Reply #6: Makarov circa 2001

[one-eyed fat man]

The Makarov pistol circa 2001 was a curio and relic as it used a 9x18 cartridge which at the time was not generally available in the West. The Soviet cartridge is different from the 9x18 Ultra the West German police used for a while in the 1970's.

The replacement barrels were in .380 aka 9mm Kurz or 9x17 which has been readily available in the US since about 1903. After Wolf, Sellier & Bellot, and Prvi Partizan began exporting Makarov ammunition to the US the reason and the market for .380 barrels dried up.

The .380 develops only 254 joules of energy while the 9mm Makarov is marginally better 293 joules. Compared to 570 joules energy for NATO standard 9mm Parabellum

From a hit man's perspective, the weapon is a disposable item. The Makarov fits the Soviet design philosophy, cheap, serviceable, and suitable for use by conscript soldiers. It would not be far fetched to infer that who ever assassinated Mr. Wales intended for the murder weapon to be melted down, dumped in the ocean or otherwise destroyed. In that regard, a 100 dollar Cold War relic would serve as well as a 600 dollar Glock or even 5,000 dollar Olympic grade target pistol.

If indeed it had anything to do with the US Attorney's anti-gun activism, the final irony would have been to turn the weapon in to one of those "no questions asked" gun buy backs gun control advocates are particularly fond of holding. A Makarov would be considered a junky enough gun no cop would be tempted to save it from the smelter. Nothing like have the police unwittingly ensure the evidence will never be found by turning it into Buick bumpers. Who knows, it might even be part of this anti-gun sculpture reputedly made from guns of such a buy back.