Yugoslavian M57 Tokarev hammer group quirk!

[Shadowsix]

I know a few of you have Tokarevs and so I'm hoping one of you has dealt with the Yugoslavian M57 variant enough to know about this little issue. It does not seem to be adetrimental issue as the gun seems to fuction perfectly otherwise.

I just aquired a Yugoslavian M57 version from SOG. The finish is a little rough & spotty from age but I'll have fun touching that up with some oxpho blue & blending it. It seems SOG removed most of the cosmoline & heavily oiled it in order to put serial numbers on it so it is free moving & looks in good shape internally (well there is lots of cosmoline still to remove from the inside of the barrel but no biggie).

I have already run some 7.62 & 25mm snap caps through it and it does well, everything functions. Even the safety works exactly as prescribed.

I field stripped it for the first time last night and it came apart nicely except for one thing. I could not completely pull out the hammer group. It would come up a little & I could move it around a bit but it would not pull out. I tried moving the safety & even pulling off the grip & pulling out the safety lever but no go (so I put the safety lever back in). It still needed me to activate the safety & then pull it down trick to get the hammer group to completely reseat properly. I could then reassemble the slide on it & the gun works perfectly.

It seemed like even though the hammer group was loose (with the slide assembly off) it just would not pull out (I did not & would not overly force it either just to be safe).

Does anybody know what could have been preventing it from coming out? I've have watched the dissambly videos for M57s and I can't see where I might have been going wrong!

Thank you very much in advance guys.

[alvin]

No such a gun. But there are some youtube videos on M57. Looks like nothing special on its stripping process -- people could simply pull the lock frame out of the grip frame, easily.

He also mentioned pushing the safety level up before putting lock frame back.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWWrpZhwhc8

If it did not come out, I would think somehow using a little bit force.....

[Shadowsix]

Originally Posted by alvin

No such a gun.

Not sure what you mean by this?

Originally Posted by alvin

But there are some youtube videos on M57. Looks like nothing special on its stripping process -- people could simply pull the lock frame out of the grip frame, easily.

Yes exactly what I thought except that mine is not cooperating. The rest came apart very easily as shown in M57 youtube videos.

Originally Posted by alvin

He also mentioned pushing the safety level up before putting lock frame back.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWWrpZhwhc8

Yes and that is exactly what I had to do to get it to reseat properly again so I could put it back together. Even though it didn't fully come out it still came up a little and was loose but would not come completely out of the frame.

Originally Posted by alvin

If it did not come out, I would think somehow using a little bit force.....

I tried a little bit of force, I just stopped before using a lot of force!

Thanks anyway though.

[sheepherder]

Just a wild shot, but you might want to find a different 'disassembly' source...

I emailed a couple members here that if they went by the NRA Firearms Assembly Manual for the Star BM, the instructions for removing the safety were wrong...and I supplied a pic showing why & how to remove it correctly...

Doesn't hurt to check a 2nd 'opinion'...

Edit: Interesting Tokarev site -

http://www.alpharubicon.com/leo/tokarev213.htm

[Shadowsix]

Originally Posted by postino

Just a wild shot, but you might want to find a different 'disassembly' source...

I emailed a couple members here that if they went by the NRA Firearms Assembly Manual for the Star BM, the instructions for removing the safety were wrong...and I supplied a pic showing why & how to remove it correctly...

Doesn't hurt to check a 2nd 'opinion'...

Edit: Interesting Tokarev site -

http://www.alpharubicon.com/leo/tokarev213.htm

Believe me I've been looking for alternate sources, just no luck so far!

I even found a google listing of someone talking about the same issue but when I try to go to it the site is gone and there is no cached version unfortunately.

Yes I like that site, i read it while I was still looking for a Tokarev. Too bad it is only on the Chinese variant the 213 & not specifically my Yugoslavian one. Though it supposedly shouldn't make a difference because it is supposed to be the same on all the variants that the hammer group (also known as "Fire Control Group") should just pull out once the slide assembly is off!

[alvin]

I doubt there is any trick. Using pliers should be able to pull it out.

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by alvin

I doubt there is any trick. Using pliers should be able to pull it out.

He's kidding, Ross! He's just kidding!!!

[Shadowsix]

He may have been kidding but he was right about the persistence to pulling on it and using some sort of tool!

Turns out it was a thin layer of cosmoline between the sides was holding it in so applying equal pressure under the front & back of the hammer group using a screwdriver on one side lifting up allowed it to come out. After cleaning both hammer group & the frame it is now no problem!

Thank you both for your help!

[Ron Wood]

Don't you just love a happy ending!

[sheepherder]

Ross, you may have gotten one or more of our members interested in an inexpensive Browning-type auto that uses the same cartridge as their Mausers...How about some pics??? Pretty much the same as you'd display for your Lugers...Markings, tool marks, unusual features, etc...

One question - I see the M57 has a thumb safety (the TT-33 has none) - Does it block the sear or firing pin or just the hammer???

[Shadowsix]

Good idea about pics Rich, I'll take some tomorrow & post them. The first ones will show it in it's rough shape (all cosmetic) & after I restore it (first I'll try touching it up & if that doesn't cut it complete refinish).

Mainly it has a slide stop pin scratch & missing areas of blueing. Right now I'm finally almost finished getting all of the remaining cosmoline out of the bore.

As for the thumb safety I think the hammer & sear is blocked when it is on but I'll look more closely next I take it apart to work on the barrel more.

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Shadowsix

As for the thumb safety I think the hammer & sear is blocked when it is on but I'll look more closely next I take it apart to work on the barrel more.

I noticed a couple of threads on Gunboards about guys wanting to remove the thumb safety & plug the hole...Something about the slide not locking back with the safety??? (Or maybe locking back; CRS acting up right now)...

IIRC, they mentioned there was a company/individual making Yugo grips that cover the hole...

Edit: Here's one of the threads... http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?274136

[alvin]

The feeling of shooting a TT is very differently from shooting a C96 though. And, tt's not hard to shoot TT off-hand, but it will take major effort to shoot C96 with one hand and be able to punch holes on the target paper.

[Shadowsix]

I still need to get a light box or at least some more lamps so these aren't the best pics.

Functionally it is in good order, cosmetically it is not but I'm going to work on that myself including removing a moderate sized idiot scratch (slide stop pin insertion gone wrong) some prior user put in it.

Now that I've finished removing the last of the cosmoline from the bore I'll start the scratch removal & reblueing tomorrow.

You'll notice all of the import markings on the left side of the slide including the fact that they forgot to put the 7 after the 5 unless there is an M5 Tokarev that I haven't been able find anything on. According to some writings on Yugoslavian Tokarevs the C in the serial number is supposed to denote a commercial one, yet supposedly those part serial numbers are from one that is from a Yugo army arsenal (slide 1-00.001, frame 2-00.101, trigger 2-00.004, ...). So it having both I don't know what to think until I learn more.

A fun firing fixer upper.

[lugersrkewl]

I had a kmart tokarev looked just like that one.
Thanks for posting

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by lugersrkewl

I had a kmart tokarev looked just like that one.
Thanks for posting

Does K-Mart really sell pistols??? What state was it in???

There was a thread at Gunboards saying that Gander Mountain was selling Yugo M57's...But the local one hereabouts didn't know anything about them...

[lugersrkewl]

When I bought it it came in a plastic case with cleaning tool and spare mag. the outside of the case was marked kmart. I believe the research I did stated kmart sold some in previous years.
Also spare mags where pricy

[Shadowsix]

Actual I could imagine Kmart selling them but I don't know of any that have sold handguns in a long time. Perhaps Kmarts in Texas might still have a broader range of what they can sell still.

Can you imagine Kmart having a blue light special on them with all the housewives running and dashing through the aisles to get one!

[sheepherder]

After reading shadow6's writeup here, I was interested enough to go to several sites and read up on the Yugo M57...I was intrigued by the statements that the original Tokarev TT-33 (and TT-30) design was slanted towards minimal manufacturing machinery...IOW, made simple to manufacture...And that the Yugoslavs had made the grip frame/magazine longer to accommodate an extra round in the mag...And that it was being offered on GB, GA, and AA at prices starting at $149...

So, I found one...and got outbid...Found another (there were dozens listed)...and got outbid...After about three weeks of being outbid, I finally [grudgingly] upped my bids...but still under $200...and finally got one...

It came in to my LGS two weeks ago, but I couldn't get to it until today [vacation]...Liberally packed in Cosmoline as shadow6 stated; drawing the slide back and releasing it, it slowly oozed forward...

I stripped it down (no problem with the hammer group), cleaned the Cosmoline out, oiled it, and put it back together. It looks almost new - no mechanical wear, minimal finish wear, no grip dings, no scratches...Bore looks great, although the whole pistol has a crude look to it...Magazine is worn and scratched and also was full of crud...

One thing...I had wondered why the guys on Gunboards were taking the thumb safety out and plugging the hole...Now I know: If I rack the slide (magazine inserted), put the thumb safety on 'fire' position, and squeeze the trigger...Nothing happens...Until I reach my thumb up and just lightly touch the safety...*Then* it fires!!!

I'll have to look into that more closely...

It does feel pretty good in the hand though...The longer grip is a must...

I can just see Tito executing captured SS troopers with his M57...

[Shadowsix]

Rich it looks in excellent shape. Maybe yours didn't go into service (or at least not for long) like mine must have.

If you want additional mags Wideners are selling factory made ones still sealed in oil for $25 each!

http://www.wideners.com/itemdetail.c...m_id=100000331

I ordered two & received them in just a week and they work beautifully!

Actually mine actually doesn't have the safety issue most talk about but maybe it was from the amount of use it got before

I am at present rehabilitating mine cosmetically starting with Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish, & then Brownells oxpho blue & buffing with 0000 steel wool and it is looking better with each subsequent treatment. I'll put up new pics when I'm done.

It may only be a .30 cal but I've come to respect the Tokarev round with it's 1645 fps 85 gr bullet!

For the price you can't beat it! I know you'll enjoy yours!