Last year I did a post on the 9mm Ultra and determined you really want to steer clear of a pistol which chambers that round because of the rarity of the ammo. The Makarov pistol is a bit of an ugly beast, but has found fans along the way. What I would like to spend a little time on today is the ammunition.

Everyone knows the 9mm Luger which is actually a 9×19. I know we covered the .380 which is actually 9×17. The Makarov cartridge is 9×18 so it falls just between the two rounds as you can see in the photo below from G&A Handguns.

.380, 9mm Makarov, 9mm Luger

Finding Makarov ammo is not impossible, but you need to be diligent. I see it pop up on occasion and often someone grabbed a box and did not realize it wasn’t 9mm Luger. Only purchase this ammo if you have a firearm which will chamber the round, generally these will be military surplus arms. I’ll show the similarities in the ammo below so hopefully you will never pick up the incorrect ammo.

.380 ACP

9mm Makarov

9mm Luger