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9x18 makarov, .380 compatibility?

interstatepawnllcinterstatepawnllc Member Posts: 9,390
edited November 2002 in Ask the Experts
Can a .380 cartridge be safely fired from a pistol designed to fire the 9x18 makarov?

If your gonna be stupid you better be tough !!

Comments

  • Rafter-SRafter-S Member Posts: 2,173 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Though I've never tried, and I don't know anyone who has, I don't think the .380 ACP round will chamber in the 9x18 Makarov pistol. When the Makarovs first hit the market, I recall ammo was the big issue with them. I doubt there would have been an issue if .380 would have worked.

    Respectfully,
    Rafter-S

    "What is truth? No wonder jesting Pilate turned away. The truth, it has a thousand faces -- show only one of them, and the whole truth flies away! But how to show the whole? That is the question."
    --Thomas Wolfe, "You Can't Go Home Again" (1934)
  • royc38royc38 Member Posts: 2,236 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Don't do it. I personally asked this question for a friend some time ago and got a resounding NO. They do make .380 barrels for them and they are not expensive so don't take the chance unless your health is worth about 38.50.
  • jonkjonk Member Posts: 10,121
    edited November -1
    I have heard of it being done but surely wouldn't do it myself; also the guy who did it said he couldn't hit anything. Stay with the original caliber or buy a new barrel.

    "...hit your enemy in the belly, and kick him when he is down, and boil his prisoners in oil- if you take any- and torture his women and children. Then people will keep clear of you..." -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, speaking at the Hague Peace Conf
  • ATFATF Member Posts: 11,683 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I would not do it.The .380 is about 10,000 smaller dia.

    ATF
  • interstatepawnllcinterstatepawnllc Member Posts: 9,390
    edited November -1
    Thanks guys!!

    If your gonna be stupid you better be tough !!
  • chunkstylechunkstyle Member Posts: 2,463 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Some pistols will take it and fire it. That doesn't mean you should do it. Accuracy will be wild, and you risk damaging the handgun or your hand. Pistols meant to take .380 aren't really all that expensive if you are burning to use that caliber, and the Mak ammo can be had at resonable cost, too, so there's no reason to do this.
  • lrarmsxlrarmsx Member Posts: 791 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    A .380 is .355". The 9X18 Makarov is .366". The casing is also 1MM shorter on the .380. If you pull a .380 bullet from its casing, you can drop it through the barrel of a 9X18 Makarov.

    Using .380 in a 9X18 Makarov is a good way to get yourself hurt or damage your gun.

    9X18 Ultra is in fact .355", but I assume you were asking about the Makarov, not the Ultra.
  • n/an/a Member Posts: 168,427
    edited November -1
    The 9mm "KURTZ" and the .380 are the only ones that are compatable in the same gun..

    "Kurtz" = SHORT

    "A wise man is a man that realizes just how little he knows"
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