Romanian pistol

[carpati95]

Have a Romanian pistol- Carpati Mod.95-Made by ROMARM in Romania- Imported by C.A.I., St Alb., VT. Has the same CUGIR stamp as my Romanian SAR 1. Maybe made in the same factory?It's cal. 380. Cheap gun, really great shooter. Anybody familiar with these things? Read one magazine article about the same thing in a .32Auto, but that's all I have seen. I saw an FEG magazine that was the same except it didn't have the bolt last-shot-hold-open tab on it. Any info would be great. I always get a chuckle out of it when I shoot it- looks like it came from a high school metal shop, but it shoots super.

[Noah Zark]

Welcome aboard, Carpati.

Yes, your .380 was made in the same plant as the SAR-1.

Everything that you read about the M74 in .32 applies to the .380. It is a Walther pocket pistol (PP, PPk) clone, with near-identical internals to the Walther guns save the heel mag catch as opposed to a pushbutton used on the Walthers. Many owners use PPk spring kits on FEGs and the Romanian M74 .32 and "Carpati" .380, the latter taking its name from a mountain range in Romania.

The .32 version (7.65 Browning in Europe) was made for the East German Interior Ministry, but the Germans being Germans preferred home-grown pistols to the little Romanian auto. There are several FEG and Walther mags that look like they would fit and work, but most if not all are either not the correct length to latch, or are missing the last shot slide holdopen finger. M74 and Carpati mags are tough to find.

I like them because of the long rear tang that protects the shooting hand web from being cut by the slide during recoil.

Noah

[carpati95]

Thanks for the info- it's nice to know I'm not the only one with one of these. And you answered my question about the similarities to the PPK. I was considering trading it in for a PPK, but I am going to keep it. (Might still do a PPK, too.) Can't go wrong for $125. Wouldn't get much in trade anyway. Besides, it's just too good of a shooter. My only complaint is some trigger slap. I got 2 mags with it and had to add a little to the bottom of one where the catch is (effectively lengthening the mag) so it would seat farther up inside so it would feed properly. Now it works flawlessly. Again, just a relly great shooter.

[lowhombre]

My dad just gave me one too the other day, never heard of them(not a big gun guy, YET!) came with two clips, is there anything else I should know about this pistol?