A cloak-and-dagger icon from the Cold War, the Makarov 9x18mm still delights collectors today … if they can get their hands on one.

Russian Makarov Serial Numbers For Sale
Russian Makarov Serial Numbers
Makarov Serial Number Lookup

How The Makarov Pistol Became A Cold War Icon:

Model: Makarov IJ70-17A Serial Number: BEH6235 Year of Manufacture: 1990 to Present Caliber:.380 ACP Action Type: Traditional Double Action Semi-Automatic with Decocker and Removable 8-Round Magazine Markings: The left side of the slide is marked “IJ70-17A”, “MADE in RUSSIA / by IMEZ” and “B EH6235”. The left side of the frame is. Account number / IBAN. In order to confirm the bank transfer, you will need to upload a receipt or take a screenshot of your transfer within 1 day from. Model: Makarov IJ70-18A Serial Number: B HC 9984 Year of Manufacture: Modern Caliber:.380 ACP (9mm Kurz) Action Type: Traditional DA/SA Semi-Auto Pistol with Decocker and Removable Magazine Markings: The left side of the slide is marked “IJ70-17A”, Made in Russia / by IMEZ”, and “B HC 9984”. The left side of the frame is marked “B.

Designed around the Walther PP/PPK series of pistols.
Like the German handguns, the Makarov is straight blowback-operated and can be shot in double action.
Its cartridge, the 9x18mm Markorov, has a no-typical diameter—.365″.
Due to trade restrictions, the pistol had a very short importation window–3 years.
While wildly used in Soviet satellite countries’ militaries, it was not universally adopted.

In 1949, the Soviet Union was searching for a replacement to their aging Tokarev TT-33 pistols and by 1951 had adopted a completely new design that ended up being licensed to two Eastern European countries, and to China as well. Manufactured at Russia’s Izhevsk factory, the Pistolet Makarova or Makarov Pistol was the brainchild of Nikolai Fyodorovich Makarov, who designed his new double-action, straight blow-back pistol around the proven Walther PP/PPK series of pistols.

After World War II, the Russians had access to the Walther factory in Germany and shipped much of its tooling back to the USSR. Nikolai Makarov opted for a cartridge developed by Boris Semin, who in 1946 developed it from the older Walther 9mm Ultra, an experimental cartridge originally intended for the Luftwaffe. Christened the 9x18mm Makarov, its bullet diameter is an odd .365” unlike the typical .355” of the 9mm Luger and the .380 ACP (9mm Browning). The idea behind it was in the case of a supposed contingency where stocks of 9mm Makarov ammunition might be captured by an enemy, that the cartridge could not be used in standard 9mm Luger pistols.

The Makarov semiautomatic pistol incorporates many features of the Walther in that it disassembles identically by grasping the trigger guard, bringing it downward, and pulling back the slide and upward to disengage it from the frame. Additionally, its double-action safety features are similar in that a cartridge can safely be carried in the chamber with the hammer down. With the hammer at full cock, thumbing the manual de-cock safety upward allows the hammer to fall and subsequently blocks the loaded chamber by use of a transfer bar on the safety, preventing contact with the firing pin. The eight-shot, medium-weight pistol with its 3.68-inch barrel uses a single screw in its assembly to secure the rear fastened grip. The checkered red Bakelite grips also have a circled star in the center. Markings on the Russian Makarov are the serial numbers on the left slide flat and frame with a Cyrillic prefix, and the year of manufacture is at the rear of the left frame.

It is important to reiterate that importation of the Russian Makarov lasted but a few short years between 1992 and 1995 due to the eventual trade restriction on Russian military imports during the Clinton administration. Soon after, this also included military arms from China as well. Ironically, a number of Russian-made Makarov pistols inadvertently entered the United States between 1998 and 2009 and have become known as the “sneak” Makarovs. These pistols were imported from Bulgaria and East Germany and were marked with the country of origin, as each of these nations obtained a quantity of the Russian-made versions in the 1970s and ‘80s as supplementary arms to make up for shortages in their ordnance inventories. Apparently, some of these Russian versions were mixed in and marked with the aforementioned two countries as the origin of manufacture until close BATFE inspection revealed the Russian Izhevsk Triangle cartouche on some of the pistols. These are rather desirable on the collector’s market because of this import marking error.

Soviet Satellite Clones

Regarding licensed Eastern European versions of the Makarov, East Germany was the first of the Soviet satellites to manufacture them, beginning in 1958. Made at the Ernst Thaelmann State Factory, the first two years of production saw some difficulties in getting off the ground, with full-scale manufacture underway by late 1959 and early 1960. In the United States, the East German Makarov has become one of most highly sought of their ilk given the beautiful dark blued, smooth finish, coupled with jet-black checkered plastic grips. The East German pistols also have their internal parts marked by electro pencil with the last two digits of the serial number. Production ceased in 1965. It appears that those with small, unobtrusive import marks together with condition, determine the higher price and overall desirability.

Da … We Have More Russian Guns:

The final licensed Makarov in communist Europe was the Bulgarian version. Given the green light for licensing rights in 1970, few were produced until five years later. Actual production took place at the Friedrich Engels Machine Works – known also as “Factory 10.” The Soviets supervised and trained the Bulgarians to manufacture the Makarov, and remained in charge of all production throughout 1975. The next year saw the Bulgarians assume control, and they steadily continued production of the Makarov up to 2007, some 15 years after the fall of communism. Prior to their sale on the U.S. surplus market, Bulgaria sold quantities of Makarov pistols to Slovenia, well past the communist break up. Most from this country were imported to the U.S. following Bulgaria’s and Slovenia’s admission to NATO in 2004.

Identical to the Russian version with the checkered, red Bakelite grips with a circled star along with the Russian dark blue finish, the Bulgarian Makarov is unquestionably a high-quality copy that prior to 1975 used some Russian internal components until the factory became entirely self-sufficient. Marked with an encrypted prefix for the production year, and followed by the serial number on the left slide and frame, quick identification of the Bulgarian variant is the presence of the Circle 10 stamped on the left frame. Surplus Bulgarian Makarov pistols are still available as of this writing from some U.S. distributors.

Breaking From The Herd

Interestingly, not all former European communist block countries opted for licensing rights to produce a Makarov clone. Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland, which all had established arms factories, were quite nationalistic regarding their choice of a 9x18mm-caliber military pistol. Hungary was the first to stick with an indigenous design. The FEG factory in Budapest introduced the first 9x18mm Makarov in 1959, which was the RK-59. For economy purposes, Hungarian engineers decided to build their pistol with an aluminum frame and fashion it almost directly after the Walther PPK. The RK-59, however, was a blunder from the start as it was learned that after about 1,000 rounds, the aluminum frames developed hairline cracks and galling, which eventually deemed them unserviceable. However, Hungary quickly went back to the drawing board and after one year found their solution. Adding a 1 percent mixture of Titanium to the aluminum alloy sufficiently hardened the frame, and after a 5,000-round test it was found that evidence of stress cracks were now passé. Thus, their second 9mm Makarov pistol was introduced in 1961 and appropriately named the R-61. This straight-blowback, semiautomatic pistol seemed to fill the bill, however, its biggest drawback was a small capacity, six-shot magazine and hea

Russian Makarov Serial Numbers