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Polish Mag 98

Posted: June 12th, 2012, 3:44 pm
by mirother
J&G has just received a large shipment of Polish Mag 98 pistols in 9x19. Do any of you folks have experience with this gun? Is it reliable? Can you get parts? It seems a fairly typical large capacity 9 mm auto, but I could be missing something.

Re: Polish Mag 98

Posted: June 12th, 2012, 5:36 pm
by Curly1

Re: Polish Mag 98

Posted: June 12th, 2012, 9:28 pm
by mirother
Thanks Curly 1! This is a help. Is there anyone on this site who actually fired the Mag 98? I am just a touch concerned about its short service life.

Re: Polish Mag 98

Posted: June 13th, 2012, 12:50 am
by Curly1
There was also a discussion over on gunboards of performance.

http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread. ... ice-pistol

Re: Polish Mag 98

Posted: June 13th, 2012, 12:48 pm
by mirother
Thanks again Curly 1! This is also a help. It seems that this gun is for a serious Radom collector. The parts issue is a major concern. If something breaks, you are out of business. For only $30 more, at J&G, you can now have a Glock 22 with Night Sights. It would seem to be the better deal for someone who wants a shooter. I just wonder whether J&G can sell over a 100 Mag 98 pistols for $300 each.

Re: Polish Mag 98

Posted: June 13th, 2012, 1:07 pm
by lklawson
mirother wrote:I just wonder whether J&G can sell over a 100 Mag 98 pistols for $300 each.
I don't doubt it for a minute.

The firearms industry is going gangbusters right now and most manufacturers can barely keep up. I've read that Ruger is now taking orders again. :P

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

Re: Polish Mag 98

Posted: June 13th, 2012, 3:59 pm
by Curly1
It will be like all the other pistols we have seen that first come in. CZ82, P64, P83 etc.

Parts are non existant then after about a year you will see them show up on the auctions sites.

Re: Polish Mag 98

Posted: June 13th, 2012, 10:03 pm
by fully machined
The price of these pistols is being pushed to the limit, al least my limit anyway. All those vz/cz 82 maks out there for over two and last month you could get a brand new cz83 .380 brushed nickle with 2 high cap mags for $399.00 free shiping. I almost ordered one but sat on my hands all night until I got over it!!

Century list good and very good condition

Now you have a very limited opportunity to own one of the rarest duty pistols ever imported! Issued by Polish authorities to the border guard and elite high security prison guards, this solid double action pistol is a dream to shoot! Borrowing the best aspects of many modern Browning type handguns, the perfectly balanced double action MAG 98 features an ambi decocker, perfect for right or left hand shooters, a serrated trigger guard and front strap and a high capacity 15 round mag. The barrel of this very accurate locking breech pistol is chrome lined for long life and corrosion resistance. Comes with an actual duty holster, spare mag., mag. loader and the original cleaning rod. Barrel: 4.5", Overall: 7.9", Weight: 2.32 lbs.

ALERT ALERT----BUD'S STATES THEY HAVE FACTORY NEW $316.00 CASH PRICE.
Now I am interested

Re: Polish Mag 98

Posted: June 14th, 2012, 9:48 am
by Weasel640
I got one of these in "excellent" condition directly from Century Int. It is a solid handgun. Every thing functioned great, it was in great cosmetic condition. My only problem with it is that when I did get a chance to take it out to the range I found the sights were WAY off. It was shooting so low/left only half of the rounds from the first magazine(15) were hitting the paper of a large 25 meter silhouette. For the second magazine I made the upper/right corner my point of aim, even with trying to adjust the aim I got a horrible group. I only had time to test two magazines that day and haven't been able to test it since(been moving). For anyone wondering it's not a shooter issue the same day I shot my Beretta 92FS at the same distance resulting in a nice tight grouping.

I'd be interested to see how other people's MAG-98s work out for them. I wonder if it's just mine that has an accuracy issue or if others have experienced this. I really like the gun but if the sights are off that bad, it's only an expensive a paper weight.

Also to fully machined, I doubt the ones Bud's has are new. They are using the exact same model number that Century Int. used for my "excellent" condition MAG-98(now sold out at Century). I can tell from internal wear especially on the guide rod that it was not "FACTORY NEW".

Re: Polish Mag 98

Posted: June 14th, 2012, 4:18 pm
by mirother
Thanks, fellows, for your comments. At this point, I plan to monitor J&G's Mag 98. I have often seen them reduce the price $30 to $50 if they begin to sit around. Thanks Weasel 640 for your first hand report. It does not really sound super promising for this pistol. I was expecting better. At this point, you can get a Glock or a Beretta for just a little more. They sound like better investments to me if you are looking for a shooter. Just my opinion, fellows. If you have a Radom collection, that is another matter.

Re: Polish Mag 98

Posted: June 14th, 2012, 5:37 pm
by fully machined
You are probably right Weasel640, as it seems to be Century is the only importer I know of right now. I do not like a pistol with fixed sights that shoots low so you have to stick the front post way up. My P-64 was right on for me. I think I'll see what happens on the 98's too.

Re: Polish Mag 98

Posted: June 21st, 2012, 6:28 am
by manicmechanic
I picked one of these fine pistols up myself, here's a couple of links.
http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread. ... Has-Landed!
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4773

Re: Polish Mag 98

Posted: June 23rd, 2012, 12:13 am
by sznitrafrak
Newbie here. Just picked up my MaG98 that I ordered from J&G. I paid an extra $20 for the hand select upgrade to VG,

Some impressions: This is a full size duty gun, and I was a bit surprised by that. It feels heavier and larger than my G22. It is a formidable looking piece. The gun is black on black, with a steel frame and polymer wraparound grips with the ZM Lucznik logo embossed and reasonably aggressive checkering. At first glance, I thought the slide was anodized, but maybe it's a baked on coating of some sort. The color, texture of the grips and slide match pretty well and are a matte color. The barrel looks like highly polished stainless. It looks like someone took a buffer to it, and I don't know if that was CAI or Lucznik.

All numbers match, including one of the two magazines. It came with a pretty worn tactical holster that holds an extra mag. The holster is in serviceable condition, and is made of what looks like a heavy material with a leather reinforcement. It has a snap fastener for the gun and hook and loop for the extra mag.

The gun itself appears to be in great mechanical shape. The bore is clean. It has a bit of wear, presumably from contact with the holster. These are spots where the coating has worn through and you can see the alloy. I only see this on the slide and the external levers. The frame is very clean. It looks like someone used a hammer to adjust the rear sight as there's a nick in the coating right next to the rear sight and the sides of the sight look pretty beat up. Both front and rear sights are lined up with what appear to be centerline marks on the slide. It came with two 15 rd. mags and what appears to be a very cheap but somewhat functional metal speedloader, plus a generic cleaning rod.

I ran about a 100 rounds of Federal 115 gr FMJ (WalMart). The gun is very accurate. I managed a 2 in. group of 5 from 45 ft (15 yds) aiming at the center of the target. The group was maybe 2.5" above the bullseye and maybe an inch to the right. Since I was shooting freehand, take that for what it's worth. As far as I'm concerned, the accuracy is comparable to anything else I own. I like the sights. The rear sight aperture is a rectangle, but has a "u" shape drawn under it. The configuration seemed easy on the eyes. It's possible that at some point these were luminescent, but I can't really tell.

Mechanically, the gun feels very solid. It seemed to have more felt recoil than my G22 with a 9mm conversion barrel. The mainspring seems quite stiff. The gun is a DA/SA. The DA pull is reasonable and fairly smooth. My only points of reference for DA are the P64 and the Ruger SR22p. The SA trigger is very light, and crisp. It has a very clean and sudden break. I'm used to the Glock trigger, which is a very different experience. The trigger reminds me of a SigSauer p220 that I shot a while back. I thought that trigger was very smooth and clean.

External controls are an ambi decocker, slide release, mag release and takedown lever. It appears that the mag release can be reversed with some fiddling. Machining quality appears to be excellent (mine was manufactured in 2000). Fit and finish is very nice except for the aforementioned wear, though it's not excessive and probably is in line with a 12 year old duty pistol.

I noticed one possible issue while shooting, that I haven't quite figured out. On several occasions, the hammer was not cocked even though a new round was chambered. I'm not sure if this was some kind of operator error on my part or an ammo issue, but I didn't see the same problem when my wife was shooting. Anyways, the gun still fired in DA mode, but looking at the internals, I didn't see any obvious mechanical issue. I don't notice any significant play in the slide, decocker, etc. Maybe it doesn't always cycle correctly with 115 gr. civillian ammo. My guess is that it is set up for 124 gr. NATO spec which is hotter than the Federal I was shooting. I might try some Winchester 124 gr. NATO for comparison.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with what I got and since I'm collecting Polish made firearms, it was a pretty easy purchase, This is the 4th Radom (11) firearm I've picked up.

Re: Polish Mag 98

Posted: December 27th, 2012, 12:17 am
by dalek
Resurrecting this old thread, I myself got one of these guns. Before I shot, I let a friend of mine who does competitive shooting have at it. He sent me back a picture of a paper target with the bull's eye all but cut away. I believe he did that at 15 yards. He did say he was quite impressed with the gun and how it felt and shot.

A week or two later I got to shoot it. It did feel accurate -- I was able to do groupings on that first day almost as small as I do with my P64 -- and it did feel nice on my hands. It might be because this is the first gun with jiggling barrel I have ever owned, but the recoil/reload stage was rather loud when compared to my Makarov-shooting guns. Even my hi-point c9 was quieter. Also, it feels much taller above the trigger than those other guns. This is not a criticism; it is just something I observed.

I am actually glad I bought it. Yes, I spend more time with the P64 and the C9 but I can see myself taking the Mag 98 to the range.

Re: Polish Mag 98

Posted: January 21st, 2013, 12:39 am
by barberl
These are great guns. I purchased one from Budsgunshop.com back in June. The one I received from them looked completely new and unissued with zero holster wear. It was made in 1999 and has the duotone looking finish exactly like the one pictured on their site. The second one I got came from a local gunshop and is a 2000 model with the all black finish. This one is excellent with just a hint of holster wear on the highest spots. I have put about 200 rounds through the '99 model and was totally impressed with it. It looks like these are about to disappear soon.