The Makarov 9 X 18 A Forgotten Classic

The Makarov 9 X 18 is a sweet little Semi-Auto Pistol..

Designed in Russia in 1946 to replace a disappointing 7.62 round, it falls in between the 380 and the 9mm Para rounds in power.

I enjoy owning many historic firearms and this little gem is one of my favorites..



Enjoy the video and remember, there are MANY older firearms out there that can be had for much less than most new guns.

I for one, appreciate more steel and less plastic in my firearms...

Semper

How hard is it to find ammo? That would make a nice little pocket pistol for summer or any time of year for that matter.

I feel the same way about my Colt .38 Super. I love that gun. Mine is almost as old as I am, but it has plenty of power, not a lot of recoil and just feels good in the hand. Ammo for it is not too hard to find, but sometimes it's the cheaply made crap, but definitely not cheap prices!

a reply to: DAVID64
I think Semper
has some pretty big mitts
giving this the impression
its pocket size.

I would say its more
sub-compact if anything...
not a pocket pistol by any means.

buddy of mine has one.
nice smooth shooter.
Has a nice hefty feel for its size.
by no means heavy.
only thing real cheesy about it
are the plastic grips.

And as far as Ammo goes
do a search on Makarov 9X18
plenty of stuff available.

Semper
you got a mosin too

does it jams much with that small ejection port?

I have two CZ82s. I love the Makarov cartridge.

Both of these were purchased from an importer and sent to my local FFL (although now I have my C&R so I can have them delivered to my door step - that's right anti-gun folks, go ahead and catch your breath..)

I media blasted both and refinished with Gun Kote. I wanted to do something different with the red one and don't really like how it turned out, but that's how it goes when you're experimenting. The black one is "black chrome" with matte black accents, and I quite like how it turned out.

Both are ultra-reliable and very accurate shooters... But they don't see a lot of range time nowadays, primarily due to the difficulty of finding ammo. It's easily available online, but then you have to order it and wait and blah blah. I have a good stash but I prefer to shoot the stuff I can just pick up locally on my way out to the desert.

Here's a before pic:



And a couple after pics:





I put black walnut grips on the red one - don't have pics of that. I sometimes swap the grips on the black one out with some "blonde" zebrawood grips I have for it. All were purchased at www.marschalgrips.com...

This place takes awhile (based out of Hungary I think) to get the grips to your doorstep, but they have an awesome product.

Oh, and I must agree with you SemperFortis - poly/plastic sucks. Give me an all-steel or alloy frame. I'll take the extra weight / durability / better recoil over lightweight any day.

They are good little pistols and were the standard police sidearm for many Soviet satellite nations.
We sold a ton of those at the place where I engraved years ago.
The advantage to working there was we could take any gun out to the range to try it out.
Spent half my salary some months on ammo, lol.
Pretty reasonable price for these (at least were, haven't checked lately but I doubt there's a great demand for them)

a reply to: DAVID64

Ammo is easy to find...

Not much selection as compared to 9mm Para, but available..

a reply to: spoonbender

No Mosin...

a reply to: Indigent

I have never had one jam and have owned and shot several..

a reply to: TinkerHaus

Very nice...

a reply to: TinkerHaus
Tink, you know I very much agree with you on the czechnology.... (one day I'll complete my vz52 hat trick, especially since I now have confirmation of at least a few in the USA! Also working on a 26 for my rotating barrel locked reference collection)

As far as the cz82/83 go I'm just glad I bought my fleet when they were dirt cheap. Looking back I managed to get my 52's 82's & 83's all for under $300 including shipping transfer and background, and the majority for sub $200!

originally posted by: roguetechie
a reply to: TinkerHaus
Tink, you know I very much agree with you on the czechnology.... (one day I'll complete my vz52 hat trick, especially since I now have confirmation of at least a few in the USA! Also working on a 26 for my rotating barrel locked reference collection)

As far as the cz82/83 go I'm just glad I bought my fleet when they were dirt cheap. Looking back I managed to get my 52's 82's & 83's all for under $300 including shipping transfer and background, and the majority for sub $200!

You're the one that turned me on to them.. I got one of mine under $200 and the other for around $250. =]

a reply to: semperfortis

While I am a fan of Eastern weapons, primarily Russian stuff, the Makarov pistol and the 9x18Mak is not on the list.

Not even as a collectors item. I find them difficult to shoot, hard to control, and extremely inaccurate. Its not even a good conversation piece.

a reply to: projectvxn

I find the accuracy is a problem because the sites sucks making it tough to line up a target using the sites. My experience(at least with the russian model) is they are accurate and if one is well practiced it not relying on the sites(as if in a tactical situation one would have that kind of time). It is a precise weapon and incredibly reliable.

originally posted by: projectvxn
a reply to: semperfortis

While I am a fan of Eastern weapons, primarily Russian stuff, the Makarov pistol and the 9x18Mak is not on the list.

Not even as a collectors item. I find them difficult to shoot, hard to control, and extremely inaccurate. Its not even a good conversation piece.

Try a good Makarov - I agree that most are crud.

I assure you this CZ82 and any other CZ I've fired, for that matter, is dead on accurate. I shot a cheap surplus Makarov and had the same experience that you describe.

The only problem with the CZ82 is that it doesn't like brass case ammo. At least, neither of mine did.

a reply to: projectvxn

Strangely I have found all of mine to be fun to shoot, easy to control and very accurate..

a reply to: semperfortis

Depends on the size. The old Russian pocket maks are as uncontrollable as the Ruger lcp and equally inaccurate.

Larger 9x18 weapons are easier to control, but, in my experience, poorly manufactured.

a reply to: projectvxn

Mine has excellent quality.. No marks or production scuffs...Perfect fit and finish...

Accurate and controllable..

In comparison to some of my other pistols, I consider it superior to my Bersa and Colt and at least equal to my Walther and Beretta..

Vx,

it sounds like you managed to get later import makarovs to try, and probably mostly owned by people who don't know that the first rule of surplus pistol ownership is immediately replace the springs when you get the gun, attempt to get a surplus armorer kit, and respring all the surplus mags you get used after finding the key feed lip dimensions and making sure that they are in spec.

This is especially important for makarov pistols for two reasons.
1. They are straight blowback pistols which even when lovingly maintained and babied still take a beating over a lifetime, and these were issued to conscripts cops and nkvd guys who mostly rode them hard and put them away wet.
2. The Russians came out with an upgraded makarov known as the PMM which was built to take much hotter loads from the outset. However for awhile they were also using the hot loads in original PM makarovs! This was bad for the guns it routinely happened to. I tend to suspect that most of the guns that this didn't outright destroy got sold as civilian surplus.

Also some of the surplus makarov ammo that's been out there has been dicey at best. And as several people have mentioned the quality of many makarov variants is not consistent.

This, and the higher capacity magazines, are why I bought one feg then nothing but CZ 82's in makarov. As a side note I also have 52's 83's a 75 clone (soon to be more) and yugo M57's (tt33 with captive recoil spring and 1 extra round magazine capacity plus in my experience much higher quality!)

Surplus pistols are only a good buy if you enjoy working on guns.

Also just in general Czech guns are great, and reasonably priced. I just got several cz-26 parts kits and an armorer kit which I'll be building up in dual caliber 9&7.62x25 pistol and carbine variations. (also these were the"inspiration" for uziel gal's famous submachine gun) I also have a vz 52 rifle and am trading out a couple AK's to be replaced by vz58's. If I wasn't spread so thin I'd have a few uk59 kits put away too but instead I'll do an RP46 inspired build when the urge for a x54r belt fed finally becomes too strong LOL.