FWIW, there's a 'sticky' in the General forum containing a list of Indiana gunsmiths. It should at least yield some phone numbers for you to call and ask about looking it over.
I got my Bulgie out of the safe so that I could verify the drill for field stripping. On mine, once the mag is out, the trigger guard is disengaged and the hammer is cocked hold the pistol in a 'firing' grip with your dominant hand. Grasping the slide with your other hand at the grooved portion, run the slide back slowly while maintaining a slight upward tension on it. Towards the very end of its travel it will hit a 'break' in the frame rails and should start to come upwards and free of the frame. You should then be able to lift it until the rear portion clears and run the slide forward off of the frame and barrel.
This shouldn't require a great deal of effort even if, as I suspect, the previous owner has installed a somewhat heavier-than-stock recoil spring in it. IME, this isn't really necessary but many folks see it mentioned on a forum somewhere and go ahead and do it. The most usual choice seems to be the 19# Wolff unit.
If you don't find a point near the end of the slide travel where you feel the rear of your slide start to release and move upwards, don't try and force it! Something must be interfering with letting the slide move freely up through the relief cuts in the frame and too much force will almost certainly only exacerbate the problem.
Finding out exactly what and why that might be will need hands-on examination by a 'smith or someone more intimately familiar with the nuances of the Mak's mechanism than I. Hopefully, you'll be able to get your slide to come off as it's supposed to.
Good luck, and hope this will be of help in the process.
I got my Bulgie out of the safe so that I could verify the drill for field stripping. On mine, once the mag is out, the trigger guard is disengaged and the hammer is cocked hold the pistol in a 'firing' grip with your dominant hand. Grasping the slide with your other hand at the grooved portion, run the slide back slowly while maintaining a slight upward tension on it. Towards the very end of its travel it will hit a 'break' in the frame rails and should start to come upwards and free of the frame. You should then be able to lift it until the rear portion clears and run the slide forward off of the frame and barrel.
This shouldn't require a great deal of effort even if, as I suspect, the previous owner has installed a somewhat heavier-than-stock recoil spring in it. IME, this isn't really necessary but many folks see it mentioned on a forum somewhere and go ahead and do it. The most usual choice seems to be the 19# Wolff unit.
If you don't find a point near the end of the slide travel where you feel the rear of your slide start to release and move upwards, don't try and force it! Something must be interfering with letting the slide move freely up through the relief cuts in the frame and too much force will almost certainly only exacerbate the problem.
Finding out exactly what and why that might be will need hands-on examination by a 'smith or someone more intimately familiar with the nuances of the Mak's mechanism than I. Hopefully, you'll be able to get your slide to come off as it's supposed to.
Good luck, and hope this will be of help in the process.
