I love the round, I think it's an excellent combination of power, controlability, fast follow up shots, in a small, light, simple blowback action pistol. This round was developed very deliberately, and I believe the FMJ's will tumble when hitting something of variable density, like a body and not like a gelatin block. One nice thing about the round is the FMJ offers plenty of penetration if that floats your boat, or go HP if you are worried about over-penetration. I buy HP's for $11/50 at CTD.
And it seems both the real Maks and their Warsaw pact relatives are reliable by all accounts I've read. I have a CZ-82, a sweet shooter that one, and a PA-63 which got springs to reduce flip and get the DA trigger into a reasonable comfort zone. They are both very nice, the PA is a carry piece and has never had a FTF or FTE in 1000 rounds. The CZ has one magazine it likes, and one it doesn't, but with the right mag the FTE is about once in 500 rounds. They both seem to like my near max reloads a lot.
And I will be looking for a P-64, P-83, or a real Mak in the future. The quality of the build vs. the cost is outstanding.