Cold War Weapons Are Hot

In this week’s No Lowballers podcast presented by GunBroker, we’re talking all about Russian Cold War Weapons! If one of us disappears by the end of the show, you know why. We open up with a discussion about how exactly to pronounce Makarov, pretty sure we still don’t have it down yet! Logan and Allen go into a discussion of the origin of the Makarov. From the ammo to the firearm itself, the Makarov has a super interesting background. With an extremely long shelf life from 1951 until present, the Makarov has been a staple in Russia and other communist countries. Dan asks a question about manufacturers of Makarovs specifically during the Cold War, the motto was if the government says you make Makarovs...you make Makarovs. Then we pivot to the Stechkin APS, a select-fire machine pistol, by your fourth shot you’re sending lead at passing planes! The Stechkin had a very short shelf life, mostly due to the complete impracticality of them specifically in military scenarios, albeit they are super fun guns to shoot. While you can still find a Stechkin today, they are nowhere near as widely available as the Makarov, with many bringing a very large premium. We spend some time talking movies and how the bad guys always have the Russian firearms! Spoiler alert, if the good guy pulls out a Makarov, chances are he won’t be the good guy for long. Do you know of a movie where the good guy carried a Makarov? Another movie easter egg proves that we may have some double agents at the table, listen in to see how we know who it is! Allen gives us a run down on Russian surplus guns available on GunBroker and how the market is changing due to parts kits being harder to source. New episodes launch every Thursday morning. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.