Makarov, options and thoughts

Salerno360 · Oct 13, 2014

Hello I'm a new member, on the younger shooter and I'm working on building up my collection. I recently turned 21 and then looking for a pistol, possibly for concealed carry. I'm a big fan of Soviet era firearms. I own an AK and a SKS as well as a a mosin nagant 91/30. I'm curious if anyone has a Makarov or use to own one. I'm not as well versed in handguns as I am rifles, but I'm looking for something a little different then the usual "just get a Glock" I want somthing that catches your eye when you see in on a table at the range.
So what are your thoughts and concerns? What's your option on the 9mm makarov round?

Stomper · Oct 13, 2014

I think Glock makes a Makarov... You should get one.

Brutus57 · Oct 13, 2014

In the late 80s my BIL gave me a three 80 Mak, Russki made. Excellent pistol. Pretty accurate out of the box. Have over 500 through has on;y burped twice when I ran aluminum case stuff through it. Nice pocket pistolet. I had to put other grips on it to fit my hand better. Only thing I'd change would be having the 12 rounder in 9x.

Brutus Out
Of course my preferred edc is a forty 5.

Natty Bumpo · Oct 13, 2014

The Makarov is a superb pistol. Exceptionally simple and very reliable. It is also accurate for its size, as are most fixed barrels, and is of modest weight and thickness for a carry gun. They remain relatively underpriced for their value, in my view. The round is somewhere between the 380 and the 9mm in terms of "power". You can also get a Soviet made Makarov in .380.

You used to be able to get surplus ammo dirt cheap, but now, only the commercial varieties are available. The Makarovs will usually work well with almost any ammo. The pistols themselves were popular when they were being imported in vast numbers a few years ago as the ComBlock countries were upgrading this 1950's design to pistols considered more modern and dumping them on the surplus market.

Makarovs were produced by the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, East Germany and China.

There are other pistols chambered for the 9x18 cartridge, most notably the PA63 and the CZ 82. The CZ features a double column magazine holding 12 rounds compared to the Maks 8. The CZ is also thicker. You should be able to get either for under $300. There is usually one for sale on Northwest Firearms most of the time.

I own or have owned all the pistols I have mentioned. I like the East German Makarovs the best.

There is an old website, Makarov.com, that you might check out to learn more. It is still up, but I don't believe it is active anymore.

Salerno360 · Oct 13, 2014

I apologize for posting this in the wrong spot I didn't scroll down far enough to see the handgun section

Salerno360 · Oct 13, 2014

Natty Bumpo said:
The Makarov is a superb pistol. Exceptionally simple and very reliable. It is also accurate for its size, as are most fixed barrels, and is of modest weight and thickness for a carry gun. They remain relatively underpriced for their value, in my view. The round is somewhere between the 380 and the 9mm in terms of "power". You can also get a Soviet made Makarov in .380.

You used to be able to get surplus ammo dirt cheap, but now, only the commercial varieties are available. The Makarovs will usually work well with almost any ammo. The pistols themselves were popular when they were being imported in vast numbers a few years ago as the ComBlock countries were upgrading this 1950's design to pistols considered more modern and dumping them on the surplus market.

Makarovs were produced by the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, East Germany and China.

There are other pistols chambered for the 9x18 cartridge, most notably the PA63 and the CZ 82. The CZ features a double column magazine holding 12 rounds compared to the Maks 8. The CZ is also thicker. You should be able to get either for under $300. There is usually one for sale on Northwest Firearms most of the time.

I own or have owned all the pistols I have mentioned. I like the East German Makarovs the best.

There is an old website, Makarov.com, that you might check out to learn more. It is still up, but I don't believe it is active anymore.

I've noticed that there are variants of the Makarov, is it like the AK where they are pretty much just the same thing or are there some notable differences? Like safety location, different sights, or different grips?

OLDNEWBIE · Oct 13, 2014

Didn't know you could get a Makarov in .380, It interests me a lot more now.

Natty Bumpo · Oct 13, 2014

They are all the same in terms of design, except for the IJ 70, which has adjustable sights. Thus the parts pretty well interchange. Magazines interchange among variants/

The differences are in the overall quality of the workmanship.

There are a few aftermarket grips available for it, like for most pistols. Pearce grips are rubber and are most comfortable but make the gun a bit more bulky. There is a guy in Europe who makes custom wood grips for it if you get one you really like and want the best. And there are a lot of cheap plastic grips, both original and aftermarket.

Portaledgepete · Oct 13, 2014

I just sold a Russian Makarov in .380 here on NWFA. Funny enough I sold it to a Russian guy named Makarov. No joking. I bought the pistol new in 1994 so I sold it to buy something new. It was actually my wife's concealed carry piece. Again not joking here, but I bought her a Glock. A G42. Very similar firepower in a much smaller and lighter package. I really liked the Makarov pistol and like has been said before it's very reliable and will run a wide variety of ammo. For just going to go out and shoot it's really enjoyable to use, pretty accurate and easy recoil management. I thought that the sights were barely adequate, especially that front sight. In my opinion for concealed carry there are a lot of better options out there. Also pistols chambered in 9 mm Luger are much cheaper the fire now days than 380 is, which for me is always something to keep in mind.

Sam Kinard · Oct 13, 2014

About a year ago I purchased an IJ70 for my son. It's a great little handgun and my only complaint is the ammo. It's hard to come by and I have no interest in reloading it. Once I get my hands on 2-3,000 rounds of relatively inexpensive ammo that will be all we need.

I have owned several .380 Makarov's and the availability of ammo makes it in my opinion superior to the 9x18. For anyone interested in a .380 Makarov, it should be known that they can be had with a 7 or 8 round single stack magazine and also a 12 round double stack version. It is my opinion that the single stack is theoretically more reliable and it is definitely more concealable. I sold my last .380 single stack for $300 and got $375 for my last double stack. My LCP replaced the single stack easily enough, but I wish I still had a double stack simply for the capacity.

In 8 total Makarov's that I have owned I have found them to be very reliable and have never had any of them fail except with certain corrosive mil-surp ammo. Though I do not mean to take away from any of the other manufacturers, I am partial to those made by Imez.

notazombie · Oct 14, 2014

I have one in .380 and love it. I think the comparison to an AK is pretty good. It's an old design that just plain works. Sure, there are pistols out there that might be more accurate or lighter but the Makarov is pretty tough to beat for the money and extremely reliable. I wouldn't mind having 1 or 2 more.

Jerry · Oct 16, 2014

I've owned a Makarov since 1995 and have fired hundreds of rounds through it. Very, very dependable. I have had 1 stovepipe and no feed failures. It's a nice carry gun and mine (Baikal) is quite accurate.

Yeah, I know it's not a .45 ACP or a .500 S&W. It's not meant to be a clone to those.

It's a great pistol and I've carried it plenty as a concealed pistol.

Buy one and you'll have no regrets.

Brutus57 · Oct 16, 2014

Mine's a Baikal as well. pretty sure my BIL paid less than 200 clams brand new with military holster. They are great pistols.

Brutus Out

tac · Oct 24, 2014

Friend of mine in west central OR has the Hungarian like-alook in two-tone black and sand-blasted finish. In my experience it's a fine-shooting piece, and is a certain bean-can killer. Had it been around back when I needed a daily CC handgun, it would have been right up there with my Walther PP in 9mmK.

Go figure it out for yourself - with over a million produced in various countries, and still in use by many places as a primary-role police pistol, it must have something going for it.

tac