Hey guys, Im in the market for my first pistol. It is going to be mainly for home/self defense but also for SHTF. I am on a REALLY tight budget but think that these choices are best for me so far. The two choices are; a handgun in 7.62X25 like the Tokarev or CZ-52, OR a handgun in 9X18 Makarov or CZ-82
Im leaning towards the 7.62X25 because I have heard you can get adapters to fire it in mosin nagants? Is this true? If so I could use this ammo in conjunction with the X54R if my supply ever dwindled. Any advice?
Thanks- Jon
Tight budget and prepping for SHTF. Always a challenge.
First, I hope you can put back enough ammo to feed your choices for a goos long while.
As the chances of finding either post-SHTF is going to be slight at best.
Since the ammo is imported and mostly Berdan primed and very difficult to reload which you obviously don't do yet.
Checking gunshops, gunshows, pawn shops and the like you should be able to come across a decent wheelgun in .38 Special or .357 Magnum for the same general price as the Tok or 52.
By going this way you open your ammunition sources and possibilities up to reloads of both homebrew and commercial flavors, commercial loads and scrounged ammo that aren't available easily for the russian rounds.
Defensive ammo is readily available for the 'commercial' chamberings unlike the soviet products. There's few if any shooters out there that don't have at least a partial box of .38's laying around somewhere even if they don't have a gun in that chambering anymore.
Next by choosing a standard round, you open yourself up to being able to produce (purchase) rounds suitable for hunting if need be. A 158gr LSWC is a great game getter at 800 and 1300fps.
The most effective defensive loads for current home defense use aren't loaded for the Tok and Mak guns, yes there are a few but they're pricey and somewhat rare.
As to the chamber adapters, a handful of brass Boxer primed cases, some lead bullets (round balls also work nicely), some Red Dot powder and an Original Lee Loader will keep you fed long after the rounds for the adapter are gone. And for little over the price of the adapter and a box of ammo.
I do have several adapters, I keep them around for several reasons (mostly toys) but the more accurate and useful sub-loads I have and use often are home-rolled.
The advantage to the Lee Loader is the ability to also load full power ammo for the rifle also, again using lead bullets (if you are out of jacketed) that's still quite effective on game or other vermin.
Another consideration in favor of the wheelgun is the availability of spare parts. The commie guns have no spare parts around to speak of, and few who can work on them if they do fail (52).
While the old wheelguns seldom "break", they do occasionally do fail and there's not a gunsmith out there over the age of 40 who doesn't have at least a few K-frame Smith parts somewhere in his parts boxes/bins. A couple of mainsprings and trigger return springs are the basic spare parts kit for the K-frames.
No the wheelguns don't belch fire when the hammer falls (okay the .357 does but....), no they're not glamorous or cutting edge. But you can leave one loaded for 50 years and it'll still work when you pick it up. They're simple, unpretentious and are a thousand times better in a scrounging situation than an autoloader. And the ammo is eminently more effective in the game fields.
If I just 'had' to have an autoloader, I'd be on the lookout for one of the P-1 Walther's (P-38) that are available for @$300 if you scrounge enough.
Reliable, decently accurate most of the time and a common caliber (9mm) they're again not something you're going to see a SWAT guy pulling out, but they're eminently serviceable and a much better choice than a great many other choices out there including the 52 and Tok or Mak.
All my opinion but having worked as a smith, working in the LE field currently and having owned more guns than I'd care to consider, my opinions are fairly well grounded in experience rather than hyperbole.
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