Which Makarov to Buy?

[bluetopper]

I used to collect Makarovs, once I had eleven of them at the same time. Now none.

The most sought after ones were the Simson Suhl Makarovs and the Miltex special edition Makarovs.

 

[Lennyjoe]

My wife has 2 of the P-64’s. Awful pistols if I may say so….lol

Her dad was a collector of them and he gave her 2 of them. She likes them so that’s all that matters.

 

[Hikingman]

Which, you asked?
Bulgarian.

 

[Ignition Override]

As for the general broad category, which includes the CZ-82 and 83, most of the 83 series is chambered in .380 acp,

which is certainly Less expensive to shoot than the 9x18 Makarov ammunition.

Don’t confuse the Chambering with an actual type of handgun, which might also be in .32 acp and / or .380 acp.

 

[Monac]

That's why I stated (mostly).
The Zastava M88 is a smaller version of the M57 chambered in 9mm Luger and 40 S&W.
View attachment 1126524

What you said was: "As for a (mostly) true Makarov I have the Zastava M57 which is a great pistol but really too big for concealed carry." I took that to mean you thought a Zastava M57 was a (mostly) true Makarov. I am sorry I misunderstood you. What did you mean, now that we have made it clear that the M57 is mostly a Tokarev and not a Makarov? And what does the M88 have to do with it, besides being a more modified M57?

 

[Mosin77]

“Makarov” can refer to either the specific gun (a Soviet design also produced by the East Germans, the Bulgarians, and the Chinese) as well as to the cartridge (9mmMak, 9x18) and sometimes by extension to other combloc designs developed locally and chambered in the 9x18 round for Warsaw Pact ammo compatibility. These designs include, off the top of my head, the Polish P64, P83, Hungarian PA63, and Czech Cz82. There are probably others.

In the US there were plenty of East German and Bulgarian military Maks imported. There were also a ton of Russian commercial, which were branded Baikal and imported by many companies. There are very few Russian military available as they were never officially imported, and few Chinese as well. More recently Bulgarian commercial have been imported, which externally look almost identical to the Bulgarian military issue guns.

Of the Mak-like guns, the CZ-82 is available in large numbers and is a fantastic firearm. Modern controls, 12+1 capacity, great quality. The P64 came in in decent numbers (highly packable if you don’t mind steel, but not much fun to shoot and has an extremely heavy DA pull, these look like slightly less elegant PPKs), the P83 not so many came in. The pa63 came in decent numbers but was not well liked, apparently the aluminum frames are not robust + make the gun less than pleasant to shoot.

 

[commygun]

Of the ones I owned they were all solid performers with the main difference being in finish.
The two Bulgies had perfectly nice, though not exceptional, finishes.
The Baikal had a thin matte finish that started to wear off the flats of the slide almost immediately.
The Norinco had deep, smooth, very black, blueing. It was weirdly nice for a $90 gun.

 

[lee n. field]

IF I were going to add a Mak to the accumulation, which one(s) do folks prefer.
I had a couple years ago but sold them in lieu of 9mm for carry. But now I'd like to have a least one in the safe....just because.
But I seem to recall some are better than others, and some (the Polish ones?) had really awful triggers.
I'm not sure I'd carry it, as my S&W 9s, 40s, and .45s are more than sufficient (ie: CS9, 3914LS, CS45, 4513, and SW99 compact and a Sig 320subcompact, both in .40)
I'm not looking for collector's grade, just a good decent shooter with a decent trigger...so should it be Russian, Bulgarian, FEG, or what?

If you want a shooter, get a Bulgarian milsurp. Or, I guess, Russian Baikal commercial export, the ones with the adjustable rear sight.

Those are most common. Others (East German, Russian milsurp, Chinese, Arsenal brand commercial) would (might) have some collector value due to relative rarity

The FEGs and the Polish guns aren't Makarovs, they just shoot the same cartridge.

If you have multiple examples to choose from, check each. Trigger feel can vary from gun to gun..

 

[Capybara]

East German is widely thought to be the best, but they are expensive. The Bulgarian surplus ones are really nice.

I own two Bulgarians and an E. German. The one you really want is an original Russian military Mak but you're going to pay ridiculous collector prices for one.
The Bulgarians are fine, the E. German has a little more cachet to it since E. Germany no longer exists. I also had a Chinese Norinco that was cool. I would avoid
any of the Baikal or other Russian "sporter versions", they always just struck me as a little cheesy on the details compared to an original design Mak. You want a military Makarov.

Like all C&R pistols, the prices on Maks are ridiculous now compared to just a few short years ago but they are well designed, reliable and sleek little guns, I enjoy them.
If you just want a shooter, a clean Bulgarian is your best bet. You should also find a CZ82, great gun and I have a P64, they are not that fun to shoot but beautifully made,
the Poles at Radom make GREAT quality guns.

 

[Capybara]

My wife has 2 of the P-64’s. Awful pistols if I may say so….lol

Her dad was a collector of them and he gave her 2 of them. She likes them so that’s all that matters.

Agreed, not that fun to shoot. They are really well machined, quality guns though, I love Radom firearms, the Poles do it right.

 

[LocoGringo]

My experience was with 2 Makarovs...1 Bulgarian and 1 East German. The East German was from '68 if my homework was correct and I swear it was possessed. I don't know how it's possible, but it would lock the slide back on a magazine with ammo in it and a live round in the chamber. I don't know how that's possible, but it did it more than once.

My vote would be look for a Bulgarian.

 

[Ignition Override]

My first carry gun was a .380 “Izhevsk” Makarov, exactly like the Baikal brand. Possibly one of the most reliable semi-auto handguns in the world, and easy to conceal.

Russian Makarovs built for western markets often were chambered in .380 but some were chambered in
9x18 Mak. Rather confusing to most people.

LocoGringo: if you were not the original US owner of that gun, then some previous owner monkeyed with it and didn't know what they were doing.
To hear about a malfunction is very uncommon. I owned 2 EG, 2 Bulgies plus the .380 Izhevsk.

Folks: don’t confuse the devlish little Polish P-64 with the Larger Polish P-83. This larger gun is much more pleasant to shoot, and felt recoil is just like that of a “true” Makarov.

 

[JCooperfan1911]

The Czech made Makarovs are the best. Double stack and more modern than the Polish or Russian Maks.

 

[OrangePwrx9]

We need a spreadsheet. This is getting hard.

 

[12Bravo20]

We need a spreadsheet. This is getting hard.

Here is an excellent website to visit. http://www.makarov.com

 

[tmd16556]

I have the Cz, FEG, and a Soviet PM. They each have a place. The Cz was my first and an ok all around gun. A bit heavy for cc but does have 12+1 capacity. The FEG PA-63 is light but kind of long so it is fine to carry until you sit down. For $140 it was a good find years ago. The Soviet one is amazing in simplicity yet it works fine. I feel like there are about 10 parts in the whole thing (vs the Cz that has 10,000 tiny parts).

They all get tiresome to shoot with steel case factory ammo after about 50 rounds and the brass bangs off the steel roof of our range with authority. I almost feel like the Soviets wanted all small arms to take on a secondary anti-aircraft role using the brass. They’re all more pleasant with reloads, but that means packing the brass catcher….

 

[Ignition Override]

Mizar:

Most people simply confuse the 9x18 Mak chambering with the Mak guns.

Many of our replies are trying to explain the difference, but we often try to include examples of the guns which are Not Makarovs.

Maybe this compounds confusion when people only skim a topic.

 

[PzGren]

...

Calling all pistols chambered in 9x18 Mak's is like how Kleenex is used as a generic name for all facilities tissue even though there are different brands available.

There is also a general confusion about the 9x18. The Russians took the idea of the 9x18 cartridge from the Walther, Zella Mehlis factory in 1945 but used a slightly larger bullet diameter. Walther revived the idea with the 9x18 Police in the PP Super.

I had listed some PP Supers for sale and had to explain more than once, that the 9x18 Police cannot chamber a 9x18 Makarov.

 

[Rule3]

I have a CZ 82, call it what you like it is a rock solid pistol that shoots 9x18

 

[kerreckt]

Makarov or 9x18? Every 9x18 isn't a Makarov. A Makarov Is a specific handgun and the Bulgarian Makarov is an excellent and beautiful handgun.