Quoted: The supply Of Bulgarian Maks does appear to be drying up somewhat. But who knows what's down the road. Quality wise, they are the lowest of the Makarovs and are very often fraught with feeding problems. Personally, I suspect the Bulgarians will continue to crank them out as "Military Surplus from the 70's" as long as we will buy them. 8 years ago, no one even knew Bulgaria made Makarovs for military/police use!
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Do you own any?
I had 9 Makarovs, probably 6 Bulgarian's and 3 of the Russian commercial ones in the .380 caliber. I have never had a FTF with any ammo that I have used. Even the heavier Silver Bear HP 9x18 rounds that so many people said they had problems with. These pistols are my favorites, the only reason I sold 4 of the Bulgarian Makarovs is that I couldn't see having so many of them. I didn't lose any money on the deal.
I do a trigger job on every one I own as soon as I get them home and clean the cosmoline off. I also polish the feed ramp. These are very accurate as far as I am concerned as friends and I have used them to shoot running jackrabbits. I have always used small caliber pistols for hunting rabbits, usually a Ruger Mark II .22.
I originally got most of the Bulgarians through J&G over several years for prices of about $130.00 or less plus tax and the price of driving to Phoenix for gunshows and admission. I did get a couple at gunshows in Tucson for $160.00 or so.
The Russian ones I have picked up at Jensen's, a gunshow and a pawn shop anywhere from $220 down to $170.00 at the pawnshop owner who cut his price because of my employment. I will buy a Makarov anytime I see a good deal on one. I regret selling the Bulgarian ones I sold except for one that had a new import serial number marked and the old cyrillic serial number X'ed out.
Prices for Bulgarian Makarovs on some of the auction sites are about $240.00 +, I remember when J&G had them for $99.00. Check out gunshows and pawnshops and you might get a very good deal from someone who doesn't know what they have. An East German marked by the seller as a Bulgarian or a Chinese for about $180.00. The Chinese pistols are about the worst in quality from what I remember, but they bring more to collectors because so few were imported.
The Hungarian PA 63's are back in stock at Aim Surplus, not a Makarov though they are chambered for the 9x18 round. These have been hard to find for over a year, so there is a chance that new shipments of Makarovs will arrive again someday.
Don't know if they actually have them or if it is a good place to buy :
www.impactguns.com/store/HG765-X.html