[byron]

i field stripped my mak yesterday morn. blew it out with gun scrubber, then blew it dry with compressed air. i soaked it up with clp, let it sit overnight and today blew it out with compressed air again. i used a q-tip to dry the slide cuts and then started to polish the slide with a piece of cotton toweling. i snagged the safety/decocker and it fell out on the bench! i cannot get the blasted thing back in. is it a common occurance for it to come out? is there some secret to re-installing? it seems to me to be the only moving part in the slide. HELP! :roll:

 

[Flyer]

Okay, the parts that come out of your slide are the safety and firing pin. These must be aligned properly before they'll fit right...
Here's the disassembly/reassembly guide from Makarov.com. It should take care of your problem!
Makarov Assembly
Flyer

 

[byron]

mak prob

oh oh , safety yes. firing pin no. just went all over the towell i had on bench.........did it again and not there. called the shop and the smith said to bring it in tomorrow and he'll put it back together.
flyer, are you having trouble getting (slow ) on the forum this afternoon. nothing working for me. just finished a diatribe on "ohio ccw and it sat so long after entering it was rejected! takes forever to bring a post. :?

 

[Midiman]

Re: mak prob

flyer, are you having trouble getting (slow ) on the forum this afternoon. nothing working for me. just finished a diatribe on "ohio ccw and it sat so long after entering it was rejected! takes forever to bring a post. :?

The call is already in to the host. They're running some diagnostics on the server and will report what they find to me when they close out the ticket number.

 

[byron]

midi, slow

every thing running fine now!

 

[Gun_Nut_2k1]

Ok Mak guys! Which is the better buy 1. a Russian Mak for $159 or 2. Bulgarian for $199. My Local has both. Both in good shape but both have rough edges(read darn sharp). The safety on the Rushian one is Up for decock /safe and down for Fire. Is that normal?

 

[Flyer]

Well, it depends!
The best SHOOTER is likely to be the Bulgie, and it's also most likely a military issue piece.
The Russian is likely to have the adjustable sights, and possibly a better trigger pull.
And yep, it's down to fire, up for safe on ALL Maks.
Soo....
It's a bit unusual to see the Bulgie priced that much higher than a Russian... it's usually the other way around. Must in in great shape, as that's a pretty steep price for a normal Bulgie.
Russians, on the other hand, can be tough to find, whereas Bulgies are everywhere.
If I really intended to put a LOT of rounds through it, I'd go with the Bulgie. The Russian pistol's sights tend to be a bit fragile and break with some frequency.
I'd also say the Bulgie is the more accurate of the two... but it's got terrible sights!!!
Six of one, half-a-dozen of the other... this is a weird choice!
My heart's urging me to advise you to get the Bulgie.
Flyer

 

[cigarman]

What kind of Russian is it? If it has adjustable sights then look at the lettering on the left side of the slide. It should be IJ17 or IJ18--what is the rest? (for example IJ70-18S

If it has fixed sights and has anywhere near normal wear buy it in a second. It would be military and worth 250 (ballapark)

I never saw a Bulgie worth near 200 bucks, except for my chrome one, or a Arsenal or Miltex pistol.

If it is commercial (fixed sights), I would buy it at 169, I would never buy a Bulgie for that oprice unless it was Possibly an unusual Arsenal (like a Parkerized finish) or a Miltex.

Current values (dependent upon location in the country:

East German 250-400
Bulgie 130-170
Arsenal Bulgie 150-185
Miltex Bulgie 250-300
Russian Military 225-350
Russian commercial (9X18 or .380) 175-200
Russian Commercial (hi-cap) 185-250 (25-50 more if it has a 12-round mag)
Russian Commercial nickel/chrome satin finish 250-300

BTW, my IJ70-18AH (hi-cap 9X18) is as accurate and smootth as my EGs

 

[cigarman]

Oh, yes, almost forgot.

All maks up is safe/decock. The way it should be.

 

[bd]

Isn't the dead give-a-way on the Russian maks the triangle in the circle mark? Mine has that along with the fixed sights.

bd

 

[cigarman]

Yes, that is a Russian Miliary mak (see markings below, from Makarov.com)

The commercial maks have adjustable sights--they were required in order to get enough BATF import points, along with the thumb-rest grip. Under the Klinton administration, all Russian imports were banned, so it is not possible to get a Russian commercial and the only new Russian military pistols are "sneaks" (Russian PMs mistakenly import-marked as Bulgies). That is why the Russians are more valuable to collectors at this point. Bulgies (though I love them) are easy to find now.

 

[bd]

Thanks, cigarman for the info!

I got it from SOG, I got my local dealer to order a Bulgarian for me and I also paid the extra 5 or 10 bucks for a handpicked gun and much to my surprise they sent me a Russian! My dealer had no idea what it was, in fact I opened the box it came in before he ever saw it, and honestly at that time I knew it wasn't a regular Bulgie but I didn't know how to recognize it as a Russian.
It's in good shape except for a little holster wear on the right side of the slide and it shoots great, the trigger is not bad, I've had a lot worse. I put a heavier recoil spring in it and it shoots even better now.
That's about the last time I got lucky since before I got married!

bd

 

[cigarman]

bd,

well congrats! That is a find. That Ruskie (even mismarked) would go for 200+ if you put it up on the makarov boards.

I have one of those, a PM import, 1976 manufacture.

Many don't realize it, but the Russians carried a lot of Bulgarian-made maks. I think this is an indication that the Bulgies are getting low, the recent shipments have been the highest quantity that I've seen and many more Ruskies in the crates than previous.

Dis you get a OEM Russian grip with it? The way to tell is if the circle around the star is a raised ring instead of a line.

the grip on the right is a Bulgie, the left, a Russian

 

[bd]

Well, this is interesting...........

My grips have no star, they are very new looking, maybe they are replacements. They are plain except with a "pebble" finish where yours are checkered.

I think the dirty commies have diabolically undermined the wholesomeness of my Mak??????

It's marked 1976 after the circle/triangle thing. It appears the importer was CAI GEORGIA VT. It has the red ejector and the red safety/decocker. The s/n starts out A, then a funny looking Russian letter that looks like a staple, then 1XX It's got to be a Ruskie.........don't it?

edit---I tried to insert a picture but the server blew me off with some kinda weird error.

bd

 

[cigarman]

That is a Ruskie military. I haven't seen the CAI imports, but expect them to be similar to the PW. The grip that is on it is a replacement if there is a thumbrest. The replacement grips are required for import, but military grips are inclued in the crate. Most of the importers throw one in the box with the gun. SOG may sell them separately. The original military grips have a lanyard ring on the lower right in the pic.

Psta pic when you get a chance. If you get kicked off the pic may be bigger that allowed. Check the properies of the pic by right clicking on the pic. You may have to resize it. If you can't do that, e-mail it to me and I will resize it and send it back

 

[bd]

Thanks for the offer on the pics, I'll try to get that done ASAP. I've been over on Makarov.com and it appears I have some Bulgie grips w/thumbrest on mine, no lanyard ring however.
They have what looks to be original grips for sale for $15.00.

I sure do appreciate all the help.

(workin' on the pics, maybe tomorrow with better light)

Thanks again, bd

I KNEW I COULD DO IT!!! I just didn't know when!

 

[Gun_Nut_2k1]

Wow I never got the Email prompt that some one had replied to my message! I will go check em out tomorrow with the above information. Thanks guys.

 

[byron]

to the mak gurus

my russian mak slide has on left side:
baikal ij70
kbi, inc hbg, pa
made in russia


under safety/decocker
ak2xxx a032xxx


on the right side
ij70
cal. 9mm makarov

as i posted prior, the black grip w/o thumbrest has "made in russia" at bottom right, while left bottom has "baikal" in script. i also got a dark red grip with thumbrest. both have the raised circle russian star. nowhere on the gun is the triangle within circle mark. the single mag i got has serial no. matching the gun. what do i have. the gun is in near perfect condition with very faint holster wear at the muzzle and a line from the safety detent. i paid 185.00 + tax. the trigger has about a quarter inch free take up before resistance. i havn't fired it yet as i've ordered 19# recoil spring and 10% mag springs for it and my bulgie. the trigger was very smooth and light when i dropped it on a snap cap. much more so than the bulgie.
what do i have?

 

[Gun_Nut_2k1]

Well I got back to the store on that "Russian " MAK they had for 159. Darn sales men! Just because the MAK has Made in Russia on the grip they assumed it was a Solviet gun. :evil: It has the circle 10 mark on the left side. I showed him that both the Bulg and Russian MAK he had for sale have the same marks. I offered him 140 for it as a Bulg MAK, but he did not think the owner would go for it. There is a Gun show this week end and I am gonna check it out for a nice used MAK instead.