Firebird (Tokagypt 58)

The Tokagypt 58 pistol marked 'FIREBIRD Kal. 9mm' with symbol of 3 circles inside a circle, 'WEST GERMANY PARABELLUM' and 'a.w.z.' is leftover from the Egyptian contract that Hungarian firearms manufacturer Fémáru Fegyver got in 1958. Those 3,000 leftover pistols had serial numbers between E13250 - E30000 and they were marked that way for export to Germany. Marking "a.w.z." is abbreviation for Albin Wahl of Zella-Mehlis, Germany. In 1957 Fémáru Fegyver és Gépgyár received the Egyptian Army contract for 30,000 Tokarev TT-33 type pistols in 9x19mm Parabellum. This pistol was developed by Ambrus Balogh, weapons engineer at Fémáru and it was originally referred to as TT-9P, but eventually it was called and marked "Tokagypt 58". It was a significant modification of the Soviet Tokarev TT33 and the Hungarian 48.M for the 9x19mm cartridge. A new safety catch was fitted on the left top side of the receiver, a convenient one-piece wrap-around plastic grip and a finger support on the magazine. Apparently after 13,250 pistols had been delivered, the contract was terminated by the Egyptians. This is difficult to understand, the concept was sound, and the pistols were well made. Perhaps the decision was more political than technical. Different sources claim that Egypt had payment problems and the Hungarians stopped further delivery.