Want a cheap carry gun?

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harmon rabb

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I bought a PA-63 from SOG a while back for $150. They're now down to $140. Anyway, it was in pristine condition when it arrived and didn't even have any cosmoline on it. Looked like it was produced yesterday. :lol: If you've ever wanted one, now is the time to get them before this batch of pristine ones runs out.

For those who don't know what a PA-63 is, it's a little hungarian gun chambered in 9x18. Looks like a :monocle: version of a Bersa Thunder.

Here's a link to a great pic of one: http://www.gunandgame.com/forums/attachments/feg/8228d1207070869-grips-pa-63-ap9-img_3107.jpg (I didn't embed the image because it's huge)

Well, the first time I took it to the range, I hated it. Recoil was at least as bad as the .44mag that I fired (seriously), and the DA trigger must've been 27lbs. SA trigger was fine though. No failures were experienced. I kind of shelved it after that, thinking that the gun sucked.

I ordered a lighter hammer spring and a heavier recoil spring from Wolf. Finally got around to installing them yesterday, and took it back to the range. Wow, what a difference.

Recoil is now merely snappy, and entirely manageable. I still wouldn't want to fire hundreds of rounds through it, but a box of ammo in one sitting is entirely reasonable now. The DA trigger went from horrifically awful to merely bad and the SA trigger is now pretty nice. Still has yet to experience a failure.

So, for $140 + $6 in springs, you can have a reliable little carry gun. It's very light.

Thought I'd share. I like collecting this comm bloc stuff.
 
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J&G has Makarovs for around $230, haven't shot one yet but my understanding is that its more comfortable to shoot and easy to carry.
 
J&G has Makarovs for around $230, haven't shot one yet but my understanding is that its more comfortable to shoot and easy to carry.
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I got a Makarov from SOG as well, also in pristine condition (albeit COATED in cosmoline). They have much better DA triggers, are more comfortable to shoot, and are pretty small as well -- but they're heavy compared to the PA-63 (not that I really care, but some may).
 
No, lie. A makarov is a much more durable gun. The PA-63 has some parts that will wear out over time. They can be replaced or refabricated, if you know what you're doing. But for a CCW, it's pretty darn good. Check the price of mags, too. The PA63 is really, really cheap, all considered.

BTW, I agree, it looks eerily similar to a two-tone Bersa .380, only longer and thinner. But it's Hungarian, not Polish. The P-64 is the Polish 9x18. That's a nice one, too.
 
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www.southernohiogun.com

You'll have to get your FFL to send in a copy of their license for you to be able to see what they have in stick, or send in your C&R. Pretty stupid system, really, since they will sell anything you want directly to you (and then ship to your ffl, or to you if you have a C&R and it's C&R eligible).
 
How hard is this 9x18 ammo to come by? I'd never heard of it until now.
 
You can order 9x18 anywhere on line. It's cheap and very very plentiful online -- around $10 for a box of 50. Some physical stores stock it, some don't.
 
How hard is this 9x18 ammo to come by? I'd never heard of it until now.
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Don't get out much do you? :)

9x18 is commonly known as 9mm Makarov, as it was originally chambered in the Russian Makarov service pistol. Several other countries have used the Makarov, and many other guns such as the PA-63, P-64, and CZ-82 have also been chambered in it (most of the countries these guns are used in are located in Central to Eastern Europe and Russia). A lot of the service pistols the use this round have been surplused within the last decade or so, leading to a rise in popularity here in the US (where we love to gobble up surplus guns :)).

It's similar in power (but just a little ahead) to the .380ACP. Ammo is easily found at almost all gun shops and anywhere online. About the only place you won't find it is in big department stores and sporting goods chains, which may eventually change (I know that you can now buy 7.62x39 at Wal-mart, which wasn't the case several years ago).
 
The only ammo I've even used is Brown Bear or Silver Bear, mail ordered at $9.00 per box.

If you want the fancy stuff, I think Hornady and Buffalo Bore make some SD loads for it.

If you like to buy local, check places like Cabela's. They don't stock it at Walmart, yet!
 
Harmon, I'm not sure why "cheap" and "carry gun" are being used in the same sentence...if it were me, and the gun will be used to save my hide in a defensive situation, I'd want the best I could get regardless of price. And there are some damn good carry guns around for about $400 to $800 these days.

Now having said that, if you want to carry a 9x18, which isn't a bad choice, btw... the Makarov is the best you can get.

I have an EG Makarov and it is a great, simple, reliable and accurate pistol and yes, I would bet my life on it.

I much prefer the Makarov to any of the other variants around in 9x18. The CZ82 is another one you will hear about and it has a lot of great features (I have one of those as well), but its a MUCH more complex design (some of the parts look like they were cut with a hacksaw) and therefore I wouldn't carry one for defensive purposes.

YMMV.
 
Harmon, I'm not sure why "cheap" and "carry gun" are being used in the same sentence...if it were me, and the gun will be used to save my hide in a defensive situation, I'd want the best I could get regardless of price. And there are some damn good carry guns around for about $400 to $800 these days.
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I'm carrying a Springfield EMP today ;)

Anyway, perhaps I should have said "quality cheap carry gun." The only reason the 9x18 guns are so cheap is that they were produced by governments that effectively no longer exist, so there is basically no production cost to take into account. These countries with stocks of the comm bloc guns just try to sell them for whatever they can get for them.

The PA-63 is not a cheaply made gun at all... and I also own a Makarov and a CZ-82 :D I've carried the CZ-82 a lot -- mine is perfectly reliable.
 
Unless you live somewhere in the country where they're illegal. Hard to find a genuinely cheap pistol in Mass.
 
I have been toying with the idea of getting a PA-63 but I have 2 Makarovs and a CZ-82. I think I will probably add another Mak and a couple 82s before they dry up.

I only have one alloy framed handgun, a Taurus PT-58 S, and not sure I still like the idea of the alloy stuff.
 
Ah, I see. I have seen 9mm Makarov all over the place...just never heard it referred to as 9x18, oddly enough.

European arms aren't exactly my specialty :uhoh:
 
Does this have the penetrating ability of the Tokarev, since they're both chambered in 9x18?
 
Tokarev is 7.62x25 not 9x18....9x18 does not penetrate near as well as 7.62x25 Tok.
 
Paladin7 said:
I much prefer the Makarov to any of the other variants around in 9x18. The CZ82 is another one you will hear about and it has a lot of great features (I have one of those as well), but its a MUCH more complex design (some of the parts look like they were cut with a hacksaw) and therefore I wouldn't carry one for defensive purposes.

YMMV.
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LOL ..... I don't see any parts in mine that look like they were cut with a hacksaw. :scrutiny:

Here's a pic of CZ-82 parts from the CZ forum....Can you point out the hacksawed pieces?

CZ82Disassembled.jpg
 
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