Type 68

Semi-Automatic Military Service Pistol

North Korea | 1968

"The Type 68 became a localized, modified North Korean copy of the original Soviet TT-33 pistol series of World War 2 fame."

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 09/10/2018 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site; No A.I. was used in the generation of this content.

Like other Soviet-aligned nations during the Cold War (1947-1991), it made sense for the North Korean military to adopt the ubiquitous TT-33 semi-automatic military service pistol series of World War 2 (1939-1945) fame. The original offering became available in 1930 and saw widespread service from the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) into the Middle East civil wars of today (2018). In time, it made equal sense for North Korean industry to locally manufacture the pistol which, after some modifications to suit local requirements, is what the North Korean military took into service as the Type 68 (or "Model 1968" or "M68").

The Type 68 continued use of the proven, man-stopping 7.62x25mm Tokarev Soviet pistol cartridge through a semi-automatic action. Cartridges were fed by way of a spring-loaded eight-shot magazine inserted into the grip's base in the usual way. There were, however, several changes made to the original design, including a shortening of the design as a whole, but the pistol was more or less faithful to the original Soviet model of the war years. Narrower slanted serrations were cut into the rear of the slide assembly for an improved grip when managing the slide itself and its linking system was revised to better mimic the proven Browning-style cam arrangement. The slide stop pin was reinforced for the better and the heel of the butt was now home to the magazine catch. Rather interestingly, the North Korean Type 68 could accept the original TT-33 pistol's magazine but its own magazines were not interchangeable with the original Tokarev pistol series because of the latter's lack of a magazine cut-out.

The end result was a slightly enlarged gun filling the hand quite nicely. Overall length reached 185mm with a barrel length of 108mm. Its unloaded weight was 1lb, 12oz. Performance specs included a muzzle velocity of 1,300 feet-per-second.

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Performance
Performance specifications presented assume optimal operating conditions for the Type 68. Information presented is strictly for general reference and should not be misconstrued as useful for hardware restoration or operation.

165 ft
50.3 m | 55.0 yds
Max.Eff.Range

24
Rounds-Per-Minute
Rate-of-Fire

1,300 ft/sec
396 m/sec
Muzzle Velocity

Physical
The physical qualities of the Type 68. Information presented is strictly for general reference and should not be misconstrued as useful for hardware restoration or operation.

185 mm
7.28 in
O/A Length

108 mm
4.25 in
Barrel Length

1.75 lb
0.80 kg
Weight

Semi-Automatic
Action

7.62x25mm Tokarev Soviet
Caliber(s)

8-Round Detachable Box Magazine
Feed

Iron Front and Rear.
Sights

Variants
Notable series variants as part of the Type 68 Semi-Automatic Military Service Pistol family line.

Type 68 - Base Series Designation

Model 1968 (M68) - Alternative Designation.

Operators
Global customers who have evaluated and/or operated the Type 68. Nations are displayed by flag, each linked to their respective national small arms listing.

Contractor(s): State Factories - North Korea

[ North Korea ]

Going Further...
The Type 68 Semi-Automatic Military Service Pistol appears in the following collections:

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