[Fuelburns2]

Do any of you have any experience with PA-63s? I find it to be quite attractive and they can be had for under $200 if you look around. I'm concerned about reliability and durability but I can't see myself spending $400+ on a mouse gun so the PPK is on hold for now. I don't really like bi-tone guns but this one is really growing on me.

This is what they look like. Actually it reminds me of a PP more than the PPK.
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewIt ... m=52374044

Any thoughts?

 

[boxmaker]

Well the question is, what caliber is it exactly. Its confusing because the seller doesn't picture the ejection port. I think there are 2, maybe three flavors of this.

One is the 9mm Short, this should be stamped on the ejection port or more accurately on the barrel exposed at the closed port. 9mm Short = .380

Then there is 9mm. I don't think that that's what this is, but who knows.

The seller says 9mm Makarov. That is the same diameter bullet as the 9mm/.380 but the casing is in-between.

I believe the PA-63 FEGs are .380. But I could be wrong. You should contact the seller.

As for the gun, they were typically civillian police issue type guns during the cold war. Reliable and small. A Walther copy. The light aluminum frame results in less mass, more kick but not terribly so. Some people complain about the bite of the backstrap, it doesn't fit all hands. I think the left grip (all I've seen are right hand shooters and cannot be shot left handed because of the highly shaped grip on the left side) are a bit off for me. You may like it fine.

Good reliable gun, for the money, if you find it comfortable to hold and don't limp grip it, you'll like it.

But find out up front what it actually fires: .380, 9mm Makarov or full on 9mm. I'm betting .380.

 

[Fuelburns2]

I'd actually be happy with either 9mm kurtz or 9x18 mak. That auction was more for reference than exactly what I'm going to buy. I need some time for my "gun fund" to recover after the c96 but its never too early to start thinking ahead and I stumbled on this gun while browsing. Thanks for the information.

Do you know if grips are available sans thumbrest? That's the only part that doesn't excite me.

 

[boxmaker]

As far as I know, grips are not available. But someone could make some up easily if you wanted to make them custom. Makarov grips do NOT fit but interestingly, Makarov springs and such are available. The trigger, especially in DA is stiff and some people think that switching quite a few of the parts out with Makarov parts works great and improves the gun substantially for cheap. I think the Makarov forum can provide more info.

 

[uglydog]

An employee of the logging company I regularly use has one in 9mm Mak. It seems a pretty decent gun especially for the price. He uses it to shoot porcupines and finds it much better at this than a 22 LR. I didn't find the trigger to be any worse than a S&W Sigma I used to have and was actually fairly comparable to my first generation S&W 659 in the trigger department over all. I don't know how well it will hold up long term but I shouldn't think it would be any worse than most other small guns and much better than a lot of them. This one looked to be in pretty rough shape but I did not have any problems in the hundred rounds of steel cased Wolf I ran through it.

 

[FL-shooter]

It is 9X18. I have one and love it. Very reliable. Only ammo I have found it doesnt like is the 115 grn HP made by silver bear. My buddy liked mine so much he went out and bought one too. They did make them that weren't 2 tone also, that is what I have I just dont see them as much. I picked mine up in pretty good shape about three years ago at a pawn shop for $125. But they have gone up a bit. You also might want to think about the bulgarian mak. You could probably find one for aaround 200 also. Only downfall I have found is that te little bugger will sting your hand between your index finger and thumb. I guess becaus ethe gun is so light, it tends to surprise people when they shoot it for the first time. Hope this helps.

 

[FL-shooter]

Forgot , I stumbled on this the other day and have been seriously considering one. Kinda along the same line. Anyone have experiencewith them? I like the 12 round mag and already have the PA-63 in 9X18. might give it a shot.



http://www.aimsurplus.com/acatalog/Czec ... istol.html

 

[Fuelburns2]

I don't have any firsthand experience with that gun but I have heard from many people on other forums that it is a great gun. In fact, I don't think I've ever heard anything negative about any CZ handguns.