Recent Purchase Bulgarian Makarov

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First4Freedom

First4Freedom

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Hey everyone,

Continuing with my goal of building up my collection, I purchased a Bulgarian Makarov from Classic.

IMG-20180809-WA0015.jpg
I chose the hand select with the original Bakelite grips. After about 3hrs of soaking in mineral spirits and giving it a good clean, I reassembled the pistol.

I'm pretty happy with it, I think the date code is 1984 but I am not sure. The bore is in incredibly good condition, if it was ever shot then it barely shows.

Just curious, the firing pin seems to have no spring on it. How does it return back into the firing pin channel?

First surplus purchase and first with Classic and a local FFL - very happy!
 
Got mine at a gun show back in 2014, for $265 OTD. It's in near-new condition, with only a smidge of holster wear near the muzzle end of the slide. Someone before me drifted the rear sight slightly to the left, and I found that it shoots right where I want it to if I leave it that way. Might be a southpaw thing.

Great, rock-solid piece. I've even carried it from time to time. It was my first Commie-Bloc surplus pistol purchase. Others that have come along since include a CZ70, Romanian TTC, and a Radom P64.
 
JONWILL said:
I would call Classic and tell them. They should send you one or offer you an exchange on the gun.

They are not really that hard to put in.
Click to expand...
Sorry I mean it does have all the parts just curious how it works. It's all back together and function checks all okay
 
Blkhrt13 said:
I want one sorely. I bought one for my dad in the early 2k era when they were 189. I regret not buying two. That thing was stupid accurate. It was stollen from him. But I loved how it carried and shot.
Click to expand...

I got mine for $314 including tax and shipping. Makes me wonder if Arsenal made so many that there are thousands still pristine sitting in storage.
 
First4Freedom said:
Hey everyone,

Continuing with my goal of building up my collection, I purchased a Bulgarian Makarov from Classic.

View attachment 799488
I chose the hand select with the original Bakelite grips. After about 3hrs of soaking in mineral spirits and giving it a good clean, I reassembled the pistol.

I'm pretty happy with it, I think the date code is 1984 but I am not sure. The bore is in incredibly good condition, if it was ever shot then it barely shows.

Just curious, the firing pin seems to have no spring on it. How does it return back into the firing pin channel?

First surplus purchase and first with Classic and a local FFL - very happy!
Click to expand...

The Makarov does not have a spring on the firing pin. It is free floating and yet it is drop safe by most standard testing. As a matter of fact, you should hear the firing pin rattle when you shake the gun.
 
lincen said:
The Makarov does not have a spring on the firing pin. It is free floating and yet it is drop safe by most standard testing. As a matter of fact, you should hear the firing pin rattle when you shake the gun.
Click to expand...
Thank you!
 
It's utalitarian defensive military pistol not designed for a lot of range schooting. Best sample can be worth $300. Best sample means from Thuringen Soviet Occupied. DDR.

Another good one is Bulgarian with squarish teigger guard marked usually marked Arsenal on slide that usually sells for $250.
 
First4Freedom said:
Thank you!
Click to expand...

Take off slide and push the safety up and past the notch. Then the firing pin should slip out. Clean inside the firing pin hole real well, degrease it with alcohol (vodka will work remember this is a commie gun) and a pipe cleaner. Put a LIGHT coat of oil on the firing pin and reinstall.

A bunch of cosmoline wedged in the hole can cause the firing pin to stick out and empty the gun like a machine gun ! !

No bueno compadre. No bueno.
 
It is certainly true that the Makarov was not designed for range shooting but they are remarkably accurate and I know folks that have as much as 10,000 rounds through them at the range. There are better range guns but the Makarov is a fun range gun for me out to about 10 yards. Three of my friends had little to no interest in these guns till they shot a couple mags through one, now they have 3 to 4 of them.
 
When I was young and poor, back in the late 1980's, you could get Russian Makarovs in 380acp with adjustable sights.

I got mine for $89, NIB. It has been absolutely reliable. I can't remember a single malfunction in all of these years, and I have shot it quite a bit (especially earlier on, when I didn't have very many firearms).

Congratulations on a solid purchase. It will serve you well.

I'm a big fan of milsurp and police turn-in pistols. :)

Here's my old Makarov. It's still a very good shooter, much better than I am.

Makarov380

Makarov380


Makarov Target

Makarov Target

 
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My brother has an East German Makarov that I must say is extremely well built with a first rate overall fit and finish. The DA trigger pull is fairly heavy but the SA trigger isn't bad at all. Thought about getting one after playing around with it for awhile but decided I really didn't want to pick up another cartridge to have to buy for.
 
bannockburn said:
My brother has an East German Makarov that I must say is extremely well built with a first rate overall fit and finish. The DA trigger pull is fairly heavy but the SA trigger isn't bad at all. Thought about getting one after playing around with it for awhile but decided I really didn't want to pick up another cartridge to have to buy for.
Click to expand...

The East Germans are one of the finest crafted pistols ever made.

The other ones? Ehh not so much, but they all are generally reliable.
 
Venom007 said:
Take off slide and push the safety up and past the notch. Then the firing pin should slip out. Clean inside the firing pin hole real well, degrease it with alcohol (vodka will work remember this is a commie gun) and a pipe cleaner. Put a LIGHT coat of oil on the firing pin and reinstall.

A bunch of cosmoline wedged in the hole can cause the firing pin to stick out and empty the gun like a machine gun ! !

No bueno compadre. No bueno.
Click to expand...

Thank you! I did soak it in mineral spirits, there was a pretty good video on how to do this and it went without a hitch.

Really appreciate the advice fellas.
 
lincen said:
It is certainly true that the Makarov was not designed for range shooting but they are remarkably accurate and I know folks that have as much as 10,000 rounds through them at the range. There are better range guns but the Makarov is a fun range gun for me out to about 10 yards. Three of my friends had little to no interest in these guns till they shot a couple mags through one, now they have 3 to 4 of them.
Click to expand...

It does seem like it's built like a tank. Racking the slide is pretty tough but I guess that's because it's a straight blowback design?
 
Tallball said:
When I was young and poor, back in the late 1980's, you could get Russian Makarovs in 380acp with adjustable sights.

I got mine for $89, NIB. It has been absolutely reliable. I can't remember a single malfunction in all of these years, and I have shot it quite a bit (especially earlier on, when I didn't have very many firearms).

Congratulations on a solid purchase. It will serve you well.

I'm a big fan of milsurp and police turn-in pistols. :)

Here's my old Makarov. It's still a very good shooter, much better than I am.

Makarov380

Makarov380


Makarov Target

Makarov Target

Click to expand...

Nice pistol! This is my first milsurp, going to pick up a few boxes of ammo today. Might get that Fab defense grip at some point.

The mags are the size of Pez dispensers :)
 
Yeah, it's blowback, so it has a heavy slide and a heavy spring. IIRC, it's basically a simplified Walther PP with fewer parts. I've had mine 30 years, shot it often, and never even changed the springs. My son or daughter might have to, eventually, after I'm gone.
 
Great guns. I bought 3 of them, way back when, and paid $125 each out the door with tax, shipping, and transfer fee. I don't remember when I bought them, but I do know that I gave one to my son on his 21st birthday and he just turned 37. So probably about 18-19 years ago.

The wife snagged one, and it is her favorite shooter. The one that I was able to keep has absolutely no importer marks on it, and looked brand new when I got it.
 
Venom007 said:
The East Germans are one of the finest crafted pistols ever made.

The other ones? Ehh not so much, but they all are generally reliable.
Click to expand...

I have an East German, a Russian IJ-70 (the commercial one with "adjustable" rear sight), and a Bulgarian. The EG is in fact a very nice pistol, but the Russian has a better trigger in both DA and SA. This may be because it has a lot more rounds through it than the other two. The Russian does have the stamped slide lock lever rather than the milled version. Fit and finish are comparable, IMHO. But it's the Russian that I can reach as I'm typing this. Well, I'd need to stop typing, but you get my drift. Never a malfunction with any of the three.
 
Coyote3855 said:
I have an East German, a Russian IJ-70 (the commercial one with "adjustable" rear sight), and a Bulgarian. The EG is in fact a very nice pistol, but the Russian has a better trigger in both DA and SA. This may be because it has a lot more rounds through it than the other two. The Russian does have the stamped slide lock lever rather than the milled version. Fit and finish are comparable, IMHO. But it's the Russian that I can reach as I'm typing this. Well, I'd need to stop typing, but you get my drift. Never a malfunction with any of the three.
Click to expand...

Something with less polish & attention to detail isn't going toc be smoother unless its more broken in.

There is nothing wrong with PM but I wouldn't pay more for one than used G26 in good shape. Not picking on PM. For example CZ82/83 isn't worth a penny over $300 either. That includes 83 in 7, 65 Browning.
 
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I loaded the two mags yesterday and boy are those springs tough. One was better than the other, but the tougher of the two will really only accept 7 of it's 8 round capacity. Not sure the mags were ever used either. Loading caused some small superficial scratches on the follower. I need to get some range time to run 100 or more rounds through it. I thought it would have been smaller but it seems to be along the lines of a compact pistol. Surplus box ticked, well until I see something else here I can't resist
 
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