Makarov Pistols

[Jerry]

I've owned a Russian Baikal Makarov in 9x18 for over 25 years and have found it to be extremely reliable and fun to shoot. It is one of my everyday carry guns.

What's your experience with the pistol?

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[Aero Denezol]

Does the Baikal have the adjustable rear sight?

I've had a couple of different Bulgarian Maks, which are close clones of the Russian. They are fun to shoot and reasonably accurate. Definitely worth having in your collection. I think the shortage of cheap steel cased ammo hurt demand for Maks more than anything else.

 

[SHPD_Retired]

I do like mine.

 

[Jerry]

Does the Baikal have the adjustable rear sight?

I've had a couple of different Bulgarian Maks, which are close clones of the Russian. They are fun to shoot and reasonably accurate. Definitely worth having in your collection. I think the shortage of cheap steel cased ammo hurt demand for Maks more than anything else.

Yes, the rear sight is adjustable.

 

[Bacchus]

I don't have one, all I know is what I read. Twenty years ago (in The Firing Line, I think) there were two points of discussion that were repeated about them: 1) they were dirt cheap, as in about $150 at the time; and 2) they were notoriously unreliable/dangerous, as one of the parts would wear out and allow the gun to fire unexpectedly.

I think I do remember that one of the former Soviet manufacturers made a better product than the others. I don't remember who, might have been Bulgaria.

YMMV.

 

[Knobgoblin]

I had the Czech double stack version and have regretted letting it go immensely.
It was one of the best , natural point shooting pistols I ever owned. Got caught up in a caliber purge back when surplus 9x18 wasn't being handed out free anymore. Big mistake on my part.

 

[DunRanull]

I've got a Bulgie and have no recollection, off hand- when I got it, it's been awhile. Came with a holster with an extra mag and cleaning rod attached. Bought a bunch of milsurp ammo with it which I have yet to shoot up, and buy hollow-points when I can find them. It is fun to shoot and doesn't tear up the web of the hand like some smaller pistols do. My Makkie is an EDC concealed carry pistol... the grip bulges a bit but there are times I prefer it over a .32 or Smith m36 .38 snubbie.. It is very reliable, like my Smiths and Brownings.. quality, even if a retired Cold Warrior from Ost Europa. At the time they were being sold in .380 and in retrospect I shoulda got the .380 instead of going with the cheap com-bloc stuff, no longer available of course.
Tell myself I should cast bullets and reload for it but never get around to it..

 

[ksjayhawk]

I own a Russian Mak. Shoots fantastically. Always goes bang. Even have the cheesy blond leather Cold War shoulder rig that came with it the box, back when the "Russian Sneaker Maks" imported in the early 90's. Hornady critical defense HP's shoot very tight and quite soft at 50'. Dimensionaly it's nearly identical to my hellcat, just 1/2 the capacity. STD Russian steel case ammo definitely has significantly more snap. I've not witnessed any reliability or safety issues whatsoever. Yes the steel case import ban has made it more expensive to target shoot than a std 9mm, I've discovered that the Bulgarian mags are of a less quality than the East German or actual Russian mags. They are made of softer, thinner metal. Their feed lips can tend to spread open with a lot of use and cause the last one or 2 rounds to feed into the chamber incorrectly. A light "reconditioning" of the mag feed lips with a plastic mallet puts the lips back into shape, and you are GTG. I'd trust the NON Bulgarian mags for carrry purposes. Loading mags can be a bit destructive to ones thumbnail. But Russians have always kept their designs simple. FYI. SARCO.INC has Bulgarians on sale regularly around 275$ for a basic gun. Recently the Bulgarians made a threaded Barrel version. Some people claim HP's don't feed well in their Bulgarians. I've not witnessed that ever in mine. But it was a ball ammo designed gun. And many a "departed Russian dissident" can attest to the effectiveness of a 95 grain ball round.

 

[clanhanson]

They're cool collector pieces, especially if you have a fondness for Cold War militaria like myself.

I wouldn't consider them for anything serious. Keep them clean and in good shape, they're irreplaceable pieces of history.

 

[gmerkt]

Com bloc guns were never of much interest to me, accordingly, I've never owned a Makarov. Odd-ball cartridge in the US is a big down-side for me. I've never owned a Nagant revolver, either. I've owned a Russian Tokarev and a nice Chinese 54 pistol. The Chinese was a Vietnam War capture pistol, came in a nice holster with blue corduroy lining. I've also owned several Russian and one Romanian bolt action rifles when they were $60 to $80 guns.

In the 1970's and 1980's, Makarov pistols were fairly rare in the US, and expensive. In addition to individual war trophies from Vietnam, some came out of the middle east as captures by the Israelis. The bottom dropped out of the Makarov market in the 1990's with the surge of imports.

Any functional handgun is better than none in a self defense situation.

 

[ksjayhawk]

They are totally fun to shoot. But in today's world. There are clearly way better modern compact defensive weapons choices with double the capacity and nice big high vis sights. My hellcat fully loaded with 15 weighs less than my steel framed Mak does empty. The Mak
can always be purchased chambered in .380 cal if more conventional western ammo is preferred.

 

[raftman]

I've had a few over the years, and currently have one of the somewhat uncommon Russian double stack versions. They're very cool guns, built extremely solid, accurate, extremely reliable, and a very safe design. (They should not be mistaken for other models of eastern bloc pistols which are similar in design and also chambered for 9x18 but might not be quite so durable). There was a time when they made excellent carry guns: relatively compact, very reliable, durable, and dirt cheap to buy, too!

That was like 10-20 years ago though. Nowadays you can get a smaller, lighter pistol with a higher ammo capacity, in a more potent cartridge, AND for less money… since Maks are now priced more for collectors and enthusiasts rather than as "used surplus."

 

[TNThomas]

Love em. Cheap, sturdy, simple, accurate, intuitive to aim, and they feel good in the hand. I actually have a 9x18 mak specific hollowpiint bullet mold for self defense loads. I prefer the CZ82 personally.

 

[gmerkt]

since Maks are now priced more for collectors and enthusiasts rather than as "used surplus."

Same thing happened with the rifles, which have reached astonishing asking prices. But then again, some of that is generalized inflation.

 

[Wombat of Doom]

I own a Russian, Bulgarian, East German, Cz 82 double stack, Polish P64 and the abomination the P83. My favorite is the East German and the Russian follows closely behind.

I like them. I owned a Baikal one and I liked it a little less than the Bulgarian.

 

[leicaman]

I've been switching between a Bulgarian slide and a Baikal slide (with fancy adj sight) on one of my frames. Kind of like having 2 guns for the price of one.

There's a few Mak models I'd like to get some day. One that intrigues me are the Khyber Pass versions. I'm just not sure how to definitively know when I'm looking at one. Seems like folks look for combinations of incongruous marks and obviously copied parts. No? I've only seen photos of one confirmed example.

 

[ma96782]

Speaking as a former P64 owner.

I like to shoot. So that being said....it's in the WRONG caliber. Makarov ammo is more expensive vs 9mm ammo. So then, 9mm is cheaper, available almost anywhere, comes in many brands and varieties. Besides, it's an overall better round. IMHO.

Aloha, Mark

 

[Cavedweller]

I may be wrong, but I don't think the CZ-82 is a version of the Makarov. It's a completely different (and superior) firearm in the same caliber. The Czechs wanted to design their own while still meeting Warsaw Pact requirements, and showing the Russians they could do one better.

 

[raftman]

I may be wrong, but I don't think the CZ-82 is a version of the Makarov. It's a completely different (and superior) firearm in the same caliber. The Czechs wanted to design their own while still meeting Warsaw Pact requirements, and showing the Russians they could do one better.

For the sake of historic honesty, it's important to realize designs are separated by more than 30 years of development (adopted in 1951 vs 1982), so I've always thought there is very little value in saying "look how much more advanced the Czech design is!" It better be, considering how much later it showed up… but one might as well compare a Beretta 92S to a Walther P38/P1 and say look how much better the Italians did than the Germans.

 

[_Cloud]

I've been thinking about buying one of those Arsenal Makarovs they look good and price isn't bad