Question about Bulgarian Makarov safety.

[MountainDewed]

For those that own or are familiar enough to answer this question safely; when I slide rail to put one in chamber, the hammer is cocked, if I flip safety on it acts as a decocker and the hammer slams down but I wanted to make absolute certain that this would NOT fire the gun when applying the safety?

 

I read a couple older posts on another forum(eek!) and they say there is no firing pin block but the gun would not shoot unless the trigger was squeezed all the way back.

[A.J. Holst]

The test for a cz52 is put a pencil down the barrel, eraser end first, cock and decock. If the pencil jumps, don't use the decocker.

Mine works fine but I still don't 100% trust it, even with though the 52 is equipped with a FPB.

[gjohnsoniv]

I'll take a look at mine when I get home. I'm thinking that there is a piece that rotates on the safety that blocks but I'm not 100%

[Jonnin]

The Makarov design rotates a hammer block into place when you use it.  You can see this happen with the slide off.  If you rotate it too far, it comes out, along with the firing pin.    I am basing this off the EG mak, though.  AFAIK all makarovs are the same design for the safety, so it should be the same.

[1gewehr]

The Makarov hammer block is pretty robust.  I still use my thumb to let it down softly.  There's no sense in letting parts slam together.

[MountainDewed]

Oh right... My brain definitely doesn't work any where near it used to as I didn't even think about manipulating the hammer during the safety application.   Thank you all!

 

I so wanted to go shoot her for the first time today. My day off and still couldn't find time. I could go now(soon), just gotta decide if I want to see if Range USA has a wait or not...

Edited January 28, 2016 by MountainDewed

[Jonnin]

I can't wait for your range report.  

My Makarov is so accurate I turned it into a target pistol.   Its one of the best designs of all time .. a handful of cheaply made parts turned into a super accurate and darn near 100% reliable firearm. 

[MountainDewed]

I finally got down yesterday and is a very accurate weapon. First few shots stung the hand(a little) but got used to it quickly. I used Monarch steel as it was readily available at Academy sports but might switch after some research on if all Mak ammo stinks up the range like this stuff did :doh:.  There was only a couple others shooting and they were at other end of range but was wondering if there is any etiquette on stanky ammo? I wouldn't think there was much of a rule but I like to be considerate to others but on the other side, don't think it would have bothered me much if it was someone else's ammo...

 

As to trying the decocker, it did block it from firing so that's a plus. I also saw this on a video just before going to the range but it was still nice to do a personal safety check. 

[TrickyNicky]

... was wondering if there is any etiquette on stanky ammo?...

I'm pretty sure that golden playground standard of 'he who smelt it, dealt it' will have you covered here.

I've shot some stanky ammo before, but usually that's milsurp with a more noticeable acrid/ammonia smell than usual. Last box of 9mm mak I bought was pricey Federal defense rounds. They cost a lot but they didn't stink :shrug:

[Jonnin]

Pretty much all the Makarov foreign ammo is nasty smelling.  The only one I thought was half decent was silver bear, and I tried Chinese, brown bear, Russian military green box,  and a bunch of others.  Actually the Russian military isn't too bad.

 

I just make it now.    It smells better and shoots better :)

Edited February 3, 2016 by Jonnin

[Ramjo]

Been eyeballin those bulgy maks myself for quite some time now....and speaking of stanky ammo, my russian surplus 5.45x39 is pretty potent stuff to get back in the face.

[gjohnsoniv]

The other fun part about these is that they absolutely sling the brass out of the gun.  Mine hits the roof and then lands a minimum of one bench down from me.  It's always funny watching everyone look around wondering where the brass is coming from.