Hey friends!

In addition to my Browning Mk III Hi-Power, I have collected a Bulgarian Arsenal ((10)) military Makarov PM 9x18mm pistol with holster, lanyard, cleaning rod, spare magazine, ammunition, belt, and ushanka (ear flap) winter Soviet cap!



What a great pistol this is! I am glad to have the authentic Soviet era belt and holster, plus warm and cozy winter cap to go with it! A great gun to be sure, has been 100% reliable throughout 3000 rounds of ammo with 0 failures of any kind. This is my primary winter CCW and nightstand gun. Guys, my friends, if you don't own a Makarov PM, you really should!!

Take care,

Jayframer

It looks great. Really in great shape.

Thanks!

You have the whole set up there and it looks good.
I've bought and sold a few but I still have a circle 10 Bulgy and an a Arsenal. They are great guns.

Nice! The Mak's, you get more than you pay for.

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Stay safe people!

Very nice!

The Mak is one of the most under-rated pistols out there!

Carrying my Russian IJ-70 Makarov as I type. My Bulgarian and German are in the safe at the moment. Great pistols!

Here's my Bulgarian mak. Great reliable gun, don't really carry it that often though. When I go to carry something in that size range my Kahr K9 usually gets the nod (better sights, same capacity and roughly same size but chambering a more potent round). All the holsters I have for the K9 also fit the mak.

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You hath not a hair on your derrière unless you post a pic of you wearing the hat.

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Straight shootin'
SWCA#2439

Wonderful guns. Here is my Russian version:



I also still have an East German, Bulgarian, and Chinese version. I was once into the East Block stuff, and have just hung onto it over the years. Also have a couple of other guns that fire the same cartridge.

Robust, and very reliable with just about any ammunition you can feed them.

You have a great historic set up there, JayFramer!! Thanks for sharing it with us.

Best Regards, Les

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SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

I've always had a soft spot for makarovs, I honestly don't know why I never bought one.

This is my favorite video, showing MAC torture testing a makarov, and spoiler alert... it out preforms most modern pistols he tests.

Thanks for the video, SquarePizza!!! That is pretty good evidence of the reliability of these cool little marvels. I know that the design copied a lot from the Walther PP, but in typical Russian fashion, beefed the original up, over engineered it, and made it very rugged for the caliber. I haven't been to Russia for a few years, but they were still in general use throughout the country my both police and military when I was there.

I don't think I'll be getting rid of any of mine anytime soon, although I could make a nice profit on any of them. Sitting in the safe, or riding in the Jeep, they are like money in the bank.

Best Regards, Les

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SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

Apparently they are still widely used. The newer generations of pistol, some 9x19mm, have not been bought in large enough quantities to totally replace the Makarov in Russian military and police circles.

Also the internal design is quite different from a Walther PP. The Makarov has much fewer parts, simplified, with many of them made to do more than one thing. Also all parts interchange between others Makarovs no matter the country of origin and no hand fitting is needed. Love them!

I recognize that KGB badge
Tell me you kyped it from Vlad after a few too many vodkas.

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Halfway and one more step

I've never owned a Makarov, and used to think they were just some kind of Communist junk. My opinion changed several years ago when I got the opportunity to shoot a friend's, Chinese, Russian and E. German versions. We shot ball and Corbon JHP ammo. Not a single malfunction of any kind with any of the 3. I was surprised and impressed that 3 guns, from 3 different countries, and designed to function with military ball ammo, functioned 100% with JHP ammo.

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NRA Life, COTEP 640

I have fired 3000 rounds of steel cased ball ammo through mine with no failures. Very reliable. Many people think these guns are total junk, but I think that's more anti-communist prejudice and misinformation more than anything. The vast majority of people who have actually shot or owned them seem to almost universally like them.

Recently decided to get into the Makarov's and others chambered in the 9mm Mak round.

Here are a 1962 EG and 1994 commercial Russian in .380 - have since picked up a very nice Bulgarian and an equally nice P64.

Really enjoying these low cost, high quality pistols.

VERY cool! BEAUTS!! I still have my Makarovs and love to shoot them. They are great guns!

Great guns, and I would carry one if you could easily get good night sights installed.

I really should pick up a P64 while they are so cheap.

I have an IJ-70 that I've owned since the 90s. I haven't fired a huge amount of rounds thru it, maybe 1500, but I can't remember a single malfunction. For some reason, I shoot this gun as well, if not better, than any other auto I've ever owned.

I have a FEG PA-63 that was perfect as well until it started firing when I decocked it. Thank god, the first time it happened I was at the range and the gun was pointed down-range. I took it completely apart and cleaned it well and I'm pretty sure it's working again, but obviously I won't be trusting it again.

That said, both guns are pretty hard on my hand to shoot. I need to shoot them again since I've been shooting magnums more lately. As I recall, the Mak isn't quite as bad, but like the PPK I used to have, blowback guns beat my hand up pretty bad.

I bought a Bulgarian Makarov many years ago when they were in every edition of Shotgun News. I drove about 50 miles to pick it up and paid $62.50 for it. I bought many magazines from SGN for $5 apiece. I have that original Mak and one Aarsenal left. Great guns.
Buy them cheap and stack them deep.

Gone are the days you could find a nice one for not much more than $100. I had a friend who owned one. We took it out to shoot one day maybe 5-6 years ago. He had no 9mm Mak ammo, so we used some .380 I had. It seemed to work OK, could even keep shots on the paper at 15 yards. I remember at one time someone was making .380 barrels for the Maks.

The FEG copies of the PPK were around $100 at one point. Fine shooters. Many were retro fitted with 380ACP barrels. I have one and after a tune-up for the horrendous trigger pull in DA it a very nice pistol.

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Who watches the watchers?

I have another friend who owns one of the FEGs, just like in the picture, but I have not fired it.

Here is my East German Makarov and a few other goodies...

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I see that photobucket wiped out my Russian Makarov in an earlier post....here it is again:



Best Regards, Les

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SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

^^^^NICE!!!

I was disconcerted with the fact that that the firing-pins on my pair would indent the primer cup merely from the inertia of the slide doing it's job. With Mil-Spec hard-primers, it was not likely a concern. But I would only carry quality US ammo in it, and I was distressed with what I saw. Other than that, a fantastic shooting and well-designed arm.

At one time I was really into collecting the EastBolck stuff... I have a few other guns that fire the 9x18 Mak round. Here is another Makarov pattern, the East German variation:



Here's a Bulgarian:



And a Chinese:



They are all excellent pistols, but the East German may be the best made of the bunch.

Best Regards, Les

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SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064