i'm actually AMAZED that you guys carry these firearms. i love my antiques, but i'm not sure i've ever thought of using one for EDC. they're really THAT reliable?
this isn't in anyway sarcasm...strange, i know.
i guess it makes sense that they're probably of better quality than a lot of the off the shelf firearms you can buy today...i would just never expect someone to carry one, just for the sake of possibly damaging the historic artifact.
They are Curio and Relic guns, not antique.
![[grin]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/041.gif "Grin [grin]")
The East German Makarov is widely regarded as the best quality of the four countries that made them (Russia, East Germany, Bulgaria and China). They are all built like tanks and are accurate, simple, reliable and all parts will interchange between all guns of the 4 different countries. (There are Khyber Pass Makarovs made in Afghanistan but those are hit or miss on quality and you never know what type of quality went into building them. Probably not the greatest.) The EG's have the nicest fit and finish, though an original Russian military would be a close second. There are other guns chambered in 9x18 Makarov that some people call "Makarovs" but they are not the same gun as the original Russian design of Nikolai Makarov in the early 1950's. There is the Polish P64 which is pretty much the same size as a Walther PPK. I have one and I shoot it occasionally but it's not as comfortable to shoot nor as user friendly as a true Makarov. There is the Czech CZ82/83 which is a double stack gun holding 12 rounds. I used to have a few of those but sold them off because I prefer the slimmer design of the Makarov. There is the Hungarian line of 9x18 guns such as the PA63 which has an alloy frame and is pretty snappy to shoot due to the light weight. Those are closer in design, internally, to the Walther PP series guns than any other 9x18-chambered guns.
I've owned four East German Maks and one Bulgarian. I've fired a LOT of rounds through them and don't recall ever having one problem besides with a batch of Silver Bear hollowpoints that had tons of oxidation on each round. More than a few FTF's with those, so I shot them all up and wouldn't bother buying anymore. Regular Silver Bear FMJ rounds work nicely though and I have a couple thousand of those. They are the generally the cheapest 9x18 round you can find right now. I carry Hornady XTP's in my EG and have put about 100 rounds of that ammo through it just to make sure it runs reliably with those rounds. It does. The 9x18 round is somewhere between .380 and 9x19 on the "stopping power" scale, though probably closer to the .380 side. Hey it was good enough for the KGB right?
The only Maks I have left now are two EG's, one of which is all original and in beautiful shape, the other has a lot of finish wear from me carrying it since 2008, and I had a set of Novak sights installed on it last year. The original tiny sights are not the best for a self defense handgun, so really should be upgraded if it'll be carried often.
As far as damaging the historic value of old guns like these, I'm not too worried about it with my carry Makarov. It will be on my side during warmer months for as long as I'm able to carry a firearm, and I don't ever plan on selling it. My original pristine one gets babied and cleaned after every range session.
That one I do want to keep nice for the collector value.
Here is my summer carry East German...
![[banghead]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/045.gif "Bang Head [banghead]")
![[smile]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/001.gif "Smile [smile]")
