9mm Makarov -Vs- 380 Acp

[mgmorden]

Unless Obama bans ammo imports from Russia (Like Bush Sr did for Chinese imports) with a stroke of his pen.

That's going to be a bit more difficult politically with Russia no longer being a communist nation. There would be nothing to blame the ban on (ie, how could we ban imports from Russia specifically but not any other country?).

The ammo quality DOES lean in .380's favor though. I was actually browsing my local gunshop earlier tonight for some carry ammo. For 9mm Mak they had only 2 brands - the Winchester stuff and another brand I can't remember. Both were regular FMJ. For .380, they had 3 or 4 brands of range ammo and about 6 brands of defensive ammo (I remember Remginton, Hornady, PMC, Speer, and Cor-bon specifically, but I think there may have been more).

While I think 9mm Makarov ammo will be available for quite a while over here, I think the long term price/availability equation will favor .380. It's still an active cartridge that is seeing a huge resurgence in popularity due to the number of new designs using it.

 

[vellocet]

toivo,thanks for correcting me. Someone I shot with many years ago had a BER .380 and said he got it 'cause it was Bond's gun. Still, the 9x18 hits harder. On the other hand, the old Raven .25 I had years ago was a real pimp gun. Small and nasty. Snowdog, many thanks for the information you gave me for my early posts, it was all very useful.

 

[vellocet]

jr47: The eastcoms made the smallest pistols they could, all blowback, that would handle the 9x18. do not shoot big loads in a pa-63. anyone with a cz-82 with a couple of hollow points on top and CHEAP RUSSIAN underneath will take out problems with 12 rounds. I, myself, only target shoot but I have been told that the above information is true.

 

[Snowdog]

I'm glad to be of assistance, Vellocet.

 

[toivo]

Someone I shot with many years ago had a BER .380 and said he got it 'cause it was Bond's gun.

Well, he had the right maker anyway. I bet most people you ask would say that Bond's Walther was a .380 too, because that's mostly what you find over here.

This clip is kind of funny and interesting at the same time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuO34MDezzU

 

[Pilot]

You can easily reload for 9x18 with cut down 9x19 cases (9MM Luger) using a Makarov sized bullet which are also readily available. Or just use Mak brass, but most people shoot 9x19 so the brass is everywhere.

 

[steelbird]

Bond's PPK caliber was a 7.65 Browning.

 

[toivo]

Bond's PPK caliber was a 7.65 Browning.

Which is .32 ACP. But a lot of people think PPK's only come in .380 because that's mostly what we see here in the US.

 

[Smaug]

Stick with the CZ82

As long as you're going to have the larger gun, you may as well also have the hotter cartridge.

I've read they have great triggers too.

I like the Berettas better than the Walthers, from everything I've read here. They're just damned expensive. I'd probably just put the money towards loading for the CZ82.

Maybe the deciding factor should be whether you can find ammo suitable for self defense. They tend to be less available in 9mm Mak than 380 ACP. For handloading, you'll probably just want to load the ball ammo anyway, so that's not really a factor. But for defense, it is smarter to go factory.