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Hey everybody, I got a(nother) Chinese Tokarev recently and took it out to the range, where I encountered an issue with the slide not going fully into battery, and getting hung up while closing. If I gave it a slap it would go into battery and function as normal. I tried this with different magazines and different ammo, and the problem persisted. What's strange is that when I first got this gun, I took it apart and cleaned it (as I do with all milsurps I get) and I didn't have any issues then. Even with no magazine in the gun and an empty chamber, the slide hangs up, and it's extremely difficult to pull it all the way back, but if I give it a little push forward it goes. (Notice that the hammer is fully cocked, I know Tokarevs can be tough to rack with the hammer down but I fully cocked the hammer and still get this problem. The photos demonstrate this, taken with the gun completely empty. I've tried taking it apart, cleaning it, and lubricating it a few times with no change. A couple other things I notice is that the slide stop lever has a little bit of wiggle, but otherwise functions exactly as it should. Also, when the hammer is pulled back to half-cock, there is a noticeable *ding* sound that it makes, which I found out comes from the sear spring making contact with some part of the frame. Not sure if either of those things I mentioned are related to my problem but at this point I'm willing to take any advice y'all can give. Tokarevs are pretty similar to 1911s in their setup so maybe some knowledge there would be useful as well. Thanks!

20220320_233021.jpg 20220320_233032.jpg
 
Chinese Toks are known to have soft, poorly heat treated slides. Try pushing down on the barrel through the ejection port and see if it then goes into battery. If so, then there may be a burr on the barrel or slide locking lugs, or the barrel link may be out of spec or loose. Run the slide with the lockwork out and see if it is smooth. If so, then slip the barrel, spring assy and slide release back in and re-check. There is also a possibility that the disconnector is hanging up and not being cammed back down by the slide.

I have a Viet bring back "M20" Tok copy and the lower rear surface of the slide that cams the hammer back is substantially worn. I had to do some filing and stoning to get it to operate smoothly.
 
^^^ Trying to remember but I think those have a 1911ish half guide rod and recoil spring setup I'd check that too and where the rod part rests against the barrel (I sold my last tok off more then a few years ago it's been a while 😂). Could be the rod hanging on spring or the spring hanging on outside of cap too but just guesses over the internet lol

Also an afterthought but does the barrel number match the frame? Those have a linked barrel iirc
 
Couldn't find a serial number on the barrel, but all other numbered parts match. Here's what I did discover, when the hammer group was removed, the hangup stopped. I tried reinserting parts of the slide one at a time just to be sure, and everything (slide, barrel, spring, bushing) moved freely as it should. Naturally I thought it might be an issue with the hammer group, but I disassembled it, couldn't find anything wrong. I did, however, notice there's a small bit of metal sticking up from the surface on the one side of the firing pin housing, towards the rear of the slide. It might be hard to see in the pictures but it's on the left hand side when looking at it from this angle. The other side doesn't have that tiny piece of metal sticking up, so maybe I'll need to file that down a bit?

Inked20220321_115357_LI.jpg Inked20220321_115411_LI.jpg Inked20220321_115439_LI.jpg
 
The area circled in green is where the soft slides wear prematurely. It appears that you will first have to dress that raised section of metal down (the red arrow) and then file or stone a radius on the worn (green) spot which cams the hammer back - that will greatly ease retracting the slide from hammer down.
TokSlide.png
 
The area circled in green is where the soft slides wear prematurely. It appears that you will first have to dress that raised section of metal down (the red arrow) and then file or stone a radius on the worn (green) spot which cams the hammer back - that will greatly ease retracting the slide from hammer down.
View attachment 1159948
Interesting. The slide was still hanging up even with the hammer fully cocked, so I wasn't sure if that made a difference.
 
Alright, there is definitely something in the hammer group causing the slide to hang up, but I can't for the life of me figure out what it is. Might have to take it to a gunsmith. I'm not too keen on filing down or messing with anything that I'm not 100% sure is causing the issue.
 
Alright, there is definitely something in the hammer group causing the slide to hang up, but I can't for the life of me figure out what it is. Might have to take it to a gunsmith. I'm not too keen on filing down or messing with anything that I'm not 100% sure is causing the issue.
Good idea.
 
This is a commercial rather than military gun? Military pieces are often sent to the armory for repair or upgrades and the parts get mixed. It may have a mismatched lockwork unit that needs a little love here and there to fit correctly. If commercial, well, it is a Chinese copy of a Soviet Russian pistol.
 
This is a commercial rather than military gun? Military pieces are often sent to the armory for repair or upgrades and the parts get mixed. It may have a mismatched lockwork unit that needs a little love here and there to fit correctly. If commercial, well, it is a Chinese copy of a Soviet Russian pistol.
It's military issue, originally sent to North Vietnam as aid and then later imported to the states.
 
Other than the aforementioned issues it's in excellent shape so an arsenal refurbish/replacement of parts makes total sense. Seems pretty common with milsurp guns.
 
I don't recall anything like that tab of metal sticking out on any of mine looks like maybe hitting the hammer deformed it or maybe was never finished from chicom..that could definitely hang up things…sounds like your going to take it to a gunsmith I would if your not comfortable with filing it…like already suggested I'd file that down and then look at the hammer see if it's needing filed square or something is out of whack with it could be a replacement hammer or ? Looks like your on the right track though.
 

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