Makarov 9x18 Grip

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Re: Makarov 9x18 Grip

Post by Archer »

Yeah I know some of those guns are surplus and probably shot out that I've seen.
A goodly number of the East block guns were in good shape though.
That said the Zastava was 'NiB' AFAIK, so were most if not all of the Chinese Norincos.
I'm glad your 213 works those have often been problem children.
Maybe I gave up on them too soon or as you seem to imply expected too much of them to begin with but for the most part the western surplus stuff seemed to work or the why not was pretty quick to resolve. The Maks had a good reputation but the Toks seemed more problematic than not.

The two CZ-52s I've got are surplus and seen pretty hard use but even with less than perfect barrels they still shoot and still stabilize the bullets. That seemed to be the case with all the ones I saw or heard about. I did get a couple new barrels a few years back mostly because I found them for sale inexpensively and I didn't like the looks of at least one of my bores but haven't installed the new ones they are still shooting fine to point of aim. The 52s do have very limited parts support and the silly after thought of a decocker was of the early type that eventually WILL batter itself into a firing mechanism instead of a safe way to lower the hammer. I did also get the 9mm aftermarket barrels for the 52s but I found them somewhat less reliable and have kept the guns configured in 7.62x25. I did help the parts situation a little with those guns. I sent my first one to Wolff so they could measure and duplicate the recoil spring for them.

As for ramp polishing. I've never done it but in my limited experience just about every Springfield 1911 I can recall has come from the factory without being deburred. Back in the 80s the extractors weren't tuned or contoured either and they'd invariably stovepipe fired brass rather than extract and eject it until that was corrected. They got better about the extractors but last I checked still don't deburr the guns internally the way they should. Kinda of a bummer when they want you to send it back to them and pay for a reliability package or you have to shoot several cases of ammo out of them plus clean and work them in between range sessions a dozen times before they work right. Your other choice is to take them down and do a bit of deburring yourself. (I seem to recall at least one 'premium' handgun manufacturer who won't even talk to you about problems with his 2K+ firearms until you've shot it 1000 times without cleaning it to lap it in.)

I'll admit I didn't find the first BHP I fired impressive either. A buddy had soaked his in a heavy protectant grease and didn't clean and relube it before bringing it to the range. He also bought powderpuff range reloads and it wouldn't string three rounds together that session. It was not only my introduction to the BHP but also to the 9x19. I had only had experience at the time with an old 1911 Army Colt that was over four times older than I was when I convinced my father to buy it for me and a Ruger MKII that was the first handgun I bought completely on my own both of which worked every time. Another buddy with a Sig P228 demonstrated that 9mm worked and the BHP owner figured out what was wrong with his gun.
I wound up owning two of the BHPs and that first P228 I ever shot when the owner got rid of it due to medical problems.
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