[Stonewall]

Hey all!
Just got my first Makarov at the gunshow in Raleigh, NC this morning. The vendor was Firepower, Inc (Matthews,NC). For $169 I got a Bulgarian (KT 27) 2 magazines, and both grips (black thumb rest and red bakelite? w/star). It still had alot of cosmo in it, and after a detailed cleaning I took it to the range. It looks like an unissued one. There are no wear marks anywhere on it at all.

I shot 125 rounds at the range to get a feel for it. Ammo used is as follows: S&B 95gr. FMJ, Barnual 95gr. HP, and Wolf 109gr. FMJ. I was able to easily get 2-3 inch groups at 7 and 10 yds with slow fire. Off hand and rapid fire produced very good groups as well. Single action trigger pull was very nice with a good reset. Double action seemed a bit heavy, but not a hinderance at all. The sights were good for military issue, but with the "pointing" qualities of this great pistol it shouldn't be an issue at all.

The S&B seemed to be the most accurate followed by the Barnaul and lastly the Wolf. The Wolf also seemd to be a "hotter" round and was also much dirtier. All in all I am VERY pleased with the accuracy and feel of the pistol! :) I think my Glock 23 will be gathering dust for quite a while... :)
http://home.nc.rr.com/stonewallair/mak1.jpg

[BowStreetRunner]

nice deal and nice piece
im sure you will like it
i love mine
BSR

[alamo]

Yawn...another typical Makarov report from a new owner, same as all the others :)

You might find the magazine loader available at Makarov.com useful. Makes loading so much easier. Most of the Mak owners on the Makarov forum use a #19 recoil spring too. I got both of the above for my EG and Bulgarian Maks. Your DA trigger pull was heavy? My Bugarian was unissued as well and it was very heavy compared to my EG Mak. I dryfired it over 1,000 times but it didn't really help. I followed the advice of another Mak fan and grinded the sides the the DA "prong" of the mainspring until the DA pull was almost equal to my EG Mak and re-blued it. The DA pull is much lighter now.

[tango3065]

How reliable are these, how easy is it to find one nib and how hard is ammo to find? I have heard a lot of people on the net praise these guns, but im doubting I can go to the local wallmart and get the odd ammo. Also would this make a good carry gun, and would it be safe to be carried with one in the pipe with safety on without it going boom in your pocket or holster? thanks also nice gun the pic probably sold me on getting one.

[alamo]

1) They are about the most reliable semi-auto you can buy.

2) NIB may be hard to find. Those would be the Russian or Arsenal (Bulgarian) commercial models. I got an "unissued" military Bulgarian. The military/police Bulgarians are the most common ones these days and the only ones being imported now. They were made anywhere from about 15-25 years ago and were put in storage, never fired. They are old, but "new".
Not all are unissued, some have seen some use but generally not much. They are available from SOG thru your dealer. You see them at gunshows frequently, most of the newly imported ones came from SOG or the importer, Century. There have been various importers over the years.

http://www.southernohiogun.com/surplus_hand.html

3) Lots of manufacturers make 9X18 and it is sold at most gunstores, maybe your Wal-Mart, maybe not. There is a lot of Russian ammo available too, like Barnaul. Some commercial models come in .380.

4) They are safe to carry with a round in the chamber. They are double action for the first shot, then single action.

Here's some more info.:

http://www.makarovpistol.com/makfaq.html

http://www.makarovpistol.com/makbasics.html

The above is the mirror site. The regular site http://www.makarov.com seems to down right now.

[Tecolote]

Very cool Mak. I haven't a Bulgie that nice in a while. Do those Firepower folks have a web site?

[firestar]

Sounds good! I am looking to buy one of these but my dealer can't seem to get them for some reason. I think it is time to use gunbroker or auction arms.:rolleyes:

I told the guy that S.O.G. has them but he doesn't seem to want to order from them so he would rather have me just spend my cash somewhere else I guess.:rolleyes: He is not my regular dealer but I bought from him before and he is a good guy but he won't do anything extra. If it is not in stock or available from is fav distributor, he doesn't seem to bother with it. Oh well, there is a gun show comming up and I might find one there. For being a common gun, I sure don't see many around these parts!

[9x19]

Nice!

Welcome to the wonderful world of Maks. :D

I have a few, Bulgarian, E. German and Russian, and they are all solid performers.

Good luck and enjoy...

[Stonewall]

Hey all, thanks for the replies!
I forgot to mention that the import mark is C.A.I Georgia VT and KT 27 = 1987

Mastinson: I can get the ammo at all of the local guns stores here as well as online a places like ammoman.com. As far as reliability, I had no feed or extracting failures in the 200 rounds I shot at the range.

Tecolote: I don't think that they have a website, however if you do a web search you should be ale to find their number.