52 AIRGUN WORLD http://www.airgunshooting.co.uk
MILEWSKI
MEET THE
MIGHTY MAK
Pt 1 of John Milewski’s study of an iconic Russian pistol
PMM FRAME
After the Soviet Bloc had turned into history, a
modernised variant of the long-serving PM
framed firearm was offered with the hope of
worldwide exports and this became known as
the PMM (Pistol Makarov Modernised). The
larger frame was intended to accept a higher
capacity, 12-round double-stack magazine on
the firearm as opposed to the traditional
single-stack 8-round magazines the small
frame PM originally came with.
Between 1998 and 2011, the Makarov was
only made with the large PMM grip/frame, but
from 2011, a smaller grip/frame variant known
as the PM has been available. Many collectors
consider the PM the ‘proper’ traditional
Makarov because this was the pistol that sawPART1
service with Soviet forces during the Cold War;
the larger framed PMM did not come on to the
scene until after 1990.EARLY EXAMPLES
The earliest Makarov CO2 pistols came with
soft textured, black synthetic grips and a
blunt-nosed muzzle profile that resembled the
original Makarov firearm more than later
contoured muzzles. One early 1999 pistol I
examined came with a slide that included an
additional milled slot for a firearm extractor
behind the ejection port. This slot was omitted
on a Makarov made in December 1999, but
has been seen on another dated 2000. By
2002 the ejection ports were all plain with no
additional slots. The earliest magazines had
narrow feeding holes, which meant they could
not accept 4.5mm ball without modification,
but only fed on 4.4mm ball or BB. By 2002,
the hole had been enlarged by enough to
accept 4.5mm ball.
The soft-textured grips were replaced by
moulded hard plastic in around 2004 and the
blued finish was not as resilient after 2004.
The muzzle profile changed over the years
when a rounded contour to the chin or beard
of the muzzle replaced the former blunt noseS
ome products become cult classics during
their own lifetime, and one such airgun
is the Russian MP-654K Makarov.
Outwardly resembling the pre-war Walther
PP series, the Soviet PM or ‘Pistolet
Makarova’ in Russian, saw service with
Soviet forces between 1951 and 1991.
Not long after the fall of the Soviet bloc,
capitalism and the chance of export sales
resulted in a CO2 variant of the Makarov being
made from 1998. By ‘variant’, I mean just that;
a pistol that shares many parts with the firearm,
but is powered by a CO2 cartridge rather than a
powder propellant. A properly made, steel air
pistol built to the quality associated with
firearms, with looks to match its durability. Over
the next few issues, we’ll examine Makarov
variations from a collector’s perspective and
take one to the range.
DATING
The Makarov is made by Izhmash, the
same factory that produces the
9x18mm versions of the same pistol.
The pistols are then sold worldwide
under the Baikal name. Izhmash have
done collectors a favour by incorporating
the year of each pistol’s manufacture into the
T-prefixed serial number. For example,
T99123456 would have been made in 1999
and T17345678 in 2017.
Collectors often refer to five generations of
the Mak’ but the differences between them can
become a little blurred and not all agree on
which features constitute a specific variant.
Bearing in mind the factory never classified the
pistol by generation; I’m going to simplify
matters by referring to grip/frame size as the
prominent identifying feature. I’ll also look at
various differences between models over the
Makarov’s 20-year production life to date. It
should be remembered that exceptions to the
variations I describe will be found, as changes
inevitably work their way down the production
line, and whatever parts are available are used
for production at any given time.
This 1999 PMM has a
slide that includes an
additional slot for the
extractor behind the
ejection port,
demonstrating that many
parts were shared with
actual firearms, but weakened
to ensure that cartridges could
not be fired.