What 9x18mm Makarov ammunition do you want to see tested in ballistic gelatin?

[Brass Fetcher]

9x18mm Makarov has won the poll over .357SIG... so please let us know what ammunition you would like to see tested in ballistic gelatin.

You might notice that there is only one choice of FMJ - this is because FMJ will perform like FMJ, regardless of its weight or nose configuration. All hollowpoints are game, however. I wish that there were more bullet choices, but these appear to be all that are available - please note that 5 shots can fit on one pistol-size gelatin block.

Thank you,

JE223

 

[briansp82593]

uhhh

 

[briansp82593]

wait not fair they are tied on the poll and its locked so no one can vote

 

[briansp82593]

whoops i skimmed through too much sorry i must of skipped over the second post duh :banghead:

 

[rbernie]

Hornady is the only real choice for SD in most stores, so that'd be my recommendation to test.

 

[Brass Fetcher]

Yes. I think that would be my first choice too - the Speer Gold Dot is not available in any factory loaded ammo, to my knowledge, so I would have to pull the bullets from factory cartridges and load the Speer bullet back into the case. That is something that I know few, if any, other people would do, assuming that the Gold Dot tested out ahead of the others in gelatin.

 

[never_summer]

ill vote hornady for that reason

 

[arthurcw]

Man that's tough. I'd like to see the Pow'r ball just to see, you know? But I think I have to go Hornady since it seems more available.

...or you could just test them all MWUUUHAHAHAHAH!

Sorry. Hornady. Time for my meds.

 

[M2 Carbine]

What I'd really like to see tested is 1,100+ fps loads using a 95gr Hornady, Speer or Sierra JHP. (I wish the manufacturers would make a 115 gr bullet).

In water jug tests the bullet performance seems to improve greatly when driven that extra 100 fps faster.


For some reason Hornady drives their JHP 9x18 too slow, 950 fps. I like the Hornady XTP bullet but I don't use the Hornady factory load because it's underpowered, but I guess since it's about the most common US defense round available that's the one to test.

 

[longeyes]

Powr'ball is available. Just go to Cor-bon's website and you can get all you want.

How about Hornady AND Powr'ball?

 

[Marshall]

Hornady and Winchester

 

[jon_in_wv]

115gr Silver Bear is very popular. How about including it?

 

[Brass Fetcher]

Makarov pistol 'donated' for test

I found a local shooter who will shoot the block with his Makarov (I don't know which barrel length yet). Look for this test sometime next week (tentatively).

With regards to the ammo - I will test whatever the shooter wants to bring, plus whatever you might like to send. Right now, they have 9x18mm in Hornady XTP and of course some FMJ. I will check with them, but if you would like to send ammo (to the FFL where the shooter works), that is welcome. I would like to keep this process 'in the open', so lets talk about it in the thread.

Thank you,

JE223

 

[Brass Fetcher]

Update:

The 9x18mm Makarov test is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon... expect to see the results sometime that night.

I am also talking with the shooter regarding a second block, in .357SIG or .41Mag. So please stay tuned for that.

Thank you,

JE223

 

[1man]

Yeah, once you test the 357Sig please let me know.

 

[North Bender]

Hello:

The Hornady certainly gets my vote. It's the most widely available 9x18 HP. (BTW, you can get the Hornady HTP bullet loaded to the same velocity on Starline brass for 1/2 the price at Georgia Arms.)

I would also like to see the current Russian HP offering tested - the Silver Bear 94-grain HP made at the Barnaul factory. It's just recently (within the past year) hit the market. Previous Silver Bear 9x18 was made at the LVE factory and Barnaul has a better reputation for QA. It's widely available on the internet and many are using it as a low-cost alternative to Hornady so it would be a very valuable test. I would be willing to order some and have it sent to your location, but it wouldn't make it there by Wed. night.

The 115-grain HPs have been out of production for some time.

 

[Brass Fetcher]

Thank you for the offer...

Would it be possible to overnight it? The FFL is located in Jacksonville, FL ... zipcode is 32217, I believe...

 

[North Bender]

I didn't think of overnighting it - I'll work on that first thing in the morning. I'm sending you a PM (if I can figure out how) for the shipping particulars.

 

[Brass Fetcher]

So far, there has been one person who wants to see the Silver Bear tested and is willing to send the ammunition. They live in Washington State, so the ammo might not make it here by the test date.

If you live closer and would like to see the Silver Bear JHP tested in ballistic gelatin, now is the time to send ammo - the test is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

Thank you,

JE223

 

[Brass Fetcher]

Update - 26FEB07

Just to let everyone know ... North Bender was hard at work yesterday and today to get Silver Bear hollowpoints to me in time for the test. Unfortunately, the earliest that this could have happened was Thursday morning, a timeframe that was not available to the shooter/owner of the Makarov, nor myself, for testing.

So... I will make a few trips around town, looking for additional JHPs locally, but I am not overly optimistic... The test will consist of Hornady XTP, with perhaps one FMJ...

The gelatin block has been made and is currently curing in a refrigerated volume.

Thank you...

JE223

 

[Marshall]

JE223, looking forward to your test.

Thanks for your trouble.

ps Winchester FMJ should be somewhat easy to find.

 

[Brass Fetcher]

I'm not sure what brand the FMJ is, but I have just been informed that the Makarov owner has Silver Bear on hand, as well as the XTP and FMJ ammunition.

The test will be 2 of the SB, 2 of the XTP and 1 FMJ. The second block apparently will not happen tomorrow... unless there is a .357SIG shooter who wants to meet up this week.

JE

 

[Jehzsa]

I would love to see the results, if you please, JE223.

Thanks.

 

[Brass Fetcher]

Cartridge : Various 9x18mm Makarov factory loads

Firearm : East German Makarov (3.83" barrel length)

Calibration : 11.6cm at 598 ft/sec (two BB average)

Shot 1 : Hornady 95gr XTP. Impacted at 952 ft/sec, penetrated to 7.3" (corrected). Average diameter was 0.579".

Shot 2 : Hornady 95gr XTP. Impacted at 927 ft/sec, penetrated to 7.7" (corrected). Average diameter was 0.563".

Shot 3 : Silver Bear 115gr JHP. Impacted at 993 ft/sec, penetrated to 12.6" (corrected). Average diameter was 0.513".

Shot 4 : Hornady 95gr XTP, with one drop of Loctite Superglue dried in the JHP cavity (to retard expansion, increase penetration). Impacted at 925 ft/sec, penetrated to 8.3" (corrected). Average diameter was 0.534".

Shot 5 : Sellier & Bellot 95gr FMJ. Impacted at 965 ft/sec, penetrated 16.0" in ballistic gelatin, 14" of polyester fiber. Bullet was recovered undeformed, 15 yards beyond the polyester fiber box - embedded in a ball of fiber, on top of the berm. No yawing was observed.

 

[ARTiger]

It would seem a Makarov with the Silver Bear hollowpoints is quite an acceptable self-defense weapon. That's basically 9x19 performance!