Some time ago I became the proud owner of my first 10mm auto handgun: A Zastava P10 (or Z10, or M93. We’ll call it P10 in this article). The P10 is kind of an obscure handgun produced in the early to mid 90’s and is, for all intent and purposes, a 10mm Tokarev.
There’s not a lot about it that’s been written (at least in English). I bought mine because it was really cool to get a 10mm handgun for such a steal of a price at around 500 Swiss francs (roughly 520 USD). Also the idea of owning a single action, hammer fired 10mm was very appealing to me.
Some history and theories
Going around the internet revealed few information. There is a Serbian wiki page about it with a very short history section that I loosely translated (thanks google):
At the beginning of 1991. Zastava drew attention to the growing popularity of the 10 mm AUTO cartridge. The 10 mm FBI cartridge, 10 x 25 mm, was designed on the initiative of Jeffrey Cooper. The design team led by Rodoljub Matković started adapting Zastava's model for 10 mm AUTO. In 1992 the factory launched the Zastava P10 pistol.
That’s all I have at this point really. Then there is some rumors and info that you can find around in forums. User Skaaphaas on the forum www.gunsite.co.za posted the following:
Rumour has it that this was a project that got scrapped after it didn’t pass LE trials. Apparently the already-produced guns were stored offsite, and when one of the accounting guys flagged the offsite storage expense with the FM, he kicked it up the line to the CFO. All of this, of course, while the CEO was on annual leave in the balkans somewhere. Anyway. CFO thought he’d fix it all up, got marketing involved (which is usually a bad thing in the first place), and long story short, we got the P10
There’s a few details regarding my particular gun that might corroborate this theory (maybe).
On my P10 there’s the number 30 that’s been electro-etched on multiple parts of the gun, and rather crudely.
This is something I’ve seen on other guns (not only on Zastava guns) just like this horrible job on an original Thompson 1921/28 overstamp.
So is it P10, Z10 or M93 ?
Now that’s a very good question.
Most websites that sell it online list it as “P10”, some others list it as “Z10”. Same for Youtube videos. On my box it clearly says “Pist. M93”, just like the markings on the slide.
So yeah I have no clue really. Call it whatever you want or just “10mm Tokarev”
Variations in features and markings
Not all the P10’s seem to be exactly the same. Zastava apparently had a few different variations of this model. It came in both black and stainless. Apparently even a version with some engravings.
It seems like some have a curved trigger (like mine) and others with a more 1911 like trigger. There even seems to be a version with a compensator. The hammers also have two different styles. I don’t know which variants actually saw production or not.
If anyone in this world knows where I can get my hands on that compensator… please contact me.
A closer look
Let’s take a closer look at the gun with a few pictures
Operations and features
This gun is very simple to operate: Put a magazine in, rack the slide, press the trigger. There’s no manual safety, no grip safety, nothing. The only safety feature is the half-cock position that locks the slide and the trigger.
Knowing this, I wouldn’t suggest carrying this gun. It’s more of a range toy and conversation piece for gun enthusiasts.
The magazine holds 8 rounds. For some reason one of them drops free, the other does not. They also have different size of markings.
The magazines are very similar to M57 magazines. They’re so similar in fact that I wouldn’t be surprised if they straight up took M57 mags from the production line and adapted them for the P10.
So if you’re looking to get more magazines for your P10, maybe you can make that work. I’ll get my hands on one of them in the future to try out.
Shooting the thing
I would describe the experience of shooting this gun as “Amazingly painful”. The recoil is sharp and snappy. I wasn’t expecting the recoil to be unmanageable, it’s a 10mm not .500 S&W, but shooting it for the first time I really expected recoil control to be more difficult.
So why did I say “painful” ? Well, the biggest problem of this gun is the grips. I personally think that the grips look amazing in all their 90’s “ergonomic” weirdness, but the beaver tail digs into your hands when shooting, and the back of the grips where the two parts join can actually pinch you. I wear gloves when shooting it.
Nothing that’s a total deal breaker, but after 3 or 4 mags at the range you’ll be happy to shoot a gun with better ergonomics. The issue here isn’t the 10mm round but the grips.
From the low amount of ammo I’ve shot I can say that it’s just accurate enough to have fun and do some plinking at the range, nothing more. You won’t win any accuracy contest with this. If you want or need an accurate 10mm you should get a Glock 40 or a S&W Model 1006.
The trigger is pretty crisp (It’s a single action) but it’s nothing to write home about. There’s a very minimal amount of take up before hitting the wall. The trigger is not light, it’s no match trigger but it’s on par with other military, single action handguns.
Disassembly
Disassembling the gun is very easy, it works just like a Tokarev. First you need to remove the metal clip that keeps the slide lock in place.
Then simply pull the slide lock out. The slide will then come right out the front.
You can now remove the hammer assembly and the slide
To remove the barrel just pull out the recoil spring assembly out. Rotate the barrel bushing and the barrel will come out of the front of the slide.
You now have a completely field stripped P10. To re-assemble just do this the other way around.
If you want to remove the grips, they disassemble just like Tokarev grips
Should I get one ?
If you want to get a 10mm for anything remotely close to a practical use case (competition, self-defense, protection against bears), get something else, this is not the gun for you. It’s not that great of a shooter, and getting spare parts for it will probably be impossible.
But, if the idea of getting a 10mm Tokarev for your collection is appealing to you, I’d say go for it. For a 10mm handgun, it’s way cheaper than a Colt delta elite or Ruger SR 1911 and still cheaper than a Glock 40.
The biggest problem is getting your hands on one of them. I know quite a few of them made their way into Canada, I don’t know if any of them got imported in the US and I have no idea how many made it to European gun shops.
If the theory of the failed LE trials is true, there’s probably not a million of them floating around.
I’m looking for more info
I’m still keeping an eye open for more information about this handgun. If anyone from Serbia has more knowledge about it or even if someone from Zastava knows anything useful, I’d be very happy to learn more about it.
Also if anyone out there has the original manual and is willing to send me scans of it, I’d be very grateful.
So don’t hesitate to contact me.
Ratings
Ergonomics : 3/10
It would be better without those god awful grips. Don’t get me wrong, they look cool, but they suck. They’re also very slippery, shooting this gun with wet hands it probably a bad idea.
Build quality: 7/10
The gun is built well, nothing rattles around and it feels very good in your hands. On the other side the finish is kinda…soviet. You can see machining marks here and there, it’s not really polished evenly and there’s other cosmetic defaults.
Reliability: 8/10
So far it’s been very reliable but I haven’t shot a lot with this gun (less than 200 rounds) so take this score with a grain of salt. The biggest issue I’ve had is that trying to load the gun with a full mag can lead to the slide being really really tough to pull back.
On the other hand, looking at this video from Youtube channel DumDum, it seems like his P10 suffers from hammer follow and therefore may shoot in bursts. So keep and eye out for that. This never happened to me so far.
Fun level: 7/10
It’s 10mm, looks cool and it’s very fun to shoot at the range. Great range toy.
Trigger: 7/10
It’s on par with any other military single action handguns. If you’ve ever shot a Tokarev it’s very close to it but a bit harder. Not bad but nothing great either.
Overall I’m very happy with my purchase. I don’t intend to shoot it all that much but it’s a good addition to my collection.
