the spider den

MP-654K Makarov

Created 2025-02-26
Edited 2025-02-28

The Makarov pistol has been my favorite for a long time.

It's a timeless design. The embodiment of Soviet engineering at the time. It was made to do one job, and to do it well. It was made to be reliable and easy to maintain, while also being extremely cheap to manufacture in large scales.

It's a gun. Simple and straightforward. It's the most gun to ever gun. And that's what I like so much about it. I couldn't bother to get a license so that I could buy a real one, though, so I settled for a fake. The problem with Makarov-style air pistols is that they're usually extremely cheaply made - either they're very poor recreations of the real thing, or they are just straight up cheaply made, with plastic that a three year old could bend by just looking at it.

Thankfully, the manufacturer of the real Makarov pistol just so happens to be making the exact same pistols, but with airgun guts. Or at least used to, since.. you know.. the whole invasion of Ukraine thing. The main name is Baikal - this is the trademark of airguns and airgun-adjacent products manufactured by the former Izhevsk Mechanical Plant, now Kalashnikov Concern after a merger in 2013.

Current status on the market

I bought my 654K for roughly 700 PLN (~$200 USD) somewhen during 2019, maybe early 2020. I could dig out the exact date if I sifted through my micro-Library-of-Babel in my closet and found the paperwork that came with the gun, but I think I'd rather chow down on some glass curry than come even remotely close to that accursed storage container.

Thing is, the last best time to buy this gun was in 2019/2020. Nowadays getting your hands on a 654K is extremely tough outside of Eastern Europe, as even here in Poland there is not a single store that's selling these guns new anymore, and the used item market has (I believe) less than ten listings for this particular model (other models derived from the 654K are even rarer, not even appearing here in Poland).

So, essentially, the MP654K is a unicorn gun on the market - getting your hands on it is virtually impossible if you're not in Europe. The 654K being banned in the US due to the abundance of '.177 BB to .22 LR' conversion kits for it is not helping matters either[1][2]

I have no clue how many instances of the 654K have been made, but my guess is in the hundreds of thousands, with most of these flowing around Eastern Europe, with sparse amounts in Western Europe (lack of interest) and the US (guns imported pre-ban). One source also says they were popular in the East[1]

ADDENDUM: Apparently German stores still have a few Baikal guns in stock, mainly the MP-654K, MP-53M, MP-655K, and other models.

List of German stores with Baikal guns in stock as of writing (28 Feb 2025) (the ones I found):

These stores are probably your best bet at getting a Baikal gun in the current times.

Design

My model is from 2019. I don't have concrete info on when the 654K was first produced, but the earliest reports I've seen date back to 2005 This source states the MP-654K started production in 1998.

As I said previously, this is essentially a regular Makarov pistol with airgun guts. Looking at the gun from the side, it is virtually indistinguishable from a real Makarov. The only true giveaway is the barrel, and if someone's got a very good eye, they'll spot that the guts visible through the ejector port don't line up with the real thing. As far as I can see, those are the only significant visual differences.

To my knowledge all 654Ks are based on the regular PM pistol, not the modernised PMm.

They come in various styles, but the three most common are the Bakelite orange, dark brown and black versions. Other than the grip color, differences between guns may include different grip structure and surface, different marking placement and scale, and sometimes even the slide can be made of a different metal! Most pistols don the standard gun metal slide, but you were also able to buy pistols with polished, shiny slides! Now you can't buy neither.

Additionally I'll note that blowback versions of the 654K made by Baikal do exist under the model name MP-658K, but I haven't gotten my hands on one, so I can't say much else about them other than the fact they exist and are much more expensive. I tried searching for one that's on sale, but it looks like there are virtually no listings for the 658K.

Moving onto the parts, let's start from the front, then move to the back.

The slide is made of regular gun metal, and is considerably heavy. It can be manipulated just like in the real thing, but it of course does nothing (except for cocking the hammer, I guess). The rear and front sight posts are welded directly into the slide - they are not adjustable. Some people report having received their Makarovs with misaligned optics. Thankfully mine are relatively fine.

The trigger is HEAVY, and takes considerable force to pull in double-action, easily able to tire your fingers out after just a couple magazines. In single-action, the trigger recedes further towards the grip, and has a slight window where it's completely limp, before it encounters a solid "wall". Upon reaching this "wall", it still takes noticeable pressure to be able to drop the hammer.

The trigger guard can be swiveled downwards to allow for disassembly, just like in the real Makarov pistol.

Above the trigger, and further towards the back, we find the slide lever, and the safety. The slide lever holds the slide very well, and takes a lot of force to be brought down (this is visible in this video of me dropping the slide - note the visible shaking of my hand prior to the lever giving way). One issue I've got with the slide release is that the force of the spring is so high, that the mere mass of the slide coming back will push the valve of the magazine inwards for a brief moment, releasing a bit of gas. This usually leads to the gun firing "on its own". This is, in fact, also visible in the video linked above, in the form of a small cloud of gas exiting the barrel.

The safety is solid. It can be disengaged very swiftly with the dominant hand, without much thought. It takes more effort to put the safety back on, however, as the lever reaches too far down to be comfortably brought back up with just the dominant, and as such, the non-dominant hand is required to push the safety back up. When safe, the trigger has a slight (1-2mm) window of complete limpness before meeting a solid "wall".

The grip is pretty standard. I haven't got much to say about it, really. The textured sides add a nice firmness to the grip, which itself is also pretty solid - the gun lays comfortably and steadily in the hand. One complaint that I'd have on the real thing, is that it's very easy to rest your grip too high on the gun, resulting in one, or even both of your hands being in contact with the slide during shooting. That would be a very sour shooting experience on the real Makarov, but since here the slide doesn't move, this isn't a problem. At worst it can teach you bad practice.

The hammer hammers hammerily. Takes considerable force to cock, but it's still possible to cock it when holding the gun one-handed. This can be easily done by gripping the hammer with the thumb, and snapping the pistol downward. The hammer can be cocked either directly, or via operation of the slide. The gun can be shot in single-action and double-action mode.

The Makarov is probably one of, if not the most popular gun to have a heel release, that is, a magazine release that requires the user to push a retainer out of the way in order to access the magazine. When I hand a greenbeard this gun it's always interesting to see them try to figure out how to drop the magazine. It makes sense, given the heel release is an extremely rare piece of tech these days. As a matter of fact, I don't think I really know any other gun with a heel release... --anyway, I'm not done with the magazine just yet, however, because you obviously don't load this one with 9x18mm - you load it with tiny .177 metal BBs! The front of the magazine has a tiny compartment that holds 13 rounds, and behind it is the compartment for the 12g CO2 capsule.

That would be it for the parts, onto the manual of arms.

Manual of arms

To actually shoot the gun, you need to load it first.

The magazine is ejected by pushing the magazine retainer out of the way. Hold the gun with your dominant hand, and form a "claw" with your non-dominant index and thumb (Refer to the picture on the right). Push the retainer out of the way with your thumb while simultaneously pulling the magazine out with the index enough to get it out of the retainer's range. Then, grab the entire magazine with your non-dominant, and pull it out.

With the magazine out of the gun, it's time to load it. First, unscrew the magazine screw enough to be able to insert a fresh CO2 cartridge. This is usually done with a tool that comes with the gun, but in a pinch you can use the rear sight to adjust the screw (I started using only the rear sight 'cause I'm lazy)

With the screw out of the way, you can now insert the cartridge. If you have any spare airgun oil/grease/anything similar, put a drop of it on top of the cartridge to help create a tighter seal between the cartridge and the valve. Tighten the screw a little past the point where you hear a slight hiss caused by the cartridge seal being broken by the valve needle.

With the gas loaded, you can now load the BBs (the order doens't matter tbh, but I always do gas first). Lock the magazine spring in place using the follower notch (refer to picture and gun breakdown), and insert the rounds into the magazine. The magazine has a max capacity of 13 rounds.

With the magazine fully loaded, you can now insert it into the gun. Disengage the safety, and the gun is fully ready to shoot. You can shoot in double-action mode by simply pulling the trigger, or in single-action mode by cocking the hammer first, either directly, or via operation of the slide.

When the slide is locked open, make sure not to pull the trigger, as this will drop the hammer while it's covered by the slide, resulting in it getting stuck under said slide, rendering the gun inoperable. If this ever happens to you, you'll have to reach in with a screwdriver and attempt to cock the hammer from under the slide.

Field-stripping and maintenance

Field-stripping the MP-654K works in the exact same manner as in the real Makarov pistol. First, remove the magazine. Then, swivel the trigger guard downwards, and then push it to the side, so that it rests on the frame of the gun. After that, cock the hammer, pull the slide all the way back, lift it up from the safety's side, and pull forward. This should remove the slide and its direct components from the gun.

This is almost always enough to clean most of the gun and to perform routine maintenance. You can additionally detach the safety from the slide by swiveling it past the unsafe position (this may take a bit of force - putting it back in will likewise take force). I won't be going over complete disassembly, since I've never really had to do it, so I didn't bother learning it.

When lubricating the gun, aim to lubricate areas with high wear. Those include:

Remember to also clean the barrel every 1000 shots or so if you wanna be really clean, and around 5000 shots for the most basic of maintenance.

To reassemble the gun, quite literally do the previous steps in reverse - with the slide pointing downward (and the trigger guard still swiveled downward), insert the front part of the slide over the front of the main spring, and move the slide backwards as much as possible. Then, put the slide over the gun, so that it's horizontal. This may take a few tries, as the parts need to align. When you feel they're aligned, gently let go of the slide, and let it return to its default position. After that's done you can swivel the trigger guard back up, drop the hammer, and insert the magazine. The gun is reassembled.

Thoughts on the gun

I personally absolutely adore this gun. Mostly due to form, not function, as the function of this pistol is.. mediocre at best. With such a short barrel, the 654K really struggles to put a whole lot of power into its projectiles.

It's got enough power to pierce 1.5 water-filled 500ml beer cans, and not much more. Its accuracy is likewise unimpressive, being only mildly accurate at around 6 meters - anything past that, and the accuracy drops off fast.

Below are the results of shooting at 5m with iron sights, 10m with iron sights, and then around 20m with vibes because the irons were ineffective at that range. Bright Xs mark the current hits, dim Xs mark previous hits. Click on the images to enlarge them.

So, the accuracy falls off greatly, and the power is also nothing to write home about. Regardless, I bought this thing mostly for the coolness factor. Plus, having something so rare nowadays is also a nice feeling. Here's an additional video of me shooting the gun. Three times double-action, three times single-action.

ADDENDUM: pnevmatika_print.indd

Correction: In this section I often say that the guns below have disappeared completely off the market, but some are still available for purchase on a few select German stores (as of Feb 2025). They're in the first paragraphs of this review, and are likely the only way to get new Baikals at this point.

I was about to close this review up when I stumbled upon this file published by Kalashnikov Concern (ripped from their site and hosted here for archival purposes).

It contains most of the known weapons ever manufactured under the Baikal trademark. I did not know that the MP-659K existed. God, a blowback airsoft version of this Makarov would send me to Heaven, but unfortunately all traces of it on the market are beyond gone. Same with the 658K, the blowback .177 BB version. Also gone without a trace.

There are many other cool guns, though. I specifically remember the MP-651K, a pretty interesting revolver design, allegedly compatible with both .177 steel BBs and .177 lead pellets. The one that caught my eye a lot was the DROZD, or more specifically, the MP-661K. Never knew they produced submachine guns. This one in particular doesn't look too reliable from the videos I've seen, but I can't deny that it's a sight to behold. Of course, the Drozd is completely gone from the market. I found a few archived listings that actually didn't end up getting sold, so maybe if I reached out to the sellers, they'd still have the gun, but I'm not that determined to get it.

One gun I'm surprised to see it having disappeared off the market is the MP-53M, a cheap yet reliable spring-powered pistol. It was pretty ubiquitous even a couple years ago, and was one of the better "sports shooter's first guns". Right now there aren't any listings for it. Sad.

Their air rifle selection is also very solid. I've heard good things about Baikal sports air rifles, and I got to actually shoot one at a range I used to be a member of, though it was an extremely old model, reaching as far back as the Polish communist era. Its accuracy was.. uh.. adequate for the time period, so to speak.

One gun other than the 654K that's still available, surprisingly enough, is the obscure MP-655K, modeled after the MP-443 Grach, Russia's current standard issue pistol.

Conclusion

I'm bad at writing conclusions. Me big conclusion bad. Me like gun. Gun do gun thing. Me like gun thing. Ooger booger. oggy

 FIN.

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