9x19 and enjoy shooting it. So there.

So, yesterday was a good gun day. When I get a chance maybe I'll do a quick range report. I plan to replacing the springs and putting a dab of flourescent paint on the sights (standard procedures with most of my milsurp handguns). Other than that, she's staying ugly in that distinctive kind of way.

Here's hoping y'all find treasures in unexpected places and all the smiles that go with them.

 

[woad_yurt]

I own one of them. Wait'll you go shoot that thing. It's target gun accurate. I bought one because it was cheap and I flipped when I shot it. It was magnificent. You did well for $125. Don't listen to anyone who poo-poos a Norinco. Good find.

 

[plexreticle]

I have a norico tocky in 9mm. I really like it.

 

[SeanSw]

I passed on one for about $110 a few months ago. It didn't look like much, but it was a 9mm tokarev for a C-note! Still kicking myself a little.

 

[Mastiff]

I bought two of this in 1992. One is still in the safe, I'll start shooting it when this one dies. I have 55,000+ rounds through it with absolutely no problems. It is the most accurate and reliable pistol I own. It is also easy to convert to fire 9x23 Winchester or 38 Super if you ever desire to do so.

 

[Texastbird]

I got my 2 boys a couple of these for Christmas years ago when I couldn't afford much else, and they turned out to be real nice accurate shooters. They still have them and one of them gets used fairly often.

 

[Mike_In_BC]

I have a norinco and a russian tok I bought both for 150 bucks canadian each a couple of years ago. I love my norinco, it came with a 7.62 barrel, three 7.62 mags, a 9mm barrel and three 9mm mags that have a kind of spacer to put the case farther forward. It works fine in 9mm with the 7.62 mags so I don't know why they bothers to make special mags for 9mm.

Sometimes people at the range laugh at my norinco, "Where did'ya get that little toy? Out of a crackerjack box?"

 

[theotherwaldo]

My first Norinco 213 was a found gun, from the Black Warrior River within the grounds of the University of Alabama. The gun had probably hit the water the night before and was still pristine, just lightly freckled on the backstrap. Loaded, of course.

I took it and the rest of the day's finds home, made the usual calls to the three local police departments, and started cleaning the guns.

This was my first Tokarev, so it took me a while to figure out how to get the grips off. After that, a quick simmer in the suds, rinse, bake, and oil wipedown, assembly in the bunker corner, pop in the clip, pull back the slide, and B-Bang! Two neat new holes in the pine backstop.

Not just a slam-fire, but a double.

That's why the gun was in the river, I guess.

Still have the gun, still malfunctioning. The leaf spring that resets the interruptor is too weak and doesn't always catch the sear.

I tried to get parts for it, but that landed me in hot water with the FBI. But that's another story... .

Anyway, I've got three other Toks and like them all.

Fun guns, but watch the metallurgy!

 

[blkbrd666]

Okay, so where do we go to read the other story about getting parts and trouble with the FBI?

 

[theotherwaldo]

Right here.

 

[hillbenny]

[theotherwaldo My first Norinco 213 was a found gun, from the Black Warrior River within the grounds of the University of Alabama. The gun had probably hit the water the night before and was still pristine, just lightly freckled on the backstrap. Loaded, of course.

/QUOTE]


so just out of curiosity, how many guns does one find in the river down there,
im gonna quit buying guns and just go for a swim.

 

[theotherwaldo]

I found eight salvageable guns at that one site while attending graduate school at the U of A. It was the remaining bank of what had been a navigation lock and dam. I started out looking for materials to be used in found-object sculptures, but I didn't complain too much when the occasional gun came to the surface.
I found most of this stuff using large magnets salvaged from the damaged lids of restaurant trash cans at the buffet where I worked as a cook.

I found another a few hundred yards downstream, sticking out of a sand bank in about 3 inches of water. A nice S&W .357 mag. I found the owner and got it back to him. His wife threw it in the river. I found this one when kayaking. Had a dickens of a time hand-walking that kayak over that super-soft sand bank!

 

[old_ironsights]

Ya did good.

An inexpensive Tok is still a well made, accurate and dependable weapon. When it's in 7.62x25, add 'formidable' to those adjectives.

 

[Huddog]

I'da bought it.

 

[Moonclip]

Hope it works out for you, I've had the worst luck with Chinese 9mm Tokarevs.

The price was good though, $100 was the sale price in my area in 1994.

 

[Mp7]

i´d really love on of those.