Are you relieved to find a type which has no issues?

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Ignition Override

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Replacing the German ('80) .380 PPK/S' recoil spring with a slightly weaker Wolff solved the problem. Modern, weaker ammo etc was the cause.
But despite being affordable, that's a $600 gun due to market forces here.

Having bought the first Makarov (EG), followed closely by a Bulgy and now a commercial Russ. in .380, it's a whole new ballgame. Of course we should not generalize having only one of the less dependable type.
It seems ironic that German reliability appears to be easily surpassed by a Russian design (though partly copied from PPK)-and only $275 for an exc. example.
 
:confused::confused::confused::confused:

I really don't understand what is going on here.

What problem are we talking about and what exactly are you asking?
 
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jimbo555 clarified my viewpoint.

My real disappointment with what I had assumed was superior German quality in a "classic compact carry gun" seems to be surpassed by Russian quality/reliability.
This was quite a surprise to a very inexperienced handgun novice. Please excuse any subtleties in a comparison which seemed too vague and subjective.
 
The Makarov is a classic but large and heavy for the caliber. There's a lot of 9x 19 subcompacts that are superior for concealed carry in my opinion.
 
The difference is that .380 ACP (aka 9mm Browning Short) was developed as a commercial cartridge and is made to two different standards in the U.S. and Europe, with the latter generally having enough more power that functioning of some guns can be affected.

The 9mm Makarov, on the other hand, was developed by the USSR as a military round, with rigid specifications that have generally been adhered to by all makers. Both the PP/PPK and Makarov are very reliable guns with proper ammo.

Jim
 
Glad you got it working. I love my PPKs, but do see a lot more complaints for them no matter where they were made than I do for the Makarovs, which seem to be loved by a large group of shooters and just ignored by those that aren't attracted to them. But no one seems to hate them for function.
 
My PPK/s has a wolff factory weight recoil spring. I shoot PMC ,S&B, Winchester and Corbon as my SD ammo and never had one problem . Lighter spring might cause damage from the slide moving faster.
 
A lot of the 380 ammo available now comes from Europe and none of it feels anymore powerful than many American made 380.

Aside from from some plus P hyped ammo like Buffalo Bore there seems to be more felt recoil from Freedom Munitions Fmj/fp than any of the Euro ammo I have shot.

My Bersa's handle all of of it without a hitch and that is exactly why I got ride of my heavy Makarov pistols long ago.
 
Ignition Override said:
Are you relieved to find a type which has no issues?
Click to expand...
Yes.

I liked my Russian Makarov chamered for 380 and even ran it through a practice USPSA match stage setup using factory ammo. Although pistol functioned well, sharp recoil and heavier trigger forced me to slow down. It is definitely better suited for slow, single shot applications. A nice pistol that was built like a tank.

I traded it towards Ruger P95 which had better trigger, higher capacity and also built like a tank. Ran though similar match stage setup and results were like day and night. Shot fast, accurate and worked with any ammo I fed it. When a friend who was retiring shot it and liked it very much, it became a retirement present.

Yes, it is nice to have pistols that doesn't have any "issues". I would not hesitate to buy another Makarov at the right price.
 
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