[ EFA-2K Makarov Holster ]
Hi guys, thanks for tuning in to another video on ForgottenWeapons.com.
I'm Ian McCollum, and today we have a somewhat shorter little video on a holster.
This is the EFA-2K, made by a company called EFA.
2K is the model of this one which is made to fit the Makarov.
Now this is made by a company in Moscow "for the Spetznaz".
Which is about as definitive as saying that you made something
out of Velcro and Cordura, but it was "for SWAT" or "for the SEALs".
This I can pretty much guarantee you, was never used by the Spetznaz.
In fact where this became famous (especially being associated with the Spetznaz)
was none other than the old TV show, Deadliest Warrior
where none other than Sonny Puzikas was demonstrating how this worked.
- Pretty unique holster. It's actually patented in mother Russia.
- Great!
So what's the cool part about this? Well, it automatically ... disengages the safety,
racks the slide, and charges a round when you push it out of the holster.
This makes sense in exactly one situation.
And that is where you are presumably legally prohibited or prevented
from carrying the pistol with a round chambered.
Or even carrying the pistol with the safety disengaged.
Because here's the thing, the Makarov has a double-action trigger.
If I engage the de-cocker here and then take the safety off,
I now have a nice long heavy double-action trigger pull to fire the thing.
This is just like a double-action revolver, and that's totally safe in a holster by itself.
Like ... this is not a gun that needs to be carried with the chamber empty to be safe.
What this holster is designed to deal with are situations like the "Israeli carry",
where the military just says flat out, "No round in the chamber for anybody,
because it's unsafe, and some of you idiots will shoot yourselves or your buddies
if we let you carry with a round in the chamber. So none in the chamber whatsoever."
And I guarantee you any legitimate Spetznaz soldier is not subject to those rules,
because those guys are actually reasonably well trained
and they can handle a double-action pistol in a holster with a round chambered.
So EFA, the company that made this, they are based out of Moscow.
And they make holsters for a number of different designs, including some common stuff like Glocks.
Now most of them, the way the holsters work
is you actually can push the pistol down into the holster and it will hold the slide
and the frame will go forward and so you can rack the slide, and then you pull the gun back up
and now it's chambered and you can present and fire.
But being a Russian company and with the Makarov being the standard
Russian police and military firearm for 50+ years, they have a speciality version here
that actually interacts with the safety lever on the Makarov as well.
So if you look inside here, we have a little spring right there
that ... just gives it some friction, and then there's an angled surface right there.
That angled surface when I push the slide in is going to hit the safety lever here,
push it down, and then use it to pull the slide back.
And once the pistol clears the bottom of the holster the slide snaps into place.
So it's like that.
Now the first problem with this is nobody actually needs it.
The second problem, perhaps the more serious one, is this is a negligent discharge
just absolutely waiting to happen because the holster doesn't even attempt to cover the trigger.
And in a way you'd think well it doesn't need to because the gun's
presumably being carried without a round in the chamber, so who cares?
The problem is people are going to grab this like this,
bang, right down into the ground, or into their leg if they are really inept.
... There's the issue with the Serpa where your finger tends to press the button,
your finger is right here and tends to slip onto the trigger.
Well, ... the only people who are going to use this are people
who are not particularly well trained by just default.
And they're going to grab the gun just like they are used to grabbing a gun, finger right on the trigger.
And this thing is actually half depressing the trigger as the slide cycles, as the hammer is cocked anyway.
And ... it's asking for that, right there.
So it is a terrible design.
I have seen people suggest that this would be great for concealed carry
because it's safer because you can carry without a round in the chamber.
And the fact of the matter is that is absolutely not an issue
for a double-action pistol like a Makarov with a reliable drop safety and a reliable de-cocker.
It would have actually been pretty interesting if they did a version of this holster for the Tokarev.
That's a pistol where I could actually see it being useful,
because the Tokarev has a single-action only trigger and no manual safety whatsoever.
Closest thing you have to a safety is a half-cock notch, but if you want to actually use
the half-cock notch you have to manually drop the hammer onto a loaded chamber,
which is also just asking for negligent discharges.
So I could see this actually for the Tokarev, but for the Makarov it's completely stupid.
Alright, I'm sure you guys want to actually see some shooting, so.
Also by the way, there's a retention strap here, you can just draw the gun normally.
But if you were going to do that, why would you bother with this holster?
Anyway, here we go. Boom. Chambered.
Now I can take this (let's see), what we have to do is pull the mag,
empty the chamber, engage the de-cocker,
reinsert the magazine, reinsert the pistol.
Some people will also say this is a faster draw, because you're going in one smooth movement.
What that ignores is that you have to actually put significant pressure
on this to rack the slide as it's going out of the holster, that's going to slow you down.
It also tends to flop around on the belt here as a result.
Now EFA did have a number of different belt retention systems,
some of which are better than this, this one's like the two belt loop flap that goes on your hip.
There were some better ones but all of them are relatively wide, in fact take a look at this.
You take a nice narrow pistol ... not terrible for concealing like the Makarov,
and then you stick it in a holster that's literally twice as wide as the gun.
This is not a concealment holster, this is a belt holster
for people who are saddled by an inane rule about safety on empty chamber carry.
So, if you want to carry a Makarov, it's not the worst pistol out there.
Especially because these are available, not quite as available as they used to be,
but there are definitely a lot of Makarovs out there.
The calibre is decent, not great but decent.
But if you're going to carry this, first off you can carry it
with the chamber loaded and the hammer de-cocked.
I'm not a lawyer, but that's perfectly safe.
If you feel the need ... to carry with the chamber empty,
what you need to do is find a different pistol, until you find one
that you are comfortable carrying with the chamber loaded.
Alright guys, so that is the EFA Model 2K holster.
They were made in Moscow, they haven't been available for a number of years.
And of course they are really not available now, thanks to sanctions with Russia over the war in Ukraine.
If you want one of these because it's just a hilarious novelty item,
more power to you, it is all of that.
If you want one of these because you are going to carry the gun,
then I really strongly suggest you reconsider any number of different points.
Anyway, hopefully you guys enjoyed the short little video.
Thanks for watching.