Somali pirate’s pistol. Knock-off of Russian TT-33. 7.62x25-millimeter. Semi-automatic. Stamped for export to (or via) the USA. Serial No. 900247. Attached to makeshift lanyard. Seized with pirates on the Gulf of Oman. Along with this, and a few other things that the pirates had not tossed overboard before being detained.
TT-33? Fedor V. Tokarev (the designer). Tula (a mammoth Russian arms-manufacturing center). 33? The year mass production began.
This particular descendant is Chinese. For someone inclined toward homework, it could contain a fascinating micro-history of modern small-arms development, and the international arms trade, and instability, and war.
ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPH
By the author. On the wheelhouse roof of the fishing vessel Al Mulahi. Jan. 6, 2012.
CJ Chivers is so mindbogglingly bad-ass.
