Questions

The round is pretty capable - its between a .380 and a 9mm. As for carry ammo - hollow points always. Too much overpenetration with fmj.

I'll go against the flow here and reckon FMJ's will do. I do agree we are always concerned with over penetration but I do not feel this round has enough potential for this to be a major concern.

I think the same too with .380 tho there it may be a more obvious decision. The 9mm Mak round as a 9x18 is with a 95 grain bullet potentially useful but not that high of an order in power - arguably tho better than the 9x17.

I like my Mak and would if need be carry it quite happily.

Ill side with Chris on this one tho if i allready had hp ammo i wouldnt worry about it , just go ahead and carry it .

i think Chris pretty much hit it

.45acp said:

Now that the warm weather is here I'll probably carry my Makarov most of the time.
My questions are:
1) Is this a capable round for self defense?
2) Hollow points or FMJ?

It's very easy to conceal when wearing shorts and tee's and I realize it is not comparable to my .45 but will it suffice for carry?


Geo

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Been wearing shorts and t shirt with print shirt unbuttoned. Carry three guns. Two 44 Specials and one 38 Special.

I believe all of the threat situations are the same winter or summer. I can see no reason to 'down gun' because of weather.

As far as the ammo--penetration is fine and necessary, but fmj do not do a great deal of damage compared to a good HP. IF I had to carry a Mak, I would try to find some of the discontinued Cor Bon.

Just the opinion of one old guy )

Been wearing shorts and t shirt with print shirt unbuttoned. Carry three guns. Two 44 Specials and one 38 Special.

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Gotta ask. What are your carry methods? My guess would be a Thunderwear typr holster, one IWB and maybe a shoulder rig. Am I right?

Found this link in my search for info:

http://www.goldenloki.com/ammo/gel/9x18/gel9x18.htm

the mak is one little step up over the 380 and one step under the 9mm. some will tell you they do not like the mak or the 380. but a mak and/or 380 in hand is better than two 45's back home or in the car. go with the fmj round for the mak, that way you know that you will not have any feeding problems. what type of mak?? i got a polish p64 and it is a great gun, just like the ppk. don't carry it, it is one of my range guns. but i do sometimes carry the kel-tec p3at (one step down).

For real good info on Maks and their capabilities go to our member Stephen Camp's site.

http://www.hipowersandhandguns.com/makarov.htm

Also George - unless already mentioned, some useful info on http://www.makarov.com/

frankmako said:

the mak is one little step up over the 380 and one step under the 9mm. some will tell you they do not like the mak or the 380. but a mak and/or 380 in hand is better than two 45's back home or in the car. go with the fmj round for the mak, that way you know that you will not have any feeding problems. what type of mak?? i got a polish p64 and it is a great gun, just like the ppk. don't carry it, it is one of my range guns. but i do sometimes carry the kel-tec p3at (one step down).

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Frank
I have both an EG Mak and a P-64. P-64 DA is a bit tough along with recoil but can be corrected.
For good info on the P-64 try here http://p64.proboards67.com/

The P-64 is my always gun, "The American Express" of my collection, I won't leave home without it.
If it gets banged up, dirty, confiscated, whatever then the $150 loss is not a big deal and it is accurate and does go bang everytime with everything I've fed it. Since it is my always gun I usually carry a cocktail of FMJ and JHP in the P-64, expansion and penetration and yes it does feed the mix.

everyone...as for the warm weather and going with a smaller gun...I'm carrying a Dan Wesson commander bobtail (45acp) in a Brommeland Max Con V...trust me...there is no need to carry a smaller gun

If over or under penetration is a concern with your mak you might want to think about staggering the loads in your mag. 1 HP and 1FMJ ect. Thats how I carry my 9mm. My rational, One bullet sinks and stops and one slices and dices!

To my way of thinking, since the Mak is a step under 9mm, and 9mm FMJ is not that great as far as stopping power is concerned, I would want something better than FMJ in the Mak. JHP is an option, try a few magazines to see if you experience feeding problems. Or, perhaps a better solution would be Corbon Pow'Rball. I just checked the Corbon site, and they do make it in Mak. With this, you would get the smooth feeding of FMJ, combined with the stopping power hollow point ammo. In fact, it's better, because there is no chance of clothing or a heavy jacket clogging the hollow point, reducing expansion. I've switched to Pow'Rball, or Federal expanding point FMJ in all of my carry guns.