Reviews

SRC Limited Edition TT-33 GBB Pistol

Master Chief

The TT-33 or "Tokarev" is a 7.62mm self-loading pistol that was deveoped in the 1930s by Fedor Tokarev to provide a service pistol for the Soviet Military, and also as a replacement of the Nagant M1895 revolver which was in service since the time of the Tsars. Used during the Great Patriotic war, it has served the Soviets until the 1970s.

THE SRC TOKAREV

Star Rainbow Company (SRC) have done a very good job with their own version of the Russian Tokarev pistol and is packaged in a way that it will attract both airsoft skirmishers and period pistol collectors alike. Period airsoft replicas have recently, for some reason, gained renewed popularity not just to long standing period collectors and WW2 reenactors and enthusiasts but now to skirmishers who have either gotten bored on the same and now becoming boring modern look in firearms and pistols or to those players who belong to a much older age group who are now going back to the old time WW2 or period RIFs.

The SRC Tokarev is packaged really well. It is contained in a tough hard plastic red pistol case bearing the Russian emblem and writing in front. Inside, the pistol case is lined with soft foam that protects the pistol during transport.

Inside is the pistol, a user’s manual, a hop-up adjustment tool, and a Soviet Badge. The user’s manual is cleverly designed to look like a passport.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Honestly, I did not find the SRC Tokarev that appealing to the eye when I first saw it. Firstly, I am not familiar with Russian firearms and have not heard of this particular pistol. At first glance, the pistol does look old and period in design. This particular one that I received even had one of its pistol grip plates detached from the pistol. This was not a problem as a quick look into the magwell clearly showed how to re-attach the plate. The pistol is full metal with plastic grip plates. I am not too impressed with the material used for the grip plates but on the plus side, they look identical to the pictures of the real steel.

The pistol has a very good weight to it. Some of the reviews that I have read say that they did not like the pistol for its rough build quality which I would have to disagree with. In my opinion, although I have not seen the real steel version yet, the SRC version have captured the look and feel of a WW2 pistol. The pistol has a nice matte black finish, the slide pulls nicely and has a crisp and solid travel.

One downside that I noticed is that the hammer does not have a hard strike and does not sound that solid when blank firing it without the magazine in place. The trigger is solid and has a slightly heavier pull than other GBB pistols that I have tried.

As I have mentioned previously, the overall weight of the pistol is very good. It has that realistic heavy metal feel that one would expect with this type of period pistol. The build quality is a bit rough but this blends well with the actual period that this pistol is trying to replicate. The pistol is well made with no loose parts or rattles.

On the left side of the pistol grip is a lanyard attachment point, which is very useful for airsofters who will most likely lose a pistol whilst in the “battlefield”.
The magazine is full metal. It is slim and therefore the BBs are single stacked. The magazine keeps the gas well and is capable of emptying with a single full charge of gas.

TAKEDOWN

Disassembly is pretty much straight forward with this pistol. First, pull the slide all the way back, then pull the take down pin out. The takedown pin is held by a clip on the right side on the pistol. Simply release the pin from the clip and pull it out from the other side. Once the takedown pin is out, simply slide the top slide forward and detach it from the lower receiver. Once this is done, the internals can easily be taken out.

Most of the internals are metal and it has a black inner barrel. The hop-up is adjusted with the use of a very small Allen key and can be accessed thought he ejection port. It is a bit dry inside and can benefit from a good spray of silicone.

PERFORMANCE

The saying "do not judge a book by its cover" bears well with this pistol. As I said earlier in this review, I was not very impressed with his pistol at all but I was well surprised on how well it performs.

The trigger pull is a bit heavier compared to other GBBs. The blowback is very impressive. It is very crisp and has a very nice hard kick on the blow back. BB grouping is good without any fliers. BB grouping is pretty tight and constant within a target half the size of an  A4 paper from about 10 feet. The gun when fired has a muzzle velocity of around 250 to 270 fps.

The slide locks back when the magazine is empty. One disappointment I found is that when you unlock the slide, the slide seems flimsy and does not go back a crisp as it should be. A harder spring may solve this problem.

CONCLUSION

All in all, the SR33 or SRC Tokarev is a very nice period gun with good build quality. It is a usable airsoft pistol and a very nice collectable WW2 replica. It is not perfect with some negative attributes like the rough finish, plastic pistol grip plates, the weak hammer, and the weak slide return. But there are positive things going for it: it is full metal with good weight, blowback has a hard kick, good grouping at around ten feet and can empty the magazine easily with one gas charge. Plus, you get the bonus of the pistol case, the badge and the  "passport."

A good package, and an affordable package at that. This would go nicely with the Mosin-Nagant airsoft rifles that are already in the market.

 

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