Yugoslavian M57 Tokarev hammer group quirk!

[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...