Cast for a makarov

[brewer12345]

Loading for my mak has been kinda low on my priority list, but I lucked into some brass so I am thinking about it. I slugged it and got .3655 to .366. Seems I need a .367 boolits. Anyone make molds that fat?

[Outpost75]

Accurate has several molds for the 9x18 MAK

http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=37-100S-D.png

http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=37-115M-D.png

http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=37-125T-D.png

[dondiego]

LEE also has a mold that I have used to good effect if you want to spend less. Starline has brass and after converting 150 9MM Parabellum to MAK, they were a bargain.

[brewer12345]

How big do the lee molds actually cast?

[9.3X62AL]

I was an early subscriber to the Mak Attack--c. 1991. I have used an RCBS RN mould of 100 grain weight (92/6/2 alloy) that casts at a fat .366". I size/lube to .365" and these shoot well in the East German Makarov I have (.364" throat). The 9mm Makarov is The 380 From H--L, and 1100 FPS is the top end with 95-100 grain bullets. The late Frank Barnes wrote in his Cartridges of the World that the Makarov operates "at the limit of blowback system intensity", and the top end loads buck and snort just a bit. Nicely enough, these same cast bullets will run the pistol when launched at 925-950 FPS reliably and ejection vigor is moderated. Fortuitously, these same 9mm Mak castings do fine work in my 9.3 x 62 rifle as low-intensity varmint bullets--add enough shotgun powder to prompt 1100-1200 FPS, and you can take your large/mean critter rifle afield during the spring to whack small varmints. For that use, I lube in the rifle's .367" H&I die, and there is a little polishing of the bullet sidewalls at that dimension--not complete sizing engagement, but snug enough so that lube leakage around the bullet sidewall under pressure is not an issue. LLA would likely do just as well, but I haven't tried it.

[dondiego]

How big do the lee molds actually cast?

Mine drop at 0.365" with 50/50 COWW/soft lead. I don't size and just tumble lube them. They weigh ~95 grains. They might work in your pistol with softer alloy or you could Beagle it and try.

[W.R.Buchanan]

My Lee mould drops at .366 and I am powder coating those so they have to be sized down I am looking for about .367-8 as my most used guns are CZ82's with true polygonal rifling. IE: a twisted Polygon.

I also have a Saeco Mould that I got for a few bucks that the guy had HP'd and probably had $250 in. They have to be PC"s as they come out small.

The Lee mould is the way to go for these, and I converted 500 9mm's in about 6 hours. That's all I'll probably ever shoot.

Randy

[poppy42]

I load for both my Bulgarian Makarov and my Polish P 64 using the Lee .365 95 grn mold over 4 gems of win 231 with virtually no leading. The Mak shoots the cast as dropped with no sizing just fine. No leading. The P 64 however, requires that the bullets be sized to .363 to cycle properly. The Makarov also shoots the sized bullets with no leading both pistols are extremely accurate. With this load. My cast Boolits are pure wheel weights. I also make my own brass from trimmed 9x19 ( Luger brass ). I know this defies logic that factor Boolits are .364 cast should be at least.365 to avoid substantial leading but I can’t argue with results. I’ve put over 5000 hand loads through each of these pistols. I truly love my Makarov it probably the most dependable fire arm I own. Sometimes I think I could almost load it with rocks and get decent results! The P64 is equally dependable although it takes some to get use to with a20+ pound da trigger pull and a 2 pound sa trigger pull, a tendency toward a nasty slide bite if your not use to it, and it could certainly be considered snappy by the faint of heart. As for the 9x18 round, I wish there were new weapons chambered for it. I’ll take it over .380 or .32 any day of the week and twice on Sundays. I hope I don’t get in trouble with the mod’s over this ( mentioning other forums on cast bullets ) but check out Makarov.com and p64resource.com. I found the Makarov site a little snooty for me but the p64 site is a lot like this one in the fact that the members are always willing to help with advice. There is a specific topic about favorite loads. I hope this helps you out. I’m certainly no expert but I’ve been loading these rounds for a while so if you can think I can help with anything send me a pm. Heck if you want to try my casts maybe we can work something out.
Good luck and have fun with your Makarov.
Ray

[Pb Burner]

I load for 2 Bulgarian maks. I bought a Lee mold just to try out when I started casting. Using mix of range lead and wheel weights I get boolits around 97-98 grns. Measure between .365-.366". I load them as cast, tumble lubed with 45-45-10, two coats. Some loaded in MAK brass but mostly in trimmed down luger brass.
I've never slugged the barrels, just started casting, loading and shooting. No problems, no leading, and very accurate for a small surplus auto pistol. The two pistols I have, have been dead nuts reliable, amazing little guns. I usually use Titegroup and load them about 750fps, lots of fun. I wish I would've bought a few more of them, and different variants back when they were cheap!

[Grmps]

I found out quickly that it's a serious pain to separate the nine by 18s Makarov from the 9 x 19 Luger's.
So I got rid of what Makarov brass cases I had and converted a bunch of nickel 9 x 19 Luger cases to 9 x 18 Makarov.
Now sorting is easy, all the nickel cases are Mack's and all the brass cases are Luger.
The Lee mold produces bullets that are as accurate as I can shoot :-)

[RU shooter]

About 10 years ago I had a nice Russian military model marked and imported as a Bulgarian . I shot mostly jacketed 100 gr serria FN in it but I did stumble into some 100 gr swc cast bullets for it they just had a short nose maybe 3/16 long but fed perfectly and were as accurate as the serria's wish I knew who made the mold and even more still had that pistol .

[poppy42]

I found out quickly that it's a serious pain to separate the nine by 18s Makarov from the 9 x 19 Luger's.
So I got rid of what Makarov brass cases I had and converted a bunch of nickel 9 x 19 Luger cases to 9 x 18 Makarov.
Now sorting is easy, all the nickel cases are Mack's and all the brass cases are Luger.
The Lee mold produces bullets that are as accurate as I can shoot :-)

I use Cheep Red nail Polish on headstamp to cover up Luger headstamp. Easy to sort, easy to find at the range, it stays on for a couple loading/ cleanings in the tumbler. And if I should miss a couple at the range and someone else picks them up they know ( or should know if they reload) that there’s something different about the cases. And if another reloaders should try and run them through a 9x19 (Luger sizer) he should certainly notice the difference. If they don’t they should revaluation there reloading practices. Almost like trying to run a 9mm through a .380 sizing die but not quit that bad.

[Yodogsandman]

NOE makes a nice mold for them.

http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?cPath=71_414&products_id=3067

[Tonto]

I tried the Lee style designed for the 380 and powder coated it three times to bring the diameter up and they loaded and shot fine. no chrono data or accuracy testing but they went bang, cycled the slide and left the barrel spotless. recovered bullets had full rifling engagement. presented as an option....