bad Makarov ammo?

beantole

I have both a single and a double stack Russian Makarov pistol. After nearly 10 years I am convince that Wolfe steel militay ammo is a bad choice and unreliable in them (and I have a lot of Wolfe left).
Today at the range I fired 80 rounds of brass-cased Sellior & Bellot in my double stack Makarov. None misfed or jammed. Then I fired 40 rounds of Wolf steel cased ammo and 4 rounds misfed or jammed. I really don't think the Wolf is reliable for self defense, maybe OK for plinking. Anyone else agree or diagree?

Bruce

kingjoey

I'd remove the firing pin and clean out the passageway, I've never had a misfire in a Mak with ANY ammo.

Love them Beavers

Contender Man

Did you see any difference in the primer indentation between fired and misfire primers?

Until recently Wolf has been coated with "varnish" and from time to time I've encountered problems (in different calibers) with the ammo seating properly and/or ejecting.

I have seen situations where the pistol goes into battery, but the round is just off the seat and when the firing pin strikes there is forward movement of the cartridge and this effectively lightens the firing pin strike. This could be your problem. Give the chamber a good scrubbing, perhaps even use a tight brush with a patch and some valve polishing compound and twist it around half a dozen times or so to polish the chamber a bit. DO NOT use valve grinding compound, and twist in the same direction (generally clockwise) don't try and rotate in alternating directions.

Now Wolf is using a polymer coating and I've not had a problem.

As for your question about using "bargain" ammo for defensive loads, NO I use premium stuff and I recommend that everyone consider doing this. Cheap ammo is good for blasting or high volume shooting where there is nothing on the line other than match standing, when it comes to defending yourself or others ... don't go cheap.



If you only have time to do two things so-so, or one thing well ... do the one thing!

beantole

I agree that going cheap on self defense is a mistake. As to Wolf ammo, it is not a firing pin problem, the darn bullet never gets into the barrel chamber

---

it stovepipes or jams before it makes it that far. I will use up the Wolf ammo I have for my Makarov but probably not buy anymore. OBTW, the Wolf ammo for my AK & SKS works just fine, no problems.

Bruce

1KYDSTR

Starting to sound like a magazine spring/case coating combination problem to me! Not unlike the chambering difficulties mentioned the old laquer coating may be binding in your Mak's mag. This is not very likely but I've heard of it. By the same token you might want to mic. the outside diameter of the unfired cases and see if there is a difference. You could also screw around with the magazine spring a little by stretching it to see if the upward pressure was insufficient but that is a bit of a jury rig aproach. Those mags are cheap so best course of action would be to buy 1 new on e and see how it performs. Also, if your butt is on the line ALWAYS use really good ammo like Cor-Bon etc...you'll thank yourself!!

"When I cease learning...I'm dead"(Me)
"Power corrupts...Absolute power corrupts absolutely"(Descartes?)
"History is written by winners"(Patton)
"You get a lot farther with a kind word and a gun than you do with a kind word alone!"(Al Capone)
"There is nothing lower than the human race...except the French" (Samuel Clemens)

beantole

Thanks for the input and suggestions. I still think my Makarov's just don't work well with steel cased ammunition.

Bruce

chunkstyle

I've never had a problem with Wolf, till they put those $%#% conical bullets in, at least not with my Maks. PA-63, that's another issue. Mostly, I shoot S&B out of it. My reccomendation is to polish your feed ramp. I do this with each Mak as I get it, right after taking off the cosmo. Get a buffer head for your Dremel and some jeweler's rouge, and make that thing shine, paying the most attention to the upper rear corner. It'll pay off big at the range.

Lacquer coating isn't a big problem for Maks, they were designed with it in mind. Barnaul shoots superbly, despite the gaping HP nose. Just swab out the chamber with Hoppe's, like you should be doing anyway, when you clean. Takes residual lacquer right off.

"Go to the Lakedaemonians, stranger passing by;
And say that in obedience to their laws, here we lie"