Makarov defense ammo

K

Knox

Inactive
First let me say that Makarov.com is an excellent site with loads of useful info. The message board there is also very helpful but frankly the quantity of posters and respondents is just not what it is at TFL.

I would like to get your input on what JHP round is best for the Bulg. Mak. Of course in my opinion, the number one priority is feeding reliability with a distant second being expansion. I know that whatever round I end up testing, I will need to run quite a few rounds through it to make sure it is reliable in my weapon. That being said however, with the cost of JHP defense rounds, I would like to have the best possible chance that what I buy will work before I start testing!LOL. Hornady, Corbon, Fiocchi (sp), others? Any personal experience appreciated.
 
i've had luck with cci blazers, but as far as a makarov goes, they rate little better than a mouse gun for penitration, i suggest useing ball. sounds stupid i know, but if you get a chance, line up about 6 milk jugs in a row and shoot one round of hollow point , fix them back up and fire one round of ball. the blazers only went thru 2 milk jugs, the ball went thru four. and blood(and flesh) is thicker than water. 9x18 ball, much like a golden saber hollow point, should be very tolorant of cross torso shots. plus hardball never jams. most will disagree with me but that's my $0.02
 
Hello. Here are the chronograph results from my Bulgarian Makarov. Perhaps they will be of use. The average velocity listed is from 5 shots:

Hornady 95 gr XTP ~ Average Velocity: 937 ft/sec

Cor*Bon 95 gr JHP ~ Average Velocity: 1098 ft/sec

Fiocchi 95 gr FMJ ~ Average Velocity: 1018 ft/sec

All of these rounds fed flawlessly and all were accurate with the Fiocchi having on 28 ft/sec extreme spread in velocity.

I would carry the Cor*Bon as it always expanded in informal expansion testing. While I truly like XTPs in different calibers, expansion was a sometimes thing in this one.

Best.
 
Stephen, thanks for the info and personal experience with several rounds I am considering. Bullfrog makes an interesting point I think worthy of discussion. Are you aware of what depth of penetration any of these loads boast? I would think that while the ball would certainly penetrate more, the speed and size of the JHP would be quite similar to a 38sp. round, which almost all I have read recommends hollow point. I believe the size of the 9 x 18 is close to a standard 9mm and the speed of the 9 x 18 is close to that of the 38sp. Since most recommend hollow points in these rounds, wouldn't that be wise with the Mak?
 
Hello. No, I've not tested these rounds in 10% gelatin nor do I recall data from those who have. I'd guess that the XTP would outpenetrate the CorBon, which uses a Sierra bullet. I'd estimate the XTP to go about 10 - 12" and the Sierra about 8 to 10". Best.
 
actually if you poke around about defensive loads for snubby 38's they usually come with a recomendation for round nose lead or semi wad cutters. sometimes solids are more effective than hollow points. just look at the 32acp when compared to the one shot stoppages and taylor knock down formulas. it's quite interesting.
 
Have you seen the newly imported stuff from Russia. Barnal (May be spelled wrong) 50rd box $6.00 at the last gun show I was at Farm show complex in Harrisburg PA. Have Four boxes of the stuff. Has good feed charastics. Over all feeds like Ball. As an aside since russia made the makarov in the first place. They should also so the best ammo for it. Anyway $6.00 a box for JHP(50 mind you) ain't bad. It slowly comming into the country (was 1999 production dates on box) Maybe it has not made it into your area yet. only saw it starting in september in my area. Keep an eye out for it. Colorful box has a picture of a man shooting a makarov on it. Good luck in the quest. Hope this helps. I also post very rarely to the Makarov discussion Board (have Bulgarian Makarov) but like this forum better!---DAROGUE1
 
I'm told that the Barnaul JHP rounds at Makarov.com feed extremely well in Makarovs. I'll get a Mak of my own soon, and will give you a report if you want.

Damnit, he just beat me to it. You can buy Barnaul rounds through Makarov.com for about $110/1000.
 
Here are results of my chrono with Bulg Mak.
Fed Classic 90 gr HP - 993fps
CorBon 95 gr HP - 1105
Horn XTP 95 gr HP - 907
S&B FMJ - 961
CCI Blazer 90 gr Speer GD - 1040
Norinco FMJ - 1011
TCW (Wolf) 109 gr - 967
Handloads
90 gr Speer GD 4.4 gr AA2-S&B cases CCI primers - 1045 Prob Hot, but I experienced no problems. Use caution.
93 gr BullX RN Cast - 3.6 gr AA2-Horn cases CCIprimers - 937

I like my Maks three.
Jerry
 
I just de-horned mine this evening.

I'll know tomorrow if I did OK or not. If I can practice w/o continuing to draw blood, then I will load up with the Cor-Bon.:) My Bulgie neared 1100 fps with them, which I feel will allow for some opportunity of expansion. The only other HP that I've tried was CCI/Blazer, which uses the Gold Dot bullet. They were in the 930-960 fps range, IIRC.
 
I have a Bulgarian Mak and I really like it. I've shot Russian ball, Cor-Bon JHP, and Blazer Gold Dots through it. It has fed these ammo types flawlessly. I haven't done any chronographing, but I've shot water filled milk jugs with it. The Cor-bon was definitely the most destructive of the three, followed by the Gold Dots. The Cor-bon fragmented and the core separated from the jacket while the GD held together and mushroomed beautifully. I use the Blazers for defense because of their reliable expansion and their price.
 
Mak JHP

A while back I posted results of Mak caliber CCI jhp fired into milk cartons and compared to a 124 GD fired through a Ruger P95.
The Mak penetrated 4 cartons--which if you believe the theory--is about 10" of penetration. The Ruger went through 5 cartons which would be 12.5".
The CCI JHP expanded to about .50; the ruger's 124 GS bullet was around nearly .75.
My take on this was that given the limited expansion, it made greater sense to go with ball ammo than JHP.
 
I have Corbons, Hornady JHPs (both seem to use the same ammo but different charges). The "mini-ashtray" JHPs feed in my Bulgarian Mak but might not feed in others. I load ball at the top of the magazine in case I have to rack by hand.

Blazers have what I consider better bullet design and always feed. I'd use them.

TCW has a hefty recoil: I doubt that the extra 15 grains would make much difference. S&B ball worked well.

I am not fond of Norinco ammo because of reliability concerns.

Seems that fine-tuning the loads won't gain much in 9x18...no obvious dogs or gems. If in doubt, I'd go with ball though.
 
A couple of years ago, Handguns magazine published these results after testing 9x18 with 10% gelatin:
Vel(ft/sec) Energy(ft-lbs) Depth(in) Diam.(in)
Magsafe/51 1700 327 8.5 frag.
Gold Dot/90 1050 220 7.2 .75
Cor-Bon/95 1000 211 9.3 .40
Hornady/95 1000 211 9.2 .58
Norinco
FMJ/95 1060 237 22.0 .36
 
Excellent info and well thought out opinion all. Obviously, while both penetration and expansion are important in "stopping a threat", there is a minimum amount of penetration that must be achieved. Am I correct? At what point (i.e. 12", 10", etc.) is the lack of penetration such an over-riding concern that expansion has to take a back seat? If I saw the last table correctly, the Norinco FMJ had 22" of penetration which seems too much, while perhaps the others seem to be too little penetration? Any comments?
 
if you have a good shot, the only penitration you need it the two inches depth from your sturnum to your heart. however this is not always the case, so you need to look at the size of a large male human, measure the width from outside of the the arms held at their sides, split that in half(to the center of the chest) and add a few inches(to completely penitrate the heart)and call that optimal. i am 6'4" and have a football players build, in my case this equates to about 19 inches. on most it might be around 12 inches. so anywhere in between should be about right.
 
Bullfrog is correct. In lesser powered cartridges you are better off going with FMJ ammunition than JHP due to penetration issues. Toss in any possible reliability issues feeding JHP's and the answer is simple. Do what you think is best.

The 9x18 is closer to the .380 in performance than the 9mm.
 
I have to concur with the posters that suggest the use of ball in the MAK, I'm a firm believer in ball for penetration in lower powered handguns. Don't be fooled by the heavy recoil of the MAk, its a blowback and gives up 150 to 200 foot pounds of energy to the 9 x 19.
 
another thaught, use flat point cast lead bullets. penitration should be pretty close to ball, but they will cut a decient wound channel. i don't have the time, but if you add a , --say 24 caliber meplat to the end of a horniday cast bullet(flatten with a hammer before you size it, or cut it off with a spure cutter) and add it up in the wound channel program from http://www.beartoothbullets.com/
and figure about 900 fps, this should tell you how big a hole it would put into a person.
 
I just got my maks and am quite pleased. I haven't shot them yet as the ammo I ordered hasn't arrived and none of the local shops have 9x18 in stock.

I will be using ball ammo for carry because I select my ammo to handle a BIG bad guy not a little one. Over penetration on a smallish goblin, while not desirable, is far better than under penetration on 300 lb monster who could squash me if he managed to get his hands on me.

You might say that if I am concerned about large criminals then I should have chosen a more powerful cartrige. The reality is that I needed a small concealable handgun that was affordable, reliable, and durable.
 
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