Home › Browse Calibers › 9mm Makarov
Common uses: Self-Defense
| Type | pistol (centerfire) |
| Typical load | 95gr Hornady Critical Defense FTX |
| Muzzle velocity | 1000 fps |
| Muzzle energy | 211 ft-lb |
| Published G1 ballistic coefficient | 0.1 |
| Case length | 18.1 mm |
| Overall length | 25 mm |
| Range (yd) | Velocity (fps) | Energy (ft-lb) | Drop (in) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1000 | 211 | -1.5 |
| 50 | 912 | 175 | -0.9 |
| 100 | 844 | 150 | -10.8 |
| 150 | 787 | 131 | -32.8 |
The listed uses do not identify an explicit big-game hunting role, so deer- and elk-sized energy references aren't shown. Evaluate the named load using its available source data and any displayed trajectory, then verify the result for the listed target, competition, defensive, tactical, or duty context.
Your barrel, ammunition lot, and conditions will differ — always verify against the manufacturer's data and your own firearm.
The 9mm Makarov occupies a niche between the .380 ACP and the 9mm Luger, offering modestly more power than the former while staying mild enough to function reliably in unlocked blowback pistols. It is best known as the Cold War-era Eastern Bloc service cartridge, and surplus Makarov PM pistols and ammunition made it a familiar and inexpensive option among Western shooters and collectors. Its practical role today is close-range self-defense and plinking, where its compact pistols are valued for simplicity and durability rather than power or long-range performance. The round's limitations are its comparatively modest energy and its dimensional incompatibility with standard 9mm firearms, which keeps ammunition selection narrower and generally more expensive than mainstream calibers.
The 9mm Makarov (9x18mm) was developed in the Soviet Union in the late 1940s, with engineer Boris Semin credited for the cartridge design, and it was adopted around 1951 alongside the Makarov PM pistol. Deliberately dimensioned so its projectile is slightly wider than Western 9mm rounds, it was engineered to deliver adequate stopping power from a simple, robust blowback-operated handgun that needed no locking breech. It went on to serve as the standard military and police sidearm cartridge across the Soviet Union and much of the Warsaw Pact for decades, later being chambered in other pistols such as the Makarov PMM and the Polish P-64.
Run this cartridge in the ballistic calculator · Compare it against another cartridge · How this data is produced