Not all Tokarev ammo is the same

[StrangeRanger]

Recently had an occasion to try recent S&B commercial 7.62 Tokarev ammo in my Steyr Solothurn MP34 which was originally a 9mm Mauser Luftwaffe gun.

The S&B ammo would not drive the bolt back far enough to sear up resulting in a runaway.  Milsurp Romanian ammo worked 100%. The S&B stuff worked in my Yugoslav M49/57 which has a lighter recoil spring.  Approach commercial ammo carefully in a PPSh41 or PPS43, it could be a safety isssue.  There had been some previous discussion about using 7.63 Mauser ammo as a way to slow the ROF down. Based on the above it's probably not a great idea

 

[Rekraps]

32 minutes ago, StrangeRanger said:

Recently had an occasion to try recent S&B commercial 7.62 Tokarev ammo in my Steyr Solothurn MP34 which was originally a 9mm Mauser Luftwaffe gun.

The S&B ammo would not drive the bolt back far enough to sear up resulting in a runaway.  Milsurp Romanian ammo worked 100%. The S&B stuff worked in my Yugoslav M49/57 which has a lighter recoil spring.  Approach commercial ammo carefully in a PPSh41 or PPS43, it could be a safety isssue.  There had been some previous discussion about using 7.63 Mauser ammo as a way to slow the ROF down. Based on the above it's probably not a great idea

 

UGH. I was just in the basement yesterday loading a few PPSH mags with my new commercial S&B. I almost always shoot Milsurp stuff (dirty or not, it works great) but was going to test the S&B (I have 1,500 rounds of it) to see how it functions. Once I shoot, I'll post my experience. 

[StrangeRanger]

As a quick runaway safety test (Gary Szechy taught me this):

Cock the empty gun, put a strip of blue painter's tape immediately behind the bolt handle, put it on semi, load no more than 5 rounds in a mag, point it downrange and fire till empty replacing the tape after every shot.  If the bolt handle breaks the tape every time, repeat in full auto. If it again breaks the tape, you're good to go.  If it fails to break the tape in either test then a runaway is likely, take the ammo to a gun show or buy a Tokarev

 

 

Edited December 3, 2024 by StrangeRanger

[Rekraps]

8 hours ago, StrangeRanger said:

As a quick runaway safety test (Gary Szechy taught me this):

Cock the empty gun, put a strip of blue painter's tape immediately behind the bolt handle, put it on semi, load no more than 5 rounds in a mag, point it downrange and fire till empty replacing the tape after every shot.  If the bolt handle breaks the tape every time, repeat in full auto. If it again breaks the tape, you're good to go.  If it fails to break the tape in either test then a runaway is likely, take the ammo to a gun show or buy a Tokarev

 

 

Danke.