The Tokarev is a pre World War 2 era pistol of Soviet origin. it was developed in the late 1920’s to replace the Nagant M1895 revolver. The designation TT-33 stands for Tula Tokarev 1933. The Tokarev was widely used during World War 2 and is one of the iconic Soviet firearms. Many Tokarev pistol and derivative models have been produced under license in nations with close ties to the USSR.

The Tokarev is a single action pistol that employs the short recoil mechanism and has a locked breech. The design seems to be inspired by the FN Mle 1903 and Colt M1911 pistols, but differs in several areas. The pistol has a large steel frame, plastic grip plates and a steel slide with fixed sights.

The Tokarev is a semi-automatic pistol that fires the 7.62x25mm round from an 8 round magazine. Outside the USSR various 9x19mm models have been produced, although the vast majority of foreign production was in 7.62x25mm as well. The maximum effective range is a few dozen meters.

The Tokarev was widely used by Soviet forces during World War 2. After the war it remained in use and large quantities were exported and produced under license. The Tokarev was replaced in Soviet service by the Makarov pistol in 1952. Nowadays the Tokarev remains in use, especially in many third world nations.