pistols in 7.62x25 question

I have a Polish Tok and like it very much. I have gone through a bit of 50's Polish mil surp ammo and it ate everything up. Great gun, cheap mags, cheap ammo, what's not to like? Only gripe is the grip is too short.

The Yugo Toks are available at cheap prices all over the internet. They have longer grips than their counterparts which will fit your hand better. The downside with the Yugo Toks is the price and availability of mags. They don't take regular Tok mags.

I have two CZ52 pistols.
I like them. Fun to shoot. Not a great gun but a decent gun.


Much/most of the surplus ammo is very corrosive. Clean the gun good right after shooting.

I really like the CZ, but I would choose a Yugo M57 over the Polish or Romanian TT, they are roughly the same price and the import added safety is in a much more sensible location. Plus they seem to be a bit rarer. Mine shot well and I regret having sold it. Still have the CZ.

I have a CZ52. Recoil is about on par with standard pressure 9mm.

I have a CZ 52 and a Romanian Tok. I picked the Romanian because of mag availability. Both have been reliable with the various surplus ammo.

The Tokarev style pistols are a little like 1911s to me, as far as ergonomics go. I never warmed up to the grip shape and angle on the CZ 52. I never use the crappy aftermarket safety on the Tok.

If the Tokarev style pistols had been more available when I bought the CZ, I probably wouldnt have bought the CZ.

I really like the 7.62 x 25 round. I will eventually get the upper I ordered for my AR in that caliber, I hope. I have a ton of cheap ammo for it.

Having owned both the Tok and the CZ-52 I can say that they are a lot of fun to shoot. Also, they'll cut thru IIIa Kevlar like a hot knife thru warm butter which can be a plus. I just wish they'd come out with some good quality, inexpensive HP ammo for defensive use, it'd make the ctg. a lot more effective then the ball ammo that's out there. Also, remember, most ComBlock ammo is corrosive primmed so run a couple patches thru the bore and wipe it down with some Windex to cut the salts out of the bore.
Of the two I like the Tok a bit better if you want to carry it but the CZ-52 is a lot more heavy duty so it'd probably be a better shooter. Can't go wrong with either.

Either one should be fine. An added benefit is that you can change the caliber to 9x19mm (Luger) by swapping out the barrel.

Out of a pistol, the 7.62x25mm creates a very nice fireball. Try going shooting at dusk for best effect.

Poor man's 5.7mm. Any model TT are durable and well made enough IMO, each country that made them has different QC levels. Unfortunately you're at the mercy of what surplus and russian ammo manufacturers have to put out. You probably wont be seeing US-made defensive ammo in this caliber for a while, if ever.

CZ 52 is about the only other option, supposedly can handle the "hotter" version of 7.62x25, although the ammo is rare to come by I think.

Just a side note, I think since CZ makes so many variants of the CZ 75, I think a somewhat limited production one in this caliber would sell well. Even if it didn't sell well it would become a collectors item over the years.

I have a Tokarev and its a solid well built pistol. It is however the most inaccurate pistol I have ever fired, I tried to like it, but I can't hit the ground in front of me with it. No its not my shooting skills, I have no problem getting 3 inch groups at 25 yards with a Glock.

I would give the CZ 52 a chance if you want a relatively enjoyable gun to shoot.

Cole125 said:

I have a Tokarev and its a solid well built pistol. It is however the most inaccurate pistol I have ever fired, I tried to like it, but I can't hit the ground in front of me with it. No its not my shooting skills, I have no problem getting 3 inch groups at 25 yards with a Glock.

I would give the CZ 52 a chance if you want a relatively enjoyable gun to shoot.

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Wow sounds just like the almost entire last batch of 1911's we had right before they switched over to the Beretta...we could get(i was part of the range cadre at the time) barely get anyone to qualify with them they shot so POORLY...we had a member of the marksmanship team shoot one and his group looked like a shotgun at 15 yds a real wide patterned shotgun lol...so what im getting at is a wonder if your example was just really "shot out" or super lose..those 1911's were I know that lol...had a rear sight fall off a guys gun while firing and one went almost into automatic mode and had to be put out of service it was so worn .

TN.Frank said:

Having owned both the Tok and the CZ-52 I can say that they are a lot of fun to shoot. Also, they'll cut thru IIIa Kevlar like a hot knife thru warm butter which can be a plus.I just wish they'd come out with some good quality, inexpensive HP ammo for defensive use, it'd make the ctg. a lot more effective then the ball ammo that's out there. Also, remember, most ComBlock ammo is corrosive primmed so run a couple patches thru the bore and wipe it down with some Windex to cut the salts out of the bore.
Of the two I like the Tok a bit better if you want to carry it but the CZ-52 is a lot more heavy duty so it'd probably be a better shooter. Can't go wrong with either.

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Have you actually shot it through IIIA armor? I have always figured it should be great on penetration but I have not done any tests.

TT is a great car gun and is a great woods gun. Strong design too- Serbs had model chambered in 10mm. It doesn’t like to be dry-fired though.

Most of them are hastily retrofitted with manual safety for importation purposes: Chinese have the worst safety, Romanian and Polish are reasonable and Yugo’s are the best. But I’ve also seen Yugo with the POS manual safety similar to Norinco.

I don’t think there’s any law barring end user from removing the safety and restoring the gun to the original condition. The current Yugo safety is most excellent, however. On the other hand non- standard magazines are somewhat of a deal breaker.

Given a chance my pick would be a Polish gun.

G26S239 said:

Have you actually shot it through IIIA armor? I have always figured it should be great on penetration but I have not done any tests.

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Chuck Karwan who authored the 3rd edition of a “The Gun Digest Book of Combat Handgunnery” describes (w/pictures) his son shooting Level 2 vest with both Czech high-pressure and Chinese standard 7.62X25. Both went through. Very the same vest then stopped 10mm FMJ. Karwan also says that Hong Kong police who are very familiar with TT went as far as to order the development of a Threat Level 3+ vests, nicknamed “Tokarev” vests.

My CZ-52 has worked flawlessly and is accurate enough. I like shooting it in low light just to see the muzzle flash . . . probably twice as much as a typical .357 muzzle flash.

I also had both a CZ-52 and TT-33 (well, Romanian TTC). Thought I would like the CZ better because it's less crude and built like a bank vault, but the TTC is a lot less bulky and nicer to shoot.

The CZ's firing pin safety is supposed to be what makes its trigger stiffer. The TTC is noticeably lighter and I was a bit more accurate with it at ~25 feet.

Now I have a CZ-82, which is also a very neat little pistol.

this is a plea to Keltec -- please make pmr-30.5 for tokarev round.

all the existing surplus guns (may be except the Yugo version) are really for occasional range use only.