New production Zestava M57 and I can't hit the broad side of a barn. Bore size?

[Jaak]

I need some help with a new production Zestava M57 I just bought and took to the range for the first time yesterday. I had ten rounds of leftover Norinco red box ammo and Russian Factory38. Both of these cartridges shot all over the place like a stereotypical musket. At twenty meters I saw impacts in the dirt, over the target stand, two to three meters to the left and right. I did not land a single hit on the actual paper. I know this ammo was good because I also have a P762 that groups very well at twenty meters with both types of ammo.

I slugged the bore on the M57 and my micrometer shows a bore size of 0.3124 inch to 0.3126 inch. That seems to be a bit large for standard 7.62x25 cartridges, which technically are supposed to have a 0.311 inch bullet. My P762 slugs at 0.3102 inch and like I said, I am surprised at how well it groups.

I don't have any more ammo and I can't find any locally at the moment so I'm hoping one of you fine reloaders might have several pulled bullets that can take some measurements. I know the Norinco and Russian stuff is no good for this pistol, but what about the S&B and Prvi PPU stuff?

[poppy42]

Yep! Not all Tokarov’s are created equal! What distance?

[Jaak]

Twenty meters.

[poppy42]

If it’s a new manufacture I try contacting zestava. I have no experience with the new ones but I know depending on where (what county) it was manufactured they can be all over the board as far as accuracy. The Russian and Czechoslovakia made weapons generally being at the top of the list.

[Bad Ass Wallace]

I'm using 0.314" boolits in my 7.62x 39

https://i.imgur.com/A5KkvJ4.jpg

[Bigslug]

Yep! Not all Tokarov’s are created equal!

WHAT??? Inequality in a socialist worker's paradise???? I'm stunned! STUNNED I SAY! :mrgreen:

Eager to see the feedback we get on this thread. I've been "Tok-Curious" for the past couple years.

[Burnt Fingers]

I'm using 0.314" boolits in my 7.62x 39

https://i.imgur.com/A5KkvJ4.jpg

7.62x39 isn't the same as 7.62x25.

[poppy42]

7.62x39 isn't the same as 7.62x25.
That’s for sure! One’s a pistol, one’s a rifle!

[poppy42]

WHAT??? Inequality in a socialist worker's paradise???? I'm stunned! STUNNED I SAY! :mrgreen:

Eager to see the feedback we get on this thread. I've been "Tok-Curious" for the past couple years.
Except the tokarev round pre dates U.S.S.R by about 10 years or so. It’s based on the old Mauser cartridge.

[Texas by God]

The 7.62x25 and 7.62 x54R and 7.62x39 are all supposed to be .310"'- supposedly......

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[poppy42]

Ah yes supposedly being the keyword there! I know of Mosin-Nagant being anywhere is from .310 to at least .314

[Jaak]

I managed to luck into one more pack of that Russian 7.6x25 at the shop. Looks like they found one that got bumped behind some other ammo and I was in the shop just when that happened. Lucky me! I pulled one of the bullets and you will not believe it. It measures 0.3082". No wonder I can't hit the broad side of a barn in the M57. There is a gap of 0.004" between the grooves and the bullet. The only thing that is making contact with the bullet are the lands, and they are only digging into the bullet 0.006". If the bullet was a proper size and riding the grooves at 0.312" then the lands would be 0.011" into the bullet.

[WVDennis]

I bought a surplus m57 several years ago. It shot so low it wasn’t fun to shoot. I bought a new barrel from Numerich gun parts and it shoots as good or better than my Sig 365. Search using TT 33 as it’s the same barrel.


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[WVDennis]

Herehttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210328/f756ec3796da3becbf503354e1db0295.jpg


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[RJM52]

Bought one a few years ago when they first hit the market. It has been very accurate but does shoot below POA...rear sight is as high as it gets and the front blade is tiny...it is the nature of the gun..

OP...if you can I would start out at 7 yards and see if the gun is grouping and where the POI is compared to the POA...from the guns I have shot, have found most TOKs shoot low...CZ 52s shoot high... Then back off a few yards at a time and see what happens..it may not be the ammo at all...maybe just the sights...

Bob