If you are a serious collector of Tokarev Pistols you will appreciate how rare and desirable this example is. In 90% condition all matching including the magazine, we have an extremely early (believed to be the 199th example manufactured) 1935 dated TT-33 Pistol. As you may recall production of the earlier model the TT-30 ran from 1934 into 1935 when the updated TT-33 Model began production. This pistol was made at the time of that change to the updated model, and it is one of the earliest examples possibly the earliest one known to exist in the west. What makes this even more desirable is that remarkably it is still all matching down to the factory original matching numbered magazine and has a decent bore.
Of all the WW2 era Service Pistols of the major combatants, the Soviet Union’s TT-33 is the most elusive in North America for collectors to locate. The reasons are pretty straightforward, there was little contact during the war between the American Army and the Red Army. Most of the Soviet made equipment brought hack here was taken off of German soldiers who has previously taken it off of Russians that they had overrun. A few more came back in the Korean war and from Vietnam but they have never been common here. This 1935 dated example would have seen all of the Purges of Stalin and the brutal fighting on the Russian Front. If you are looking for a fine example of this famous pistol for your collection this would be a fine choice. Not too many collectors will be able to own a TT-33 from the earliest days of production.
