Zastava M57
Zastava M57 | |
---|---|
The M57 with a loaded 9-round magazine. | |
Type | Semi-automatic pistol |
Place of origin | Yugoslavia/Serbia |
Service history | |
In service | 1957–1992 |
Used by | Yugoslav People's Army |
Wars | Yugoslav Wars |
Production history | |
Designer | Zastava Arms |
Designed | 1957 |
Manufacturer | Zastava Arms |
Produced | 1957– |
Variants | See Variants |
Specifications | |
Weight | 854 g (30.1 oz) |
Length | 194 mm (7.6 in) |
Barrel length | 116 mm (4.6 in) |
Height | 134 mm (5.3 in) |
| |
Cartridge | 7.62×25mm Tokarev |
Action | Short recoil actuated, locked breech, single action |
Muzzle velocity | 480 m/s (1,575 ft/s) |
Effective firing range | 50 m |
Feed system | 9-round detachable box magazine |
Sights |
Front blade, rear notch 156 mm (6.1 in) sight radius |
The Zastava M57 pistol was a standard sidearm of the Yugoslav Army. It is a single-action pistol chambered for the fast and powerful 7.62×25mm Tokarev cartridge. These are very popular surplus weapons in the West, as they are affordable and plentiful. Zastava Arms still produces them new even today.
History
Adopted in 1957, the M57 was a license-produced copy of the Soviet Tokarev TT pistol, although the M57 had a longer grip to accommodate a larger magazine (holding 9 rounds, versus 8 rounds in the TT). Around 1970, Crvena Zastava began production of a similar pistol, the M70A, chambered in 9×19mm Luger. As of 2014, Zastava currently manufactures new production M57s, M70As and M88s. These models are updated with more modern safety features and sell at a retail price of $220–300 USD.
Design details
The M57 pistol is short-recoil-operated, locked-breech pistol that uses a Browning-type action with swinging link. The trigger is of single-action type. Originally the pistol has no manual safeties except for a half-cock notch on the hammer. Due to BATFE import restrictions, a manual safety was fitted to surplus models. The controls on the military surplus M57s are identical to those of the American M1911 pattern US Army pistols, which is a factor in their popularity in the United States.
The new manufacture pistols have a manual safety that is mounted on the slide rather than the frame. The new versions of the M57A/M70A also feature a magazine safety that renders the gun unable to fire unless a magazine is inserted into the grip frame. The magazine is single-stack, 9 round capacity. Although the M57 pistol is a TT-30 design, its 9-round magazine is not compatible with Tokarev pistols manufactured by other nations. Likewise, the 8 round magazines of other nations' Tokarevs will not work in the M57.
Variants
M57 basic model.
M57A is an upgrade of basic model M57. It has an external safety.
M70 9mm version.
M70A is an upgrade of basic model M70 with an external safety.
M88 shorter version of M70A.
M88A features an external safety on the slide, polymer handgrips and the bottom of easily detachable magazine.
As of 2011 M88A are imported in United States by K-VAR/FIME Group.
As of 2012 M57A, M70A and M88A are imported into the U.S. by Century International Arms.
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zastava M57. |