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Yugo M57 VS. TT-33 comparison my observations

35K views 31 replies 15 participants last post by  cappaletti 
#1 · (Edited)
I picked up my Yugo m57 yesterday and compared it to my Russian TT-33, and Polish TT-33

There are a few differences I saw right off the bat.

First off, as previously discussed, the grip is slightly longer. It holds one more round than the TT-33's. A standard TT-33 mag will not work in this pistol. I did try the m57 mag in the russian gun, and it does work, but sticks out slightly.

Unlike my russian TT-33, the M57 does have a safety. it seems to be of better quality than the polish safety. it does have part of the slide serration milled out to fit it though. it works, but as any add on safety, i would not trust it. like other browning designs, when on half cock, the gun is not going to go off.

There is a magazine safety on this unit. neither of my other TT-33's have this feature. pull the mag on them, the gun will still go off, the M57, not so.

Lastly, my personal favorite part is the recoil rod/spring.
The thing i hate most about my 1911 and my tt-33s was dealing with the recoil spring. the M57 has a captured recoil spring. it makes reassembly a piece of cake. i was expecting to launch the spring across the room when i disassembled the pistol, but imagine my surprise when i saw this gem of an invention.
The best part is that it fits in a regular tt-33 as well, so if spares ever become available, i will have to get one for my other toks.
 
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#2 ·
I've been wanting an M57 but the pistol not being a C&R has slowed me down. A local shop has one for $279, which isn't bad considering SOG is selling them for $229+ shippng.

Have you shot it yet? I love my TTC Romanian, and would like to find a Soviet model. I've been on the fence on the M57. Part of me thinks that they will sell out and go up in price by $100. Another thought is that BATF will make them C&R and they will linger on the marker for a while cheaply like the Romanians. The Polish TT33's seem to have sold out and are more expensive.
 
#3 ·
i am personally very happy with the gun. i have not shot it yet. the shop i got it from got 3 of them, one had a bend or burr in the slide causing it to bind.

a quick adjustment got everything working ok.

$279 seems to be a very fair price considering you get to handle it first.

i have a russian GSP import, a pole, the M57, and hopefully someday a romanian if the group buy ever goes through. (its only been a year though)

its a very well made pistol. the quality is on par with the russian and polish ones i have. the finish had some lighter bluing on the frontstrap, and there were some slight scratches in the finish that you would expect on any milsurp gun.

the gun was coated in a layer of the waxiest cosmoline i have dealt with.

it took about a can of gun scrubber to get it off.
they look much better without the grease.
 
#5 ·
Large hands so I wanted the M57. I picked one up locally for $269. I could have gotten it for the SOG price plus about $30 so I just picked it up locally for convenience since I could handle it. Hope to shoot it soon. I am not so sure that the safety is just an add on but looks more like it was designed in.
 
#13 ·
obviously the coat is important, i dont think i would want one without it.

whether mine has 5 or 6 torches is totally besides the point to me. i believe that it doesnt mean much to anyone else either, unless someone specifically wants all the different kinds of these pistols.

i have a handsome, example of a m57. i am satisfied.
 
#15 ·
i bought mine from a fellow board member recently, but i have not had the opportunity to shoot it yet. handling it, it feels very nice and well made; very tight, zero rattle, very solid. it is indeed very simple to disassemble.

i dont like the safety, though, because it gets in the way of my thumb and feels uncomfortable. if it were just a little smaller in profile it would be fine, but it really sticks out a good ways and i'm usually tempted to rest my thumb on top of it....but i dont know if the slide recoil would do a number to my thumb in that case.


question: there appears to be 4 stages at which the hammer can rest - completely forward, partly cocked 1, partly cocked 2, and fully cocked. forward and completely cocked are obvious, but why are there two "half cocks"? one is when you pull the hammer back slightly, and it locks the trigger AND the slide from going back; the only way to manipulate the hammer is to pull it back further, thus unlocking the trigger again. then there is the other, when you rack the slide only slightly. the hammer appears to rest in the same position as the first "half cock", but the trigger is not locked, and pulling the trigger releases the hammer and it goes forward.
what are the purposes of these two functions?
 
#16 ·
I would think the early 5 torch crest would be more desired, mine has 5 but the marking on the grips on mine indicate, due to the different letters on them, that those signify the time of the 6 torch era! Maybe my gun was made right before the change to the 6 torch and the grips were made after the transition?
Also the Holster's seem to come in 3 colors, mine is tan/yellow, but most i have seen are light or dark brown?
 
#19 ·
Got mine today

Got mine today. The dealer got it from SOG, and it looks like new, I don't think its ever been fired. Haven't shot it yet. The crest has 5 flames, it came with two mags, a cleaning rod and the holster is near mint. I don't have a C+R, nor an FFL, so if I didn't come across one from an individual then buying from a dealer was the way to go. It cost me 300 out the door. He even cleaned it for me.
Bill
 
#20 ·
Got mine today

Got mine today. The dealer got it from SOG, and it looks like new, I don't think its ever been fired. Haven't shot it yet. The crest has 5 flames, it came with two mags, a cleaning rod and the holster is near mint. I don't have a C+R, nor an FFL, so if I didn't come across one from an individual then buying from a dealer was the way to go. It cost me 300 out the door. He even cleaned it for me.
Bill
 
#23 · (Edited)
I got one a week ago and shot it a few days ago. I have to do a side-by-side shooting comparison with my TTC, but I like my M57 a lot. Used to belong to a guy named 'Dragi'.

I don't know the year, but it appears to have the crest with 6 flames, so I suppose it's post '63. It is much more comfortable to hold than the TTC I have due to the extended grip. It came with some very tough cosmoline, and was in very good condition once cleaned. The bore condition was good, with some pitting in the grooves, but it wasn't very bad. More like frosting.

The major difference is the mainspring and guide. Much better than the TT33. It comes apart much easier and the one-piece spring/guide ensures that the spring doesn't fly off. The safety is ok, but I don't trust it so much. The other major difference is that the magazine needs to be in the pistol to pull the trigger.

At the range, I used Romanian '85 ammo. Magazines functioned flawlessly (remember to get the cosmo out, dry and lightly oil. The mags were coated with cosmo.) Accuracy was ok, but it handled well. The trigger was not the smoothest. It seemed tight, which may lead to trigger jerking and lowered accuracy. (You can see many of my shots were down to the lower left.) The trigger may loosen up with time and more cleaning.

Up next, the 7.62x25 showdown in a week or two. M57 vs TTC vs CZ52! Which is more accurate and easy to shoot!
 
#24 ·
IIRC, the 6th flame signified the inclusion of Bosnia-Herzegovnia as a distinct republic.
 
#25 ·
I have 3 Tokarevs. A Polish, a 1943 dated Russian with no safety, and a Yugo 57. I shot my Yugo yesterday and here's what i think. Initial take-up on the Polish and Russian Toks trigger is smooth. Final pull is pretty crisp with the Polish slighty better than the Russian. Initial take-up on the Yugo is gritty and has a much heavier pull than the others. As far as accuracy goes, at 20 yards, The Pole is the hands down winner here. The Russian second, and the Yugo a distant 3rd even though the gun felt better to hold. When i had shot the Polish and Russian, i used Seller Bellot and i used Privi Partisan with the Yugo which didn't recoil as much as the SB. Shooting the Toks, i just don't feel comfortable. The pistols are just too narrow for my liking. When i applied the safety on the Yugo, it sometimes hung up and i had to give it a hard push to engage it. All of the Tokarevs have been 100% reliable. If it wasn't for the cool factor, I'd get rid of the Yugo. I hate guns that don't perform!
 
#26 ·
Resurrecting an old thread here.

I took delivery of 2 Yugo Type 57s today from AIM Surplus today. Sale price was $189. Shipping was $23 for both pistols. There was a hand pick option ($10 for the best of 5) which I did not exercise.

I would estimate that these pistols were about 85+% blue. The areas where the blue was worn through were consistent with being carried in a loose holster. The pistols came with a flap holster, two magazines, and a cleaning rod. They were slathered in the combloc cosmoline which is the color and consistency of ear wax. The holsters were well worn, and there were names written on the underside of the flap in blue ink.

After disassembly, a soak in mineral spirits, and a thorough application of a tooth brush, I lubed the appropriate parts and reassembled the pistols. One has an absolutely delightful trigger. The other has a trigger like archiarcher describes above.

Overall, considering that I have not shot the pistols yet, I am very happy with them. I will work on the cruddy trigger and improve it. The fire control group, while in a module, appears to have similar parts to the fire control in a 1911, so I think similar techniques will work.

I have a Cz-52, which I enjoy immensely, but no Tokarev derivatives. These are my first. I plan to take them shooting in the morning.
 
#27 ·
Half cock feature is not a safety as some are assuming. One does not carry a loaded Tok with hammer on half cock.

If safety add on lever is a mess as indicated in this long thread, think twice about carrying one of these pistols with such a safety lever
On.

For a range pistol, load it properly and fire it safely. This is a pistol meant to be carried unloaded and it would be advisable to understand that.

The 1911 must never, ever be carried loaded with hammer on half cock. Never.
 
#30 ·
In shooting Tokarevs, I found the Yugo and Polish to be more accurate. There were a few Yugos that came in comerically in 9mm. Some Chinese were 9 as well as 38 super. One Chinese model had a stagered mag. I'am missing the Chines "M20" Model it was santized for clandistine purposes, and the North Korean TO THOSE WHO ARE INHIBITED BY PISTOLS NOT BEING C & R TALK TO YOUR LEGISLATURE MEMBERS AND GET THEM TO PASS A BILL THAT ALLOWS THE PURCHASE OF A PISTOL BY PROVIDING YOUR CONCEALED CARRY PERMIT INFORMATION AS IS THE CASE IN MY STATE .
 
#31 ·
Range report:

Well, the pistol with the good trigger turned out to be pretty accurate. The pistol with the crappy trigger, unsurprisingly, was all over the paper. Once in a while, when everything came together, I could get it to put a couple of rounds in the bull. I am definitely going to have to work on the trigger of this one.

Function was excellent with 100 rounds through each pistol. Recoil was sharp, and I did get a little hammer bite. The sights on these pistols are not great, but they are not bad, either.

Overall, I am very happy with both pistols. I plan to shoot them some more over the next few weeks. If I can get out to rifle range, I will try the one with the good trigger at 100 yards.
 
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