Has anyone been able to find 9mm Makarov lately?

[gjohnsoniv]

Is it just me or has all of the 9mm Mak dried up recently? I can't find any online or in stores. I'm wondering if people have bought a lot of it thinking it's 9mm so it will work in any 9mm gun?

 

Any thoughts or leads?

[53caddy]

I am in the same boat. Bought a feg pa-63 in January and haven't got to shoot it yet.

[Jonnin]

I got 2 boxes at a fair price last gunshow (early feb) just to get the brass.  

 

 

You can make it for about $5 a box if you reload, using the missouri bullet company's lead bullets.

[gjohnsoniv]

The problem is that I don't have any re-loadable brass because I can't find any brass cased right now.

[Jonnin]

The problem is that I don't have any re-loadable brass because I can't find any brass cased right now.

 

you can trim 9x19 brass and the 9x18 dies will size it, it works great but is a royal pain in the rear --- you want to FIND and RECOVER them after you go thru all this!!!

[gjohnsoniv]

Only problem is that I don't want to trim down any 9x19 brass now that I have a new gun in the stable that likes eating that stuff  :D.

[Jonnin]

The only other thing I can add is I bought a big bag of 9x18 ultra brass because it was very cheap.  I think I can make it work in the mak, but I have not tried it yet.   You may be able to find some of that... its not a common round so if someone has brass for it, its likely to still be some in stock.  Starline sells mak brass too if you can find any that isnt sold out.

[gjohnsoniv]

Hmm I might have to look that up.

 

I do know Starline is out and has been out for a while now.

[BigK]

When I start getting low on bullets for reloading, I always check around online for Mak ammo. Lately, I've noticed the same thing...they're out of stock everywhere.

 

Even worse, my go-to place for copper plated Mak bullets looks like they've discontinued them.

[gjohnsoniv]

I'm wondering if the influx of new shooters has bought up the 9mm Mak thinking that it's a low priced 9mm Luger round? That or the blankity blanks are hoarding it for re-sale. Because before all of this I could find it for cheap anywhere on the internet and in some stores, not anymore.

[Guest BCR#1]

I hope to pick up a couple more cases of BB at the creek in April.

 

Bill

[MarkInNashville]

Its not of much use unless you are in middle TN but D&T Arms in Goodlettsville had quite a bit a few weeks ago (I only paid attention for a coworker).

[Jonnin]

I checked it tonight for you.

 

The ultra is thicker, and the "rim" is a little different, but it hand-cycles cleanly thru my gun.  It should feed and work, these are russian military specs and not all that picky about the ammo anyway.  Humorously, the brass says "police" on the rim.   (its 9mm police ultra or something as we know it in the states).  

 

If you can find some of this brass for sale, go for it.  

 

--- anyone who did not already know it: do NOT FIRE ultra ammo in a 9x18 mak pistol.  I am ONLY saying that the BRASS will work in a pinch to make your own!

Edited February 27, 2013 by Jonnin

[VERO1]

Saw one box in my travels today. I think they were asking $22.00/50.

[austin7.62]

I miss the $8.50/box Brown Bear 9x18 :(

[LCPfraTN]

I think it's the domino effect. When the common ammo went dry, folks started buying the cheaper ammo that was still available and decided to get a little extra since they couldn't get their 5.56, 9mm or .22LR fix...and the next thing you know that cheap ammo is no longer available either. Heck, there's even been some mini runs on 7.62x54R lately until it became apparent that suppliers like AIM were able to restock pretty quickly.   

[gjohnsoniv]

Sounds more like people were trying to re-sell the x54R until they realized that they couldn't get obscene markup on it with suppliers being able to keep it cheap.

[LCPfraTN]

Sounds more like people were trying to re-sell the x54R until they realized that they couldn't get obscene markup on it with suppliers being able to keep it cheap.

Someone is still trying to get too much for it in the gear classifieds. It's not an obscene markup, but I don't know why anyone would buy it when you can easily get it for much cheaper elsewhere.  

[JAB]

I think the situation with 9mm Mak is pretty much the same as what I think has happened with .32apc and .25acp.  I think the quick disappearance of all three of these ammo types, along with pretty much everything else, is actually a holdover from the last ammo shortage.

 

See, the last time there was a shortage I bought a Phoenix .25 because .25acp and .32acp were pretty much the only ammo that Walmart consistently had on the shelf.  By the time I bought the .25, I had noticed that .32 supplies had started to slip but they still had .25 on the shelf and, in fact, had piles of it - so much that they often had .25 ammo stacked in the empty spots where other ammo was supposed to go.  Pretty soon after I bought that Phoenix, though, I noticed .25 supplies dwindling and then even .25 disappeared, altogether.

 

During that time, I also bought a CZ82.  My mom had bought a CZ82 shortly before that and I found that I really liked shooting it.  As a bonus, there seemed to be piles of ammo available in 9mm Mak (not to mention that Academy was well stocked on their Monarch brand for under $10 a box for steel cased.)  Not long after buying that CZ, however, I noticed supplies starting to dwindle.  I wouldn't say Mak ammo really became 'scarce' but it certainly became more difficult to find before the last shortage finally played out.

 

My thought is that, as people realized that they couldn't find .380 (which seemed to disappear the fastest and take the longest to catch up last time), 9mm Luger or (eventually) .40 S&W, they started buying guns to match the ammo they could find.  As more folks bought guns so chambered, however, that ammo started drying up, too.  As people already owned those guns at the first of the current craze (having bought them during the last craze) - along with the privateers looking to turn a quick buck - that ammo disappeared rather quickly this time right along with everything else.

 

Of course, just to throw a kink in the whole thing, Academy has been more or less out of their Monarch brand of 9mm Mak for quite some time, now - for about a year or so, in fact - starting well before the current ammo craze.  The Academy in Knoxville hasn't had any for a long, long time (which is really annoying because, having previously bought it at the Hixson and Hamilton Place locations, cheap Mak ammo was the biggest thing I was looking forward to back when Academy first announced that they were coming to Knoxville.).  I managed to find some at the Academy at Hamilton Place some months back when I happened to be down that way but IIRC the last time I was in the area, even before the current 'craze' started, they were sold out as well.

Edited March 1, 2013 by JAB

[austin7.62]

A while back an associate at the Knoxville store told me one guy would come buy all of the 9mm MAK as soon as it was put out. They would get a case every few months, and all of it would go home to him. Asshole.

[gjohnsoniv]

Agreed. Personally I can't justify spending $20 or $30 up to $40 on a 50 round box of Makarov.

[austin7.62]

I would, and have spent a little under $20 per box of Fiocchi 95gr. FMJ before. Good stuff. Now would I spend $35 on a box of American Eagle 9x18? No. 

[gjohnsoniv]

Sorry, I should have clarified, I wouldn't pay that price for Brown or Silver Bear. If it were better than yes I would pay 20 a box.

[austin7.62]

Sorry, I should have clarified, I wouldn't pay that price for Brown or Silver Bear. If it were better than yes I would pay 20 a box.

whoops! my bad!

[gjohnsoniv]

Nah, you're good. Some place was wanting something like 30 bucks for Silver Bear. I said no thanks to that.