Has anyone purchased a Makarov from
www.jcarmory?
I recently dealt with Greg Monte of JC Armory. My local FFL handled the transaction and everything went very smoothly. Do a search here and at
www.makarov.com You'll find that he gets 100% praise. He's a man of his word. Bulgarian Maks can also be had from Dan's Sporting Goods (danssportammo@alltel.net) You can get them for $148 delivered (Priority) from Greg or for $140 delivered from Dan's (Overnight).
I’m very interested in buying, but wanted to get some feed back before doing so.
Don't hesitate. Both Dan's and JC Armory are almost out of Bulgarian Maks, when these are gone you can expect to pay more, that is, if our political betters don't decide to cut off the flow like they did with the PRC.
This will be my fist auto pistol( I have always owned revolvers.) so I would like some advise.
Great pistol as others have said. The DA trigger is a bit heavy but it's easy to get used to it. SA pull is crisp. They're very accurate.
I have read that the Bulgarian Makarov needs a lot of cleaning when new.
Yes. They're unissued military/police pistols that have been stored in heavy grease and cosmoline. Strip the pistol and mags, and leave all parts in a solven like kerosene or Hoppe's No 9 for two hourds. With a plastic brush and many rags remove all grease. Clean out bore and put together. If you don't want to do clean them yourself they can be had prepped at shows for $200. I rather save and do it myself.
How hard are they to field strip?
They're very easy. It takes a little practice to get the slide onto the frame, but after a few tries it goes on very easy. You can find detailed instructions at
www.makarov.com
Would this be a wise purchase for my first auto-loading pistol?
Yes and YES. It's a very simple mechanism. I'm pathetic when it comes to mechanical things, my expertise, if you can call it that, was isolated to field stripping SIG Sauers, Glocks and such. Within minutes I had the safety off, the firing pin out and now I'm planning on taking it apart completely. If I can do it virtually anybody capable of using the Web can too. The great thing is that since they're so economical you won't mind experimenting with it. I cannot bring myself to man handling a SIG Sauer. I figure that the pistolet Makarova, like an AK, was desgined to be handled roughly and keep on ticking.
If my long winded post hasn't convinced you, consider this, Dan's sells new production non-corrosive Russian ammo for $105/1000 or $52.50/500 delivered to your door. That's $5.20 for a box of 50. What other pistol can you feed so cheaply?
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So many pistols, so little money.
