I've seen several inquiries about the PM (Pistolet Makarova) so I thought I'd kill a few idle minutes and copy part of an article from the January 1991 issue of _The American Rifleman_ entitled "Soviet Service Pistols: The Postwar Years" by Jiri Fencl.
The article begins covering the time just following the end of World War Two....or the Great Patriotic War as the Soviets prefer to call it.
"While long arms received priority, the requirement for a new pistol re- mained, and as early as 1945, new models were offered by Korovin, Rakov, Simonov (the first time his name had been associated with a pistol), Tokarev and a new face, Nikolai Fedorovich Makarov.So much for history.....how does the Makarov stack up in the overall scheme of things in the modern pistol world? I think Jay Crawford, who writes for _Guns & Gear_ summed it up best....I quote:Makarov was, along with Mikhail Timofeyovich Kalashnikov, part of a new generation of designers that had matured during the Soviet period, in contrast with oldtimers like Tokarev. At the end of World War II Makarov was 31 and had spent much of the war working under the direction of Georgi Shpagin in the manufacture of the latter's PPSh41 submachine gun.
The technical requirements for the new pistol specified 7.62 or 9mm cal. One might have expected the larger caliber to have been the 9mm Parabel- lum, but Makarov spurned that familiar round and instead chambered his creation for an entirely new cartridge, the 9x18mmMakarov.
Some have speculated that the Makarov round was simply adapted from a prewar German development, the 9mm Ultra. The Ultra was produced by Gustav Genschow (Geco) in about 1936 and fired in modified Walther PP pistols. It had an 18.5mm-long case, and should not be confused with the 9x18 Ultra marketed as a police cartridge during the 1970s.
While Suhl and Zella-Mehlis, prewar centers of the German small arms industry, did wind up in the Soviet occupation zone in 1945 (though not until most of the prominent gunmaking figures of the time were moved westward by U.S. troops) and much armsmaking machinery was removed to the Soviet Union, there are important differences between the pre-war 9mm Ultra and the 9x18mmMakarov.
Unlike the 9x19mm Parabellum cartridge, which tapers from case head to neck, both the Ultra and Makarov rounds are essentially cylindrical. In the Ultra, this was accomplished by, in effect, simply lengthening the 9x17mm (.380ACP) cartridge to 18.5mm and retaining the standard 9mm bullet.
The Makarov, on the other hand, maintains the head diameter of the Parabellum and uses a slightly larger bullet (actually about 9.2mm) to fill the larger neck of the cylindrical case. A short, round six- gram (92.5-gr.) bullet, in combination with the shorter case, keeps cartridge overall length at about .98", in the same range as that of the .380. Velocity and energy, however, are about 50% greater than the small round. The Makarov cartridge, then, allows a small blow- back pistol round to approach, though not equal, the ballistics of the Parabellum cartridge.
The Makarov often has been dismissed as a copy of the Walther PP, but it has several interesting features that show the youthful designer's creativity. It shares with the PP blowback operation, general outline, fixed barrel, double-action trigger and external hammer. The Makarov, however, has an external slide release that allows one-handed operation, an open-sided magazine configuration, a wraparound one-piece plastic grip and a multiple-function mainspring.
This latter is a folded leaf with wide and narrow arms, and is retained by the grip screw, which passes through the rear surface of the grip and into the frame. It not only powers the hammer, but also serves as dis- connector spring and as the magazine butt catch, its bottom loop bearing against the bottom rear of the eight-round magazine. This is a cleverly thought-out simplification of the Walther PPK, which also had the wrap- around grip, though with a coil spring and strut in place of the leaf spring.
The safety lever works in the opposite direction to the Walther's.... that is, the lever is moved up to the safe position and down to fire. When the lever is moved to the safe position, a block is interposed between hammer and firing pin, and then the hammer is dropped. When the safety is applied, the slide may not be retracted.
The year 1951 has often been cited as the year of introduction for the Makarov, thought examples with earlier dates have been reported. East Germany began manufacturing the gun in the late 1950s, as did China, which called it the Type 59. Both of these guns are substantially identical to the Soviet gun except for markings. Soviet and East German Makarovs encountered in the West have generally had a very fine commer- cial-grade finish, and many presentation guns with chrome finish or ex- tensive engraving are known."
"The Makarov is not a high performance firearm. It was not designed to be a tack driver like the Colt Gold Cup match pistol, nor a bear stopper like the big Freedom Arms .454 Casull. It was designed as a middle per- formance combat pistol of great simplicity and reliability. This shows in the gun's trigger, safety lever, sights, accuracy and recoil.This pistol has a heavy, long trigger pull of about 13 to 14 pounds vary- ing according to manufacturer. The East German Makarovs generally have the smoothest triggers with little grittiness to the pull. This heavy trigger pull was a necessary by-product of the need to make the hammer spring operate the entire firing mechanism and yet hit hard enough to fire the hard primers of some Soviet cartridges.
The Makarov can be fairly accurate with five shot groups running under four inches diameter when fired from a kneeling braced position with the gun supported. This is acceptable accuracy from any general-issue pistol, and quite comparable to the Walther PP and at less than half the price.
Recoil seems a bit more sudden than some people may expect. This should come as no surprise though, because the 9x18mmMakarov round was designed to be more powerful than normally associated with small blowback pistols. It is more powerful than the .380ACP and its recoil is also greater."
[The writer's conclusions follow]
"The Pistolet Makarova succeeded in being what is was designed to be: small, simple, reliable and adequately lethal. Since imports began a few years ago, it has gained a measure of popularity with American shooters few would've guessed. This is due almost entirely to its beautifully simple and functional design. It has its rough edges, but these do not detract from those virtues of simplicity, great rel- iability, and respectable performance comparable to its more expensive Western counterparts."
As an owner and shooter of a IJ-70 Baikal (Russian) 9x18mmMakarov I heartily echo Jay's summary of this Soviet combat service pistol.
The Pistolet Makarova is widely available in the U.S.A. in both the original 9x18mmMakarov caliber and .380ACP. Speaking for myself I'm partial to the 9x18mm, however there are very good defensive commercial loads available for both calibers....Hornady's Custom HP-XTP for 9x18mm and .380ACP Remington Golden Saber HPJ are two that come to mind.
(Following is answer to a fella who said his local LEO's were considering purchase of Makarov for either primary or secondary carry)
I read your post on rec.guns where you said you were surprised that the PM (Pistolet Makarova) was being seriously considered for use by police.
You can sum up the answer in three little words....."simple and reliable."
It has served the armed forces of the (defunct) USSR for something like 40 years now....that is a testimonial that is worth something. The (former) Soviets had their problems, but they didn't scrimp on their weapon systems.
The 9x18Mak cartridge was developed to be maybe 15-30% more powerful than the .380ACP...as such, it is about as powerful a round as can be used in a small pistol firing from a simple unlocked breech. Anything stronger would require so strong a spring to delay the slide's opening that the slide could not be pulled back my many people to load the pistol. Suggestion...look around and find an ASTRA 400 and try to cock it....you'll see what I mean.
The Baikal IJ-70 (civilian version of type 59) is reliable as hell with the surplus GI ammo currently flooding the marketplace....95gr TMJ made at the famous TULA Ammunitions Factory, Russia. Absolutely outstanding practice ammo....best 'carry' ammo, IMHO, is the Hornady Custom 95gr XTP-HP. There's only one drawback with Russki GI ammo, it uses corrosive primer requiring cleaning of the weapon after each firing session. No big deal, it promotes good weapons familiarization for the police officers doing the firing.
IMHO it is a very smart move on the part of police depts around the country, and *VERY* cost effective....prices are as low as $99 to dealers in _Shot- gun News_....I'm sure quantity orders by police run *much* lower per unit.
I would sugest running a dry patch through the barrel before firing it for the first time.
Hope some of this helps you with your questions on the Pistolet Makarova.