Zastava M57

Zastava M57
The M57 variant with loaded 9-round magazine.
Type	Semi-automatic pistol
Place of origin	Yugoslavia (Serbia)
Service history
In service	1957–1992
Used by	See Users
Production history
Designed	1957
Manufacturer	Crvena Zastava (Zastava Arms)
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 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, rather than just importing the surplus weapons.

History

Adopted in 1957, it was a licensed produced copy of the Soviet Tokarev TT pistol, although M57 had longer grip that hosted longer magazine (9 rounds versus 8 rounds in TT). In around 1970 Crvena Zastava began production of the similar pistol, chambered for 9×19mm Luger ammunition. This model is known as M70A. Zastava, currently, in 2014, manufactures new production model 57s, 70As and 88s. These models are updated with more modern safety features and sell at a retail of from $220–300 USD.

Design details

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 import restrictions, a manual safety was fitted to surplus models and 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 and render the gun unable to fire unless a magazine is inserted into the grip frame. Magazine is single-stack 9 round capacity.

Variants

M57 basic model.

M57A is an upgrade of basic model M57. It has an external safety.

M70A 9mm version.

M70AA is an upgrade of basic model M70. It has 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 USA by K-VAR/FIME Group.

As of 2012 M57A, M70A and M88A are imported into the U.S. by Century International Arms.

See also

• Zastava Arms
• Zastava M70 (.32 ACP/.380 ACP)
• Zastava M88
• Zastava CZ 99
• Zastava PPZ
• TT pistol