Jamming Makarov

A

Andrew Bornman

New member
I took my new mak out to shoot, and if functioned flawlessly until about 100rds had been fired. At that point it began jamming. The slide would fail to go all the way forward. The ammo seemed to produce alot of black fouling. I think that the extractor was sufficiently dirty that it wouldn't snap over the cartrige when the slide went forward. I cleaned the weapon and it appears to feed properly now but haven't test fired it.

The ammo is 9x18 FMJ of russian manufacture. It is in a green box marked 'Cartridges 9x18mm, LVE "MAKAROV"' According to the box the bullet has a mass of 6 grams and is fired at 315meters/second. The cartrige case is brass containing a high percentage of copper the bullet jacket appears the same. The cartrige has waterproofing sealer at the case mouth and primer. The ammo comes in a 1000rd case which contains two plastic bags containing 500 rds ea. I paid $99.75 including tax for one case.

I would appreciate any insight, maybe it is something more that dirty ammo. I would be interested in finding other ammo, at a similar price, which would shoot cleaner and allow more practice than 100 shots before cleaning is required.
 
Hummmmmmm.

Andrew, the design of the Mak is simplicity. My wife used a knock-off PA-63 to qualify for Conceiled Carry. She ran out over 500 rounds in 2 days. The ammo ran the gammit of reloads, new hollows to russian ammo with no problems. We've probably ran 2000 rounds through it with not one jamb. In fact I have to choose it as the most reliable gun I have ever owned even though I only paid 125. for it new! I would check the polish on the port and make sure it is clean it might need further posishing. I have also heard people have problems with the mag springs being too weak or too strong, likewise the ammo may be under powered and unable to fully recoil the slide. One other problem could be the recoil spring. You might want to go to the gunsmith forum and ask George. I had a similar problem with a 1911 and he worked on it (verdict isn't out yet). He has been a gunsmith for years and might be able to point you in the right direction, starting with replacing the cheapest parts until you hit the right one! I wouldn't take 300 for our PA-63, my kids love it! Good luck.
 
This may sound simple, but have you

cleaned ALL of the cosmoline out of, and off of the gun? Most of them have been in storage so long that the cosmo(grease) has hardened into a laquer! This stuff is in every crack and crevice of the gun. If you haven't blasted the gun off with carb cleaner, you mave may have missed a lot of the build-up. (Completely detail strip it, if you can. It is remarkably simple.) The mixture of the grease with the filth of the ammo may have been enough to cause its sluggishness.

Did you install the recoil spring correctly? The end that resists your effort to install it is the end that should be facing the breech.
 
It might be a case of insufficient lubrication, something jammed into the mechanism or bad ammo. Try another ammo brand to compare.
 
That green box ammo (Novosibersk)is pretty good stuff. Should work just fine.

I'd try what VictorLouis and Oleg recommended. Clean the heck out of it (BrakeKeeen, etc.) then lube it good and try again. (That's basically what I did with mine when I first got it - Man, that cosmoline was like concrete - I even had to use toothpicks to get it all out. Give 'em credit, though, no rust anywhere...)

Pay special attention to the area under the extractor when cleaning. And VictorLouis is correct in his advice about the recoil spring - pay attention to that when you re-assemble.

Let us know how you make out...

regards,

Owen
 
Green box (LVE) ammo is steel cased and in my experience, if not the best 9x18 ammo out there,it's right up there. Do what the others have suggested and clean and lube that pistol. Unless there is a parts breakage or a mag problem Maks are as close to being 100% reliable as any handgun I've used. The only exception being the EG surplus, there seems to be an epidemic of failures to hit primers with sufficient force.
 
Green Box LVE is all I ever feed to both my EG Mak and my Bulgarian Mak. I have never had a single problem with it. As suggested by other posters, by all means give your Mak a through cleaning. Hopefully, this will solve your problem.
 
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