Makarov: The Soviets Adopt Some Weird Proprietary Caliber

Enter to win this pristine Soviet Makarov! Deadline to enter is 12/22/23 @11:59 PM PST The Makarov, designed by Nikolay Makarov, was the Soviet Union's new post-WW2 handgun. The whole Soviet small arms suite was changed in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and the Makarov was intended to address a number of concerns with the TT33 Tokarev pistols. The Tokarev was a relatively challenging pistol to shoot, with its potent cartridge. It was also associated with a lot of accidental discharges, as it had no mnaul safety besides a half-cock notch in the hammer. The new pistol needed to be small, lighter, easier to use, and safer. In addition, with the replacement of the PPSh and PPS submachine guns with the new Kalashnikov, the pistol no longer needed to share ammunition with any other small arms. This led to development of a moderately-powered 9mm cartridge, the 9x18 Makarov (actually designed by Boris Semin). That cartridge used a 9mm lan