My newly aquired .327 Federal semi-auto, so to speak.

I've admired these for a while and have fired the Chinese Version 7.62X25 Tokarev. This is a Serbian M57 which differs in a longer gripframe and magazine. It holds 9 in the mag. There are some goofy features such as a mag disconnect and added thumb safety, kind of like a 1911. You can carry it cocked and locked. This example malfunctioned with the original full guide rod and a Tokarev plug and short guide has been installed. I think it needs a new firing pin spring looking at the primers of fired cases. It's still protruding after firing, telltale slightly marking the primers.

It's natural to compare it to a 1911 actually. The top half is very close in design but the bottom and fire control is vastly different. It's sort of unitized. The trigger is mushy and about 10 lbs. You're not going to accidentally pull the trigger. It does show some good build quality. The teeny dovetail drift front sight is nice. The barrel is close to 4-1/2" and it's an inch shorter than a Govt. model 1911 and only about 3/4 as wide, it's thin. The grip angle is less rakish and it feels interesting.

The cartridge is very interesting and what I want to play with. Ammo is around in boxer cases but pricey (at the moment). Actually the .30 Mauser (7.63 Mauser) of Broomhandle fame is the same round, just much lower pressure. I think the dies are basically the same but they are listed separately. For the price of top end ammo I can buy both dies and some brass. The neck is rather short on the bottleneck case so it needs to be loaded like a rifle case, retaining as much neck tension for the autoloader as possible. I've read bores on Serbian examples are on the tighter side and work well with .308 bullets. Performance is well established and I've tested factory ammo with 86 gr. bullet at almost 1600 fps! I have some data for 100 gr. at 1500. I figure the 60 gr. XTP would run close to 2000 fps! But with the set sights it would shoot very low. My hopes are for 100 gr. Cast FNGC bullets in the .327 Federal range. It does function fine with the .30 Mauser lighter loads too. It almost goes away on the hip in Gary's slide holster.