Who’s got the correct Makarov bullet diameter?

J

jski

New member
SAAMI says the correct 9x18 bullet diameter is .365”.
Hornady says .365”
Speer says .364”
Sierra says .363”
The Poles say .3635”
The Ukrainians say .364”
Not sure what the Russians say?
 
SAAMI specs do not say that .365" is "the" correct bullet diameter. It's .365" with a minus tolerance of .0010", which means anything between .364" and .365" inches is "correct" (within specification).

But SAAMI is an American organization, that establishes standards for American sporting arms and ammunition manufacturers. Obviously, the 9mm Makarov is a European design, and the original specification was in the metric system. The SAAMI cartridge drawings include metric equivalents, but we don't know if the metric values were converted from inches, or if the inch values were converted from metric values.

.363" is out of spec according to SAAMI. I'm surprised that Sierra would use that as their value.
 
This may be an older Sierra product but it's .363" in diameter.

BTW, Lyman's manual shows .363".

PS> Is someone colluding with the Russians here? Those crafty devils!
 

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The definitive answer is to slug your barrel and use a bullet that's .001" larger than the grooves. However ... I know what a Makarov is, but I've never seen one up close and personal. Does the 9mm Mak use polygonal rifling?
 
The bores vary quite a bit , manufacturing tolerances stack and there is really no way to predict what your guns bore diameter is.
It's barrel slugging time . After that you will know exactly what you have and the bullet size needed .
Gary
 
I recently acquired a Polish P-64. So, naturally I bought Polish ammo made by Mesko which is a 1st ammo manufacturer. They supply the Polish military. Seemed reasonable that the Poles would known best what works with their gun. Now that’s the .3635” ammo.
 
"Makarov is actually a 9.22mm, using an odd-sized .363" diameter bullet. Having been manufactured in a large number of Communist Bloc countries, bore sizes running from .362" to .366" may be encountered"
Sierra's latest Makarov entry.
 
Slug your barrel.
"...Sierra says..." Kind of moot since they don't make any bullet that's even close to that. Don't appear to be any .363" bullets made either.
.364" and .365", cast and jacketed, are the easiest to come by.
"...what works with their gun..." Isn't their pistol. And .3635" is considered to be .364".
 
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