Thanks for watching everyone, I didn't want to go too deep on this one so didn't get specific with variants, perhaps I should have - perhaps that's a topic for a future video. Hope you found the video interesting! Here's the accompanying article - armourersbench.com/2023/03/26/vintage-weapons-in-a-modern-war-the-tt-33-pistol-in-ukraine/ thanks - Matt
@@oskng Zato je i jeftina. Cude se sto se jos koristi TT-33, a ne cude se Colu 1911. Svako oruzje koje je ispravno naci ce svoju namjenu. Pa i samostrijel je napravljen pre 500 godina pa jos moze naci svoju namjenu.
I knew an elderly Portuguese bakery owner that shot a felon with a TT-33 during a robbery attempt. He told that captured the Tokarev from an insurgent when serving the Portuguese Army in Angola.
I met a pole that shortly after WW2 when he was a teen he found one and got sent to the gulag for it. No wonder he moved to America as soon as he could
An anecdotal story i heard from someone who saw it happen firsthand: during a shredding of illegal guns, some 10 years ago, nearly 10 000 weapons of various type (AKs, makarovs, TTs - so you can get a figure of whereabouts in the world it took place) were sent through a metal shredder that handles the toughest of cars and even armor grade steel. The AKs and makarovs were all shredded in the first pass, some TTs however went through 5 times until the shredder was deemed ineffective for them. While mildly deformed and compressed, with effort and some loosening, the action still worked - a gas cutter was brought out to finish off the remaining dozen or so TTs. The person i heard this story from even has one of the slightly bent, torch cut TTs on his on his shelf as a reminder. I've seen it and it really does look like it could cycle the action if not for the melting that fused the barrel, slide and frame together.
Another interesting thing to note about the soldier at 5:57 with a TT in a Cytac holster: the sight on his AK appears to be a 2.5x ACOG taken off of an NLAW and remounted in a 1913 mount on his rifle.
I like that the T33 is easily used with one hand. Apparently the designer lost an arm and he wanted his design to be operated with one hand and you can rack back the slide on your boot or a desk. This is good if you have a bad habit of breaking fingers.
The TT is the perfect weapon for war conditions and as a secondary weapon it is brilliant!!! The only downside is that it holds a few bullets that's why you stuff the frame nicely into your backpack and solve that problem too!!! I have an Zastava M57 and I would never trade it for a Glok, never!!! Greetings from Serbia 🇷🇸
Jesi pucao iz Gloka ds vidis kako je to dobar pistolj pouzdan i precizan pozdrav iz 72 Specjalne brigade javim kad budem pucao iz M 57 a pucao sam i CZ99 veruj mi Glok 17 gen4 i CZ 99 Velika razlika u svemu
A gunsmith/machinist friend of mine picked up several of these a few years back when they were super cheap. He converted some to .38 Super and some to 9x23mm Winchester and had them magnaported. Sweet shooters!
TT is incredibly popular in Yugoslavia and it's also ridiculously inexpensive. NWOT examples can be found for 50-100 USD. People like it because it's slim and because it fits easily.
Pa bas i nije popularna, nego je stvar u tome da "tetki" ima na bacanje, pa ju je jeftinije i jednostavnije za kupiti, nego bilo koji drugi pistolj. Ako cemo iskreno, dali bi prije nosio "tetku" koja je teska kao vrag ili bilo koji noviji pistolj? A da ne pricamo jos o samoj preciznosti.
@@oskng Zavisi sta nosim od odeće i da li očekujem da će da mi treba X) Kratak odgovor - naravno da ne, kao civil E sada, da sam u JNA-ekvivalentu i da biram izmedju nje, koju neću da upotrebim i težeg i debljeg CZ-99, koji takodje neću da upotrebim - daj TT... Za sebe i za ne-daj-Bože, HS-kompakt. Razumno lagan, brdo municije, i kočnica kao na 1911.
Those old water cooled machine guns fire longer than any air cooled gun. One was tested in WW1. It fired non stop for two days straight. It still functioned after the test. Drawback is that their heavy as hell.
@@patrickshaw8595 Lol, imagine thinking a little water condensation is gonna give away your position but the 250 round belt of 7.62x54R that you just ripped off isn't. It's like the Garand Ping meme all over.
There’s tons of these in Canada. Before out increasingly authoritarian government restricted pistols it was a very common first pistol because it was so cheap.
7.62X25 in general is better versus soft armor than 9mm, that somebody is using A Tokarev or CZ-52 does not necessarily mean they got the leftover or cast off handgun. You can easily find videos on YT of regular old FMJ 7.62X25 cutting through body armor with consistency.
7.62x25 Tokarev will go through cold war era flak vests and some soft Lvl 2 armour, but it will have trouble penetrating 3A reliably at anything besides point blank and will absolutely not penetrate hard plates. I somewhat doubt that people are consciously picking TT-33’s because it might be able to penetrate some lower level soft armour.
Russian special forces, ie. those who are most likely to use handguns, all use 9x19mm pistols. Either the MP-443 Grach or Glocks, depending on budget. Very rarely you see a PM in 9x18mm, but never pistols in 7.62x25mm.
@@MaxwellAerialPhotography If you were to compare it with 1911, then 7.62x25 gives you way better penetration, somewhat weaker recoil and smaller size of bullet compared to 45 ACP. If not for a fact that TT-33 is old soviet design with no possibility of modding it as much as most of modern 9x19 pistols and damn heavy trigger pull (tried it, enough hard to make you think that you got a jam before it fires if you try it for first time) then round itsself is closer to ones used in PDW-s and not most common pistols and that diffrence makes it able to penetrate things such as years old russian made kevlar helmets.
The tt33 and all clones are truly underrated. One of the finest handguns ever made for simplicity and reliability. More importantly: 7.62x25 is an incredible pistol cartridge. I am so disappointed a modern Glock style pistol is not available in the USA in that cartridge. It really should be.
@@glennredwine289 it is. 7.62x25 is substantially better, only negative is the OAL of 7.62x25. But that’s not a big deal if you have medium to large hands.
I used to mail order East Bloc surplus 7.62.25 TOK for about 8 cents a round. Sure, some of their necks were "cracked" but hey, you can't beat that pricing!
Ive got a t33 and i love it, it was the most powerful pistol cartridge till they made the 357 mag and its compact enough to easlily sit in a ar mag pouch
There's a school of thought that says to use the weapon that you're most familiar with and have confidence in. It's a classic bit of robust Soviet engineering, and seems to be extensively used in training. So its popularity seems well founded on that score. I suspect with issue FMJ ammo it would marginally out-perform 9mm on soft body armour due to the projectiles' higher speed and smaller cross-section, and that would be interesting to see under controlled conditions.
In Canada we also use an ancient sidearm in the form of the Browning HI Power, it's not because we inherited old stocks or something though we just suck at military procurement.
@@ElfRightsActivist Yeah Hi Powers are great but most of the ones we have are literal WW2 relics that may or may not function. They could sell them on the open market and have enough to buy everyone in service a glock with optics.
@jc 123 both are reliable in my experience. The makarov is easy to disassemble and clean in comparison. But I'd wager 99% of the population would preform better with a tokarev
@@jc-xb8ve I live here in the states and only have, at the moment, a Romanian TT33 that I've carried for almost three years. Using PPU 85gr JHP rds, the Tokarev has absolutely been reliable as well as safe when at half cock. The very few issues, if any that I have had were with a second mag. It took a little breaking in but now that mag has gotten reliable now. And I trust the pistol carrying with a round in chamber. There has been a few times that the gun was dropped but nothing ever happened. The TT33 has, at least the Romanian version anyway, a firing pin with a spring that keeps it from protruding out the front. So a drop should not really set that round off. Somebody needs to do some crazy tests to confirm that like very high drops with a primer only round in chamber.
Mosin Nagants, DP28, Tokarev pistols or Maxim MG at great scale... nearly or more than 100 years yet they are still in use. I think that only these live long use was only achieved by muzzle loaders when it comes to fire arms; thats something to think of...
these weapons being so long living for the conflict is down to mostly two factors: -due to the need of being able to mobilise huge armies in times of war, the soviet army stockpiled a lot of weapons over the years, and a good machine gun or automatic pistol never really becomes obsolete, these stocks remained in post soviet times as largely forgotten about and the difficulty of selling old guns (most civilian markets won't take them, and potential military customers aren't interested in nearly 100 year old guns) -specifically for the Maxim and DinnerPlate, post soviet armies still use in fair amounts and got great stocks of 7.62x54R on hand due to guns like the PK, or the SVD Dragunov being in active service
The Russian/Soviet/Russian decision to keep the 7.62×54R as a service and machine gun cartridge for the past 130ish years has made it practical to field some of the equipment we've seen. And the TT-33 was made in enough quantities that I'd be more surprised if they weren't being used. Especially given how common they've become in other conflicts.
@@kanrakucheese One of the reasons the TT-33 was replaced by the PM is conscripts had a tendency to ND when reholstering SAO + no safety + conscription-based army = 💀
The DP28 LMG as well as the Tokarev TT33 are both still perfectly serviceable arms. They may lack a little modularity in comparison to more "modern" arms, but the firepower is there.
I would love a good in depth video about current Russian 9X39 weapon usage, I've seen such a hodgepodge of rifles/scopes/variations that it's tough to tell how much they being issued out.
Not much, there are 3 major unit types. Vdv snipers svds + vss or vsk, then their support units with ak-12 and val or a-94. Others are speznaz forces with various of 9x19 weapons.
So mad I didn't pick one of these up back in the day when they were super cheap. I've never gotten to handle one, I've heard it's just a 1911 clone. After watching the disassembly I can see why.
I was lucky enough to pickup a Chinese copy of TT33. The Norinco 213. It's exactly the same gun, except its chambered in 9mm. Purchased it new for $150 about 30 years ago. Still is a fun gun to shoot and being 9mm, ammo is easier to find & cheaper than 7.62x25.
It's an excellent round. Would be nice to have more modern pistols chambered in it. Th CZ 52 is certainly better, as it is designed for full power rounds, instead of TT loads, but it wears out somewhat quickly.
That cartridge is an absolute flame thrower. When I take mine out to the range my buddies are amazed at the muzzle blast. One of my friends has the ppsh to go with it. In a light carbine the 7.62x25 really shines.
old doesn't mean bad. another great example is that up until recently, the only sidearm issued to us troops was the m1911. It wasn't until a few years ago that they started the process of rolling out a new standard issue handgun and even then it hasn't been issued to most units yet. With that said, i think the old m1911 was better.
Nah, the 1911 is a real pain to field strip and clean. Fiddly, easy to lose small parts. And the swinging link locking the barrel is very old-school, modern Browning designs do away with it as it's a potential point of failure. The 1911 remains a fine handgun but time marches on and there are better options. But then I prefer the M9 to the M17 so I can see where you're coming from.
I really like my TT-33, only thing is the ability to find commercially produced ammo since the invasion of Ukraine. You can still find plenty of surplus ammo, but my range doesn’t allow steel core bullets. Until more commercial ammo reappears on the shelves, unfortunately my pistol is rendered to the status of “locker Queen”.
Most likely what they are carrying is Yugo surplus m57's made is the 60's-80's, copy of the original TT pistol. The m57 holds the extra round. The TT only holds 7 in the mag.
I use to see these old pistols by the crate load and barrels of old mosins nagants at gun shows and gun shops back in the late 80s till the mid 90s. You could get 3 for $100 or less! Ammo was cheap as dirt also, Good handgun even today.
This pistol might be old but it can still kill. And since pistols are only secondary weapons anyway there are for sure more urgent items to update then these. So my assessment is this is a prudent use of what is available.
@@americangangster1911 Bud, Tokarev can drop a man from 300 feet in a flat line shooting, 1911 can only dream of doing such stuff with it's bullet velocity and sight picture. TT by no means is a bad gun and it never was. Although I do agree you can do better as far as magazine capacity is concerned, sights and ergonomics, for the bullet penetration 7,62 x 25 was and still is the best bullet for body armor and bulletproof vests.
Those saying the TT is a hand-me-down gun. Maybe, but I'd take mine into battle over my Glock anyday for it's durability alone. Theres zero difference in reliability between it or something modern. Even if your recoil spring gets weak the 7.62 is such a high pressure round it just makes the gun run good. Great gun but an even better caliber. The M57 Yugo was the best variant. Had a better and longer grip giving 10 total rounds in the gun and an improved firing pin over the TT. Get one while you still can theres only about 250k of them ever made and even less still exist.
I like my TT 33 a wonderful pistol so easy to aim and shoot so accurate. It’s Romanian made 1953 the year I was born. I’m normally not a great shot because I have glasses, but I can consistently hit at 80 yards with this little piece one-handed. The speed is incredible and I’m told it will defeat a level two or three ballistic vest.
its a very good weapon i have 3 of these 1 is semi 7 shot and 2 are full auto one is 14 shot and 2nd is 20 shot and these are marvolous. shoots very well never jams even on cheap ammo
Used to have access to a norinco knockoff of TT-33. It’s not a terrible pistol and considering the amount pistols actually get used in a war zone does it really matter if you can mod it.
I own a tt-33, m-52, and m57 all in 7.62x25. Truly the caliber is outstanding. I consider it modern with quality magazines and some minor work on the sights.
I got a Chinese T54 Tokarev out of pure curiosity and after swapping the import safety trigger for a regular one it's actually a very pleasant gun to shoot. Good reliability, smaller than you would think, fits well in a pocket and safe enough when carried half cock. I wouldn't take it into battle over a Glock, but it is still a pretty ok option. Definitely better than the Makarov that replaced it.
"Boys from the forest" is one of my favorite new channels too. They have exhaustive features on virtually all the weapons being used in the conflict by Ukrainian Forces. I own a Romanian TTC and fell in love with the 7.62x25 round. Not only is it laser straight, it can defeat level 3 body armor, basically making it a poor man's Five seveN. Out of a 16" barrel, the ammo has rifle level terminal performance, making it a great alternative to a rifle or carbine.
UA Borderguards at the polish border sometimes wear the TT in decades old brown leather webbing along their black tactical jackets and other modern equipment. Excellent style.
4:30 : It's Captain Pikachu, aka Yurii Kochevenko ! Also, I don't see TT-33s in this video, but DD44 Dostoveis. *Ourumov's line before killing Mishkin in Goldeneye* : DUYU ?! It even spawned a glorious mod, OurumEye 64 !
see a lot of those "tt-33" are real however loads of them are yugoslavian zastava m57 which had improved the trigger mechanism and a lot of other problems that tt had
TT-33 is similar in design as Browning high power and 1911 type pistol. Anyone who have used the other two pistols will have little problem transit to TT-33.
I daily carry a compensated Tokarev, that I modified to run like a race gun. 9 + 1 with an extended mag base, and I carry hollow point ammunition loaded pretty hot. Expands very well. And this thing is a laser pointer. Absolute tack driver. Shoots point of aim out to 100 yd. And I've successfully put an entire mag on a 40-in target at 400 yards.
When all the talk is over people still go back to what works. i have a M70A & M88A 9mm pistols love them both. you just can't beat the old Tok's tough & reliable.
@@baneofbanes Literally the only issue even today with the TT-33 is the limited ammo capacity. That's it. The Vietnamese have fixed that problem with their proprietary double-stacked TT variant.
@@jakekaywell5972 yah that single stack magazine is a big fucking issue with the gun dude. Also it’s single action only, another big fucking issue. These things aren’t modern handguns dude.
Haven't really seen any that weren't taken from collectors collections yet. Maybe one or two very early. If you see some let me know. Thanks for watching!
@@TheArmourersBench British historian Mark Felton explained in his UA-cam video "WW2 Weapons Used in Ukraine War" that the PPD-40, PPSh-41, and PPS-43 have seen use by both Ukrainian reservists and pro-Russian separatists. There is even a photo of the PPS-43 being held by a Ukrainian soldier (Territorial Defense?) at the 4:18 mark of the video.
The Ukrainian conflict has really showed where there's a firearm and a will to defend one's country, there's definitely a way to still use it to some effect I'm surprised someone hasn't made some longer barrel, magazine, trigger unit, and stock(with a piece of pic rail to put a sight on)to make it into a PDW and used them as kits for the old TT-33s found, as that seems like it would be a great usage of one And something that would be totally easy to sell on the civilian market, be it in Ukraine or the US(sans trigger unit modification, besides maybe for a better trigger pull) Because at this point of you just make a chassis/magazine/FA trigger combo(maybe with a longer barrel)for any handgun, someone in Ukraine would 100% use it as a PDW and be showing pictures of it online
The TT33 was also a long-time favourite of the recently deceased "Da Vinci", commander of the 1st Battallion "Wolves of Da Vinci" (67th OMBr), before he replaced it first with a M9 in early `22, then later with a Glock.
6:04 Relatively newer MSV Gen 1 carrier US Army issue, most definitely not surplus. Was it apart of aid package, or a former service member of the US Army?
![The MP-443 [Grach / PYa] in Ukraine](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/p3HoKnyyCZ0/mqdefault.jpg)
![The MP-443 [Grach / PYa] in Ukraine](/img/tr.png)
Thanks for watching everyone, I didn't want to go too deep on this one so didn't get specific with variants, perhaps I should have - perhaps that's a topic for a future video. Hope you found the video interesting! Here's the accompanying article - armourersbench.com/2023/03/26/vintage-weapons-in-a-modern-war-the-tt-33-pistol-in-ukraine/ thanks - Matt
I thought you got the balance right
Hey can you make a video about the cadillac cage commando looks really interesting and not talked about
and the Colt 1911 is vintage, so it is still being produced and used
@@zeljkodejanovic8786 "tetka" i dalje radi svoj posao. Jedino sto je teska kao kamen
@@oskng Zato je i jeftina. Cude se sto se jos koristi TT-33, a ne cude se Colu 1911. Svako oruzje koje je ispravno naci ce svoju namjenu. Pa i samostrijel je napravljen pre 500 godina pa jos moze naci svoju namjenu.
I knew an elderly Portuguese bakery owner that shot a felon with a TT-33 during a robbery attempt. He told that captured the Tokarev from an insurgent when serving the Portuguese Army in Angola.
Sadly Portugal became a socialist, lazy, welfare, hellhole since 1975
Kool . Kinda .
That N!@@a surely regreted the day he stepped into the bakery, Lol!
gg
I met a pole that shortly after WW2 when he was a teen he found one and got sent to the gulag for it. No wonder he moved to America as soon as he could
The tokarev is a grossly underrated pistol. I love my m57. 7.62x25 is a great round.
The 7.62x25 is a hot round and the TT-33 seems rugged and reliable.
Like to get my hands on a Tokarev especially if it’s a new one from Zastava.
@@AlexKS1992apparently the older 1940s ones are crap
@@com3dian903 my 1953 Polish tokarev is a beast
@@com3dian903 90 year old springs and 70 years of Commie rule will ruin most things
over here in vietnam the tt33 is still the standard issue pistol but we've recently started to modify them to use double stack mag
Can you give me some more info about it
I wish someone would bring a double stack 7.62x25 to market in the US
@@johnharker7194 Norinco NP7.62 back in the day
Not a bad idea consider that 7.62x25 had a lot more potential in defeating body armor then 9mm
@@Miazger Search for K14-VN and yo will find what little information is available in english
TT is like a 1911 you can never go wrong they are still around for a reason and it isn’t just nostalgia
The Tokarev basically is a 1911, just designed to be cheaper to build.
An anecdotal story i heard from someone who saw it happen firsthand: during a shredding of illegal guns, some 10 years ago, nearly 10 000 weapons of various type (AKs, makarovs, TTs - so you can get a figure of whereabouts in the world it took place) were sent through a metal shredder that handles the toughest of cars and even armor grade steel. The AKs and makarovs were all shredded in the first pass, some TTs however went through 5 times until the shredder was deemed ineffective for them. While mildly deformed and compressed, with effort and some loosening, the action still worked - a gas cutter was brought out to finish off the remaining dozen or so TTs. The person i heard this story from even has one of the slightly bent, torch cut TTs on his on his shelf as a reminder. I've seen it and it really does look like it could cycle the action if not for the melting that fused the barrel, slide and frame together.
Tt33 is more like browning fn 1903
@@Pilvenuga Whoever authorized that should be locked away for life.
Destroying perfectly good & in some cases, historical firearms.
@@oldredcoonhound2182 Absolutely not. Based on what? the TT is absolutely a 1911 on the inside.
Another interesting thing to note about the soldier at 5:57 with a TT in a Cytac holster: the sight on his AK appears to be a 2.5x ACOG taken off of an NLAW and remounted in a 1913 mount on his rifle.
Yes I think you're right!!
Actual COD lobby of a war lmao
@@satagaming9144 Nah man, this is some Tarkov shit.
@@Calvin_Coolage The idea of someone just yanking an ACOG from an NLAW and putting it on an AK is definitely Tarkov-esque
You're correct why waste a good Acog on a single use NLAW you throw away afterwards
Great videos. Keep up the good work. The TT33 is an all steel classic and the 7.62 x25 does not lack authority.
I certainly will. Thanks for watching!
I'd sooner have an all steel, tried and tested pistol than a pos S&W.
I like that the T33 is easily used with one hand. Apparently the designer lost an arm and he wanted his design to be operated with one hand and you can rack back the slide on your boot or a desk. This is good if you have a bad habit of breaking fingers.
*TT33
@@kawaiiarchive357 You can edit comments.
Not if you are using a mobile ad blocker.
For a sidearm that's likely to be used in a hurry when your other hand is doing something else, that's a very important feature!
It should probably already be chambered before the situation you need to use it comes up.
The TT is the perfect weapon for war conditions and as a secondary weapon it is brilliant!!! The only downside is that it holds a few bullets that's why you stuff the frame nicely into your backpack and solve that problem too!!! I have an Zastava M57 and I would never trade it for a Glok, never!!! Greetings from Serbia 🇷🇸
At least the 57 has a couple of extra rounds! Thanks for watching.
@@TheArmourersBench Just 1 bullet and longer handle!!!
Certainly better than a Nagant revolver.
@@baneofbanes You can't even compare those two, like heaven and earth!!!
Jesi pucao iz Gloka ds vidis kako je to dobar pistolj pouzdan i precizan pozdrav iz 72 Specjalne brigade javim kad budem pucao iz M 57 a pucao sam i CZ99 veruj mi Glok 17 gen4 i CZ 99 Velika razlika u svemu
I love this gun and I use it as an everyday carry, I'm proud it's still serving.
A gunsmith/machinist friend of mine picked up several of these a few years back when they were super cheap. He converted some to .38 Super and some to 9x23mm Winchester and had them magnaported. Sweet shooters!
I love the TT so much I have 3 of these pistols, a WW2 1935 Soviet, an M57 and a 1953 Romanian TT-C
TT is incredibly popular in Yugoslavia and it's also ridiculously inexpensive. NWOT examples can be found for 50-100 USD. People like it because it's slim and because it fits easily.
Pa bas i nije popularna, nego je stvar u tome da "tetki" ima na bacanje, pa ju je jeftinije i jednostavnije za kupiti, nego bilo koji drugi pistolj. Ako cemo iskreno, dali bi prije nosio "tetku" koja je teska kao vrag ili bilo koji noviji pistolj? A da ne pricamo jos o samoj preciznosti.
@@oskng Zavisi sta nosim od odeće i da li očekujem da će da mi treba X)
Kratak odgovor - naravno da ne, kao civil
E sada, da sam u JNA-ekvivalentu i da biram izmedju nje, koju neću da upotrebim i težeg i debljeg CZ-99, koji takodje neću da upotrebim - daj TT...
Za sebe i za ne-daj-Bože, HS-kompakt.
Razumno lagan, brdo municije, i kočnica kao na 1911.
I worked with a mechanic yrs ago from Yugoslavia and the TT was his CCW.
Those old water cooled machine guns fire longer than any air cooled gun. One was tested in WW1. It fired non stop for two days straight. It still functioned after the test. Drawback is that their heavy as hell.
Worse on a cold ass day the steam from your water condenser might catch the eye of an artillery spotter (and you know what that means)
@@patrickshaw8595 Lol, imagine thinking a little water condensation is gonna give away your position but the 250 round belt of 7.62x54R that you just ripped off isn't. It's like the Garand Ping meme all over.
@@ericmckinley7985 Sounded good when I read it back in the 60's. Ballentine Books "World at war" series - some volume some page.
After WWII after the adoption of 7.62 NATO the British Army out of curiosity tried to do in a 303 Vickers and went longer than two days
@@Charon-5582 ya in the late 40's as the 303's were being taken out of service
There’s tons of these in Canada. Before out increasingly authoritarian government restricted pistols it was a very common first pistol because it was so cheap.
7.62X25 in general is better versus soft armor than 9mm, that somebody is using A Tokarev or CZ-52 does not necessarily mean they got the leftover or cast off handgun. You can easily find videos on YT of regular old FMJ 7.62X25 cutting through body armor with consistency.
My buddy from Bosnia told me last during the war they were sought after for this reason
They’re not but ok
7.62x25 Tokarev will go through cold war era flak vests and some soft Lvl 2 armour, but it will have trouble penetrating 3A reliably at anything besides point blank and will absolutely not penetrate hard plates.
I somewhat doubt that people are consciously picking TT-33’s because it might be able to penetrate some lower level soft armour.
Russian special forces, ie. those who are most likely to use handguns, all use 9x19mm pistols. Either the MP-443 Grach or Glocks, depending on budget. Very rarely you see a PM in 9x18mm, but never pistols in 7.62x25mm.
@@MaxwellAerialPhotography If you were to compare it with 1911, then 7.62x25 gives you way better penetration, somewhat weaker recoil and smaller size of bullet compared to 45 ACP. If not for a fact that TT-33 is old soviet design with no possibility of modding it as much as most of modern 9x19 pistols and damn heavy trigger pull (tried it, enough hard to make you think that you got a jam before it fires if you try it for first time) then round itsself is closer to ones used in PDW-s and not most common pistols and that diffrence makes it able to penetrate things such as years old russian made kevlar helmets.
7.62X25 is no joke! That round is very nasty
Finally! I've been waiting for this video! Thanks so much for talking about the TT in Ukraine!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching.
The tt33 and all clones are truly underrated. One of the finest handguns ever made for simplicity and reliability. More importantly: 7.62x25 is an incredible pistol cartridge. I am so disappointed a modern Glock style pistol is not available in the USA in that cartridge. It really should be.
Seems like the 5.7x28 is a pea shooter compared to the 7.62x25..
@@glennredwine289 it is. 7.62x25 is substantially better, only negative is the OAL of 7.62x25. But that’s not a big deal if you have medium to large hands.
@@FreedomsLife1776 a 7.62x25mm AR pistol with some CMMG mag conversion would be great especially with a bottleneck cartridge.
I used to mail order East Bloc surplus 7.62.25 TOK for about 8 cents a round. Sure, some of their necks were "cracked" but hey, you can't beat that pricing!
@@finalascent I wish that was still around. I’d be buying 10,000 rounds in a heart beat.
Ive got a t33 and i love it, it was the most powerful pistol cartridge till they made the 357 mag and its compact enough to easlily sit in a ar mag pouch
I literally sleep with a tt33 beside me everyday its an amazing pistol
Pillow Gun is a valid category and its selection is one to not take lightly
Na balkanu ga zovemo "tetka" i moze posluziti kao cekic koliko je teska 😂😂😂 a ima ih na bacanje, ne mozes je ni prodati koliko ih ima 😂😂
@@ericmckinley7985 i only have this gun bro i would chose a glock 19 over it any day but i don't have that luxury
@@oskng Tetejac nije tezak pistolj, 800 grama nenapunjen, oko 900 grama sa punim okvirom od 9 metaka.
Sleeping with a single action pistol with no mechanical safety. Spicy.
There's a school of thought that says to use the weapon that you're most familiar with and have confidence in. It's a classic bit of robust Soviet engineering, and seems to be extensively used in training. So its popularity seems well founded on that score. I suspect with issue FMJ ammo it would marginally out-perform 9mm on soft body armour due to the projectiles' higher speed and smaller cross-section, and that would be interesting to see under controlled conditions.
Vietnam's army has a modern version of tt-33 - K14 is really cool.
You promised and you delivered! Thanks Mr. Bench
Hahah Mr Bench. I do my best, thanks for watching!
@The Armourer's Bench my pleasure ❤️❤️
Greetings, my favorite is the Zastava m57, but I still use the m70 9mm, the same look as the tettejka, only in 9mm caliber.
In Canada we also use an ancient sidearm in the form of the Browning HI Power, it's not because we inherited old stocks or something though we just suck at military procurement.
Hi Powers are still solid pistols!
Don't worry they're about to start replacing them with SIG P320s.
Nowt wrong with the GP35.
@@ElfRightsActivist Yeah Hi Powers are great but most of the ones we have are literal WW2 relics that may or may not function. They could sell them on the open market and have enough to buy everyone in service a glock with optics.
Pistols don't do much other than get carried, and the HI Power though obsolescent is a very safe gun
i own a makarov and tokarev, and would choose the tokarev every time. the tokarev has a better trigger, better mag release, and better round
How reliable is it? Get many stoppages?
Isn't tt known to have unintentional discharge
@@mrguiltyfool the negligent discharge potential comes from there being no manual safety. If it is carried half Cocked it is no longer a concern.
@jc 123 both are reliable in my experience. The makarov is easy to disassemble and clean in comparison. But I'd wager 99% of the population would preform better with a tokarev
@@jc-xb8ve I live here in the states and only have, at the moment, a Romanian TT33 that I've carried for almost three years. Using PPU 85gr JHP rds, the Tokarev has absolutely been reliable as well as safe when at half cock. The very few issues, if any that I have had were with a second mag. It took a little breaking in but now that mag has gotten reliable now. And I trust the pistol carrying with a round in chamber. There has been a few times that the gun was dropped but nothing ever happened. The TT33 has, at least the Romanian version anyway, a firing pin with a spring that keeps it from protruding out the front. So a drop should not really set that round off. Somebody needs to do some crazy tests to confirm that like very high drops with a primer only round in chamber.
I finally picked up a non import marked 42 dated TT33 nice and original from a local auction.
I love my tt33, it’s a fantastic pistol that fires an amazing round.
I had a buddy in the army during the late GWOT, he was told if he found one and it broke somehow, dont take it the armorer, youll find another one
It may be old, but it's still effective.
Mosin Nagants, DP28, Tokarev pistols or Maxim MG at great scale... nearly or more than 100 years yet they are still in use. I think that only these live long use was only achieved by muzzle loaders when it comes to fire arms; thats something to think of...
these weapons being so long living for the conflict is down to mostly two factors:
-due to the need of being able to mobilise huge armies in times of war, the soviet army stockpiled a lot of weapons over the years, and a good machine gun or automatic pistol never really becomes obsolete, these stocks remained in post soviet times as largely forgotten about and the difficulty of selling old guns (most civilian markets won't take them, and potential military customers aren't interested in nearly 100 year old guns)
-specifically for the Maxim and DinnerPlate, post soviet armies still use in fair amounts and got great stocks of 7.62x54R on hand due to guns like the PK, or the SVD Dragunov being in active service
The Russian/Soviet/Russian decision to keep the 7.62×54R as a service and machine gun cartridge for the past 130ish years has made it practical to field some of the equipment we've seen.
And the TT-33 was made in enough quantities that I'd be more surprised if they weren't being used. Especially given how common they've become in other conflicts.
@@MrKronikDeceptionmakes me wish the US kept more 3006 cal mgs
Nothing wrong with the TT-33 ,very reliable and good running ,good round also as long as they have non corrosive powder.
Untrue. TT-33 isn't safe to carry round in chamber, which is a very real flaw. It's the origin of "Isreali Carry" as a doctrine.
@@kanrakucheese One of the reasons the TT-33 was replaced by the PM is conscripts had a tendency to ND when reholstering
SAO + no safety + conscription-based army = 💀
The DP28 LMG as well as the Tokarev TT33 are both still perfectly serviceable arms. They may lack a little modularity in comparison to more "modern" arms, but the firepower is there.
5:25 Casually shooting a steel plate 2ft from your ankles certainly is an interesting choice.
Yeah, they then shoot it point blank with an AK-74... Don't try that at home kids.
What's are the Ukrainian words for "spalling" or "ricochet"
I would love a good in depth video about current Russian 9X39 weapon usage, I've seen such a hodgepodge of rifles/scopes/variations that it's tough to tell how much they being issued out.
Not much, there are 3 major unit types. Vdv snipers svds + vss or vsk, then their support units with ak-12 and val or a-94. Others are speznaz forces with various of 9x19 weapons.
So mad I didn't pick one of these up back in the day when they were super cheap. I've never gotten to handle one, I've heard it's just a 1911 clone. After watching the disassembly I can see why.
It no more a 1911 clone than the Browning GP35 is. There are distinct differences, simplifications and even improvements.
I was lucky enough to pickup a Chinese copy of TT33. The Norinco 213.
It's exactly the same gun, except its chambered in 9mm. Purchased it new for $150 about 30 years ago.
Still is a fun gun to shoot and being 9mm, ammo is easier to find & cheaper than 7.62x25.
Yooooo sick stechkin!
Quite a few of them around, topic for a future video no doubt. Thanks for watching.
thank you!
It's an excellent round. Would be nice to have more modern pistols chambered in it. Th CZ 52 is certainly better, as it is designed for full power rounds, instead of TT loads, but it wears out somewhat quickly.
That cartridge is an absolute flame thrower. When I take mine out to the range my buddies are amazed at the muzzle blast. One of my friends has the ppsh to go with it. In a light carbine the 7.62x25 really shines.
It will pierce SOME BODY ARMOR.
The ONLY issue I can see is mag capacity. . TT33 is a formidable sidearm .
old doesn't mean bad. another great example is that up until recently, the only sidearm issued to us troops was the m1911. It wasn't until a few years ago that they started the process of rolling out a new standard issue handgun and even then it hasn't been issued to most units yet. With that said, i think the old m1911 was better.
Nah, the 1911 is a real pain to field strip and clean. Fiddly, easy to lose small parts.
And the swinging link locking the barrel is very old-school, modern Browning designs do away with it as it's a potential point of failure.
The 1911 remains a fine handgun but time marches on and there are better options. But then I prefer the M9 to the M17 so I can see where you're coming from.
Good kit stays in armouries and in use, regardless of public announcements. Thank you for this video.
Thanks for watching!
I really like my TT-33, only thing is the ability to find commercially produced ammo since the invasion of Ukraine. You can still find plenty of surplus ammo, but my range doesn’t allow steel core bullets. Until more commercial ammo reappears on the shelves, unfortunately my pistol is rendered to the status of “locker Queen”.
Liker it or not, the TT33 is in the same league of combat use pistolas as the fabled 1911, FN Hi-Power and Glock handguns.
Most likely what they are carrying is Yugo surplus m57's made is the 60's-80's, copy of the original TT pistol. The m57 holds the extra round. The TT only holds 7 in the mag.
8*
I love the Tokarev. Been trying to get one here but no luck so far.
It is a sweet, loud boy and that 7.62×25mm round will take down a grizzly bear due to its over penetrative nature, I got one with 3 mags
Realy Interesting Videos , Thank You for their Production 👏👏🇬🇧
Thank you for watching!
4:20 those wood grips go hard
The cartridge really is the star of that system 👌🏼
I use to see these old pistols by the crate load and barrels of old mosins nagants at gun shows and gun shops back in the late 80s till the mid 90s. You could get 3 for $100 or less! Ammo was cheap as dirt also, Good handgun even today.
This pistol might be old but it can still kill. And since pistols are only secondary weapons anyway there are for sure more urgent items to update then these.
So my assessment is this is a prudent use of what is available.
Interesting video. You could certainly do a lot worse than having a TT-33 as a sidearm.
Could also do a lot better.
@@americangangster1911 correct! You could always get a makarov which is the only pistol better than tt33
Side arms don’t really need to be that great. If you wanted to make your side arm effective you’d end up turning it into a rifle. They all suck, lol.
I had a commercial model from the tokerov factory made in about '92' and I have to rate it as top tear it was every thing you could ask for.
@@americangangster1911 Bud, Tokarev can drop a man from 300 feet in a flat line shooting, 1911 can only dream of doing such stuff with it's bullet velocity and sight picture. TT by no means is a bad gun and it never was. Although I do agree you can do better as far as magazine capacity is concerned, sights and ergonomics, for the bullet penetration 7,62 x 25 was and still is the best bullet for body armor and bulletproof vests.
Love the 9mm type54. Tokarevs will be around for as long as someone needs one
Those saying the TT is a hand-me-down gun. Maybe, but I'd take mine into battle over my Glock anyday for it's durability alone. Theres zero difference in reliability between it or something modern. Even if your recoil spring gets weak the 7.62 is such a high pressure round it just makes the gun run good. Great gun but an even better caliber. The M57 Yugo was the best variant. Had a better and longer grip giving 10 total rounds in the gun and an improved firing pin over the TT. Get one while you still can theres only about 250k of them ever made and even less still exist.
looks like a good gun, not surprised if it could see use again
Man its awesome this type of vídeos you do here i love to see multiples types of Guns used in ukraine !! Do more like this !!
Amazing Channel ❣️🇧🇷
Thanks! There will definitely be more!
I like my TT 33 a wonderful pistol so easy to aim and shoot so accurate. It’s Romanian made 1953 the year I was born. I’m normally not a great shot because I have glasses, but I can consistently hit at 80 yards with this little piece one-handed. The speed is incredible and I’m told it will defeat a level two or three ballistic vest.
its a very good weapon i have 3 of these 1 is semi 7 shot and 2 are full auto one is 14 shot and 2nd is 20 shot and these are marvolous. shoots very well never jams even on cheap ammo
Used to have access to a norinco knockoff of TT-33. It’s not a terrible pistol and considering the amount pistols actually get used in a war zone does it really matter if you can mod it.
The quality is not the greatest, machining and materials wise... it works though.
I feel like the grip is a bit short, if I ever use it i'd prob find a +2 mag extension
Youre in luck bc the Zastava m57 exists, 9+1
The Soviet browning copy still in use doesnt surprise me one bit
Lovely and simple design.
Love the TT-33 such a beautiful pistol.
I own a tt-33, m-52, and m57 all in 7.62x25. Truly the caliber is outstanding. I consider it modern with quality magazines and some minor work on the sights.
I got a Chinese T54 Tokarev out of pure curiosity and after swapping the import safety trigger for a regular one it's actually a very pleasant gun to shoot. Good reliability, smaller than you would think, fits well in a pocket and safe enough when carried half cock. I wouldn't take it into battle over a Glock, but it is still a pretty ok option. Definitely better than the Makarov that replaced it.
I sheared the barrel bushing off my TT33 after 2000+ rounds of hot Czech surplus.
A replacement cost a whole $12 😅
I got two of them, nice pistol
Yes, I got one now in the military servis. Good penetrating power. But I still want a Colt 1911. :-)
"Boys from the forest" is one of my favorite new channels too. They have exhaustive features on virtually all the weapons being used in the conflict by Ukrainian Forces. I own a Romanian TTC and fell in love with the 7.62x25 round. Not only is it laser straight, it can defeat level 3 body armor, basically making it a poor man's Five seveN. Out of a 16" barrel, the ammo has rifle level terminal performance, making it a great alternative to a rifle or carbine.
UA Borderguards at the polish border sometimes wear the TT in decades old brown leather webbing along their black tactical jackets and other modern equipment. Excellent style.
TT has ever been brutal weapon in conflict
Much Practical than other single action pistols
Browning 1911?)
4:30 : It's Captain Pikachu, aka Yurii Kochevenko !
Also, I don't see TT-33s in this video, but DD44 Dostoveis. *Ourumov's line before killing Mishkin in Goldeneye* : DUYU ?!
It even spawned a glorious mod, OurumEye 64 !
Sylvanas from WC3 Frozen Throne, cool!
For Chinese TT33 variant，it is called 黑星槍，literally means "black star gun"
the TT33 is still an exquisite pistol.
see a lot of those "tt-33" are real however loads of them are yugoslavian zastava m57 which had improved the trigger mechanism and a lot of other problems that tt had
Yeah, definitely lots of those around too. Few snuck in here 😄
A good few of the TT showed are ww2 issues with the wider slide serrations, mine in 48 dated with small serrations.
honestly i'm surprised more modern pistols aren't chambered in 7.62x25 tokarev
The best gun for me is the M-57 TT. Beautiful beast!
amazing!
TT-33 is similar in design as Browning high power and 1911 type pistol. Anyone who have used the other two pistols will have little problem transit to TT-33.
There is that pivoting trigger, but Russia always did favor reliability over precision.
Browning hp uvijek bi izabrao prije tt33 (na balkanu ga zovemo tetka) ne mozes uopce usporedjivati ta dva pistolja.
Plenty of dead Europeans during WW II will testify to how deadly the 7.62x25 round truly is.
I daily carry a compensated Tokarev, that I modified to run like a race gun. 9 + 1 with an extended mag base, and I carry hollow point ammunition loaded pretty hot. Expands very well. And this thing is a laser pointer. Absolute tack driver. Shoots point of aim out to 100 yd. And I've successfully put an entire mag on a 40-in target at 400 yards.
Where you getting +1 basepads
@@alexwcobb eBay years ago.
When all the talk is over people still go back to what works. i have a M70A & M88A 9mm pistols love them both. you just can't beat the old Tok's tough & reliable.
Ukraine is using these because that’s all they have. Anyone who had the choice moved on to more modern designs a long time ago.
@@baneofbanes Literally the only issue even today with the TT-33 is the limited ammo capacity. That's it. The Vietnamese have fixed that problem with their proprietary double-stacked TT variant.
@@jakekaywell5972 yah that single stack magazine is a big fucking issue with the gun dude. Also it’s single action only, another big fucking issue.
These things aren’t modern handguns dude.
I own a tt33 there really nice very smooth shooter 👌🏼
Maybe you can do a video(s) about the PPD-40, PPSh-41, and PPS-43 SMGs being used in Ukraine?
Haven't really seen any that weren't taken from collectors collections yet. Maybe one or two very early. If you see some let me know. Thanks for watching!
@@TheArmourersBench British historian Mark Felton explained in his UA-cam video "WW2 Weapons Used in Ukraine War" that the PPD-40, PPSh-41, and PPS-43 have seen use by both Ukrainian reservists and pro-Russian separatists. There is even a photo of the PPS-43 being held by a Ukrainian soldier (Territorial Defense?) at the 4:18 mark of the video.
No problem with Old Weapons.
Antique or not, I would not wanna even think about going up against a Maxim or get shot with a TT for that matter...
I’ve carried TT for a long time 28 years maybe
Excellent pistol.
0:33 Can someone direct me to the original clip, the way that guy whips out his pistol is satisfying and i would like to make a meme. Thanks!
Hahah. If you Google Red Army on Eastern front it's in one of those compilations of old Soviet newsreels. I think it was a colourised one.
Great content
Thank you! Thanks for watching.
The Ukrainian conflict has really showed where there's a firearm and a will to defend one's country, there's definitely a way to still use it to some effect
I'm surprised someone hasn't made some longer barrel, magazine, trigger unit, and stock(with a piece of pic rail to put a sight on)to make it into a PDW and used them as kits for the old TT-33s found, as that seems like it would be a great usage of one
And something that would be totally easy to sell on the civilian market, be it in Ukraine or the US(sans trigger unit modification, besides maybe for a better trigger pull)
Because at this point of you just make a chassis/magazine/FA trigger combo(maybe with a longer barrel)for any handgun, someone in Ukraine would 100% use it as a PDW and be showing pictures of it online
TT + full auto + drum magazine from PPSh = deadly thing.)
m113 with maxim gun on top would be so fantastic vehicle! especially if gunner will have traditional cossak haircut
Seen them on the back of all sorts so far so anything is possible!
Considering the round has no problem penetrating soft armor I'd say this is a perfectly viable handgun
I always wanted a tokarev
The TT33 was also a long-time favourite of the recently deceased "Da Vinci", commander of the 1st Battallion "Wolves of Da Vinci" (67th OMBr), before he replaced it first with a M9 in early `22, then later with a Glock.
I think that's might be his TT and M9 in the first photo. Thanks for watching.
@𐂂 the caliber is pretty good for basic armour penetration though, atleast compared to nato and russian 9mm’s
@𐂂 well yeah but thats the point of a pistol, an emergency backup that you will probably never need to use
6:04 Relatively newer MSV Gen 1 carrier US Army issue, most definitely not surplus. Was it apart of aid package, or a former service member of the US Army?
Could well have been sent as aid.
The fun fact is vietnam police only get rid the tt 33 only a few year ago