My question is about the Makarov firing pin. The firing pin is of the free floating type with no firing pin spring. I have read rare occasions of a slam fire with a Makarov pistol. Most people say if you keep it clean this never happens. People also say the triangular shape helps keep it from sticking.Well, there's a similar FP with the same characteristics, the SKS. Reports of slam fires have been made and it is also free floating, in the shape of a triangle. The original SKS was made with a firing pin spring,and left out later.<br />There are aftermarket FPs and springs for the SKS,which I have on all my SKSs. I like the idea and since it was on the original design,see no reason to call it blasphamy or panicky especially with how the ATF now considers a full auto gun.<br />Would there be a way to manufacture a FP with return spring for the Maks? I know some people might say a slam fire can happen with any gun that has a dirty FP channel. Well true but I don't see many if at all,but I do read about the SKSs and Maks. Yes the ARs and AKs have a free floating FP with no spring to. Wish I could put springs in those as well. I mean is it that hard to manufacture one? I see a rifle not being so bad but a pistol pointed down in a holster while the firing pin is resting on the primer moving around everytime someone took a step makes me leery of it.<br />Btw, I'm not a safety freak about firearms. Condition 1 on a 1911 is no big deal and an XD or Glock is fine in my books. Just something about the no FP spring kinda baffles me since it wouldn't complicate things or really up production costs. So put my mind at ease and/or point me in the direction of how to make/buy a firing pin spring for the Mak. Btw I just picked up my first Mak which is a Russian and is also my first PISTOL with no return spring and yes the FP rattles like its suppose to.

below is cut & paste from the makarov.com web site:


http://www.makarov.com/makfaq.html


(quote)

I took my Makarov apart and it has no firing pin return spring. What's up?
The short answer:  That's just the way it is. It's part of the design.  Live with it.  

In any case, keep the firing pin clean and lightly lubricated.  If this still gives you the willies, you may have to carry it with no round in the chamber. The only real safety you need is the one between your ears. Practice proper gun retention and basic safety and you shouldn't have any problems. SKS rifles are another story, although I suspect this is also largely due to, what we call in computer support, "user error."

You'll probably have to jar it pretty hard (like drop it on its muzzle from 4 feet up) to get it to go off.  The state of California (despite all its faults with respect to gun laws) tested and approved the Makarov for safety including a drop test.  

However, if you reload, make sure you seat primers below flush with the butt of the case. [email protected] report the following:
"I have no input on the dropped gun question, but I have slam-fired my .380 Makarov on CCI primers that were slightly (and only slightly) high. I inadvertantly used a 9mm shell holder when reloading, and the resulting primers were almost even (just barely recessed) with the head face."
So, reloaders, please be careful with this!

The cross-sectional picture gives a better look at how the pistol is put together.


Here are some more thoughts on the "drop worthiness" of the gun with respect to the firing pin from a reader:


I have conducted my own drop tests using my Mak 9 mm hi-cap model manufactured by Imez and imported by KBI. Although not scientifically done, I am satisfied that my firearm, at least, won't discharge by dropping.


I removed the ball from a 9mm Mak round manufactured by Cor-Bon, emptied the propellant, but retained the primer. I then cleaned the bolt repeatedly with solvent until the firing pin would move back and forth easily. A drop of oil was added and movement was again affirmed. The floor was a pine board to protect the firearm as well as the real floor, and the firearm was dropped 200 times, per the CA test. The drop height varied from table top to ten feet. The primer round was in the chamber and the safety was engaged. Twenty-three of the drops resulted in the firearm landing slightly askew as its center of gravity made muzzle drops from more that three feet difficult. Nevertheless, of the 177 successful drops not one resulted in so much as a mark on the primer cap. This is probably due to the low velocity of the drop at such minor heights, but I suspect that the minuscule mass of the firing pin and the fact that it can only travel about three millimeters at best precludes sufficient energy transfer to impact the primer.


Anyway, I feel confident that my gun, at least, is safe for carry. I have talked to a number of Mak owners since my first email, and no one has heard of such a faulty discharge.


A.B. - Bellevue, WA

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A lot of reports I've seen about slam fire and dirty firing pin was from people that didn't clean out the old and hard cosmoline before firing for the first time , Go figure.
A spring may or may not have been of help there.

Another way that the Makarov can slam fire is when the sear notch on the hammer or the sear face becomes very worn ( rounded off ) and the sear doesn't properly retain the hammer when the slide moves forward to chamber a round. The sear snaps out of the hammer notch when the slide stops.

or

someone has altered the angle or size of the sear notch when trying to do some sort of home brew trigger job.

A firing pin spring would be of no use at all to prevent a slam fire under that condition but would require a sear and hammer replacement.

Keep the firing pin and channel clean and free of excess lube, replace worn or altered parts and enjoy your Makarov.

Well with the first reply that is quite a test so I can now feel better about the FP. However what Steve_M has posted is not a slam fire but a worn out part. I have also read of hammer follow on the Maks because of a worn out sear and/or hammer. Is this common? I've already ordered an extra sear/hammer set when I bought the pistol. I also might order a new slide release to from reports of wear. As tank like as these pistols are they seem to have parts that wear out easily, and crucial ones at that. Anyone know of the round count of worn out sear/hammer reports or slide stop reports?

I haven't seen anything ( wear )  on the Makarov that would indicate to me that the parts wear out or break any faster than any other modern pistol.
Parts that I have seen worn and needing replaced were on very well used Mak, sorry , but the round count is unknown to me. This was an East German that was well used when it was imported and needed a sear , hammer and the slide stop needed it's edge restored with a file.

The  Makarov I shoot and carry a lot have an easy 10,000+ rounds on it and all that's ever been changed is the recoil spring.

Wow,ok. That's a nice round count with only a recoil spring change. I have the brand new sear,hammer and an extra recoil spring as well. Hopfully they put the same quality parts in the commercial Russian Maks as they did with the military guns. I'll say one thing,this is my first Mak and its one nice shooter.

The only thing I have to add is Russian/Surplus ammo has pretty hard primers.  Barring a forward stuck firing pin or worn part noted above, you're not going to have a primer go off from a fall and certainly not from the day to day movements you make with a holstered gun.

Thanks for the reply. Well the only ammo I've shot through it is Silver Bear HP and S&B.