9x18mm Makarov

[R.C. Hatter]

:coffeecom Is there some folks on the forum with load and component information for a 9x18mm Bulgarian Makarov pistol ? I know that Speer, Sierra, and Hornady make jacketed bullets, but nobody seems to have any. I know 9mm Luger brass can be resized & trimmed for brass. Does anyone cast for the 9x18mm ? Any information is appreciated.

[TCLouis]

Bunch of folks bought a mold, most sent them back to help Lee with their quality control.

I have formed a lot of brass from 9mm, have yet to cast the first boolit or load a round.

Hopefully of the 25 or so ordering the mold, someone has done something with the 9X18.

I don't know about your MAK, but my CZ82 slings brass EVERYWHERE and at great distance.

Some sort of brass catcher net is in order if one starts shooting the reloadable brass.

[R.C. Hatter]

:coffee:Thanks for your response. I'm disappointed as I thought more folks would respond. If you are right about a bunch of people handing their Lee moulds back to Lee, it serves them right for poor quality control. I have a lot of 9mm Luger brass and plan on re-working it to 9x18 Makarov as Starline is out till November. I didn't buy the pistol to look at, so I'll have to get some commercial cast bullets and modify a sizing die to .364" or .365". Forster makes a .364" trimmer pilot, and I can buy enough Sellier & Belloit, Privi-Partisan,or Fiochhi boxer primed, reloadable brass cased ammunition to get started. Thanks again for your response.

[mtnman31]

I received one of the molds from Lee and it was cut off center. I returned it and promptly received a perfect mold back. I have a pile of bullets cast up but haven't done much real testing with them. Just took a few out plinking - no real testing or comparing. First impression is good though. I don't recall what my load was but I have Starline 9x18 brass and also some used S&B brass.

[billyb]

I also sent mine back and received a new mold. Good boolit, very accurate. I used bullseye and 231. Dont have the book handy so I will not quote data. Lyman has a mold, funkey looking boolit, Lee has a round nose boolit that shoots good in my east german Mak. When you do start to load for the Mak make sure your rounds will feed through your mags. Bill

[TCLouis]

If It slings my manufactured brass the way it sends the Russki stuff, I may not do as much plinking as I had planned. I have yet to figure a pattern of ejected cases other than FAR from the shooter.

I need to add that my 9X18 gun is a CZ82, not a MAK

[Box13]

I have a 6g lee semi-wadcutter mold for my makarov.Weird looking to see a swc in an auto case but it shoots and feeds just fine.I have data here somewhere.If you nee it Ill look it up.As to brass ejection...mine seems to fling the brass out at such a speed that it goes into another dimention.....Robin

[R.C. Hatter]

:coffee: Thanks to all responders ! I know more now than I did before. What diameter does the "good" Lee mould drop at using linotype or a lino-WW mix ? What diameter do you size to, and what with ?

[yarro]

Have you trimmed down some 9mm brass to see if it will chamber in your gun? The info I have states that 9mm brass will not chamber in all guns when trimmed to Makrov length. Base diameter of 9x18mm Makarov is 0.389 inches. 9x19mm Parabellum is 0.392 inches. I just kept picking up S&B 9x18mm brass at the range until I had a half-gallon of it. I have only reloaded jacketed so far since I split a large number of Russian slugs for it with a friend many years ago. Will be switching to cast once those bullets run out. My Bulgy throws brass far, but in a predicable manner.

-yarro

[JIMinPHX]

I got the standard round nose mold from Lee & had no problems with it. I also got Lee to make me a custom size die. They delivered the die in half the time that they promised. It too was good right out of the box.

I've been using Star Line brass that I bought a while back with good results. The last time that I was in Cabella's, they had a good supply of S&B loaded ammo in 9 x 18. I believe that their S&B ammo has reloadable boxer primed brass.

Be sure to slug your bore. The guns in that caliber tend to vary quite a bit.

[Sprue]

Checkout this Post, it contains Load Data for the Makarov

BTW.. I've got a coffee can full sized and lubed w/alox. They are SWC from my 6 Cav - Special Ordered by the late makarov.com store/folks. I would trade some of these boolits for some 45C , 45/70 brass or K,L,N frame grips or other.... If you're interested PM me.

Hope this helps

Roger

[9.3X62AL]

I've been using an RCBS 100 grain RN mould since 1992, and it shoots WONDERFULLY in my East German Mak. Use 380 ACP data as start loads, and increase about 5%-10% from there.

[leadman]

My second Lee mold from the last group buy is very good. I bought the Lee trim gauge for the 9X18 Mak and turned down the o.d. to fit in a fired 9 x 19 Para case. I deprime with either a 9X19 die or use the deprime rod from my Lee 7.65 Arg hand kit.
If you expand the brass first with the 9 X 18 die sometimes the case isn't expanded all the way. The 9X19 is very tapered, while the 9X18 is straighter, so the trim gauge won't fit in the expanded 9X19.
I size to .365" with a Lyman .363" die I honed out.
You will find if you load to the low side for powder the brass is easier to find as it won't be thrown as far. Accuracy is usually better also.

[beemer]

My Lee pours at .368 and close to 100 grains,I shoot as cast with Lee lube. I have used 9X19 brass with no problems but as stated before it doesn't expand the full length but the first firing takes care of that.

I use the heavier recoil spring from Wolf and stay away from full power loads. It is easier on everything and the brass stays in the back yard. I have also had good results with W231 powder.

Dave

[yarro]

S&B ammo is boxer as almost all the cases that I have scrounged are that headstamp.

-yarro

[Freightman]

Have you trimmed down some 9mm brass to see if it will chamber in your gun? The info I have states that 9mm brass will not chamber in all guns when trimmed to Makrov length. Base diameter of 9x18mm Makarov is 0.389 inches. 9x19mm Parabellum is 0.392 inches. I just kept picking up S&B 9x18mm brass at the range until I had a half-gallon of it. I have only reloaded jacketed so far since I split a large number of Russian slugs for it with a friend many years ago. Will be switching to cast once those bullets run out. My Bulgy throws brass far, but in a predicable manner.

-yarro
I have shot thousands of rounds of converted 9mm brass with no problems, let me tell you what I found out. Use fired brass unsized from your 9mm, trim to length and size in your Makarov die camphor the mouth then load.

[Thin Man]

R.C.

The June, 2010 issue of Handloader magazine had an article by Mike Venturino where he compared the 32acp, 380acp and 9x18 Makarov. He used a FEG PA63 (Hungarian) pistol for the Makarov test. His cast boolit was linotype alloy cast in an RCBS 9mm-MAK mold, sized at .365, but I did ot find a statement of the overall loaded length for the cartridge. His load combinations, with comments, follow.

3.1 Bullseye 1,061 fps good group (1.5" = good)
3.4 Titegroup 1,066 fps good group
3.5 W-231 1,056 fps good group
4.0 Unique 1,101 fps hottest load, good group
3.3 AA-2 961 fps best group of entire project

Hope this data helps you.

Thin Man

[Gee_Wizz01]

I have the recent group buy mold, and I got a good one first time around. It drops boolits at .368 and they work ok in my Russian Mak. I also have the Lee RN mold and it shoots good also. I have tried 231, Bullseye, Unique and AA #5, and I get best accuracy and velocity from #5 and 231. I have used Starline, Hornady, MFS and trimmed 9mm cases. Most of my Starline cases must be in orbit because every time I shoot they disappear from the face of the earth. Now I just use trimmed 9MM cases and I have never had any problems. I also used the heavier Wolff springs, which do help. The group buy mold seems to e very accurate and feeds well.

G

[9.3X62AL]

.980"-.985" overall length with the RCBS boolit works fine in my East German example.

[txpete]

I have a magma mak 95 gr lrn mold for my master caster.I size .365 and use reformed 9mm luger brass.
I use commerical brass for forming the mak brass as it is thinner and easier to trim and no crimped primer pocket.when I first started shooting maks no one made brass for them.
with the above bullet and 3.0 grs bullseye and a win sp primer it is a very accurate load in my east german and bulgarian mak.

pete

[Wayne Smith]

Miha made a.380/ 9mmMak Cramer style mold hollow or flat point and last I saw he had some extras in both 9mmMak and in .380. Go on down to the Group Buy results section and find the post on the Miha mold. If he still has any grab one. I'm waiting on a sizer die from Buckshot so I can lube and size some. It's a nice boolit. Or go to his website, his extras are usually listed there as well.

[mastercast.com]

Available at mastercast.com

[TJD]

I see that I'm two years late here but if any one is still interested.

I load for three Makarov hand guns and a PA63 also in 9x18 plus a buddy has a PA63. Three of my girls use them to repel borders (CCW). I have been using bullets by Berry Bullets. They work well with HP38 and Unique. We shoot them a lot. I have yet to cast bullets but that is on my to-do list.
I make brass out of 9mm Luger. Start with once fired brass that is “Un-Sized”. I use the Lee decapping die to remove the primer. I trim them with a Lee trimmer that is chucked up in a drill. If the pilot is too tight lube it with JB bore cleaner and it will polish to fit. De-bur and polish the cases. Next size the cases with a Lee 9x18 die. The Lee powder thru die will open it enough to start the bullets. Before these cases are fire formed they look like a figure eight. But they fire just fine and never give me any trouble. I color the bases so I can tell the difference in my home made brass and 9mm Luger range brass.
Imported ammo does sling the brass to parts unknown. That is good news for me, there are people who shoot their 9x18s at our range and they don’t find their brass, I do. My reloads don’t fly so far away. I don’t try to push the pressure curve on them

[zaphod042]

TJD, what do you use to color the bases? I too use homemade brass 9x18 and need a quick and easy way to tell the difference between 9x18 and 9mm Luger.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I convert 9mm Luger to 9x18 also.
I use a red Sharpie (permanent Marker).
it isn't really permanent,
but lasts til they get put in the tumbler again.
Jon

[arjacobson]

pretty much the same as everyone else. I trim 9mm brass-BELL and then size..bell again and reload. Doesn't take much extra time and the brass is pretty much where it needs to be. I use lees 9mm mak mold as cast with ww. Shot THOUSANDS of these in my cz82. BTW I also use w231.

[TJD]

Ten-four on the Sharpie. I sometimes use different colors for the different guns. But as Jon B said it lasts long enough to separate it and tumble it. If you take the time to paint it into the ring around the primer and into the letters it will last even longer.
I was invited to at a club shooting match. One course of fire was for little CCW guns. I warned the other shooters about my home made 9 x18 brass. I got home nearly with every piece. Several competitors were surprised that I had enough ammo to use the PA63 (9x18). Most of them had never heard of making their own brass. I gave away a few samples to those shooters who owned Makarov hand guns.
My PA63 groups better than most 380s or stub nose 38s, plus its controls are almost like my 1911. Yes we scored well and I got home with most of my brass. The work is worth it.

[mooman76]

I just picked one up recently and haven't decided if I want to load for it yet but I probably will. If I load for it, I of coarse will cast for it too.