Anyone own/shoot a Makarov?

G

getfoxy

New member
Ive been doing a little bit reading about these and started thinking it would be a cool little piece to have in the collection.

1) How reliable are they? Are they junk, not worth having? etc.
2) What should I expect to pay for one in "good" condition, not mint, just good.
3) What model would be the most desirable to have?

thanks in advance
 
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I dont have one Gary but I`ve been thinking of getting one too. The instructor when I did my CCW class had one and he said they were a good piece that could be had for cheap??
Curious to see what others say.
A few of the ads I`ve seen show + $20 for hand select, or + $?$ for NEW american made barrel...

Don
 
I too think they would be cheap. Kind of like an sks or a Mosin Nagant. Sooo many produced and all, I just dont know about the avialiabilty of 9x18 ammo, as I really have no desire to reload handgun ammunition.
 
I own and shoot several. They are mostly very good pistols. Price range can vary, I have bought a couple for less than $100, but that is the exception rather than the rule. Pricing will range from $160-300 depending on what you are looking at.
My personal favorite out of the different variants out there are the CZ-82's, 9mmx18 cal, these are not strictly Makarovs, but from the same design tree.
The DDR makarov's are pretty nice too as a general rule, and are true makarovs.
For both the CZ-82's and the DDR Makarovs, you would probably be up for around $200-250 for one in very good to excellent condition.
The ones I like the least...Polish P-64's. None of them have great triggers, parts are scarce to say the least. They do shoot as good as the others, just more of a pain the tail.
You can pretty easily make the Makarov varient's triggers better, fairly simple operation. I personally love them and have no problems getting hold of 9mmX18 ammo. Sellier and Bellot and Prvi both have inexpensive ammo available, among others. The 9x18 is also quite a bit better than the .380ACP (in my opinion, I am sure someone will come along and dispute that). Has quite a bit more poot to it.
I don't blame you on the reloading side of things, I don't even reload handgun ammo, especially for a semi-auto. 32-20 revolver ammo is the only one I really ever mess with, only because I don't like paying store bought ammo prices on it.
 
Originally Posted By: justin10mmHornady offers the only JHP load that I'm aware of. I'd like to have one as well.

Prvi (PPU) has a 95gr HP for it, Silver Bear has a 94gr HP for it, Barnaul has a 95gr HP for it, CCI blazer has a 95gr HP for it, Federal has a 90gr HP for it, Fiocci has a 90gr HP for it, Glaser has a 70gr Safety slug for it, Hornady has a 95gr XTP HP for it. Militaryshooters.com has some great deals on ball ammo usually. Mostly Silver bear stuff, but its dirt cheap and shoots good in the Maks

So...that should open up a few more possibilities for it. I like the PPU best, since I don't like Hornady's pricing (nor Hornady for the most part either). The PPU gets after it pretty well. I have not tried the Glasers, in any caliber, but do as you will on those. Barnaul is also really good, but its not so easy to find for me.

Just FYI, none of my Maks are in the least bit particular about ammo. They digest anything I put in them, don't care a bit if the ammo is dirty or smokey...they just work. They shoot very accurately, in fact they routinely make other pistols I own look a little silly. The only negative I have is simply the weight, if you want a very light carry gun, they are not very light. However they are lighter than a 1911, or a fully loaded glock 22.

Last edit...Barnaul apparently is Silver Bear these days. That explains why it has been difficult for me to find.
 
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BigKev, I have seen advertisements in a friends ( has FFL ) catalog that shows (just for instance) add $15 for `Hand Select`..lol..or add $30 for a new barrel..have you ever ordered one with options like that? Is it worth it if yes?
When I see add $15 for special hand select..I`m thinking yeah some dude in shipping is going to reach into that big box of them with his hand and pull one out for ya.
grin.gif
 
Honestly, no. I have had friends do "hand selects" and they have obtained some utter crap for their extra money.
I sniff around different forums and stores and go that route. I will PM you a url for a forum where I do most of my wheeling and dealing and Mac's come up for grabs there fairly frequently.
I prefer to deal with individuals rather than semi-reputable companies. If you have had a good experience with a particular company and you think you can trust them to hand pick you a good one, go for it though.
Check your messages.
 
Another one I just picked up that was excellent was a Russian IJ70-18A. It not only was pristine, it had very nice sights, came with 2 mags, leather military holster, cleaning rod, and three sets of grips. One really nice thing about that one is that century arms didn't import it, therefore no crass looking import stamps and no worries about some cobbled together junk gun either lol. KBI imported this one, and their import mark isn't discrete, its huge, but tasteful.
That one shoots really well.
One thing I will warn you about Maks...if you buy one you will end up with several before you know it. They are really easy to shoot well, they are inexpensive and inexpensive to feed.
The 9x18 round is marginal as a carry round, but I have high levels of confidence in not only it, but in the pistols that shoot it. I almost never have any stoppages on any of them. If you want a high powered carry gun, go with a 40 or 45. If you want something you can afford to shoot and have some fun with and carry if you want, go with a Mak. 99 times out of 100 one or other of my Maks gets slipped into my pocket and goes for a walk with me. I have lots of other pistols to choose from, I just find these are easy to carry, shoot and my confidence level in them is very high.

One other thing too, you can obtain .22LR conversion slide for the Makarovs, they fit up without any smithing and function fine. All of the ones I have seen (including the one I own) are Bulgarian. Pretty neat conversion to have. Mine cost more than most of my Mak's though lol.
 
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When I was in St. Petersburg I shot a Russian issue one on a military range and was impressed with it. The trigger was better than most military handguns.

It was also neat shooting it and some full auto rifles in the middle of the city in a 200 meter brick range. Both the walls and the ceiling were brick.

Jack
 
They really do have some decent triggers on them. On a couple of the ones I shoot the most I have replaced the main and trigger springs with different springs, which give them a slightly better trigger pull.
 


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