p-64 polish

[LUCKYDAWG13]

I just got a p-64 polish 9x18 makarov pistol as a gift from my brother looks like a nice little pistol can you tell me about it
are they good shooters so far after looking on line about them it's suggested that i replace the springs recoil / trigger and hammer springs have not shot it yet but the trigger pull on double action sucks any way can you tell me about this
little pistol
Thanks

[Themoose]

I have one and like it...google it and you will find there is a p-64 forum that provides a lot of info... I bought it at a gunshow and also bought some PRVI partisan ammo for it.. was amazed at the recoil and alarmed at how bad the brass bulged... thought something was wrong with pistol headspacing... turns out it was the ammo... I have not had similar issues with new makarov brass or brass I made from cut down 9x19. Recoil is harsh on full power loads... mine is very accurate for the short barrel lenght...I did upgrade mine with some new springs, one issue the springs resolved was the tendancy for the little pistol to launch the brass into the next county... think I went to heavier recoil spring if I remember correctly... hope this helps

[Themoose]

LuckyDawg,

Try this link

http://www.p64resource.com/

[azrednek]

I have had three of them. No ifs ands or buts get a spring kit, got mine from J&G. From what I read the Pols used the heavy springs so it would be reliable with their hard primer ammo used in sub machineguns.

The mag lips are fragile. Get a spare. If you carry it with spare mag, get a pouch. I can honestly say out of hundreds of rounds, never had a jam of any sort. I used the Lee mold for the Mak and 380 powder data. One I traded for construction work he claimed to have put 100 380 rds through it without any problems. I tried a couple mag loads of 380, other than the poor accuracy no hang-ups.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

Thanks guys

[DukeSoprano]

I have one that looks great but it will not feed a bullet!
My wolf springs just arrived a couple days ago, including springs for the mags.
Hope to get to it later next week!

PS I am in Rockford, how about you?

[LUCKYDAWG13]

Just west of you sending you a pm hey i see that this is your first post Welcome to castboolits

[kywoodwrkr]

Don't get attached to those makarovs!:bigsmyl2:
http://forums.gunboards.com/forumdisplay.php?46-The-Makarov-Forum
Duke & Lucky-I originated in Kankakee many decades ago.
Duke welcome aboard.
P64s are much happier with new springs, as will be your palm.

[bob208]

got one for the wife. got it on gun broker. got it cheap. was surprised when it came in. had the original holster with cleaning rod and spare mag even had the mans name inside the flap. it shoots good with all ammo we have tried . it is her carry gun.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

How does your wife carry it hammer down and safety on or just with the safety off and hammer down

[bob208]

hammer down safety off. the way it was made to carry.

[beemer]

I have looked at the Wolf site and there are several weight springs. I really don't want a heaver recoil spring as the slide hard enough to work now but would still like to improve the DA pull.

What spring weights did most of you use for this pistol ? I mostly use lighter reloads in this pistol and save the factory ammo for the Mack.

Dave

[azrednek]

Wolf does or did make a kit specifically for the P-64's hammer. It contained two, I believe it was 12 and 16 lbs but being my memory isn't perfect see it it's on their website. I used both and the lighter of the two worked fine.

EDIT: maybe that was 16 and 20 lbs. There is or was a forum dedicated for the P 64. Best to rely on the experts. The original should be weighed in tons, its beyond ridiculous.

[adcoch1]

The best safety ever made is the factory double action trigger on a P-64! I have one as my primary carry gun and I love it. It kicks a lot, and could use a spring kit, but it is super accurate and carrys well. I put the safety on halfway to deactivate the firing pin, but not all the way since my detent is super stiff. Mine was built in 74 and is a great quality little pistol. Good luck with yours.

[azrednek]

The bluing on the P 64's is impressive especially for a govt issued gun. The bluing on 2 of the three is reminiscent of 1950 and 60's S&W's. One I traded away showed signs of neglect with slide freckling and holster wear but still ran and shot good.

If you're new to 9MM Makarov and also shoot other 9's. Get a dark marking pen, clearly mark head stamp so you can easily separate the 9MM brass. Lesson I learned from the infamous School of Hard Knox. My second lesson was failing to remember to separate before tossing everything in the tumbler!!

[marlin39a]

I bought a hand select from J&G 2 years ago. I did the Wolff spring swap, and to the range. It kicked hard, and still had a hard trigger. Back to the safe. I'll never shoot it again. I can't believe anybody would carry one of these for self defense. I'll take an LC9s or a Shield any day.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

The bluing on the P 64's is impressive especially for a govt issued gun. The bluing on 2 of the three is reminiscent of 1950 and 60's S&W's. One I traded away showed signs of neglect with slide freckling and holster wear but still ran and shot good.

If you're new to 9MM Makarov and also shoot other 9's. Get a dark marking pen, clearly mark head stamp so you can easily separate the 9MM brass. Lesson I learned from the infamous School of Hard Knox. My second lesson was failing to remember to separate before tossing everything in the tumbler!!

The first thing i did was to mark the head stamp with a Sharpie marker LOL

[Boaz]

Yea , I shoot 9mm Luger and 9mm Mak , I just don't take both to the range at the same time . A chore to separate if your cutting 9x19 down to 9mm Mak . I use a green marked on the head stamp on the Mak .

[LUCKYDAWG13]

Well i went ahead and ordered the wolf spring kit for it and picked up a box of PPU ammo Need to find some cheaper ammo
for it $20 is a bit much for it

[kbstenberg]

I had 1. An was having trouble with it not feeding reloads. I had to decrease my LOAL by quite a bit to get it to feed properly. But after that change it was very reliable. I have a lot of brass (shortened 9x19) as well as a mold from Accurate molds. If your looking.

[Kevinakaq]

Loved my 1972 P64 after I put a spring kit in it - got tired of contacting NASA to locate spent brass. Very, no exceedingly accurate, with bullets from the Lee mold and flawless performance. Traded it one day plus cash for a Savage 99 and missed it immensely and immediatly. I wanted the rifle and was short cash but was carrying the p64 concealed so I offerred her up. Have since picked up another made in 1970 and need to order the kit for it. Great pistols that are fine examples of East European machinery. Priced way below their value imho.

[TCLouis]

LUCKYDAWG13
Considering where you live, I don't know how "Big Brother" handles the whims of the citizenry, but those of us in free states find that cheaper than dirt usually has some decent prices on 9mm Mak

[charlie b]

I've had one for more than 15years. Don't shoot it much, just enough to stay proficient. I also did the spring fix on mine. Also stoned the safety a bit so it worked with the thumb. Very reliable. I carry it round in chamber and safety on. Easy to draw and flip the safety off.

FWIW, after the spring replacements the DA pull is manageable, but, the SA pull gets that much lighter as well.

And mine is my CCW and truck pistol. The only drawback to accuracy is the sights. For a pocket gun it is sufficient.

For carry loads I get the stiffer ones from Buffalo Bore (+P 115gn hard cast).

[Dpmsman]

I have 2, both purchased from Classic. One I carried a lot till I wore out the belt loops(jit Slide holster). Really shoots the Lee mak boolit well. Hell I've even shot a couple of stripe gophers at 15-20yds with it. Recoil is about like any other blow back pistol. They are well made for a mil-surp pistol. Oh watch it for slide bit!

[LUCKYDAWG13]

I had 1. An was having trouble with it not feeding reloads. I had to decrease my LOAL by quite a bit to get it to feed properly. But after that change it was very reliable. I have a lot of brass (shortened 9x19) as well as a mold from Accurate molds. If your looking.

Thanks but at this time I'm not looking I will look into cheaper than dirt

[elmacgyver0]

Excellent pistol, but they need a lighter hammer spring and a little heavier recoil spring to compensate for the lighter hammer spring.
Once this is properly done the double action trigger pull will be fine.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

This is what I ordered

53422 1 POLISH P64 9x18MAK XP RECOIL SPRING 22LB 7.89 7.89
34318 1 POLISH P64 9x18MAK RP HAMMR SPRING 18LB Pak of 1 4.29 4.29
SUBTOTAL ($) 12.18
SHIPPING & HANDLING ($) 3.99
IL 0.00% SALES TAX ($) 0.00


ORDER TOTAL ($) 16.17

[9.3X62AL]

No experience with a P-64 per se, but I have an East German Makarov that I am quite fond of. Utterly reliable--factory loads, jacketed reloads, or cast-bullet reloads (RCBS 100 grain RN). Yes, loads at the upper end of the power curve are a mite brisk. A gunwriter I read years ago said that the Makarov operated near the upper limit of blowback system capability--I suspect he was correct.

[Cary Gunn]

You're right, gents. We have here one very fine little pocket pistol.

Mine, with the right loads (3.2 Green Dot and the Lee 95-grainer), shoots more accurately than I can hold, but still manages to plant five holes in 2 1/2 to 3 inches at 20 yards often enough to suit me.

The little turd has a single-action trigger-pull as sweet as any of my S&W revolvers and better than my Rugers. I hardly ever shoot the P-64 double-action, so the very heavy pull in that mode doesn't concern me much.

What does concern me is it's "virile" ejection, which makes flying empties almost dangerous at close range. My loss-rate in empty cases would be a real problem if new cases weren't so easy to make from ever-plentiful 9mm Luger brass.

Still, I'd rather not have to endlessly trim that silly millimeter from a 9x19 mm case every time I squeeze her lovely trigger. Finding, say, 95 percent of my fired brass at the end of a shooting session would be much more tolerable than my present pick-up rate of 50-to-60 percent.

So, maybe I'll look into the possibility of implanting a heavier recoil spring to reduce the "range" of my ejected brass from the current 25-to-30 feet to something a but more manageable. I'd jump with joy if I could train my little Polish princess to drop her empties into a neat little pile a couple of short strides from the firing line.

This, gent's, brings up a question for the more savvy "gun-techs" among you.

Am I correct in assuming that a heavier recoil spring will result in "softer" ejection?

Also, what other effects would a heavier recoil spring have on the pistol? I'm hoping that a heavier spring would make the pistol's operation "easier" on it's internals, but I'm not certain of that. The P-64 seems to be a very sturdy, well-made piece, but anything I could to do to ease the strain on my little beauty would make me even happier with her.

I'm looking for enlightenment from the "gunsmiths" among you concerning all the possible ramifications of installing a heavier recoil spring.

Thanks and happy trails,

-- Cary Gunn --

[azrednek]

Loved my 1972 P64 after I put a spring kit in it - got tired of contacting NASA to locate spent brass.

All I've replaced is the hammer spring. I consider the long distance tossing of brass a big plus. The range I usually use only allows one to retrieve their own brass. The P-64 gives me a great excuse to wonder into other lanes. Gotta love those that leave their rifle brass.

I began loading 9MM Mak back in the eighties for a friend's Nam bring-back. Never found any reliable loading data back then so we used 380 data. Before 9 Mak ammo could be found we did discover shooters were shooting 380's in their Maks. Using trimmed 9MM Lugar brass starting at the low end of 380 data. It ran perfect up to max loads. Later as Mak data was published I've ran some pretty hot loads in my Makarov pistols. The hot loads although functioning perfect in my P-64's just feels a bit to hot. Just can't describe the feeling but my sixth sense says back it off some.

My biggest surprise was the accuracy in all my 9 Mak pistols using proper sized slugs. Before Lee made a mold we were using .355 jacketed and commercial lead bullets intended for 380's. Buckshot helped me with a .3645 sizing die and the size seems just about right for several 9 Mak pistols I've cast for. Never found it necessary to slug the bores of the P-64's.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

ha ha ha, when I saw the thread, I thought I was going to see a p-64 that needed "polishing" and what type of "polish" was best!!!!:lol: but then again... I am a moron! :redneck: heard they are great guns, with the fixed barrel inherently accurate as well, along with the Makarov, so have fun!-Travis

[oldsalt444]

Cary Gunn, Yes, the heavier recoil spring will slow the slide down a bit, and your empties won't fly quite as far, but they will still fly. A softer load will help more with that. I use 3.0-3.2 Titegroup and a Missouri 93 gr. cast RN. Easier on the hands, more controllable and deadly accurate. Empties don't go into the next county either.

http://missouribullet.com/results.php?category=5&secondary=28

[LUCKYDAWG13]

I just put the wolf spring kit in wow did that smooth things up a lot If it did not have the assbackwords safety it would make a
nice carry gun for me it's a lot thinner then my P938 I hope to get some range time in with it next weekend

[poppy42]

A couple things I will tell you about the P64. The first one is that I read an early post about someone firing 380’s out of a P64. NOT A GOOD IDEA. While it’s not uncommon to have a Makarov rebarraled to 380. A P64 is NOT A MAKAROV. There are no interchangeable parts between the two. The only thing that’s the same is the 9x18 ammo. It is bigger than 380 and as a matter of fact I make 9x18 cases by fire forming 9x19 (Luger) and trimming the cases to 18 mm. You fire form because 9x19 is tapered and 9x18 is straight walled. I own and reload for both. I find that while the makarov willcycle and shoot cast bullets as dropped from my Lee 95grn .365 mold, the P64 will not function onless they are sized to .363. I get no leading with either weapon using wheel weights. Definitely check out the P64 forum, it is a plethora of useful knowledge . Besides wolf springs check out polishiron grips. As for loads, I use 4grns win231 with great success ( note: I am not recommending this load I am only telling you what I use . You should always start low and work up as dictated by your individual weapon. I have also used 380 load data plus 10% for the same weight bullet). You will also find that while the double action pull is extreme, the single action is typically very light and it is not uncommon to double tap if you are not use to it. The only down side I have is the 6 round mag (typical Makarov is 8 rounds). Both the Makarov and the P64 are extremely reliable. If there is a chance that my weapon might be exposed to mud, sand, water, muck etc.etc I always carry my Makarov or P64. Don’t forget the commies have been carrying them for 50 years with no problems. Good luck, be careful, and enjoy!

[charlie b]

Yep, I do wish this thing had a couple more rounds in the magazine. Bonus is many holsters (leather or fabric) made for the PPK will accept the P-64.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

Yep, I do wish this thing had a couple more rounds in the magazine. Bonus is many holsters (leather or fabric) made for the PPK will accept the P-64.

good to know

[azrednek]

Although I'm not recommending it, I've put two mags of 380 through my P 64. My target was and I'm guessing 10 yards looked like it was hit with a shotgun. As I said I'm not recommending it be done but in an emergency situation I wouldn't hesitate.

Not a P 64 but a Makarov. There's a lame brained shooter on YouTube that not only shoots 380's. He also drops 9MM's one at a time into the chamber and shoots them as well.

[DukeSoprano]

Mine would not feed anything, I just installed a 18lb hammer spring, 22lb recoil spring and a firing pin spring that was in the kit, and new mag springs and it feeds the over the counter brass ammo great, 2 other brands of steel case ammo still FTF about 1 out of 20.
I cleaned up the feed ramp a bit and I will see how it is now.,

[charlie b]

Wat it an abused gun? Stock mine ran like a champ. I changed out the mainspring only to change the DA trigger pull. The recoil spring is still stock as are the magazines.

Has someone messed with the magazine? I'd get a new one and try it before messing with all the other springs. Are you shooting mil type FMJ rounds?

[DukeSoprano]

Tried all these, Red Army worked good. It was a surplus gun I bought 2nd hand
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180129/1b9d7ee8d77531440e0a1b93b8098f0a.jpg

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[charlie b]

I'd check it for damage to the magazine and burrs in the chamber. Especially the magazine feed lips. As before, get a new magazine to try before you modify the gun (unless the previous owner modified it, then get it back to stock).

I've only fired a few brass case rounds out of mine. The other 1000 rounds have been the cheapest stuff I could find, usually Wolf or Tulammo.