Yesterday I spent some time detail stripping my Makarov and doing my first ever trigger job. Basic disassembly is cake and I was amazed at how easy it was to detail strip. The only other handgun I've detail stripped is the 1911. The Makarov is even easier than the 1911 to take all the way down. Basically I followed the instructions posted on http://www.makarov.com The instructions were easy to read and I had every part taken off my gun in no time.
They also had a section regarding trigger work. I was not 100% certain as to which areas had to be polished but I got the general idea by looking at the diagram. I simply used the coarse and fine rods from my Spyderco Sharpmaker to polish each area. One has to be extremely careful not to change any of the surface angles but to only polish out the tool marks and imperfections. I was probably too gentle in polishing as I was nervous about my first ever home gunsmithing adventure. I finished my polishing and cleaned every part of the gun. Some areas such as in the firing pin hole and behind the extractor (where the spring lies) still had cosmoline there. Everything was meticulously cleaned and reassembled.
As far as the trigger goes, it is much better in single action mode. In the DA mode, it is smoother but it still stacks at the end. I'll most likely tear it down again at some point in clean up the areas I was too gentle on.
Overall, I'm highly impressed with the simple engineering and ease of takedown with this platform. I see a lot of threads about sub-$200 handguns with varied recommendations. I definitely think the Makarov is the way to go.
They also had a section regarding trigger work. I was not 100% certain as to which areas had to be polished but I got the general idea by looking at the diagram. I simply used the coarse and fine rods from my Spyderco Sharpmaker to polish each area. One has to be extremely careful not to change any of the surface angles but to only polish out the tool marks and imperfections. I was probably too gentle in polishing as I was nervous about my first ever home gunsmithing adventure. I finished my polishing and cleaned every part of the gun. Some areas such as in the firing pin hole and behind the extractor (where the spring lies) still had cosmoline there. Everything was meticulously cleaned and reassembled.
As far as the trigger goes, it is much better in single action mode. In the DA mode, it is smoother but it still stacks at the end. I'll most likely tear it down again at some point in clean up the areas I was too gentle on.
Overall, I'm highly impressed with the simple engineering and ease of takedown with this platform. I see a lot of threads about sub-$200 handguns with varied recommendations. I definitely think the Makarov is the way to go.
I can imagine what those Maks look like. That is odd that it is easier to get .45 than 9x18.