East German Makarov compared to Bulgarian Makarov

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East German Makarov compared to Bulgarian Makarov

Post by Niner » Sun Jun 19, 2022 1:23 pm

I saw this video blogger talking about handguns that mentioned the old Cold War side arm of the Russian side we know as the Makarov. He was saying how, although they have been popular with collectors and shooters, they are far exceeded by modern firearms in all sorts of ways. True, of course, but the Walter PP design knock off is still a favorite of many as a all purpose pistol. It's easy to take down without any tools and easy to clean. And....., if the Walther PP or PPK was good enough for James Bond, no wonder the Russians knocked the design off.

The East German version is generally considered the benchmark as far as Makarov workmanship and exceeds other models in noticable ways. As I have both a German and a Bulgarian production Mak, I thought I'd compare them.

The major thing most critics mention in comparing the German production to other sources is the finish. And... yes the German pistol does have a deeper glossy finish by a small but noticable amount to the naked eye appraisal over the Bulgarian. The photos I'll attach don't do it justice. What I noticed first and appreciated more than the finish was that the pistol grip has a decided right hand configuration and a strong thumb wave grip. This is good....for me.... I'm right handed. The Bulgarian has no thumb rest and is intelligently ambidextrous for military use. Maybe the troops given the German version weren't allowed to shoot left handed... or the grips were replaced. The ramp barrel top engraving from the rear sight to the front sight is wider on the German product... probably more is better from aesthetics. The back sights are identical but the front blade sight is more squared off and with a flatter top than the Bulgarian...although this is a point and shoot pistol rather than an actually aimed one so unknown value.

Having shot both pistols I find they shoot about the same as far as reliability and accuracy. On both counts excellent as pistols go. I think the German one may have a little easier slide pull to load the first round. This may be imaginary, but trying the German just now it did load easy, which you can't say about many old surplus military handgun weapons.

I have two holsters. The brown leather is a surplus military-police holster. Then the other is the after market civilian black nylon thing.

The magazines with the East German are marked horizontal to the magazine base. The Bulgarian magazines are marked perpendicular to the base plate. I have both forced matched and totally unmatched magazines.

In the photos the pistol with the tag attached is the Bulgarian.
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