For a defensive cartridge would you suggest FMJ or HP? A dear friend of mine bought a Makarov and was asking me about it.....on my own I have been using FMJ.

Your thoughts everyone?

Randy

FMJ. The gun is basically a .380 ballistically. It is NOT “in the middle” between 9mm Luger and .380, it’s actually much closer to the .380 despite what some people think. The guns were designed to feed FMJs as well, not hollow points. There aren’t many hollow point 9 Makarovs around anyway and most tests don’t show very impressive results. Many that carry these guns carry them with ball ammo, for good reason.

if you can find and afford enough hp ammo to make sure it functions go for it, but like JayFramer framer said, they were made for FMJ and that is what most function best with...

For defensive use the first critical standard must always be reliability. A pistol that functions perfectly with FMJ ammo is preferable to any weapon that does not do so. Hollow-point ammo at 9Mak performance levels is little more than wishful thinking anyway.

By the way, I think very highly of the Makarov pistols. I have had the opportunity to use Russian, Bulgarian, and East German guns and found them all to be very good and reliable pistols. The 9Mak cartridge is no hot-rod in performance, but it is nothing to sneeze at for up close and personal defensive use either.

I second Lobo. The Makarov is an excellent and reliable pistol. Not particularly impressive compared to more modern weapons, but they are rugged and dependable little guns that are surprisingly accurate.

So far, my CZ 83 has been flawless in nearly 1500 rounds. What a gun!!!
His P64 has about 300 rounds , again totally flawless.
Randy

My Makarovs and CZ82 both function 100% with whatever cheap commie steel case ammo I feed through them, ball or HP.

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Only a cold warrior

While 9mm Makarov would not be my first choice in a SD round, I would not feel the round was lacking in ability to do the job. In the past, I used my East German Makarov for concealed carry.

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OGCA Member.

9x18mm (9mm Makarov) 115 Grain Hard Cast Flat Nose – Underwood Ammo

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No school like the old school.

Depends, does anybody load XTPs for 9x18?

If so, then get whatever ammo uses XTP bullets. It's a solid performer in .380 ACP, so it will perform in 9x18 which is basically .380 ACP's Russian cousin.

Otherwise, Federal Hydra Shok is an okay choice as well.

It's trendy to poo poo .380 ACP and 9mm Makarov these days, but most folks who do so unironically swear by Standard Pressure .38 Special and 9mm Luger as if they're substantially more powerful.

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Shooting Comfort is bilateral.

The Makarov is a less-than-ideal self defense round. Penetration is marginal. As many have noted above most of them are more reliable with FMJ rounds. The couple of guys I know that actually carry them put a hollow point in the chamber and FMJ to follow up. (I own two and they both feed JHP ammo just fine.)

The 8 Mak's I have shot fed anything you gave them. 4 Bulgarian
circle 10's, 2 East Germans and 2 Russian IMEZ IJ-70's.

When we were trying them out, Russian 94gr jhp's went thru 3
2 liter bottles, lodging in the 4th and opening up to 50 caliber.
These were Russian Barnaul rounds at 5 yards.

Right now J&G sales out of Prescott AZ has Silver Bear JHP's.
They are cheap enough your buddy could use them for practice
You might have your buddy get a couple boxes and see if they
run and mushroom out of their gun:


9x18 Makarov Silver Bear 94gr JHP Hollow Point Ammo, 50rd box.

Lucky Gunners test didn't like them so much:

https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/poc...esults/#9mmMak

I'm sure the Buffalo Bore stuff would run also.

FWIW if you want the best of the best get an East German.

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never get out of the boat

I’ve carried a Bulgarian Makarov for almost 20 years. I used to use CorBons, but recently switched to Buffalo Bore JHP’s. I wouldn’t fault someone for carrying FMJ’s, though. I’ve never had a malfunction with any of my Makarovs, and one has over 7000 lead reloads through it. I carry the Makarov not because it’s an inexpensive option, but because I like it.

I've had a Makarov or two over the years and found them to be very reliable... Here comes the but... I own and carry a Kimber Micro 9 that is also very reliable in 9mm and feeds fires and ejects the 9s of all varieties just fine. For the additional cost I will just use and carry it

My CZ82 feeds everything so I have some Buffalo Bore HPs dutch loaded with some Russian copper washed FMJs that are hotter than most everything else I've shot.

I don't carry it much anymore since I have a 16.8 oz Kahr CW40 that will get it done and is almost as accurate.

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