Powders for the 9mm Mak

[RU shooter]

I've just about gotten all my brass ready to go to reload for my makarov, I will be loading a cast 100 gr RN and 100 gr serria FP. any suggestions on powders? I'm assuming medium burning like Unique, AA#5, HS6 or would faster powders like w231,bullseye work better ? Just trying to make a decent soft shooting load for killing paper approx.900-950 range.


Thanks,Tim

[JIMinPHX]

I've had good luck with 3 gr of Bullseye.

[mtnman31]

I have had good results with both WW231 and Power Pistol.
I like 4.3gr of WW231 behind a XTP jacketed hollow point. This is a fairly stout load in the Mak - 1100 fps in my CZ.
I also have had good results with 4.5gr of Power Pistol behind the same bullet. This is a lighter load around 940 fps.
Unfortunately, I don't have any winners for cast loads yet. There is a group buy forming for a 9mm Mak mold, check it out if you have not already seen it.

[billyb]

I use the lee mold castings with 5 grains accurate #5, this load works well with the hornadyxtp's also. I also use a lyman mold with 3.4 grains 231, in my east german mak.

[mike in co]

vv 3n37 with sierra 100 oal .965, cci500, aprox 1050fps in a mak

safe in my gun

work up in yours

mike in co

[Rocky Raab]

Here's a link to the article I wrote for the January 1992 issue of American Rifleman. This was the first article on loading the Mak published in the US. It has a lot of useful info in it, mostly still valid. Load table at the end.

http://www.reloadingroom.com/index_files/Makarov.htm

[azrednek]

Rocky, excellent article.

Chances are good I passed over it when it was originally published. Never thought I would reload 9X18 simply because loaded ammo was so cheaply priced. I'm starting to get serious now about loading it. Got my dies, some brass and I'm now I'm searching for molds. If time permits, I might try trimming some 9MM Luger brass. I see a real nightmare though trying to keep the two 9MM's brass separated.

I live in Phoenix and with J&G showing up at gunshows with bargains from East Europe, I'm starting to accumulate 9X18 handguns. My latest is a Polish P-64.

[Rocky Raab]

I hear ya on the confusion. If I also reloaded for 9mmP, I would definitely not trim any cases with that headstamp to use in the Mak. I have a 9mmP, but I shoot only factory ammo in it and choose not to reload for it precisely because I DO load for the Mak.

Thanks for the compliment. Glad you enjoyed the read.

[JIMinPHX]

My latest is a Polish P-64.

Don't load that thing up too hot. It's a nice little pocket gun, but it's not as robust as the full size maks are. I tried some 120 grain Wolf HP factory ammo in one of those once. The side bar that has the ejector built into it bent badly & the gun stopped working correctly. That part would not be easy to make a replacement for & I'm not sure what the availability of spares is.

As long as you don't get too horney with the powder charge, that is a sweet shooting little piece that should last a long time. I can't believe that you can get a well fit little gun like that with a chromed & polished chamber & barrel for the price they go for. Accuracy is good too. I can hit golf balls at 7-yards with one of them like clockwork. It's a nice comfy little carry piece too. A Jay-Pee medium auto IWB holster fits it like a glove.

I haven't priced them in a while, but SOG used to have the best prices on them. I don't know what J&G was charging. Everywhere that I've seen them, they have been a great value. It's kind of like getting a PPK for less than half the price.

[mike in co]

a 120 gr hp.......guess i missed those. off the top of my head( there is very little hair there)...that would have to be a low velocity to make pressure.......mak is only 21kpsi........
i shoot xtp's and sie 100 fltpoints..... i have seen 105s.....but a 120 ????ouch.....

mike in co


Don't load that thing up too hot. It's a nice little pocket gun, but it's not as robust as the full size maks are. I tried some 120 grain Wolf HP factory ammo in one of those once. The side bar that has the ejector built into it bent badly & the gun stopped working correctly. That part would not be easy to make a replacement for & I'm not sure what the availability of spares is.

As long as you don't get too horney with the powder charge, that is a sweet shooting little piece that should last a long time. I can't believe that you can get a well fit little gun like that with a chromed & polished chamber & barrel for the price they go for. Accuracy is good too. I can hit golf balls at 7-yards with one of them like clockwork. It's a nice comfy little carry piece too. A Jay-Pee medium auto IWB holster fits it like a glove.

I haven't priced them in a while, but SOG used to have the best prices on them. I don't know what J&G was charging. Everywhere that I've seen them, they have been a great value. It's kind of like getting a PPK for less than half the price.

[JIMinPHX]

a 120 gr hp.......guess i missed those. off the top of my head( there is very little hair there)...that would have to be a low velocity to make pressure.......mak is only 21kpsi........
i shoot xtp's and sie 100 fltpoints..... i have seen 105s.....but a 120 ????ouch.....

mike in co

I just pulled my down-range log pages out & took a look. The 120's averaged 1015fps. 95 grain ball averaged about 1050. That's not very different. The 120's felt too hot for the gun & after about 5 or 6 rounds, the gun started to bind up. I have the partial box of 120's in front of me now. They were lot #D 003-05. The SKU# was 4561191821. These things were HP, but they didn't open up at all. They are hard as hard can be. They even went through a 2 x 4 without expanding. The hollow area just packed up with wood & the whole thing punched right through. This was Wolf brand factory ammo, not some crazy hand loads. It does not seem suitable for a small straight blow back gun.

[azrednek]

I haven't priced them in a while, but SOG used to have the best prices on them. I don't know what J&G was charging. Everywhere that I've seen them, they have been a great value. It's kind of like getting a PPK for less than half the price.

SOG is usually a bit less but have to pay freight and a dealer to receive it. With J&G I get nailed for sales tax but no freight or dealer's fee. The problem with J&G is the sales people. They gang up on me, hold me down and beat me into buying a gun every time. It all started with Turk and later Yugo Mausers and now it is 9X18 pistols.

[mike in co]

I just pulled my down-range log pages out & took a look. The 120's averaged 1015fps. 95 grain ball averaged about 1050. That's not very different. The 120's felt too hot for the gun & after about 5 or 6 rounds, the gun started to bind up. I have the partial box of 120's in front of me now. They were lot #D 003-05. The SKU# was 4561191821. These things were HP, but they didn't open up at all. They are hard as hard can be. They even went through a 2 x 4 without expanding. The hollow area just packed up with wood & the whole thing punched right through. This was Wolf brand factory ammo, not some crazy hand loads. It does not seem suitable for a small straight blow back gun.

run the numbers for recoil and i think you will see that it is about 50% more recoil with that 120 over the 95. its mass squared....a big diff.

mike in co

[Rocky Raab]

Yup, I'd agree strongly that a 120 at 1000 is probably excessive for a blow-back pistol. I don't know of a locked-breech gun ever made for the Mak, but if there is one, or a sub-gun made for it, that'd be the only thing I'd use to shoot that ammo.

When the Rooskies designed the Mak, they wanted to get all they could safely get out of a blow-back, and they ended up with a 95-gr bullet at just under 1000 fps. I'd rate anything hotter than that as too much for long-term use in such a pistol.

[JIMinPHX]

I don't know anything about running the math on the recoil, but I do know from experience that it did sting my hand much more than normal. There is a reason that the rest of that box of ammo is still sitting on my shelf.