Which Makarov ammo is better.

[Retro]

I acquired a Russian 9x18 Makarov for $300, and I am in need of some ammo..

Which ammo to buy?

1) Wolf 109 gr FMJ Makarov for $100 dollars
or
2) Surplus Polish Mesko 93grn Makarov ammo for $62?

Has anyone used the Mesko surplus Makarov before? Are they really non-corrosive as they claimed? Any problems?

I have used Wolf Makarov on my old P64, and never had a problem... but it is almost double the price.

Inputs will be appreciated.

 

[denfoote]

I would buy the Polish ammo and treat it as if it were corrosive.
That means detail stripping the pistol after shooting and cleaning it first with HOT soapy water. As hot as you can stand!!! Then clean as usual with whatever gun solvent you prefer, lube and reassemble!! Don't forget to clean the firing pin and channel throughly.

That's a great price!! Where can I get some??

 

[makarovnik]

Wolf or LVE

Wolf is great stuff. I prefer the ball type rather than the truncated cone. The truncated cone jammed in my PA64 but my makarov likes everything I put in it. I also really like the LVE Russian non-corosive in the teal box. I'm not sure what's with the LVE. It works good but I always get green sparks flying out the muzzle when firing. It may be the primer or possibly they are using some weird alloy on the jacket. No worrys though. It works great and makarovs were built to fire all kinds of ammo including jacketed steel ball.

 

[Retro]

Denfoote, Aims sells the polish makarov.

Thanks for the input, guys. I don't like corrosive ammos, and that was why I sold my K98k, Nagant rifles because it was a b----- to clean, and the gun powder grease/dirt always stains my bathtube everytime I cleaned them with hot water, and blow-drying with hair-dryer was a pain in the a$$ as well... So I swore no more corrosive ammos for me.

I will stick to Wolf's so called non-corrosive Berdan, although I still wonder how can a Berdan primer be non-corrosive.

 

[jon_in_wv]

Don't make such a big deal about corrosive ammo. The ammo leaves salts in your bore which can attract moisture and cause rust in the barrel. The russians who used my mosin didn't clean it properly and it took 63 years for the barrel to look like it does now. I think with a little maintenance I can keep it looking alright without going overboard. I spray a little ammoniated water down the bore, swap it a couple times, then clean normally. I haven't found any rust in my bore yet.

 

[straightShot]

I'm with jon_in_wv.

Cleaning corrosive ammo isn't such a big deal. I put a very weak ammonia solution through on a patch and then clean as normal a couple of minutes later. I shoot ammo with corrosive primers since it's so much cheaper for my old rifles.

 

[ugaarguy]

I will stick to Wolf's so called non-corrosive Berdan, although I still wonder how can a Berdan primer be non-corrosive.

Boxer or Berdan doesn't matter; it's what they use as the oxidizer in the primer that matters. Hopefully this will clarify things.

Corrosive primers used potassium chlorate as the oxidizer in the priming compound. When ignited, the potassium chlorate produced potassium chloride, a compound very similar to common table salt. Like any salt, it attracted and held moisture. This moisture, in turn, caused rusting in very short order. The old frontiersmen had a saying, “the sun must not set on a dirty gun.” This was a direct reference to the absolute necessity of cleaning a gun almost immediately after firing it, because of the corrosion problem. Leaving it for a few days simply was not an option. Once potassium chlorate was identified as the cause in the corrosion problem, it was replaced, leaving us with the “non-corrosive” primers we enjoy today. Fulminate of mercury was one of the more popular initiators used in early primers. When jacketed bullets and smokeless powders became widely accepted near the turn of the century, operating pressures increased drastically for the average cartridge. With these new higher pressures, handloaders soon found that cases frequently became extremely brittle after the first firing, rendering them useless for further reloading.

Taken from
http://www.exteriorballistics.com/reference/hginout.cfm

 

[ugaarguy]

I also have to agree with jon_in_wv and straightShot. Since the corrosive primer produces a salt, which is a base, then cleaning with a solvent containing ammonia, which is an acid, will neutralize the salt. I already prefer bore solvents like Butch's Bore Shine, Sweet's 7.62, and Montana Extreme since they clean out copper fouling very well. Conviently they use a high ammonia content to clean the copper out. So, you don't even need to pre-clean with a water/ammonia solution when using one a solvent like Sweets that already has the ammonia in it. I just clean as normal and run an oiled patch down the Bbl when I'm done to clean out the ammonia from my bore solvent. Makes things easy when shooting unknown surplus since your cleaning routine doesn't change.

 

[Pilot]

I like Brown Bear which is made by LVE and same as the LVE marked boxes. 92 gr FMJ, non-corrosive. Other than that Wolf is OK for any combloc guns. I only use their ammo in SKS, AK, and Mak.

 

[donkee]

+1 for the Brown Bear. The stuff is really good shooting ammo......

 

[David N]

The place to go for Mak info is the forum at www.gunboards.com.

As I recall the Mesko ammo is well thought of there. I would go there and search for old posts and/or ask the question.

EDITED TO ADD: I also shoot the LVE Brown Bear. I've never had a problem with it.

 

[oops!]

Brown Bear or CCI Blazer for ball ammo.
Silver Bear for hollow points.

Yes, my East German is perfectly reliable with the Silver Bear hp. load.