Maintained by Ron Kimball (ron@starfire.shore.net) from material originally written or gathered by Robert Gibson from REC.GUNS .
It has served the armed forces of the (defunct) USSR for something like 40 years now - that is a testimonial that is worth something. The (former) Soviets had their problems, but they didn't scrimp on their weapon systems.
Nikolai Fedorovich Makarov was 31 at the end of World War II when the Soviet Union called for the design of a new combat service pistol in 7.62 or 9mm. Rather than using the .380ACP or 9mmParabellum, Makarov designed a new round, the 9x18mmMakarov. This round is cylindrical like the .380ACP but has the same head diameter as the tapered 9mmParabellum, necessitating a larger 9.25mm bullet with a standard weight of 6 grams (92.5gr)
The 9x18mmMakarov cartridge was developed to be up to 50% more powerful than the .380ACP. As such, it is about as powerful a round as can be used in a small pistol firing from a simple unlocked breech. Anything stronger would require so strong a spring to delay the slide's opening that the slide could not be pulled back my many people to load the pistol. Suggestion: look around and find an ASTRA 400 and try to cock it, you'll see what I mean.
Production started in Russia in 1951 (or slightly earlier?), with China and East Germany following in the late 1950s. These guns are substantially identical except for markings.
The Baikal IJ-70 is reliable as hell with the surplus GI ammo currently flooding the marketplace (95gr TMJ made at the famous TULA Ammunitions Factory, Russia), absolutely outstanding practice ammo. Best 'carry' ammo, IMHO, is the Hornady Custom 95gr XTP-HP. There's only one drawback with Ruskie GI ammo, it uses corrosive primer requiring cleaning of the weapon after each firing session. No big deal, it promotes good weapons familiarization.
The Pistolet Makarova is widely available in the U.S.A. in both the original 9x18mmMakarov caliber and .380ACP. Speaking for myself I'm partial to the 9x18mm, however there are very good defensive commercial loads available for both calibers, Remington Golden Saber HPJ in .380ACP comes to mind. Some might find the recoil from the less-powerful .380ACP more to their liking. The .380ACP can be fired in the 9x18 chamber, in a survival situation only!
The East German and Bulgarian Makarovs have the best reputation for fit and finish, though the newer Ruskie production models seem fine to me.
The standard model uses 8-round straight-stack magazines, and the high-capacity model uses 12-round stagger-stack magazines. The 8-round magazine will fit in the high-capacity model. The magazines are identical for both calibers. The East German magazines are rumored to be best? All magazines are rumored to be more reliable with one less round than capacity loaded? There is soon to be a 10 round magazine for the high capacity available?
This is a compact, blowback operation, double-action trigger and external hammer design similar to a Walther PP. The DA trigger pull is long and about 13 to 14 pounds. The SA trigger pull is *MUCH* better!
The safety is of the de-cocking, hammer-block type and is moved up to the safe position and down to fire. The slide will not move when the safety is on. The hammer cannot contact the firing pin unless the trigger is pulled, even with the safety off.
The accuracy is quite comparable to the Walther PP at less than half the cost. Some have reported 1.5" groups at 25 yards. The sights can be painted with white nail polish for better visability as night sights would cost as much as the original price.
The gun is now fully field stripped. To reassemble reverse the above procedure.
I got a very bad cut in my thumb trying to push the sharp metal prong down to add bullets into the magazine. Since I must not be the only one with that problem, I milled out a plastic mag loader. It is vinyl so as not to mar the bluing of the mag, yet strong enough to do the job. I sell them for $3.95 postpaid.I bought one of these, and it works great on the 8 round magazines! I haven't seen any tool for loading the 12 round magazines (it may not be possible?).
rutkoski@cais.cais.com (Michael Rutkoski)E-Motions Ltd.
13523 Westwind Drive
Silver Spring, MD 20904-5461Make the check out to E-Motions for $3.95.