[Driz]

I was wondering if anyone could tell me which is better a Norinco Tokarev 213A or a 54-1. I saw both of these listed on GunBroker.com, but have never heard of the name. The 213A is listed as a 9mm with high capacity mags and the 54-1 was a 7.62mm with 8 round mags. I'm not to familiar with 7.62mm, where can you even buy that. Any help would be appreciated.

[CA357]

I'm not an expert on Tokarevs, so I don't know about the model in 9mm. However, I can tell you that the 7.62 x 25 round is a .30 caliber screamer. It's a very fast bullet, and you can buy it dirt cheap.

If it were me personally, I'd go for the 7.62 round. Take a look at a CZ52. It fires the Tokarev round and I think it's a better pistol all the way around. It's only weakness can be the firing pin, so pick up a spare, they're cheap.

Welcome here. When you get a chance, head over to the New Member introductions and introduce yourself to the gang.

[JiroZero713]

The 7.62 X 25 mm round is a bottle neck pistol cartridge used in the Russians PPSHs or whatever you call them and their russian side arms the torkarev.

The round was known for a while as the only bottle necked cartridge of it's time and was sometimes used by assasins and other special operatives due to the rounds ability to pierce certain types of body armour.

the CZ 52 also fires the same round and is bulkier has a better trigger...but a brittle fireing pin....just replace it with a titanium pin and it's good to go for dry firing. The CZ 52 is probably a better option as it can handle the heavier modern loads of 7.62 x 25 mm....and the round is cheap as you can get 1000 round for less than 90 dollars.

[Mark F]

Here is information on my 54-1

http://www.firearmstalk.com/forums/f15/norinco-19552/