I thought it would be fun to do a brief bit on PM (Pistolet Makarova) handguns. These were first introduced in 1951 when they became the standard military issue handgun of what was then the Soviet Union.
The Mak was designed by Nikolay Fyedorovich Makarov, who was born in 1914 near Ryazanskaya Oblask in Russia, the son of a railroad machinist.
The pistol fires the 9x18mm Makarov cartridge. The bullet diameter of this round is about .364", and it's definitely not interchangeable with .380 ACP or 9mm Luger cartridges. It was chosen following the lead of the Germans during WWII (The 9mm Ultra cartridge) as being the largest practical round which could be easily fired in a lightweight blowback pistol.
While it resembles the Walther PP and PPK series upon which it was roughly modeled, the Mak has only 25 parts to it, compared to the Walther PP's 42. A number of parts double in their function. For example, the slide release is also the ejector, and the hammer spring is also the mag release. It was designed for easy manufacture, and has proven to be quite reliable. The simplicity of the gun is illustrated in these schematics:
The PM was manufactured at, among others, the Tula Arsenal and the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant in the USSR (Russia). It was also made by Norinco in China, the Bulgarian State Arsenal in Bulgaria, and Ernst Thaelmann/Simson in Suhl, Germany - near the old Walther plant in Zehla-Mehlis, Thuringia.
Of the four military pistols illustrated, I would choose the East German version as the best finished - noticeably higher quality. The Chinese version, while very good and serviceable, would probably be rated last by me on the Mak totem pole for quality. Interestingly, the Mak safety operates the reverse of Walthers, S&Ws and Berettas. Down is ready to fire, up is safe. This gets some getting used to for those used to the other protocol. It's good to engage the safety when carried, as the floating firing pin has no return spring, and rests against the primer freely. It's not a pistol I'd like to have drop, although accidents actually have been few.
The supply of original military-issue Makarovs has been dwindling in recent years in the U.S. for whatever reason. I've not seen them as often at the gun shows.
I thought you might be interested in seeing a comparison of these historic military pistols.
John
Last edited:
}
Thanks for the very informative post. I have a question. Is the CZ82 a first cousin to the Mac or are they two different guns? Don
