Surplus locker

Guns Magazine, June, 2004 by Joe Roberts

Holt's Surplus Locker feature on the Walther P.38 was a fine piece of writing about a legendary World War II pistol. It is ironic that the Swedish Army adopted the P.38 as its official sidearm several months before the Wehrmacht did.

In contrast, the Russian military copied and refined proven designs (e.g., the 1911 Colt .45) to produce pistols like the TT-33 Tokarev, which could fire either the more powerful 7.62 Russian round or captured 7.63 German Mauser rounds. The simplicity of the Tokarev design may be seen from the fact that illiterate Russian soldiers could fieldstrip it with nothing more than a cartridge.

Holt Bodinson assures us the TT-33 will be the subject of a future Surplus Locker. Stand by! Ed.

Joe Roberts

Jackson, Miss.