Makarov thoughts and recommendations

S

straightShot

New member
Greetings:

Any thoughts or comments on the following 9 x 18 Makarov models in very good condition? Prices include shipping, FFL charge etc.

European PA63(two-tone) $122
European PA63B $114
East German BMAK $175

I'm thinking of picking one up, and I'm not familiar with these nor the caliber. Your comments and thoughts on the price, reliability, etc., are appreciated.

Thanks,

straightShot
 
Which Mak ?

Hello Straightshot, I have an E. German and it's a great gun
for the money. Of all the things that I have read everything pointed towards getting the E. German. They are suppose to be the best of the lot. I have been thinking of getting another and my local emporium has a Bulgarian model.
In comparison it's not as nice as the E. German IMHO.
I got my Mak from SOG in Ohio and they still have them for $149.
Hope this helped ;)
 
Your first two are not actuallly "maks" They do fire the 9x19 Makarov round but they are made by FEG in Hungary they are closer to a copy of a Walther than a Mak. They are great shooters for the money though. IMHO
 
$175 was actual cost of $150 gun from SOG

loknload:

The $175 was a $150 German Mak from SOG with shipping and an FFL fee tacked on. I still need to add tax, extra mags, perhaps a $10 'hand-picked' fee to it, and it's a go.

Thanks,

straightShot
 
IIRC, SOG is in Ohio, and you live in another state. If you pay for the gun/s&h via credit card, then you don't pay any sales tax at your receiving FFL, just the transfer. BTW, the Bulgies are still at http://www.jgsales.com for $99.95. I have not handled an E. German, but I can't imagine it being worth 50%-70% more money. But, there are those who swear by them.
 
VictorLouis:

Southern Ohio Gun is 'strictly wholesale'. They won't even give a price over the phone or let you pay and have it shipped. My FFL needs to do the ordering and pay, so I'm stuck with the taxes on my end.

I looked at the Bulgarians, and I'd like one of those, too. However, I think that the 'very good' East German is going to end up finding its way to me first...

Thanks,

straightShot
 
Just picked up a Bulgarian Makarov yesterday for $149.00. This gun looks new, the bore is chromed, the blue is excellent. The gun came with two mags, a russian holster new and a 2" wide belt, along with a cleaning rod and stap. I polished the feed ramp to mirror smooth and ordered some ammo. Now I just have to wait for the ammo to arrive. This is not a bad gun for the money, now if it only shoots as good as it looks. What can be the difference between the east german, russian and bulgarians? There are some tooling mark on the inside but nothing to worry about, fit and finish are excellent on this gun so what's is the difference can someone tell me?
 
FWIW, the PA-63's look very "Bond, James Bond". I have one, and the trigger is grittier and heavier than either of my Mak's. It has an alloy frame, and a proper push-button mag release instead of the Mak heel clip. I like Maks better, tho'. Easier to shoot well, and the recoil is not QUITE as snappy.
 
One problem with East German maks is that some tend to misfire. Mine has misfired twice in >1000 rounds, so I've got a good one (though it isn't very accurate). Curing the misfire can be a problem. One person who posts at makarov.com had to replace his slide to solve it. I would recommend a Bulgarian mak because you won't have to deal with the misfire issue. Of course, some bulgies don't feed hollopoints well but that is usually curable with some dremel work. Yes, their triggers need some breaking in too, but the guns are still great bargains. Okay the sights on all maks are almost useless (practice instinctive shooting!) and the grips are awful and, well, the round is just a little more potent that a .380 but really, they're great guns! Honest!
 
That sounds like 'service' that I would not want to reward

with my business. No offense, if you have friends or family employed there. If they don't wish to quote pricing, that usually means that their pricing isn't very competitive. My Bulgie has been fine with Cor-Bon, CCI/Gold Dot and Barnaul(my preference).
 
E. German Mak

straightShot, You are right, SOG is wholesale only. I have a C&R license and that is why I can buy from them. Current paper lists them for $149. wholesale. The Bulgarians are $109. The PA63 is $89. and the Romanian M95 is $109.
So your FFL is making $25. plus his fee. My dealer has a CZ52 for $169. he got it from SOG for $139. So he's charging me $30. for the same gun plus his fee which is $5.00. They got to make money to. If you want you can apply for a C&R license and reap some of the savings yourself. No big deal in getting one. If the gun you are getting is from SOG it should be OK. Everything I ever purchased from them was as listed plus. No problems what so ever.;) My dealer was suppose to have had brand new Bulgarians in Cosmo for $99. I didn't see them. I have seen some of the commercial grades and were not to impressed. Just my opinion ;)
Hope this Helps :)
 
I have a couple of Bulgarian Makarovs and a couple of FEG PA-63s (I think one is commercial and the other military or police surplus). I like them all. I think the Maks are a little nicer (better sights, more comfortable to shoot, hold one additional round), but the PA-63s are also reliable, cool looking, have a more convenient mag release, and are lighter. The PA-63 triggers are pretty heavy - especially the double-action, which is almost unusable. My commercial PA-63 is much more nicely finished, but the safety/decocker doesn't work very well (very stiff - maybe damaged). The surplus PA-63 works fine, but shows more wear and the slide isn't very smoothly finished. They seem to vary - I've seen others that looked better. I don't think you'll go far wrong with either. I've also looked at some East German Maks with the intent of buying one, but honestly, I couldn't see what made them better than my original Bulgarisn...so I just saved myself some money and bought another Bulgarian. I've ordered all these through J&G Sales and Aim Surplus.

Check out http://www.makarov.com for lots of info. Also, I just received a bunch of Russian Mak ammo from Dan's Sporting Goods - great price, service, and product. Find Dan's info on Makarov.com. Good luck.

Doug
 
Straightshot,
As pointed out before only your third choice is a true Mak. E. German Mak is the one to have, I'll explain below. Btw, Mak is the Glock of the '50s, reliable and simple.

As far as I am aware, Russian commercial, Bulgarian comercial, Bulgarian military, East German mil/police, and some rare Chinese Maks reached US.

What you are currently seeing in Shotgun News are: military Bulgarians made in '60s and at least the first batches sold were new in cosmoline with polished blue finish; there are also used East German in varying condition, also blue polished.

I used to own a Bulgarian military, and it was reliable, accurate (yes, with Russian ammo!), and it kicked like hell. The outside was nicely finished, the internal small parts looked like someone machined them with their teeth. But the parts were machined, and worked. Commercial Bulgies were rougher on the outside, so were Russians, and probably were rough on the inside.

Well I never shot or did a complete disassemblly of a E. German gun, but did dry fire them and they had much better trigger pulls. Also the finish was nicer. I think you should buy the E. German even if you have to put some work in it so it functions right. Most people do that with Walthers (PP/PPK/PPKs) and don't mind it right? I may hear an answer now "yes, but this is a $175 gun". Maybe so, but it's on at least equal footing with Walthers because those E. German Maks were made by Suhl/Merkel people (check out their rifles, and shotguns). So the same quality materials and workmanship went into those little pistols.

Currently, Mak is THE bang for the buck considering the reliability, price, price of ammo, and price of mags (for a while you could pick them up for $1.50 each).
 
My thoughts and recomendations are: Don't do it! Stop being such a fargin cheap icehole and buy a real gun. At least don't buy from COMBLOC countries.
 
Ummm - Bulgaria, Germany (the former East Germany), Russia, etc. are no longer "COMBLOCK countries". Haven't been so for quite some time now.

China is indeed a Communist country but I doubt that you'll run across many Chinese Makarovs.
 
The Makarov is one of the best guns on the market, equal
to many guns costing 3-4 times as much.
All I have fired are very accurate(with good ammo)One
factor for this is the fixed barrel.
While the East German is rated high due to fit and finish
I prefer the bulgarian military model.
My feeling is you can't go wrong with the mak.
 
I'm going with an East German. I'll pick up some of the others, too, when I can afford to.

Are there any links to online 9x18 Makarov ammo? Is steel cased ammo okay in these pistols?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top