Need some Makarov advice please

O

o-town

New member
I live in Florida and recently obtained a CCW permit. The only pistol I own is the HS2000 9mm Luger. This gun is great and will work great for Winter carry. However, I am looking for a gun that is thinner in the butt where the end of the magazine is. You can see an imprint of the HS through a loose t-shirt while wearing shorts or jeans - I usually wear shorts in the summer. I want a pistol to wear IWB in the summer that is reliable and still has relatively good take down power (I need to feel confident in an unsafe situation arises). I am a college student, so cost is also a factor here. I've been reading posts about the bulgarian Makarovs and think this might be a good fit for me. Does anyone know how thick the Mak is compared to a gun like the HS2000 (www.hsarms.com)? If you don't think this is a good pistol for my situation, please give me some other suggestions. My last question is: Is it pronounced Mak as in Mack truck, or as in Mamma? Thanks for taking the time to read my post and helping me out.

jason
 
Makorovs are good solid guns at a good price. The oly down side is that there triggers are realy heavy. One other gun to look at in the same price is a PA63. They are a PPK copy with an alloy frame and are available in .380 and 9X18 and
about the same price.
 
I will look at that also, do you recommend the 9X18 or the 380, which has more stopping power, thanks for the reply and keep'em coming

Jason
 
I don"t own a Makarov, but I would love to have one like those shown in this months American Handgunner. They look and shoot just like a Sig P210!
 
o, balistically, the 9X18 Makarov round and the 9X17 .380 round are very close. There's a small advantage in some loads for the Makarov, I think? There is good defensive ammo available for both--i.e. Cor-Bon, etc. There is more variety of ammo available for the .380, if that matters.

One tiebreaker for the Mak might be the availability of cheap surplus 9X18 ammo. If you buy in quantity (like 500 rounds+), it'll probably be significantly cheaper than the .380

OTOH, I have some Novosibirsk .380 on order (new, not surplus) at 5 bucks a box, so that's pretty close. Ask me in a week or two if its worth the price.

Bottom line, not much difference. Maybe a bit more energy in the 9X18. There'll likely be more difference in how the pistols handle, point, shoot etc, so I would let the pistol choice determine the caliber.
 
Mak is a great choice!

The Makarov is a great choice for carry. The 9x18 round is slightly more powerful than the .380 and ammo is cheap and plentiful for practice. The trigger is typical military, which is great for CCW. It does smooth out with use. I have five Maks and the are all accurate and 100% reliable. The Bulgarians are the ones to get now as they are very affordable and well made. Go to: http://makarov.com
for more info.

Pilot
 
Hello, o-town! The 9x18 Makarov is a bit above the .380ACP, but well below the 9x19mm in "stopping power." It'll do the job with placment, but rather than all of that, let's just look at similar loads from both calibers. These are average velocities (10-shots) from a Bulgarian Mak and to keep bbl lengths at least similar, a Glock 26.

9x18 Makarov:

CorBon 95 gr +P JHP: 1098 ft/sec

9X19 G26:

Glaser 70 gr Prefrag (Blue): 1514 ft/sec

These bullet weights are different by 25 grains so I'll do the closest I can in bullet wt, but the average velocity is from a longer bbl'd gun, a Browning HP.

9mm BHP:

Remington 88 gr JHP: 1526 ft/sec.

Best.
 
I've been doing some research on the Makarov and most websites state that this pistol really doesn't have enough stopping power to use for self defense. Do you guys think it has enough stopping power?

jason
 
Hello o-town. Millions of trees have been killed to carry the words written on "stopping power." I've studied this for a quarter century and have finally decided on the following:

1. All commonly used defensive handgun calibers are weak
in comparison to rifle rounds used to hunt animals in
the same weight range as humans, even though the human
is usually just not as "tough" as any wild animal.

2. The primary determinant in how effective a hit will be
is where it hits, i.e.: placement. People fall down
when shot for two reasons, either they want to (psychological) or they have to (physiological). I
prefer the latter as would most.

3. Some handgun calibers/loads do appear to be better than
others, but nothing will offset the "power" of
placement.

It's often said to use the "largest caliber you can hit with" and that's true. I add the following. "Use the largest caliber you can hit with, but if there's a pistol that you shoot better than any other even if a bit less in caliber, use it."

The .38 Spec from a 2" with chosen loads, .380ACP and 9x19Makarov are the least powerful arms that I feel comfortable with. Given a choice, I'd go with at least 9mm or .45ACP.

The beauty of the Makarov to me is not its caliber, but the fact that you can buy a gem of a little shooter for very little money (relatively speaking) and pop cans, targets, etc. It WILL do double-duty as a defensive arm, but for its size and weight, one can usually find a more powerful arm.
The recoil of the Mak, while not "heavy," is sharp, as is common with straight blowback pistols. In the same size pistol, you can have 9mm, .40, or .45ACP, but you will not be able to get one that will last like the Makarov for the same money.

If you are wanting to buy this arm primarily for self-defense, I respectfully suggest that there are better guns and calibers that you'll likely be able to shoot just as well if not better; I find all of my locked-breech 9mms easier to shoot than my Makarov. If finances are such that one cannot justify spending more, then go for the Makarov. It will do in practiced hands and you can shoot the fire out of it without wearing it out as would likely happen with other guns in its price range.

Best.
 
O-Town: Buy the Makarov

The 9x18 round (Makarov) is slightly more powerful than the 9x17 round (380 ACP). It is not half way between the two, a 9x19 is much more powerful.

At somewhere around $125 - $150, you can buy a Mak that will be simple in design, and utterly reliable. They are cheap to shoot, as non-corrosive Russian surplus ammo is available for less than $0.10 a round. CorBon, Hornady, & Barnaul produce hollowpoint ammunition for it.

You'll find it easy to shoot, easy to take down for cleaning and built tough. You'll hate the trigger at first - especially the DA pull - but both will smooth out with use. Make sure you shoot it SA & DA. The sights suck, as they do on most any small pistol - but they are no worse than on my $325 Colt Mustang bought years ago.

Loaded with CorBon hollowpoints, my Bulgarian weighs 29 ounces. As for size, the circumference of my Russian milsurp with the factory grips is 5.435", slightly larger than my Kimber Ultra CDP at 5.375". I emphasize the factory grips, if you are going to chnage your Mak in any way the grips are usually the first. Problem is, there is only 1 popular alternative & that is the Pearce grip. While it is comfortable to shoot, it is gigantic for CCW carry. My Bulgarian wears Pearce grips, that gun has a grip circumference of over 5.75".

The Makarov is close to a Walther PP in size & design, but contains less than half the parts. The pic shows both.

Buy the Mak & don't look back. You won't regret it.

View
 
I have an E. German Makarov & like it a lot. I would personally have trouble though using it for summer carry with shorts. It is not a light gun for its size. If that is not a problem for you, then by all means get it. Just something to consider though.
I use a Kel-Tec P-11 or P-32 for shorts in the summer.
 
o-town,

You've got some excellent responses so far, but not one answer to your last question on pronunciation. When you refer to it as a Mak, it's pronounced just like the mack in "Mack Truck". Most folks pronounce Makarov like 'MACK a rov', with the accent on the first syllable. However, the correct pronunciation is 'ma KAR ov' - ma as in mamma, kar as in car, and rov as rhymes with Slav.

I've got several Maks and love them all. Buy the Mak.

Regards - Pussball
 
MPower: I do not know what kind of pistol that was in AH, but it certainly was not a Makarov. You would think that with all the Makarovs in country, they could at least find one to take a picture of. :rolleyes:

o-town: The 9x18 Makarov stood the Red Army in good stead for 40 years!! The cartridge will do it's job as long as you do yours. The Makarov is an accurate platform with which to send it on it's appointed errend. ;) Get the Makarov, and lose that sissy Croat pistol!!! :p I think you will find that you carry the Mak year around!!! :D
 
Go to (if you haven't already):

http://www.makarov.com

There's a wealth of info there.

My suggestion, buy a surplus Bulgarian Mak, then from Dan's Ammo (link on the above url) buy 1,000 rounds of 'green box' Novisibirsk ammo (a hundred bucks delivered) and enjoy.

Owen
 
Correct pronunciation

I believe the correct pronunciation is
mak-KAIR-off with the accent on the middle syllable. Americans just call it the Mak-ur-ov, but I doubt our buddy Mikhail would get too terrible upset.
I own a Russian commercial Makarov, have had it for... 7 years now, I think. Planty of rounds through it and only one stoppage- on close inspection I noticed the bullet was off-spec. Easy to clean. Thoroughly reliable. I recently picked up a couple hundred rounds of 9Mak from LVE (non-corrosive, V=315m/s) for $5.45 a box/50. You can usually get surplus ammo for $5-6 a box if you look. Barnaul makes good inexpensive ammo, ball and hollow points.
I agree with Kevinch about the trigger pull. The double action began pretty heavy but smoothed out/lightened up after the first couple hundred rounds. Single action has always been easy and well-defined... kind of like a really nice clutch.
There are only two complaints I can think of with the Makarov. 1)the 9x18 won't stop a tank. I don't think any handgun round will but that just means you have to practice plenty on shot placement. Gee, isn't it awful that you have to go shooting a lot?;)
2)the sights are a little on the small side. I primed and painted mine with flourescent paint, which improved visibility a lot. You can also buy after market slides with larger sights.
You will never regret buying a Makarov... unless you sell it.
 
Ma-KAR-ov

And yes, the standard pronunciation is "MAK-ah-rov". It is usually proceeded by "there ain't no way I'd buy a junk commie gun like that thar" and is spoken as the guy picks up several boxes of ammo for his SKS.

Mike
 
Denfoote,

You're right...those pics in AH weren't (of course) of a Mak...I wonder how that got past the editor.

MPower, I couldn't tell if you were being sarcastic or not, but those were pics of P210s...pretty funny.
 
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