Help Troubleshooting pistol.

[03protege]

I recently purchased a Yugo M57 and am having problems with the trigger or hammer. When i started shooting I was able to go through a few mags with no issues then the trigger would get real gritty and the hammer wouldn't fall. After pulling the trigger I can put pressure on the hammer and get it to fall.

Dry firing functions great only having this issue once or twice. It almost seems like the issue happens most when a new round is cycled into the chamber vs when I rack the slide manually.

I was able to shoot the gun single shot by droping a round in the chamber and hitting the slide release with little to no issues.

This is the second time i shot the gun, the first time the issue appeared much sooner. I thought it was cosmoline in the hammer assembly so i thoroughly cleanedit before shooting it this time.


Also I noticed some wear(bluing rubbed off) on the import required safety. Ive had the safety off 100% of time since ownership, should it have wear on it?
Any advice would be MOST appreciated. Thanks.

 

[ZM57]

Hi.

I had similar problems.

First off, there are numerous internet discussions on the M57. Search and maintain the URLs for reference. You'll find a how-to, with pics, for taking the firing pin block apart to clean the cosmoline out of it, and you'll find discussions on the effect of the safety as well as hammer block on trigger pull. They're quite informative.

As for your problem, when it surfaced for me, I could drop then reseat the mag and temporarily be back in business. Some better gun handlers than I commented that the trigger seemed gritty. The likely culprit is the hammer block. You'll find many people saying that they thought they cleaned theirs, however cleaning it yet again took out more crud.

I boiled my hammer block in water to thoroughly dissolve all cosmoline, sprayed it with brake cleaner followed by compressed air, then I oiled it. Studying it, I noticed three spots where a high degree of metal to metal contact seemed evident. I applied some sta-lube synthetic brake caliper grease to these points. The trigger pull seems much improved, but I've yet to make it back to a range.

You'll see others discussing the add-on safety lever (...remove it, see if the gun fires better... ...polish/file it...) and you'll read discussions on polishing hammer block components. Relative to the hammer block, one quick thing you might consider is cleaning and drying it as above, but then assemble it dry and repeatedly cock and dry fire to get the hammer components to semi-polish themselves. Then re-clean the hammer block and lube. I may go back and try this.

Read all you can first, then decide what might work best for you (you can even find an English version of the M57 manual on Zastava's website - no mention of the add-on safety of course).

It's a nice pistol and by all accounts can be easily adjusted to perform well.

Also, check out Marschal Grips offerings for the M57. I bought the M57 as a poor-man's 1911. Their red walnut flat grips maintain that Comm-Bloc star yet offer the great look of wood 1911 grips.

Good luck!

 

[YellowChevy]

I thought I may have been the only one on the forum with a M57, but I'm glad its not the case. Although I didn't have the problem you had, I have read various other articles that blame the cosmoline & added safety as the culprit for many problems on the guns. I had to file the spring on the added safety to allow it to engage/disengage. I am contemplating removing the safety altogether.

I got mine from J&G about 2 months ago and finally got to shoot it 2 weeks ago. I love the gun! Plus its hard to beat shooting for about 10 cents a round.

 

[03protege]

Thank you for your replies.

I cleaned the hammer assembly

Multiple times for long hours in mineral spirits
Then boiled twice for 30 min each
Then fully dissasembled ain mineral spirts and scrubbed with tooth brush.

If its not clean after that i give up lol.

Ive been wondering if it was the safety ill try to give that a try tommerow.

Thanks

Also so far I love it despite its difficulties, very fun to shoot and very cheap. Although i also bought a nagant revolver and i gotta say I may like that more. But 50 cents a shot i do not like

 

[ZM57]

It sounds like your hammer block is clean.

Here are some of the safety / hammer URLs I've archived:

http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=98794

http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=77741

http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?164458-Zastava-M57-Yugo-Tokarev-problems

http://www.sksboards.com/smf/index.php?topic=74181.0

http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?195518-M57-Yugo-Tokarev-questions&p=1526461

http://boardreader.com/thread/Yugo_M57_Tokarev_Trigger_Issues_1dywX7sl1.html

http://forums.gunboards.com/showthr...problems-as-others-have...and-a-grip-prob-too

General Tovarev:

http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/vi...&start=0&sid=ba50d6c2c088a70406df91801271496b

http://www.alpharubicon.com/leo/tokarev213.htm

M57 Firing Pin Removal:

http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=77382

Zastava M57 PDF:

http://www.zastava-arms.rs/cms/assets/files/pdf/uputstva_LSO/pistol_M57_M70A_eng.pdf

Regards.

 

[03protege]

It sounds like your hammer block is clean.

Here are some of the safety / hammer URLs I've archived:

http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=98794

http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=77741

http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?164458-Zastava-M57-Yugo-Tokarev-problems

http://www.sksboards.com/smf/index.php?topic=74181.0

http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?195518-M57-Yugo-Tokarev-questions&p=1526461

http://boardreader.com/thread/Yugo_M57_Tokarev_Trigger_Issues_1dywX7sl1.html

http://forums.gunboards.com/showthr...problems-as-others-have...and-a-grip-prob-too

General Tovarev:

http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/vi...&start=0&sid=ba50d6c2c088a70406df91801271496b

http://www.alpharubicon.com/leo/tokarev213.htm

M57 Firing Pin Removal:

http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=77382

Zastava M57 PDF:

http://www.zastava-arms.rs/cms/assets/files/pdf/uputstva_LSO/pistol_M57_M70A_eng.pdf

Regards.

Thanks a million that is a wealth of knowledge. Unfortunatly I couldn't make it to the range today. The interstate was gridlocked with people trying to go shopping.

 

[dwr461]

Try sending it back to the manufacturer.

Getting those old mil surps running is half the fun. Good luck!

Dave

 

[sgt z]

Good Luck I have issues with mine but my Rom Tok is GTG.

 

[03protege]

Thanks for the help everyone. I got to shoot it yesterday without the safety installed and all 200 rounds fired flawlessly.

 

[dwr461]

Good I'm happy to hear it.