Need help identifying a Pistol

[Swagman00]

Can you pull the slide back and check the inner battery to see if it chambers something straight wall or bottlenecked for a cartridge?

Calipers would also help to identify caliber at the end of the gun barrel if have such a tool to use.

[tankerman]

Looks like some variant of a Russian type TT pistol / TT-30, -33, TTC, M48, Tokagypt, M57, M70, R-3, Type 51, 54, 68 etc....

[saki302]

Khyber pass or Chinese/Vietnamese workshop pistol. If it's confirmed WW2, might be a Khyber Pass weapon. They copied Enfield/Webley revolvers among other things up there- I imagine some makers would get creative and come up with their own designs.

A lot of the Vietnam bringbacks were copies of the Browning 1900.

-Dave

[Mike A]

Agree that it's a Chinese or Vietnamese-made pistol that seems to have been "inspired" by the many Browning 1935s that China received from the Allies, with perhaps a little French 1935A inspiration thrown in. Needs a chamber cast to show what cartridge it was made for, PROBABLY 7.63x25 Mauser, but also possibly 9x19 or 7.65 Brownin/.32ACP, or even 7.65 French Long, if Vietnamese.

I'd gently remove all crud and surface rust with penetrating oil-soaked bronze wool and try pulling the grips, also gently. Then take a pic of the open action--perhaps then we can see if it is a locked breech design or just straight blowback.

I wouldn't shoot this gun, even if it would function and you know what ctg. it is chambered for. Too many unknowns! But a great conversation piece!!!

[pitfighter]

I don't believe it is a candidate for "refinishing" - or finishing, as it was never much better than it is now. In this case refinishing would cancel 100% of ANY collector value associated with it as a war relic.

But it is your choice and your money.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsPk1cD_Axs

[Mike A]

One problem with these hand-made guns, and that includes the Khyber Pass stuff, is that they were mostly shaped with hand files and foot-powered "power tools."

When YOU are supplying the horsepower, you tend to want to work with the easiest-to-cut metal. That means SOFT iron or mild steel, which are not the most durable--meaning SAFE--gun materials.

Sometimes, they hardened the bearing surfaces "by eyeball," but that doesn't make for the best quality control, either. It doesn't take a Ph.D. in metallurgy to see that such parts are very liable to creep/crack over time.

[7.62x54R]

http://www.forgottenweapons.com/page/8/

bottom of page looks very similar