couple of questions 1911 and Bulgy Makarov

[rusty1444]

I have a new Bulgarian Makarov. Its a really neat little gun , well made and solid iron. but, one of the mags only works with 7 rounds in it. The pistol will not strip the top round off if there are 8 in it. The other mag works great with 8 rounds in it. The mag that doesnt work will work great if you leave 7 rounds in it. Maybe its new and the spring in the mag is too tight? any ideas.


The other ia just a basic question about the function of my Kimber 1911. I have had it since about 2001 and shot a lot of ammo thru it. It is an awesome piece of machinery and built so tight. I was just wondering what function does the first position on the hammer play. It has a small cock (oops) and the full one that fires the gun. I guess you could call it being in the half cocked position. well, enough of that. does anyone know?

thanks

 

[okie98]

You nailed it. It is the half cocked position. Some people refer to it as an additional safety on the 1911. I always preferred carrying my 1911 cocked and locked.

 

[rusty1444]

anyone have any ideas on the mak? just get a new mag?
thanks

 

[bigfug]

pretty common for new guns from what I hear, once shes broke in, should be fine

 

[criticalbass]

I have been into Makarovs for years, own a bunch of them. I don't recall ever hearing of this particular problem before, and have spent lots of time on the Makarov forum on Gunboards.

Something you might try is to put 8 rounds in the problem mag and look closely at the top one. See if it is flatter relative to the others, that is, is the bullet end setting at a lower angle than the others?

If so, whack the back of the mag against the heel of your hand or some other non marring flat place and try it. I have had this problem on other mags, but never with a Mak.

One other possibility is that this mag is not getting fully into the gun when it's full. If your grip screw is a little too long it will hold the mag in place, but a little low resulting in, well, you know already.

I have posted your question on the makarv forum at http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?163688-magazine-problem and expect some of the real experts will have an answer for you. CB

 

[grwd]

half cock is to prevent the hammer from falling on a live round if the primary sear/hammer engagement fails. I never recommend doing anything with it, as far as incorporating it into the manual of arms, or anything; as it can harm the sear angles.
Just like theres no reason you should ever need to manually cock the hammer on a live round.

 

[Wall]

half cock is to prevent the hammer from falling on a live round if the primary sear/hammer engagement fails. I never recommend doing anything with it, as far as incorporating it into the manual of arms, or anything; as it can harm the sear angles.
Just like theres no reason you should ever need to manually cock the hammer on a live round.

Amen!!!!!!!!!

To reiterate Olyeller's comments, here's a little more thorough explanation (but it says the same thing). I Found this on a page explaining the "conditions of readiness".

Using the "half-cock" as a safety:

The half-cock notch on the M1911 is really intended as a "fail-safe" and is not recommended as a safety. However, it has been used as a mode of carry. From Dale Ireland comes this interesting piece of service history from WWII:

When the hammer is pulled back just a few millimeters it "half cocks" and pulling the trigger will not fire the gun [on genuine mil-spec G.I. pistols]. I imagine this is an unsafe and not a recommended safety position. The reason I bring it up however is that it was a commonly used position especially by left-handers in WWII. My father carried his 1911 (not A1) to Enewitok, Leyte, first wave at Luzon, the battle inside Intramuros, and until he was finally shot near Ipo dam. He tells me that he regularly used the half cocked safety position especially at night and patrolling because bringing the weapon to the full cocked position from the half cocked created much less noise and he was left handed so he couldn't use the thumb safety effectively. He said using the half cocked position was all about noise reduction for lefties while maintaining a small amount of safety that could quickly be released.

Again, the half-cock is intended as a fail-safe in the event that the sear hooks were to fail, and it is not recommended as a mode of carry. It should also be noted that on guns with "Series 80" type hammers, the hammer will fall from half-cock when the trigger is pulled. This would include guns from Springfield Armory and modern production Colts. But, if you happen to be a south paw and find yourself in the jungle with a G.I. M1911A1 and surrounded by enemy troops, the half-cock might be an option.