Question for Tokarev fans/experts?
Posted: February 14th, 2015, 4:17 pm
I'm having a jamming problem with one of my Tokarevs. It is a Norinco T-54 that came in the base 9mm setup (the slide is marked 9mm, etc).
I've owned 2 of these for years, both had functioned fine until recently. Now, the older one is a 1 shot pistol; the slide freezes back and will not rebound. It requires a forceful tap (and by that, I mean a FIRM whack on the back of the slide) to go back into battery. I brought it to my local gunsmith when this issue first occurred, and that's exactly what he did, a little scornfully I might add; and then he made a comment about "soft steel" and that I should just sell it. Never really looked it over.
Now, I've since looked both pistols over, and the frame and slides look identical other than one is more blued. Once I've field-stripped and reassembled the pistols, I can hand-cycle them without issue. Neither set of rails look different from the other, I can't see any deformation on slide or frame. So I bought a new Wolff recoil spring, in the hope that might have been an issue. But the older pistol still freezes on live ammo. I have to pay at a range, I don't have the cash to do a thorough trial-and-error.
The frame and slide seem fine, and going to a newer, stiffer recoil spring did not correct the problem. As noted, the gunsmith didn't seem took interested in suggesting anything other than tossing it.
After swapping the recoil spring out, I notice that during reassembly, I have to really fiddle with the barrel/spring assembly to get it "just so", or else I can't rack the slide to insert the slide stop; it will be frozen forward. If/when I get the slide stop pin in (through the barrel linkage, through the frame), the gun will then cycle by hand. Sometimes, if I get everything just-so, the slide can hand-cycle without the slide-stop in place, but any jostling will cause a misalignment, and the slide is frozen forward (until I reinsert the slide-stop through the linkage, then the guns will cycle by hand). I note this on both pistols.
So, this has me wondering- possibly the slide-stop or barrel linkage is the issue? Might either of these become worn to a point where the barrel isn't seating correctly into the slide on forceful recoil (live ammo vs hand-cycle), causing the pistol to freeze in the slide-back position? As I noted, I did replace the old recoil spring, which was noticeably weaker than the new one. Perhaps the weakened spring led to failure of one/both of these parts...
Any suggestions (other than "throw it away")? Can anyone clarify the "soft steel" comment, as I've read that online before, by people disparaging the Norincos, but they don't go into detail; they just sound a lot like my gunsmith: Norinco's are soft steel, and they are junk (I guess because they are Chinese commie bastards and can't make anything good).
I've owned 2 of these for years, both had functioned fine until recently. Now, the older one is a 1 shot pistol; the slide freezes back and will not rebound. It requires a forceful tap (and by that, I mean a FIRM whack on the back of the slide) to go back into battery. I brought it to my local gunsmith when this issue first occurred, and that's exactly what he did, a little scornfully I might add; and then he made a comment about "soft steel" and that I should just sell it. Never really looked it over.
Now, I've since looked both pistols over, and the frame and slides look identical other than one is more blued. Once I've field-stripped and reassembled the pistols, I can hand-cycle them without issue. Neither set of rails look different from the other, I can't see any deformation on slide or frame. So I bought a new Wolff recoil spring, in the hope that might have been an issue. But the older pistol still freezes on live ammo. I have to pay at a range, I don't have the cash to do a thorough trial-and-error.
The frame and slide seem fine, and going to a newer, stiffer recoil spring did not correct the problem. As noted, the gunsmith didn't seem took interested in suggesting anything other than tossing it.
After swapping the recoil spring out, I notice that during reassembly, I have to really fiddle with the barrel/spring assembly to get it "just so", or else I can't rack the slide to insert the slide stop; it will be frozen forward. If/when I get the slide stop pin in (through the barrel linkage, through the frame), the gun will then cycle by hand. Sometimes, if I get everything just-so, the slide can hand-cycle without the slide-stop in place, but any jostling will cause a misalignment, and the slide is frozen forward (until I reinsert the slide-stop through the linkage, then the guns will cycle by hand). I note this on both pistols.
So, this has me wondering- possibly the slide-stop or barrel linkage is the issue? Might either of these become worn to a point where the barrel isn't seating correctly into the slide on forceful recoil (live ammo vs hand-cycle), causing the pistol to freeze in the slide-back position? As I noted, I did replace the old recoil spring, which was noticeably weaker than the new one. Perhaps the weakened spring led to failure of one/both of these parts...
Any suggestions (other than "throw it away")? Can anyone clarify the "soft steel" comment, as I've read that online before, by people disparaging the Norincos, but they don't go into detail; they just sound a lot like my gunsmith: Norinco's are soft steel, and they are junk (I guess because they are Chinese commie bastards and can't make anything good).