russian makarov

[archie55]

I was at my local gun store and seen a commercial russian makarov ij 70 by baikal with standard 8rd magazine for $250 and i thought it was a pretty good price. then i seen at another gun store a commercial russian mak by imez with a high capacity magazine for $189 and thought thats a great price! so now im wondering witch one to buy? There both in very good shape both come with two mags. but ive read about the high cap models having poor reliability (mostly after market mags) but the standard russian one arent all that great either? any suggestions??? and im wondering if the standard grips will fit the high cap model? also anybody have any thoughts on the true value of these pistols?

[juniustaylor]

I wouldn't think the grips would be interchangeable. The Imez hi-cap has a fatter magazine which would make the frame dimensions wider. However, I could be wrong. Would be worth looking into further and maybe someone on here will chime in that has one.

As for $189, I wonder if that's a mistake. I'm looking on completed auctions on Gunbroker and they are selling for a little more than the IJ-70.

I own a CZ-82 and love it but would consider a Makarov if I ever had the funds to buy one. May have to save up for one someday.

[manicmechanic]

It is a different grip on the Hi-cap. Mine has been reliable, but I've got the non-ProMag mags. They are grey parkerized looking, while the ProMags are shiny.

[lklawson]

I was at my local gun store and seen a commercial russian makarov ij 70 by baikal with standard 8rd magazine for $250 and i thought it was a pretty good price. then i seen at another gun store a commercial russian mak by imez with a high capacity magazine for $189 and thought thats a great price! so now im wondering witch one to buy? There both in very good shape both come with two mags. but ive read about the high cap models having poor reliability (mostly after market mags) but the standard russian one arent all that great either? any suggestions??? and im wondering if the standard grips will fit the high cap model? also anybody have any thoughts on the true value of these pistols?

$189 is a fantastic price for an IJ70-18AH. Buy it. They're more rare.

The grips are absolutely NON-interchangeable. Standard Makarov grips don't fit the IJ70-18AH no-way, no-how.

I have four 12 round mags for the 18AH and all are reliable. The factory original mags are way more desirable than the pro-mag knockoffs but, truth to be told, the two pro-mags I have have been just fine. There was a lot of "reliability issues" with some of the mags, particularly the pro-mag ones, which stemmed from the Clinton era 10 round limit. When it went into effect the followers were changed to comply, dropping capacity from 12 to 10. After the ban expired (and before for some who weren't concerned about legality) many home do-it-yourselfers re-modified the followers on these 10 round mags to accept 12 rounds. But the hi-cap mags for the IJ70-18AH is a wonky (WONKY!) affair with some sort of strange, nested, dual follower. The Russians were incredibly clever when they modified the standard Makarov to use hi-cap mags but those mags are none-too-hard to screw up if you don't know what you're doing. That, and pro-mag has a pretty poor reputation anyhow.

If it were my decision, I'd buy the hi-cap. The price is well below what it should be.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

[lklawson]

I own a CZ-82 and love it but would consider a Makarov if I ever had the funds to buy one. May have to save up for one someday.

The CZ-82 has a way better trigger than the Makarov or the hi-cap Mak, the grips are more comfortable and it's just more fun to shoot.

Before the CZ-82 hit C&R and started to be imported the IJ70-18AH was pretty much the only game in town if you wanted a hi-capacity Makarov cal handgun. But, even in comparison to the 8 round standard Makarov, the 18AH is less ergonomic. It has some sharpish edges, particularly around the trigger guard which can start to wear on your middle finger during a long range session. The grip on the 18AH is just plain uncomfortable in comparison to both the standard Makarov and to the '82. It's not "horrible" by any means, but if you already own a Mak, you'll be a little disappointed and if you already own the '82 you'll be really disappointed, however it is a very positive grip - you won't find it slipping in your hand.

Of course, the '82 is ambidextrous and the 18AH isn't.

The finish is way better on the 18AH, however. The frame is a sort of rough texture, maybe parked. The slide has a nice blue. The '82, in comparison, has that pretty meh paint finish which loves to chip and flake for no apparent reason during range sessions.

The 18AH is a great collector piece, an accurate shooter, and one of the few hi-cap Makarov cal handguns. I took my CCW test with it and CC'd it for a while so it's definitely serviceable. I just think that the '82 is a pretty clear evolution over the 18AH, that's all.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

[lklawson]

I took some pics a while back comparing the size of various handguns to the Hi Point C9. Here in these pics you can see the Makarov and the 18AH.

Pic #1: FEG PA-63, Chinese Makarov, Hi Point C9, IMEZ IJ70-18AH (top, moving clockwise)


Pic #2: Top: FEG PA-63, Chinese Makarov
Bottom: IMEZ IJ70-18AH, Hi Point C9


Notice how angular and wide the grip on the 18AH is? Like I said, not the worst in the word, by any means, but not the best either.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

[archie55]

Thanks for all the great info everybody looks like I'm gonna get the hi cap model (if it's still there) and if I have any "issues" at least I have a more valuable gun!

[manicmechanic]

Here's a couple of good threads with lots of information on the 10/12 round mags and Hi-caps in general, along with Maks.
http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread. ... i-cap-mags
http://forums.gunboards.com/forumdispla ... arov-Forum
And the ever popular and missed Makarov.com
http://www.makarov.com/index.html

[archie55]

I bought the high cap mak today price was right $202 out the door! when I went back to the store today to buy it I realized they are aftermarket mags I'm 98% sure on that. I won't be able to go to the range till next week (bummer) to try it out. But my first impression is it seems pretty nice but compared to my p64 the overall quality is not as high. My p64 feels solid the mak not as much. But I still feel I got a smokin deal on it!

[Curly1]

Good find, give us a range report and some pics.

[archie55]

I'm going shooting this weekend I'll let you know how it goes and I'll post some pics asap I have to post them from the computer it's not working from my phone thanks guys!

[archie55]

We got back today from up north I was lucky enough to get out saturday afternoon with my brother inlaw and put some rounds through my new mak. It turns out the aftermarket mags worked flawlessly about 50 rounds and no issues! And for accuracy I don't really know, we were in an old pit up in the iron range not really trying to hard just having fun shooting however I did have one problem the trigger did not always fully retract after each shot I had to push it forward a few times and I noticed when I pull the trigger guard down to remove slide and clean the trigger feels very sloppy almost like it's gonna fall out! Any thoughts?

[fully machined]

A lot of Russian commercial maks have a "loose" / "sloppy" trigger. The best way to tell fitment is to cock the pistol, unloaded, and like you say the trigger does not have any forward spring to it and moves side to side.
Works though!! I have never had to push one forward -best check that out. I have an East German mak and it shines in the fitment area--all parts numbered to the pistol.

[chimera]

I had to push it forward a few times and I noticed when I pull the trigger guard down to remove slide and clean the trigger feels very sloppy almost like it's gonna fall out! Any thoughts?

The triggerguard is all that holds the trigger in position and the trigger return spring is one of the fingers on the hammer spring at the back, it works by pulling the trigger bar. I'm assuming that the only difference between yours and the standard Mak is the mag.
So the trigger should be loose with the guard lowered, normal. Not normal for the trigger not to reset.

[archie55]

That's what I figured, with the trigger guard unhinged it's "very" sloppy with it hinged it is still alittle sloppy I did notice that pin in there seems sloppy as we'll I'm not in front of my mak right now but I'll look in to it further maybe a new trigger? Or open up the hole for the next size pin? make a new pin? I've got options. but I figured out how to upload pics from my phone so here you go