No more Makarovs :-(

[lee n. field]

Per George at Makarov.com Arsenal has ceased production.

Just got off the phone with Arsenal in Bulgaria. Today the official announcement was made that Bulgaria (Arsenal) will no longer be manufacturing the Makarov Model pistol, or any variants thereof. Production has already ceased and there are no plans, I was told, to produce any more Makarov Pistols or parts in the future.

Reasons given were changing world markets, increased problems with exporting to various countries, (including the USA) and the decline of the popularity of the 9x18 Makarov Cartridge with militarizes around the globe. It seems when there was a lot of surplus ammo floating around to be had for cheap, lots of countries loved the PM, but now those supplies have all but dried up, and now everyone wants to modernize and go with the 9mm Luger round as standard for sidearms.

So as it now stands, Russian is the only country with the tooling in place to produce the PM, and they can no longer export it to the USA. Better hang on to your Makarov's Guys and Gals, the prices are going to go up. Fast.

Kind of reminds me of when they stopped making the VW Beetle (the real Beetle, with the air cooled engine in back).

(In more ways than one. The last manufactured Beetles were made in Mexico, and they couldn't be imported into the Land 'o the Supposedly Free. Both are technologically funky (air cooled flat four? .365?), ran close to the limit of what their basic design could do, had very long production runs and have lots of loyal fanboys.)

Boldly we move into a cold, sterile future filled with soulless and unlovely plastic WunderNines and Glock Fotays.

 

[BamBam-31]

Long live the Fotay!

 

[JHansenAK47]

what i never understood is why 380 makarovs did't catch on

 

[Green Lantern]

what i never understood is why 380 makarovs did't catch on

It's a pretty simple conversion from 9 Makarov to .380 isn't it?

Shoot...I can't afford to take on another gun of yet another caliber to "feed," but I *have* .380.

 

[ABTOMAT]

I wonder if we'll now see a wave of surplus Maks as countries clear out the obsolete weapons.

 

[denfoote]

A truly sad day indeed.

 

[lee n. field]

It's a pretty simple conversion from 9 Makarov to .380 isn't it?

Barrel swap. Everything else stays exactly the same.

 

[tinygnat219]

Well,
It was foretold that this would happen. However, for those of us that have these pistols. Let's hold onto them!
I am probably going to try and find an armorer's kit somewhere for my two.

 

[Onmilo]

With the gobs of different 9mm Parabellum pistols available, I get the feeling I will soon get over this tragedy,,,,,,

 

[MrTuffPaws]

Sad. I have one somewhere. Honestly, I never shoot it. Around here, 9x18 is hard to come by, and my Mak chokes hard on Wolf. Nice pistol though, save for the sights.

 

[CajunBass]

I didn't realize they were still being made anyway.

 

[Ash]

Yeah, considering most Maks coming into the country are surplus military (ironically from Bulgaria these days).

Ash

 

[Harry Paget Flashman]

I'm not worried about a Makarov shortage in my house. I have 3.

 

[lee n. field]

I didn't realize they were still being made anyway.

Relatively few of the Arsenal commercial Maks have been imported. If you ever see one with a (ugly, IMHO) square trigger guard -- that's an Arsenal Mak.

 

[kd7nqb]

Not to highjack the thread but does anybody know where I can get the .380 conversion? I googled around and it said Federal Arms (now century) made them but they have been stopped for a few years. Any idea where to pick one up. My Girlfriend loves her Mak but hates the price of 9x18

Nevermind just found one for 40bucks on E-gun parts. Turns out spelling Makarov correctly helps a lot

 

[3fgburner]

I've got 4...

First one was an IJ-70. Then found a Bulgie, followed by an East German.

The last one, I was actually going to be good, and buy a .22 for teaching purposes. Went to comparison-shop one more dealer, and saw a Mak with the crappy Bulgarian thumbrest grip. I asked the guy if they were Arsenal Bulgies.

"No", says he, "They're milspec. That one's a 1976".

Ding. Bulgies usually don't have dates. I asked to see the gun, and sure enough, it was stamped "Bulgaria" for an import mark. Then I looked at the factory symbol. It wasn't a bullseye-10. It was a circle with a split triangle. My next comment was,

"Umm, can I have a 4473, please? And a pen?".

The EG and the Soviet are in my gun locker, with historic grips. The Russian (post-Soviet) is tricked out for CCW, and the Bulgie is set up for target.

 

[lee n. field]

Nevermind just found one for 40bucks on E-gun parts. Turns out spelling Makarov correctly helps a lot

They've gone up. I got one from Numrich/gunpartsco a couple years back for something like $15. Still haven't gotten around to installing it.

My Girlfriend loves her Mak but hates the price of 9x18

I don't think .380 is any cheaper.

 

[The_Shootist]

Sad Indeed

I always thought that this was one of the most underrated pistols for CCW ut there.

I have a Bulgy Mak and never, ever regretted its purchase. with 7+1 rounds in 9x18, it packs (slightly) more punch than a .380, is certainly no worse for self defense than a 5 shot snub (and faster to reload), accurate as hell and tough. Oh yeah....go BANG every time - clean, dirty, wet dry - IT WORKS!

By the same token however, it will be interesting to see what model of 9mm Arsenal starts making, and if we can get our hands on it

 

[Newton]

Mine is worn out. The hammer cams off center in DA and one of the frame's feed "spikes" has broken off.

I'll hold on to it for a trade down the road.

 

[obxned]

I wouldn't get too teary-eyed just yet, there have got to be a bazillion ready to be sold as surplus, and such a good, proven design will at some point be manufacured again by somebody, maybe with a lighter frame, interesting options, or even in other calibers.

 

[macadore]

Cuál es un Fotay?

 

[AtticusThraxx]

Just the same, I'm gonna pickup the next good .380 pr 9mm I can find and some parts. Love those little pistols. My Izmech didn't have adjustable sights, that's what I would carry when I go into the city.Accurate, eats anything and keep if you keep it clean, reliable as heck. And you can get some pretty nasty .380 ammo.

 

[JHansenAK47]

What I meant was why didn't the factory made 380 makarovs catch on
I guess they just weren't as cheap as 9x18 pistols

 

[denfoote]

Relatively few of the Arsenal commercial Maks have been imported. If you ever see one with a (ugly, IMHO) square trigger guard -- that's an Arsenal Mak.

Wait a durn minute!!!

My Arsenal Makarov does not have a square trigger guard??
See above!!!

 

[lee n. field]

By golly, you're right. I know the "Special Edition" Arsenal Maks imported by Miltex had a squared trigger guard.