Maks

I've re-subbed to the group after a considerable absence (due to work pressures, mostly), and I'm surprised that there doesn't seem to be any discussion these days of my favorite playthings, the Makarovs. I have a Russian, with those unfortunate adjustable 'target' sights, and a fixed-sight Bulgarian, both of which are accurate and a joy to shoot. When I was actively shooting before, I had my eye out for a nice East German Mac, but had not yet found the one for me.

At that time, a decent Mak was readily available in local gun shops for $125-$150 or so, with exceptional copies still less than $200. Has the available supply dried up by now? Have so many folks found out about the quality, performance, and shootability that the prices have been driven up, or are they still readily available in the same price range? Are plenty still being imported?

If anyone here can bring me up-to-date on the subject, I'd appreciate it. Maybe it's time to back off a little on the working hours, and take care of some of the more important things again! <g>

# # At that time, a decent Mak was readily available in local gun shops for # $125-$150 or so, with exceptional copies still less than $200. Has the # available supply dried up by now? Have so many folks found out about the # quality, performance, and shootability that the prices have been driven up, # or are they still readily available in the same price range? Are plenty # still being imported?

I think demand might be driving the price up some. I turned a coworker on to Maks, he was looking for something more concealable than his full sized Beretta. I think he ended up paying around $200 for a Bulgarian. He was very pleased with it though. They are sweet little pistols, very accurate, very rugged.

Some people call them ugly, but I can't see what they're talking about. To me, beauty follows form and function and when I look at a Mak I see a cleverly designed 27 part piece of ingenuity which puts a decently powered round right where I want it. For me, the time to reflect on beauty is when I'm standing there with an empty gun admiring the holes that are right where I wanted them.

Try Makarov.com The prices did not change that dramatically in absolute terms. In relative, yeah. They can't import them from Russia no more. But they can bring new models.

It's not as bad as I'd thought it might be, then. Even with slightly elevated prices, it sounds as if there are still plenty to go around. I should expect to pay a bit more today for that East German Mak that I'm still looking for, though.

It's still hard to think of anything else that's a better buy than a Mak for $200 in today's gun market.

I hadn't heard any of the 'ugly' comments, but I guess folks who think a Mak is ugly wouldn't think much of a Walther PP, either. <g>

# # I think demand might be driving the price up some. I turned a coworker # on to Maks, he was looking for something more concealable than his # full sized Beretta. I think he ended up paying around $200 for a # Bulgarian. He was very pleased with it though. They are sweet little # pistols, very accurate, very rugged. # # Some people call them ugly, but I can't see what they're talking about. # To me, beauty follows form and function and when I look at a Mak I see # a cleverly designed 27 part piece of ingenuity which puts a decently # powered round right where I want it. For me, the time to reflect on # beauty is when I'm standing there with an empty gun admiring the holes # that are right where I wanted them.

IMO the Tokarev is a better buy; fires a more powerful cartridge and easily averages Fifty Bucks less...

Now, I will not understand where the people are coming form calling Maks ugly. First off, they must not like 007 movies. I've nothing in common with these characters except anatomy. Weak, poorly made and cheap, yes. But never ugly.

# It's not as bad as I'd thought it might be, then. Even with slightly # elevated prices, it sounds as if there are still plenty to go around. I # should expect to pay a bit more today for that East German Mak that I'm # still looking for, though.

It seems the East German ones command a higher price along with the Russian ones, I guess there are no more Russian imports. Fit and finish on the East Germans are reputed to be superior, everyone seems to like those. If they are curio & relic then they command higher prices too. I seem to remember checking the serial number on my Bulgarian somewhere online and discovering the manufacture date was something like 1985, so that may have something to do with the lower prices for Bulgarians, that and the 27 parts thing!

# It's still hard to think of anything else that's a better buy than a Mak for # $200 in today's gun market.

That's for sure. I'm quite happy with the Bulgarians. I've seen them as low as $105 or thereabouts in Shotgun News, but it's been around six months since I last looked at an issue. I see southerohiogun.com has Bulgarians listed on their web page at $129.95, with an extra mag. SOG seems to be somewhat notorious about not removing things from their web pages when they are out of stock so it's good to call.

Another thing I've noticed is that recent examples I've seen people get don't come with the leather flap holster and cleaning rod, and the serial numbers on the magazines don't match the pistol. When I got mine the numbers matched and the holster was pristine. It must have been brand new, since I spent about two hours cleaning the cosmoline out of everything.

# I hadn't heard any of the 'ugly' comments, but I guess folks who think a Mak # is ugly wouldn't think much of a Walther PP, either. <g>

Yep, though I imagine there are plenty of people out there who have needed a self defense piece and upon seeing the price tag thought the little Mak was the most beautiful thing they'd ever seen.

For some reason the Makarov has developed quite a fan base. It's almost cultish (without the negative implications of that word), something I haven't really observed with any other handgun. Maybe it has something to do with a weird convergence of factors, low price, simplicity, adequately powered round, a somewhat limited arena of aftermarket parts and mods, cheap mags and the possibility of upscale collector fanaticism satisfied by the availability of some higher priced C&R examples, and the fact that it's a just plain good shooter. The makarov.com web site is excellent and I've followed the mak mailing list for a while too. The people who like Maks _really_ like them.

I enjoyed the comment made by the guy at the gun store when I bought mine, 'Good commie gun, killed lots of commies.'

# IMO the Tokarev is a better buy; fires a more powerful cartridge and # easily averages Fifty Bucks less...

Agreed. The Tokarev is a nice pistol too, but rather harder to find than a Mak. Great fun at the range, and there's quite a bit more that can be done with it if you reload. I guess I can't really see the point of reloading for a Mak, ammo's cheap.