Sizing for 9x18 Makarov ammo

[Jal5]

Berrys Plated bullets for my 9x18 are .364 and feed & shoot fine. My Lee mould lead boolits 365-95-1R drop at .366-.367 using my digital caliper (don't have a micrometer). The mould box shows .365 as boolit dia. Alloy is range scrap. Lee doesn't have a sizer in that range without having them make up a special order one. What should I do?

I am thinking I would make up a dummy round and see if it chambers in that gun as cast. If so, try them as cast. If not looks like a special order sizing push through die from Lee?

Thanks.

Joe

[BCall]

If it would chamber as cast, that's what I would do. If you need a sizer, contact buckshot, he can get you one faster and better for about the same price as a custom Lee one.

[zxcvbob]

I'm still using commercial cast bullets; they are sized .365" with a thin ring of blue lube. They work perfect in my CZ82. If your boolits are dropping .366 or even .367, try them without sizing. (My .410 Lee mold drops bullets at .414" and they load just fine without sizing. I was afraid they would bulge the cases and not chamber)

What lube are you going to use if you're not going to size them? Alox? Rooster Jacket? Johnsons Wax?

[Jal5]

I will try the dummy round in the chamber and see what happens.
I have Darr lube I can pan lube them or JPW for tumble lube. Just ordered some speed green from BullShop too.

Is Buckshot's a push through die? Where do I find him on here?
Joe

[JIMinPHX]

When I got a 9x18 pistol, I bought that same Lee mold. Mine dropped around .368". I then ordered a .365" size die from Lee. when I pushed my boolits through it, they came out .366. fortunately, I pulled out a ball mic before making an irate call to Lee. The custom die was right on size, my alloy was just springing back about .001. When I pushed straight lead through the die, it came out .365, like I had asked for.

As it turns out, I later slugged my barrel (should have done that first) & found out that .366" was a good diameter for my gun, so everything worked out fine for me.

Those 9x18 guns tend to vary quite a bit in chamber & bore dimension. some of them are not real round either. You really need to slug your gun & find out what you have. If your slug comes out oval, then size your boolits for best fit on the largest part of the slug.

Lee quoted me many weeks delivery time & actually delivered in roughly half the time promised. I was satisfied with that purchase. If I had known at the time that Buckshoot also makes custom size dies, I probably would have gone to him first though.

My advice is as follows-
1) slug your bore & determine if you need a sizer.
2) if you do need a sizer, contact Buckshot
3) if Buckshot is unavailable, order a custom sizer from Lee
4) have fun shooting that thing. Most of them are very accurate

If you need to contact Buckshot, you can try sending him a message from here - http://castboolits.gunloads.com/member.php?u=67

[jerry6stl]

My CZ-82 handles cast bullet reloads with the Lee bullet "AS-CAST."
I use Lee liquid lube to coat the bullets, but don't size the bullets. The 9mm Makarov is a good round.

JERRY

[Jal5]

jerry how big in diameter are those dropping from the mould?

I made up the dummy round and it cycles fine, feeding from the clip and ejects without hanging up.

Joe

[Mak Rov]

Joe,
I did as BCall said, "If it would chamber as cast, that's what I would do. If you need a sizer, contact buckshot, he can get you one faster and better for about the same price as a custom Lee one. "
I had excellent results both ways, no leading and reliable too.
I was very pleased with the .365 sizing die from Buckshot too.
Ken

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I cast the same boolit for my SIL's 9x18 KBI Mak clone
they drop .366 to .367
I don't size them.
tumble Lube with 45-45-10
push them with powerpistol
Jon

[helg]

PM Buckshot, and he will send you bullet sizer die for the diameter that you ask next day after receiving payment. I use his sizer for my Makarov casts.

[Wayne Smith]

FWIW Buckshot will make them in either H&I (Lyman/RCBS) or Lee styles.

[Jal5]

re. slugging the bore-
has anyone removed this barrel on the CZ82?
I could use some instructions.

I did put the dummy round in the barrel, but it sticks in there a little bit on the way out compared to my other ammo loaded with Berry's plated and Silver Bear. Both of those fall right out.


Thanks.
Joe

[fatelk]

The barrel is fixed to the frame, but the slide comes off easy enough.

1. Remove the magazine and make sure the pistol is unloaded

2. Pull down on the front of the trigger guard. It should release with a pop and hang down

3. Pull the slide all the way to the rear, lift the back of it up off the frame, then slide it off the front of the gun

[Jal5]

Thanks fatelk but I got that far already. I take it the barrel cannot be removed from the frame then to slug it? That makes it more challenging to set it up so that I can ram the slug through it! If anyone has done that before I could use some ideas of how to set this up.

Joe

[fatelk]

Sorry, I never removed the barrel from mine. I assume it's pressed in as well as pinned.

I think I just set mine up on the edge of my bench with the breach down against the wood, then tapped the slug through.

IIRC, I used a soft .31 caliber ball, smashed it down to about .38 or .40 (I forget), put some lube in the barrel and tapped it through with a hammer and a punch wrapped in tape to protect the bore. I think it went through fairly easy.

Here's my old thread: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=91454

I see from that thread that my bore is .3667, and my bullets as cast are about .367". I shoot them pan lubed and unsized. They shoot and function great with no leading.

[9.3X62AL]

The Maks do vary a bit. I have almost 20 years' worth of enjoyment from my East German example, having landed it in late '91 or early '92. Grooves are .364", throat not quite .365". There were ZERO components available for the first couple years I owned the little monster, so I got a then-custom die set, sizing die (.365"), and boolit mold from RCBS/Huntington's--total cost for which almost matched the pistol's purchase price. The Road Less Traveled has lots of tollbooths.

I used the die set's expander die to finish the trimmed 9mm Luger casings (.750" to .705"), seated primers, and poured powder. I seated the castings atop 380 ACP max powder charges--then +5%, and +10% weights using WW-231 and Unique. EVERY round fed, fired, extracted, and ejected flawlessly. YEAH! The loads also shot very accurately. The +10% loads were pretty stout, and flung the brass with vigor. Later chronography showed my 100 grain RN castings to be running 1050-1075 FPS. A 15% boost to high-end 380 ACP ballistics, in other words.

The Makarov is what the 380 ACP pretends to be, the upper limit of blowback operation's design envelope. I haven't owned a 380 since about 1996, and likely won't again.

[badbob454]

Berrys Plated bullets for my 9x18 are .364 and feed & shoot fine. My Lee mould lead boolits 365-95-1R drop at .366-.367 using my digital caliper (don't have a micrometer). The mould box shows .365 as boolit dia. Alloy is range scrap. Lee doesn't have a sizer in that range without having them make up a special order one. What should I do?

I am thinking I would make up a dummy round and see if it chambers in that gun as cast. If so, try them as cast. If not looks like a special order sizing push through die from Lee?
Thanks............................................ .................................................. .................................................. .................
Joe.this was in midway for sale check it out if you need to size, mine is an east german mak.. nice gun
.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ......Saeco Lubri-Sizer Lube and Sizer Die 365 Diameter
Product #: 746786
Status: Available
5 stars$36.99 .................................................. .................................................. .............................Saeco Lubri-Sizer Lube and Sizer Die 366 Diameter
Product #: 747383
Status: Available
5 stars$36.99