I was able to retrieve some stolen property.

[2ndovc]

Two years ago this month, my dad's place was broken into. The creeps got about a half dozen handguns, including several 1911s, a British proofed WWI Lugar and this Chinese Tokarev.

The only reason the Tokarev was recovered was the moron that took it went to Wallmart and asked the clerk what it was and what ammunition it took. The PD retrieved the footage and arrested the guy. He still had the Tokarev in his possession.

My dad has been calling about getting it back for some time, but the detective involved with the case didn't have any time frame on how long they would need it. My dad mentioned this to my cousin that is the head of the prosecutors' office and about a week later, we got a call from a detective in the property department that he could pick up his pistol. I picked it up this morning since the old man as gone back to his place in FL.

Other than some residue from an inventory sticker and a number on the slide written in some sort of thick ink, they took pretty good care of it. Took me about 20 minutes and some Hoppe's to get everything off, but it looks good.

This pistol was kind of a wreck when my dad bought it 20 years ago or so, it had a thumb safety installed by the importer and little finish.
I doubt he gave more than $100 for it. He has a pretty good collection of Russian and other ComBloc Tokarevs and after shooting this one and finding that it was extremely accurate, he decided to have it re-worked for a trail gun / carry pistol. Didn't surprise me, just my dad being my dad.
How it looked when I picked it up.

All cleaned up now.



The 7.62x25 Tokarev is a pretty impressive round. Very fast moving small bullet does devastating things. I have dies and components for mine, but I haven't used them yet as I've had a couple of cases of surplus ammo.
I think I'll make up some SP rounds for my dad so he can take it out again when he gets home.

jb

[GunnyMack]

Great news!! That doesn't happen everyday.
Friend's dad had a Colt National Match stolen , never found the guy or the gun. Geeze that must be 30 years ago now.

[gamekeeper]

Glad you got it back and the perp got caught.. saw a video on the Tokarev, the guy was pulling back the slide by jaming the rear sight against a table, useful tip if you lose the use of one arm.

[AmBraCol]

Glad it's back home now. Always wanted to pick one up back in the day, but never had the cash handy. And now the amount of cash they want is more than I'd want to lay out for one. Such is life. The round is indeed intriguing. It seems like it would be a natural for a flat tipped cast slug for varmint/small game duty.

[2ndovc]

Glad it's back home now. Always wanted to pick one up back in the day, but never had the cash handy. And now the amount of cash they want is more than I'd want to lay out for one. Such is life. The round is indeed intriguing. It seems like it would be a natural for a flat tipped cast slug for varmint/small game duty.

That sounds like an interesting idea. I'm sure I have some light, cast bullets down there. Unlike the Mosins, the Tokarevs run about .309-.310 instead of the .311-313s that I've had.

jb

[Ysabel Kid]

Happy it is back where it belongs Jason!

So, how long of jail time did he get? Did he spill the beans on who helped him and where the other guns went?

[marlinman93]

Glad he got one back. Wish they'd beaten the whereabouts of the others out of him!

[2ndovc]

Happy it is back where it belongs Jason!

So, how long of jail time did he get? Did he spill the beans on who helped him and where the other guns went?

I don't have all the details yet. My dad will get all the info from my cousin that's in the prosecutor's office. I do know that they had kept the pistol for some time so they could use it while they tried to make the creep turn on his buddies. I'll get the whole story as soon as i can.

Completely agree with MarlinMan! Sure wish I could have had a few minutes alone with the turd.

I do have to say something about the Lorain, OH PD. Every one of them were polite and professional, answered every question we had through the whole thing. They gave us some ideas on what to do to prevent another break in. We reinforced a couple of doors and replaced the one that was the entry point with something more solid. Upgrades to the alarm system, etc. All of the handguns and the most important rifles are now stored elsewhere while he's in FL, with even better alarms, dogs and there is almost always someone home.

I'll be getting out some Webleys and some other cool stuff and see how some of them shoot.

jb

[OldWin]

Glad you got it back. Hope the others are returned.

A guy I worked with had a nice 1911 stolen.
Ten years later he got a call from a sheriff in California that they recovered it. Literally ALL the way across the country. I don't know what shape it was in, but he got it back.

[Ysabel Kid]

Happy it is back where it belongs Jason!

So, how long of jail time did he get? Did he spill the beans on who helped him and where the other guns went?

I don't have all the details yet. My dad will get all the info from my cousin that's in the prosecutor's office. I do know that they had kept the pistol for some time so they could use it while they tried to make the creep turn on his buddies. I'll get the whole story as soon as i can.

Completely agree with MarlinMan! Sure wish I could have had a few minutes alone with the turd.

I do have to say something about the Lorain, OH PD. Every one of them were polite and professional, answered every question we had through the whole thing. They gave us some ideas on what to do to prevent another break in. We reinforced a couple of doors and replaced the one that was the entry point with something more solid. Upgrades to the alarm system, etc. All of the handguns and the most important rifles are now stored elsewhere while he's in FL, with even better alarms, dogs and there is almost always someone home.

I'll be getting out some Webleys and some other cool stuff and see how some of them shoot.

jb

Awesome. Looking forward to the update.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who would also appreciate any lessons/hints you want to share with us that the police told you.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Nicely done.

[Rusty]

Looks like a great Christmas present.

[2ndovc]

Thanks Guys!

Jay, the police didn't really provide much in the way of advice to prevent another break in other than " Get the rest of this stuff out of here". The reasoning being that the guys that got away would let all their buddies about what was in the house.

Now we pack up all the good stuff and remove it from the property until he comes home in the spring. He did upgrade the security system, new lights and heavier entry doors, etc. They also let the nosy old lady next door when anyone should be at the house. She's better than a German Shephard!

Fortunately the collection was insured, actually over insured. His previous ins. co. wouldn't cover more than $2500 worth of firearms so he had to go to a collectibles ins. co. When he changed all his properties, including his commercial and rental stuff to another, he didn't notice that they had no issue covering his collection provided he could verify the values. His homeowner's ins. sent him a very nice settlement check for the pistols that he lost.
I was going to switch my ins. over to the same company, but our oldest, AKA Crash Bandicoot and Mrs. FenderBender have given the local Ford body shop so much business over the last few years we actually received a gift basket for Thanksgiving! The other company's underwriter had a meltdown so we will have to stay with the one we have. It's a great ins. co. so not that big of a deal.

Still trying to catch up with my Prosecutor cousin to get some more details on what happened with the dirt bag(s) that did get caught.

jb

[Ysabel Kid]

Yep, scumbags talk. Good advice from the po-po!

[338MX]

I'm glad he got the Tokarev back, and I hope he gets the other guns back soon. I also hope they find and prosecute everyone involved in the theft of his guns.