Makarov 9x18, Russian "Raikal"

Have had this heavy little pistol 20 years. Finally, had the opportunity to order some spare mags (difficult to find!) from Sportsman's Guide. Mags are for E. German Makarovs. Am hoping the mags work well in my Russian. Have ordered after market magazines for the Makarov in the past, but they came in .380, and the 9x18s don't feed well through them. The .380 is a fraction smaller than the 9x18, so I cycled a few boxes through the Mak, and the anemic .380 rounds were a pleasure to shoot. But the 9x18s are so much cheaper - especially the ones from Russia, that I stay primarily with them. Since this is a military service auto, fitted with an adjustable sight, I feed it FMJ 9x18 ball. The stout, almost pocket sized pistol handles the sharp recoil well that these intermediate 9mm bullets generate. But if you are planning to plink 5 or 6 hundred rounds during the day, I would recommend a shooting glove. I can't say anything bad about it, except finding spare magazines. A note on the .380 magazines, often the slide won't lock to the rear after the last round. Never a problem with the magazine of the 9x18, thoughAttachment 64987. I can inconsistently hit a can at 100 ft off hand with this little Raikal, and popping balloons at a hundred feet is a no brainer. This is not my carry gun, it's my target practice pistol. Right now I'm going to upload a photo or two of it from my files, and tomorrow Ill post pics of me shooting using my E. German magazines. Sorry, if I can't get my thumbnails to enlarge. This is my daughter shooting it. Tried to enlarge thumbnail, but couldn't.

I've really been wanting to shoot one since I've seen them all over northern Asia.......

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Originally Posted by goldshellback

I've really been wanting to shoot one since I've seen them all over northern Asia.......

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A lot of people favor them as a conceal carry. But for conceal carry I favor a much heavier round. These Maks are a real treat to shoot, but don't underestimate the overpenetration of the FMJ rounds; they go through 4x4s and keep going. That's one reason I dont carry it.

It's the 'accepted' sidearm here in the 'stans' formerlly 'owned' by the soviets.

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Originally Posted by goldshellback

It's the 'accepted' sidearm here in the 'stans' formerlly 'owned' by the soviets.

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Yeh, and the Russkies tried to replace it in their inventory, but their military is too cash strapped to phase out the reliable Makarov. So the replacement version is going to special units. But what I have read about the replacement is that is just a Makarov with a high capacity magazine. Also, this new Mak is very hard for collectors to acquire @ this time. This is what I've read - I don't know that it's true.

cool looks like a fun gun, will keep a look out for one

Posting this pic of me shooting my Mak, primarily to see if I can enlarge the thumbnail.Attachment 65003
It will not enlarge for me.

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Originally Posted by Jgriner

cool looks like a fun gun, will keep a look out for one

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It's a good little gun. The Soviets copied the Walther and gave it a bigger round.

I remember the good ol' days when one could pick up an East German Mak for under $200, Russian for ~ $150; can't do that anymore.

I can shoot my VZ-82 9mm Mak all day long. Never considered the reoil as anything except mild. I make my own brass from 9x19 cases.

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Originally Posted by matthew03

I remember the good ol' days when one could pick up an East German Mak for under $200, Russian for ~ $150; can't do that anymore.

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I think I got mine for 160. Been 20 years. A lot of bang for the buck. Cheap to shoot, too.

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Originally Posted by OldVet

I can shoot my VZ-82 9mm Mak all day long. Never considered the reoil as anything except mild. I make my own brass from 9x19 cases.

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Oldvet, do the 9x19s cycle OK? No feeding problems or extraction problems? I'll never shoot parabellum through it, but just curious...

Have you noticed that they arent so cheap to shoot anymore?

Much of that cheap mak ammo is drying up. The price is getting nearly the same
Level of 9 mm

It used to be 60% of regular 9mm everywhere.....

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Originally Posted by dean1818

Have you noticed that they arent so cheap to shoot anymore?

Much of that cheap mak ammo is drying up. The price is getting nearly the same
Level of 9 mm

It used to be 60% of regular 9mm everywhere.....

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I just got 250 rounds for 70 something dollars from Sportsmans Guide. Russian "Bear", but I paid 70 also for three E. German mags for my Russian. About to try the mags out in 15 minutes - I hope they cycle well...

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Originally Posted by 03

Oldvet, do the 9x19s cycle OK? No feeding problems or extraction problems? I'll never shoot parabellum through it, but just curious...

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I haven't had a single problem with the converted 9x19 brass. It looks a bit weird on the first load, but once fired it fireforms to the 9mm Mak dimensions quite well. I've been loading 93 grn LRNs with HP-38 for mild range loads and every single one has fucntioned perfectly and with no evidense of leading in the poly barrel.

I use the Lee hand trimmer to shorten the cases to 9x18 (actually they are a tad under 9x18 when trimmed). I can PM the details if you like.