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Makarov Barrels can be a little tricky to remove but with a little effort they can be persuaded. The Barrels are press fit into the retention band then secured in place with small pin.
First thing is to drive out the said retention pin with a small punch, depending who has had their hands on your pistol before you you may be faced with a tapered pin that may only press out from one side or the other, a sharp tap should move it easy enough.
Once the pin is removed place the frame in a rubber jaw vice or hold it firmly in your hand. Take a nylon faced hammer and strike the front of the barrel sharply driving the barrel toward the rear. Do this a couple of times as it may be nessesary to loosen the gunk that may be holding things up. With any luck the barrel will knock loose at this point and can then be easily removed and replaced.
If the barrel refuses to budge, beg, steal or borrow a small blow torch, take the pistol frame and place it in a container of ice water for about 5 mins. Once chilled place it back on the vice and use a small concentrated but HOT flame on the retention band. As the barrel has more mass, the retention band should expand faster, you could even rap a small wet rag around the barrel to keep cool. Hold the flame on there for about 10 seconds then attack the front of the barrel with the nylon hammer again. If you don't get it the first time you can repeat the process, just be mindful of how much heat gets into the barrel, try and keep it as cool as you can.
I have modded MANY Makarovs and never needed to put a barrel to a press and I would be wary doing so. Be patient and the above technique should work well.
I will do an article on accurizing the Makarov soon, they are great pistols and can be made into EXCELLENT pistols with just a few tweaks. Hope this helps.
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