Side-arm collection

[roy]

Of the pistols that I've posted, the Tokerev pistol is probably my favorite. I literally found it in a pawn shop of which the owner had not a clue as to what it was, and I picked it up at a real reasonable price.

Here are a couple of my favorite Soviet rifles, an SVT-40 and an SKS carbine.

[Nack]

Nice SVT Roy! Wish I had one of those.

Here's my Nagant revolver. Arsenal refinished, but cheap.

[Nack]

Here's my Tokarev, which is my favorite too.

I bought mine at a show, so probably paid a lot more than Roy. Such is life.;)

[roy]

Originally Posted by Nack

Here's my Tokarev, which is my favorite too.

I bought mine at a show, so probably paid a lot more than Roy. Such is life.;)

Very nice pistols, Nack! :thumbsup I'm really impressed by the accuracy of the Nagant revolver. I managed to obtain one box of ammo to fire in my revolver, and found the Nagant a real pleasure to shoot. I just wish that ammunition was not so hard to find for these. Actually, I had to purchase two Nagants. One made in Tula and the other an Ishevsk.

[Nack]

Originally Posted by HuliganRS

Nack,

Yes! WWII production grips were made from wood. the grips may have been replaced later at the Arsenal for military use...

I've never seen original wooden grips though.

Rusty.

In asking a couple of other collectors over the weekend, I now understand Rusty's post. It appears that wood grips were produced during the war, probably due to wartime shortages (somewhere from 1942-ish to 1945). Bakelite grips were produced before the war, and then after. Thus, a prewar or early war TT (like mine dated 1941) would originally have had bakelite grips.

[Riley1965]

Most interesting and it makes sense. War time shortages affected all sides.

[HuliganRS]

After long hours of searching I have finally found the piece that I've been looking for for a long time:

It's a mis-marked Bulgarian Makarov made in Russia.

This is an actual military Makarov made in Russia and exported to Bulgaria for their army. Since it's next to impossible to find a true Russian Makarov this is the best thing the collectors can get their hands on:

[new world]

Originally Posted by HuliganRS

After long hours of searching I have finally found the piece that I've been looking for for a long time:

It's a mis-marked Bulgarian Makarov made in Russia.

This is an actual military Makarov made in Russia and exported to Bulgaria for their army. Since it's next to impossible to find a true Russian Makarov this is the best thing the collectors can get their hands on:

Rusty,

why is it so difficult to find Russian-made Makarov? These pistols were made in huge quantities...

William

[HuliganRS]

I'm not exactly sure why it's that hard finding the surplus military Makarovs.

They simply were not imported into US.

It could be the fact that the Mil Maks have no adjustable sights and therefore are easier to conceal.

There are plenty of IJ-70 variants also known as Baikal (see my 1st Mak above) that were imported in huge quantities but the military ones are next to impossible to locate!

I actually got a great deal on this gun! I found a guy who's a member on GunBoards forum and he decided to part with his collection of Maks so after hearing my reasons for wanting one and the fact that we were neighbors only 6 months ago (he moved to another state from Illinois) he gave it to me for $300.

To clarify my post above: This is a true military spec Makarov made in the Soviet Union at the Izhevsk Armory.

Rusty.

[roy]

Nice pistol, Rusty! :thumbsup Like medals, and badges, Soviet firearms can be an interesting collecting field in itself. There are different variations, and some arms made by a specific arsenal can be more difficult to find than others. I've had no problems locating Soviet SKS carbines made at the Tula Arsenal, but it has taken me several years to find the same rifle made at the Ishevsk Arsenal.

The same thing applies to the Tokarev pistol, in this case, I've seen more Ishevsk TT-33s but very few Tula made TT pistols.