Anyway, I've got some free time tonight, so I thought I'd do an update post. I've also borrowed a different camera, so my pictures should be less crappy now!
Notably, I've made an addition to my collection since I stopped posting in November.
An Ivehsk 1945 Tokarev pistol! I've always wanted one of these and last year I kicked myself for not ordering one. Luckily the same store got a shipment of em around November 09, so I snatched one up as soon as I could.
The gun came with 2 mags, the original holster and a useless cleaning rod.... It was supposed to come with a lanyard as well... (out of the 9 thousand things I have that came with lanyards, the only time I don't get one is with a gun lol, just as well... its probably crap)
The holster's leather was pretty dry, but rubbing in some leather repair compound took care of that. On that note, I wouldn't use this holster... its hard to draw the gun, theres nothing down at the muzzle end to keep the holster snug against you. This leads to the holster coming up with the gun when you try to draw it. Also the spare mag is an absolute pain to get out of its little compartment. Either way, it has little use, but still a cool little collectors item.
Getting back to the gun itself, the size and weight really surprised me. I remember reading Internet rumours about these stating that they were very similar to the 1911 pistols. They actually bare more similarity to the FN Model 1903. Due to the rumour referencing the 1911, I held the gun in my hand for the first time and was surprised by how light it is. As for size, it is smaller than a full sized 1911, but not my too much.
The grip angle is very strange, as you can see in the pictures, it doesn't have any contour for the lower part of your hand. It feels a bit strange, but for me its still quite comfortable to hold.
The trigger is great for an old milsurp pistol, its really light and has a smooth break. A great single action trigger.
The take down is a pain, especially compressing the recoil spring while trying to move the barrel bushing around. But like the 1911 pistols, and I guess all guns, once you've done it a few times you get the hang of it.
One issue I've had with this gun is finding ammo for it. It fires a pretty unique round, 7.65x25mm, which to my knowledge only the Tokarev pistol (and its many variants), the CZ-52, and a few sub machine guns fire. Ballistically, its supposed to be very high pressure and an extremely fast moving round. The line up in the picture from left to right is: 7.62x25mm, 9x19mm, and .45 ACP.
I found some corrosive surplus ammo at a gun show, it was 13 bucks a box, which is about the same price as 9mm up here in Canada. Sellier and Bellot makes new production 7.62x25mm ammo, with brass casings for those that reload, but its very expensive, the only place I've found it was selling boxes for $25.99 each.
Over all, its a cool collectors piece. And my first handgun from the Second World War era.
On another note, these pics are much better eh?
