Scared to test fire romanian tokarev safety and cleaning

[PhinDolph]

Hello fellow Ohioans



I have a romanian tokarev i purchased maybe 3 yrs ago its been sitting every since i bought it, I never got a chance to fire the weapon i purchased it from southern ohio gun and they told me it was looked over by there gunsmith but I should have it looked over by my own,i also paid extra for them to hand pick it for me. the firearm has no rust just a coating of thin dust and it smells like the oil when I first bought it.


What are some of the things I should do first before firing the weapon also what should I purchase to clean the weapon and how?


any advice would be really helpful thanks!

[glocksmith]

What are some of the things I should do first before firing the weapon also what should I purchase to clean the weapon and how?

Do you have any prior experience with firearms ? If not, then I would get someone knowledgeable to first coach you on safe handling before you began firing and cleaning the weapon.

Even the most experienced of us can have accidents.

[Mr. Glock]

Cleaning a Tok is no different than any other handgun. If you are not familiar with those techniques, YouTube is a great place to learn about equipment (common) and tearing down your gun (specific).

If you don't feel comfortable with your gun, an inspection by gunsmith is a small investment.

One thing to know, the manual safety is an addition for importation. The original design had no safety as they were carried on an empty chamber. So, it is not as safe as modern designs. But fine for the range.

[Javelin Man]

Some of the Tokarev's had very brittle firing pins so don't dry fire(pull the trigger without a cartridge or snap cap in the chamber) or the firing pin may break.

[glocksmith]

A lot of the older surplus 7.62x25 ammo is corrosive...so you'll need to use an appropriate cleaner if you fire it in your gun. IIRC, Hoppes 9 and the like won't work on the corrosive primer salts. Someone else can elaborate on that.

[Morne]

The 4 safety rules are ALWAYS important, but with Toks they are importanter...

Had my only ND/AD (classify as you wish) with a surplus Tok. First magazine I inserted into it, racked the slide and when it went home it discharged without me pulling the trigger!!! Fortunately, I had the gun pointed down range and the round impacted my cardboard target holder (not on paper) so it went solidly into the backstop behind the target.

Got the gun fixed, shot it awhile more, ultimately sold it off to buy something different. Lost my desire for Toks.

4 rules apply. Know them, respect them, practice them.

[JustaShooter]

A lot of the older surplus 7.62x25 ammo is corrosive...so you'll need to use an appropriate cleaner if you fire it in your gun. IIRC, Hoppes 9 and the like won't work on the corrosive primer salts. Someone else can elaborate on that.

Hot soapy water is the best way I've found to clean and remove the corrosive salts. You'll often see folks recommend ammonia-based window cleaner, which works fine as a degreaser and cleaner, but the ammonia doesn't really do anything for the corrosive salts - it doesn't hurt either, and flushing / scrubbing with it will remove the corrosive salts simply because of the water content and the degreasing side effect isn't a bad thing, so... Just remember to re-lubricate everything when done.

[Cruiser]

A lot of the older surplus 7.62x25 ammo is corrosive...so you'll need to use an appropriate cleaner if you fire it in your gun. IIRC, Hoppes 9 and the like won't work on the corrosive primer salts. Someone else can elaborate on that.

Hot soapy water is the best way I've found to clean and remove the corrosive salts. You'll often see folks recommend ammonia-based window cleaner, which works fine as a degreaser and cleaner, but the ammonia doesn't really do anything for the corrosive salts - it doesn't hurt either, and flushing / scrubbing with it will remove the corrosive salts simply because of the water content and the degreasing side effect isn't a bad thing, so... Just remember to re-lubricate everything when done.

All of the above work! Plus a hundred other methods! For someone who has Milsup guns and follows the Forum discussions. I have seen "how do I clean???????????????? chains go on forever!

[glocksmith]

I used to clean my black powder revolvers with Dawn dish detergent and scalding hot water. I imagine the same would apply to corrosive surplus ammo. The scalding hot water is necessary because it doesn't linger - evaporates off quickly and then you can apply lube.

[M-Quigley]

I used to have a Chinese Tokarev many years ago. A copy of John Browning's designs, it was a great gun, utterly reliable, with a flat shooting cartridge. The sights were typical military sights of that area, but back when I was younger I was able to shoot it okay despite the sights. Back then I shot a 5 shot group at 25 yards that you could've covered with a matchbook. I would hate to see what the group size would be now with that same gun.

Fieldstripping was very simple. Although the ammo claimed it was non corrosive, I cleaned the gun afterwards like it wasn't. I used ordinary ammonia based window cleaner, followed it up by Hoppes #9, never had any issues crop up. Hot water would've probably worked just as well. I had heard though that some people had problems with theirs, (like slam fires) so I agree with what was said about being careful and following the safety rules religiously. (am I allowed to use that term here?)

[glocksmith]

The one that always made me scratch my head was when they advertised a certain lot of ammo as "mildly corrosive". What's that mean? That I don't have to clean my gun as quickly or as thoroughly as with "regular" corrosive ammo??

[M-Quigley]

To the OP: Although you've probably seen this, if not, check out this link. He goes into disassembly also.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQtbNzyO0cE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[walnut red]

I use a Ballistol/water mix for my firearms that shoot corrosive ammo or black powder. The stuff was developed for corrosive ammo.