Combat Handguns of Eastern Europe

Guns Magazine, Feb, 2000 by Charles W. Karwan

WITH THE OPENING OF THE EAST, THERE ARE SOME GREAT DEALS TO BE FOUND ON IMPORTED HANDGUNS.

The fall of the Evil Empire and the breakup of the Iron Curtain has allowed the firearms industries of the former Soviet Bloc to gain access to the U.S. market. This has taken place in two areas -- surplus and new commercial production. These guns are universally of quality manufacture and sound design, and are usually available at attractive prices. Consequently they deserve consideration by American handgunners.

In spite of various political and bureaucratic difficulties, many interesting pistols have been imported and will be imported from Eastern Europe in the near future.

Also, since Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic have been accepted into NATO, they soon will be changing their handguns to NATO standards with the likely result of making many more handguns of the Soviet era available as surplus. Hopefully, many of these pistols will end up in the United States at great prices.

Pistols Of Russia

The former USSR has produced millions of combat-type handguns since the turn of the century ranging from the 7.62mm Nagant revolvers, the 7.62x25mm Tokarev TT33 pistols, the 9xl8mm Makarov, and the extremely thin and compact 5.45mm PSM. To date, only surplus Nagant revolvers brought in by Century Arms and commercial versions of the Makarov pistol have been imported in any quantity.

The Nagants are interesting collectibles but cannot be recommended for use as selfdefense weapons because of the weak oddball chambering and obsolete design of the revolver. The BATF won't allow importation of the Tokarevs because they do not have a manual safety and the PSM doesn't meet the necessary "sporting criteria."

The basic Makarov pistol design is extremely sound. The Russians started with the excellent Walther PP design and went their own way with a better safety arrangement and a more direct feeding cycle. The result is a moderately sized, decidedly rugged and reliable blowback pistol. By modern standards, it is a bit large and heavy for the cartridge it fires, but it's still very concealable and handy. The 9mm Makarov cartridge is only slightly more potent than the American .380 ACP.

From East Germany To The West

Since the consolidation of Germany, the former West Germany inherited huge quantities of former Soviet Bloc weapons. Some have been modified to take western ammunition and have been put to use as issue weapons. Others, like the East German version of the Makarov pistol (Pistole M), have been declared surplus.

Many of these surplus Makarov pistols have been and are being imported into the United States with Century Arms being a major player. Of all of the various Makarov variations, the East German version is probably the best finished and has the best double action trigger pull. As a result, they command a used price that is often higher than the new price for some commercial Makarovs from other sources.

Czech Guns

Probably the most interesting surplus pistol from the Czech Republic has been the CZ 52 chambered for a special hot version of the Soviet 7.62x25mm pistol and submachine gun cartridge. It will also fire standard 7.62x25mm ammunition that is available from a wide variety of sources from Poland to China. Indeed the cartridge out-performs the 32 H&R Magnum and .32-20 handily.

These guns retail for about $130 for average specimens with a leather holster, cleaning rod, and spare magazine thrown in.

They are one of only two pistols (the other is the H&K P9) to use a roller locking mechanism for operation. The system is very strong and reliable but it does make disassembly somewhat more difficult.

To increase salability of these pistols in the U.S., many were rebarreled to 9mm in Czechoslovakia with no apparent other modifications. Typically, these are refinished to like new condition and sold at about a $35 premium over the price of the standard CZ 52 pistols. Even though the magazine is much longer front to rear than necessary for the 9mm parabellum cartridge, these guns function very well.

The Czechs also made a double action .32 ACP pistol called the Model 50 and later there was a slightly upgraded version called the Model 70. Both have been imported as surplus by Century, but the Model 50 is the most commonly seen. These retail for only about $120 with a spare magazine and holster. They are beautifully made of top materials and are every bit as good as the best Walther PP.

The commercial pistols to come out of the Czech Republic include the CZ 75 and CZ 85 in 9mm and .40, the CZ 97 in .45 ACP, and the polymer framed CZ 100 in 9mm and .40. All are quite excellent. There is one more pistol that is imported called the CZ 85 in .380. This large capacity .380 is on the bulky and heavy side and was never popular but is now even less so with the high capacity magazine ban in place.

Yugo Pistols

Yugoslavia has broken up into so many small countries that it is tough to keep track of who is who. Before chaos hit, a number of pistols were imported into the United States. These included commercial versions of the Yugoslav M70 9mm pistol which is a variation of the Russian TT33 Tokarev. The main difference between these and Tokarevs made other places are that the Yugoslavian versions have a longer grip and magazine that holds one more round than usual, as well as a peculiar slide mounted safety.