Seems like we may have an Obama-era situation here:
A cursory look at a couple of websites showed no problems with stock, e.g. CheaperThanDirt and LuckyGunner. (A little pricier than normal, to be sure, but at least they have it handy — at time of writing, that is.) However, MidwayUSA and Graf & Son show complete OOS on all 9mm except the premium loads.
Compare and contrast the .45 ACP situation: CTD (sweet deal, by the way for quality range ammo) and LuckyGunner.
A little worm crawled into my ear, though, triggered by a deal I saw on the little Makarov 9x18mm pistol. Stocks of the 9mm Mak ammo seem to be quite substantial (e.g. CTD’s Sellier & Bellot) and cheap, to boot.
Just as I suggested yesterday that it might be prudent to have a rifle chambered in a not-so-popular chambering (the PSL in 7.62x54mmR), maybe one could extend that thought to pistols. I love the Makarov (also the CZ-82 version): it’s rugged and easy to shoot, and the 9x18mm round is a little fireball.
Food for thought, n’est-ce pas? And for you Crufflers out there, it’s a C&R transaction.
Long ago and far away, before “The Great Unjust Confiscation” I had a Makarov 9×18 PMM (it was murder to get ammo for) with the hotter round, you got the definite impression that anything you shot would stay shat.
(I had a Lahti L-35 as well, that, on the 2nd magazine jammed irreversibly and had to be returned to the sellers, who also couldn’t fix it, had no more and returned my money. That pointed really well but… if it don’t work, it’s useless.).
CZ-82 is my favorite pistol, and I have a couple of P-64’s stashed away, too.
Finding holsters is a pain, but I buy my target ammo 1000 rounds at a time mail order,
and there is Hornady Critical Defense ammo available, if a bit pricey. But that’s true for all Hornady calibers.
Another CZ-82/ Makarov/ P-64 /P-83 fan here. I guess I’ve just got a thing for owning weapons that were once pointed at me. The CZ-82 is my EDC when/where I can’t carry my 1911.
lpdbw, if you like IWB for your CZ-82, give this a look-see. It’s how I’ve carried mine for eight years. Well made, comfortable and doesn’t move around
https://www.ebay.com/itm/BUTT-FORWARD-INSIDE-THE-WAISTBAND-HOLSTER-FOR-THE-CZ82-CZ83/360470101070?hash=item53edb13c4e:g:f1AAAOxyvSVRFDad
Back in January, I started hearing about the Wuhan flu, and the only concession I made then was to buy another couple of boxes of ammo and stock up on food and computer parts.
I use a CZ-82 for my carry gun. It’s inexpensive, well-made, and shoots quality defensive ammo with no issues.
The Hungarian PA63 is not bad either, essentialy a sligthly larger Walther PP
My CZ-82 is wonderful. Its my carry gun too. I have a little Hungarian FEG, in Makarov. It’s shaped like a PPK, and that’s about the only good thing I can say about it. Its the only gun in my meager arsenal that I would gladly get rid of.
I also have a CZ-52 and a Romanian copy of the TT33, which I love to death, and are a straight up blast to shoot. But Tokarev ammo is getting hard to come by, (Thanks Mooshelle, & Barry, hock–spit).
I have a Bulgarian Mak. It’s dead-on accurate (fixed barrel). I’ve never been able to practice stoppages with it, because it will not jam–I’ve tried. I’d bet my life on that gun, Kim.
As would many others.
I have Bulgy Mak too, but it does jam a bit using Brown Bear, Silver Bear is fine though. I tried Wuhan ammo once because it was cheap, but it’s worthless. It’s not all that accurate, for me anyway at longer distances, but, I’m sure it’s me and not the gun. I always thought it was a back of the head gun anyway. Oh, much easier to shoot with replacement grips.
No shortage of 9mm here in this south Florida home. Or of .45acp or .38 spl. or .22 rf. Stocks of all are kept up. Reloading is also part of the supply chain with lots of propellant, bullets, primers, etc.
Sig 229 is the carry choice and Sig 226 is the bedside choice. An S&W 640 snubby is here for fill in as needed. 1911 is sprung and fitted as a match pistol for light target loads.
Might even have some .308 and 5.56X45 sitting around too.
I began tinkering with the FEG PA-63 back in the 90’s. As an FFL, my cost was $99. I bought several, tuned them up, and sold them as a low cost CCW option. I should note that I made it clear to my customers that these were surplus guns with no warranty and no parts available.
Stock PA-63’s have two major annoyances. 1) The double action trigger pull is horrendous, approaching 20 lbs. The cure is to replace the hammer spring with one rated at 9 lbs. Fortunately, Wolff carries replacement springs. If you do this, you must also replace the recoil spring with a heavier one to balance the equation. Wolff carries these too. 2) The magazines do not fall free as the tab on the magazine follower that engages the slide stop drags on the frame inside the mag well. The cure is a bit more involved, requiring some minor tweaking and fitting between the tab and the slide stop.
The PA-63 is slim, light weight, and easy to carry. Many Walther PPK carry accessories work. It is a snappy little pistol to shoot. After two mags, the web of my shooting hand needs a break. Hornady FTX ammo runs great–
https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/handgun/9-x-18mm-makarov-95-gr-ftx-critical-defense#!/
I have shot a CZ-82 exactly twice. They are heavier and bulkier than the PA-63, but this also makes them an absolute delight to shoot.
Been reading the site for the last year or so, never felt that I had anything to contribute until today 🙂
I personally love Makarovs, I use a Bulgarian Makarov as my primary carry piece (just moved states though, need to get a new CCW dang it) and have for years. Its highly accurate, I don’t think I have ever had a jam or failure to feed(not counting one time when I bought a dirt cheap box of 9×18 hollow points from a pawn store. All of which proved to be duds so I don’t think it counts), the ammo is plentiful and tends to be readily available at most retailers I visit. I generally shoot Red Army standard ammo through it, although Wolf and Sellier & Bellot also runs through it just fine.
I prefer to keep it loaded with Hornaday Critical Defense, they add a nice extra bit of punch to the 9×18.
My usual bedside gun is a P-64. I consider the nasty trigger in DA to be a plus, I can easily pull it if needed but if my 3 year old somehow got his hands on it, that 20+ pound pull provides an extra layer of security.
I will say that the P-64, for all of its reliability and accuracy, absolutely destroys my hands whenever I take it to the range, that steel slamming back into my hand get rather painful after a couple mags.
I also have a Tokarov (terrible carry gun, not a great truck gun, goes off if you look at it hard) which is fun to shoot and very accurate, and a Nagant revolver (fun to shoot but a pain to get ammo and you cannot hit anything in DA mode, I swear the trigger pull is like 75 pounds).
Welcome to the Commentariat, Sol.
In the early 190’s I bought a real nice look East German made Makarov it was a very clean almost new in the box looking gun. First thing I did was replace the grips with some Pearce grips and at that time there were not many choices in ammo. Due to the trigger, nice set up double and then single but the first shot was worthless and on my pistol the trigger never was worth a damn. I sold the gun within a couple of years to a friend for what I had in it so I could purchase other guns and stuff. Maybe I should have kept it but it joined a lot of other guns I have had and moved on from, usually for something better and in a perfect world I would still have all of the guns that I have owned. That’s Life.
OMG, I’ve been “triggered”!
Lurking in the back of the safe for years have been two NIB, KBI imported, Baikal IJ-70, 9X18, pistols w/holster. Guess now that I have a lot of down-time I should run both of them through a little re-hab and make them “counter ready”.
Have an East German Mak , they are supposed to be the nicest of the lot. Put on a Pierce grip so I could shoot it with my arthritic hands. Not a bad gun, even with steel cased ammo from mother Russia. Never a hiccup and reasonably accurate. Have not shot it in a while, now see what you have done, will have to take it to the range when this nonsense is over and burn up ammo.
BTW I noticed 45 ACP ammo disappeared right after the lockdown. Both Ammoman and Lucky gunner were out and pickings were scarce for a week or so. Now they have plenty but I would not have expected a shortage in that venerable caliber. Thank god I prepared long ago and have an ample supply.
If you have not put away an ample stash after the events over the last 20 years shame on you.