Questions on purchasing a TT33 (also a CZ-82)

[Morbus]

Hey All,

I know that many, many countries besides the soviet union manufactured versions of the TT33. I was curious if anybody had any recommendations on which country of origin and/or manufacturing years I should look for? I found a site that is selling arsenally refurbished romanian ones: http://www.aimsurplus.com/acatalog/Romanian_TT-33_7.62x25_Pistol.html
I am not quite sure what specifically "arsenally refurbished" means, but I may just be a noob on this one.

Also, on the huge off chance that somebody may know, is there anywhere that I could obtain a lefty holster for the TT33 (as I am a lefty shooter), purchased either with or separately from the pistol? [The above mentioned site does not have lefty holsters].

On a less important note, I found a site to purchase a CZ-82 (same as above) and I emailed them about having a lefty holster (which they do). The site is: http://www.aimsurplus.com/acatalog/Czech_CZ-82_9x18_Pistol.html
If anyone has has a good experience with these people or would recommend a different site, let me know.

Thanks

 

[Guy de Loimbard]

If you purchase the CZ-82, you may also want to consider buying a new recoil spring for it. I had to for mine because after about 500 rounds the trigger guard broke (a weak recoil spring was allowing the slide to batter the trigger guard latch too hard). This may not apply if you happen to get one in new enough condition.

 

[Morbus]

Any idea on whether going after a more expensive, 9 round Yugoslavian one is worth it? For some reason the Yugo one isn't C&R while all other TT33s are.

 

[azyogi]

9 round yugo [Zastava?]
recoil spring is captured [has guide rod, easier to get back together]
has slide mounted safty as well as locking sear rolls a cam over firing pin
9 round mag is +1 but hard to find extra/replacments, better grip with longer mag well
is slender easy to grip/conceal due to single stack design
sights are dismal, I replaced mine with ones meant for a glock.
the slide can get loose on frame after 20K to 30K rounds through it this can be tightened up by any good gunsmith.
I've had my zastava since the late 80's would not part with it.
hope this helps you morbus

 

[southpaw.nc]

I think the Yugo TT33 (actually, an M57) are a better to get than the other TT-33s as they have a safety that is not hideously useless. Actually I believe the exact same safety was used on a later 9mm model, so it was easy to retrofit to the M57, and was actually DESIGNED as opposed to SLAPPED ON.

The best option of course would be a bringback with no safety, though it will cost you a pretty penny

 

[paradox998]

I recently bought a CZ82 from AIM. I am very pleased with the gun and customer service was very good.

 

[Shadow 7D]

You want to buy the police trade in holster, I believe the army holster is ambi, just which way the gun is turned, SOG shipped me a left and right holster when I bought my guns from them.

 

[Lakeshore]

Morbus, if you go with an arsenal refurbished TT-33 be careful with cleaning materials until you determine what effect they'll have on the finish.

I've seen two recent instances where a popular over the counter bore cleaner and diluted ammonia (widely used for clean up after shooting corrosive ammo) lifted the finish right off a TT-33. The Romanians in particular sometimes have an arsenal refinish that is similar to the spray paint you'd use on you BBQ grill. You can clean the barrel separately from the rest of the gun with no problem, but cleaning the breech face area is where stuff can spill over onto the finish. Just my 2 cents.

 

[makarovnik]

Polish, Romanian or Yugos are about all I can find lately. They are all good and a BLAST to shoot. Big blue muzzle flame low recoil and powerful. We just need more ammo choices for that round.