War Museum V.

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Exhibits/artifacts/displays.

* Type 54 Chinese pistol.

Fires the 7.62 mm [.32 caliber] round. Based upon the original Soviet TT33 [Tokarev] design. NOT a serious man-stopper. But adequate for the job.

This pistol, when captured [with ammo] by allied forces in Vietnam, was put to good use.

Carried by American and Australian tunnel-rats. Those men, quite often small in physical stature but big in courage, who would go down into a VC/NVA tunnel complex, searching for enemy troops, supplies, documents, etc.

The diminished muzzle flash and report of the 7.62 pistol round was preferred over that of the standard issue .45 autoloading pistol. When underground and in a serious combat scrape, you do not want to be deafened and temporarily blinded by the discharge of your own weapon.

"Due to the confined space, the tunnel rats disliked the massive muzzle blast of the M1911 pistol, which would often leave the tunnel rat temporarily deaf, and it was not uncommon that they used whatever alternative handgun they could come across. The Soviet-made pistols [or Chinese copies thereof] the enemy carried were particular favorites, but they were extremely rare"

"The one weapon everyone agreed about was the Colt .45. It was too big, with a silencer it was to cumbersome and when it was fired underground without a silencer its bark was deafening. Making it impossible to hear the enemy."

coolbert.