TargetTalk

Question How to remove the hammer & spring

http://www.australiancynic.com/MCM.pdf > complete disassembly of pistol

Thanks Spencer may be bent or need a bigger hammer to shift the pin

it is not unusual to find some of the pins 'upset' - check for this and CAREFULLY remove the upset

Mr Tweedie,

I have just commenced shooting target pistol and will shortly be able to purchase my own (NSW based with obligatory 6 months wait before I can get a Permit To Own).
I do not want to spend a fortune on my first pistol and am therefore looking to the less costly end of the market, either used or cheap.
My first thought was a used Hammerli 208 but then I had the opportunity to shoot an elderly pretty standard Margolin (no special grips but a barrel weight and a slide stop) over the last weekend and was impressed by the feel of the pistol (it seemed to suit my hand) and it seemed to shoot well. It is a club gun so not as well looked after as it might be.
I found your website (australiancynic) through this forum and was delighted to see that you endorse the MCM pistol.
My question is - where can I get one? The Baikal website does not list an Australian distributor (although I believe one can get hold of Baikal shotguns quite easily here).
Is there a local distributor or do I have to go overseas?
Your help (or anyone else's for that matter) would be appreciated.
Regards.

BobGee wrote:...I have just commenced shooting target pistol and will shortly be able to purchase my own (NSW based with obligatory 6 months wait before I can get a Permit To Own)...

welcome to a great sport

BobGee wrote:...My first thought was a used Hammerli 208 but then I had the opportunity to shoot an elderly pretty standard Margolin (no special grips but a barrel weight and a slide stop) over the last weekend and was impressed by the feel of the pistol (it seemed to suit my hand) and it seemed to shoot well...

either should be great pistols (so! I'm biased!) but will be hard to find in 'low-milage': the H208 has not been produced for decades and I don't know of anybody bringing in the MCMs though they are still on the manufacturere's website.

if buying a used pistol, get an independant advisor to check out the offerings carefully

Thanks Spencer - advice noted.
Regards.

I have acquired a Margolin of (I think) 1965 vintage (that's what's stamped on the breach below the serial no.). I have scoured the 'net for information on these pistols and have, of course, found Spencer's piece in australiancynic.com and a historical piece in gunboards.com plus a very interesting piece on Mikhail Margolin from GunsMag sept 1958 "The Man to Beat in Moscow" (http://toyfj40.freeshell.org/GunPix/Margolin.html).
I also acquired a scanned copy of some pages from a handbook on the MU and MUY rapid fire Margolins (attached as two files to get past the 1MB file limit) which has proved to be most informative since the differences between the MCM and the rapid fire pistols seem to be easy to pick and therefore not confusing.
What I wanted to pass on is that the handbook suggests that both the front sight post and the rear sight blade move 0.088mm per 1/4 revolution of the respective adjuster (i.e. 1 click). On a 25m range with a 220mm sight radius (MCM) this converts to 10mm at the target per click, which would seem sensible.
I just overhauled the rear sight on my "new" MCM and determined that 36 clicks (1/4 revs) of the adjuster wheel corresponded to approx. 3.14mm of movement of the sight blade; this equates to 0.0872mm/click. Thus the 0.088 given in the handbook would appear to apply to the MCMs as well as the rapid fire pistols. I hope that is of some interest to those who have these pistols.
I have one question for Spencer: your notes suggest that after cleaning or stripping the pistol it should be stored at half cock. Why is this?
Regards to all.

BobGee wrote: I have one question for Spencer: your notes suggest that after cleaning or stripping the pistol it should be stored at half cock. Why is this?
Regards to all.

1 accidental dropping/bumping/mishandling of the pistol will not result in damage to the firing pin or breech face
2 it is somewhere in my notes and (?) the manual
3 it was reinforced many years ago by advice from a wise old MCM expert
4 all up, seems reasonable and harmless

BobGee wrote:Mr

I have just commenced shooting target pistol and will shortly be able to purchase my own (NSW based with obligatory 6 months wait before I can get a Permit To Own).
I do not want to spend a fortune on my first pistol and am therefore looking to the less costly end of the market, either used or cheap.
.

Have you considered the IZ35? They're not very expensive, and while they seem to be assembled a bit crudely, are capable of competing with the best of them, just as the TOZ does in Free Pistol.

Paul

Thanks for that Paul. I had actually investigated the '35 but I don't think that they're that plentiful down here in Oz (there's one for sale as I write at http://www.gunsrus.com.au)
Actually, my firearms dealer upsold me from a Hammerli 208 to a Walther GSP '86 model. So much for budgets!
Both the Walther and the Margolin shoot way better than me but I'm catching up.
Bob

Good choice. I looked at a GSP on that website with an original grip, and that may be the one you got. The palm rest is too small, and is not the original one for that grip.

I suggest you look around for a better quality grip (i.e. Rink Grip or other after market grip), while you are training.....

Have fun.

Popeye

I have an oppurtunity to purchase 1 of 2 Margolin's. One has the compensator fitted (it is a 1963 vintage with cyrillic writing on the slide). I would prefer to buy this one for nostalgia but only if I can remove the compensator to make it ISSF legal for local club competitions.

Does any one have pictures of the barrel weights and how they fit - the other version has a 2-piece barrel weight or 2 barrel weights (1 thinner then other).

Thanks

PS Yes I have read the pdf listed above before asking.

A74BEDLM wrote:I have an oppurtunity to purchase 1 of 2 Margolin's. One has the compensator fitted (it is a 1963 vintage with cyrillic writing on the slide). I would prefer to buy this one for nostalgia but only if I can remove the compensator to make it ISSF legal for local club competitions.

Does any one have pictures of the barrel weights and how they fit - the other version has a 2-piece barrel weight or 2 barrel weights (1 thinner then other).

Thanks

PS Yes I have read the pdf listed above before asking.

if it has a compensator, check that:
- it is .22LR and not .22Short (i.e. for ISSF RFP) and
- it has a steel (not alloy) slide
While the .22Short versions can be converted to .22LR, the alloy slide is not a good option with .22LR - finding a steel slide might be tricky.

Ah! The incredible Margolin.
The barrel weights are various custom jobs. No factory ones, other than the 22short RF compensator, to my knowledge.
2 piece ones usually just screw together, and some are one piece that require the front sight to be removed, to remove the weight. The front sight is just a press fit and just needs to be tapped forward to remove it.