9X19 test fired in the Makarov

Thanks Steelheart.

No risk involved.
I set limits that I figured would be below the 9x18 round and I weighted every powder load.
I half expected to reach these limits before I got to a full 9mm load.
The surprising thing is that due to the blow by the 9mm didn't even reach the power of the 9x18.


Today I loaded 95 grain .380 JHP bullets in 9x19 brass. The powder load was about a half grain short of a full 9x18 load.

I wanted to check 3 things.
The accuracy.
The rifling marks on a recovered bullet.
The apparent power loss and functioning. I loaded the bullets to feed through the Mak magazine.


In conclusion,
There's nothing at all to be gained loading 95 grain .380 bullets in 9x19 brass.

.380 bullets would function and fire adequately if loaded in 9x18 brass with the proper powder charge.
But not as good as a correct .364 diameter Makarov bullet.


Accuracy was only fair, about 3 inches at 10 yards.
But there were NO keyholes.

There was just the faintest, irregular marks from the rifling. Again surprising me that the bullets weren't key holing.
The bullet was badly discolored from blow by.

The load was obviously low power. The last round jammed due to the slide not recoiling back far enough.

Spike, the .380 case is 17 mm and of course the Makarov case is 18 mm.
I'm not sure the Mak will fire the .380.
But I've got .380 brass, so I'll prime some and see what happens.
I don't know the measurements of the Kurz round.
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OK, one final post on this subject of 9x19 in the Makarov.

This may be of some interest to those that reload Makarov ammo.

The selection of Makarov bullets for reloading is slim and the brand name 95 grain JHP bullets run about $12 a box.

Bulk .380 JHP bullets run $7/100 or less at the gun shows.

So my last test is to see if the cheaper.380 JHP or JRN bullets were worth fooling with for range ammo.

I loaded 8 rounds of 9x18 using 9x19 Lee dies.
The load was fired Makarov Star line brass and 95 grain .380 JHP bullets.
The powder load was what is normally a fairly hot normal Makarov load.

The results were better than I expected.
The load felt good and functioned good. A little on the light side but good for range ammo.

At 10 yards the accuracy was better than this target shows because it was windy and I was shooting just fair. Still under 3 inches.

So in a pinch or for some cheaper reloaded practice ammo the .380 bullet looks good (so far).