MAK 9x18 Powders, What's your favorite?

Which powder would you recommend for 9x18 MAK?

  • WSP

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Unique

    Votes: 4 22.2%

  • Titegroup

    Votes: 1 5.6%

  • Bullseye

    Votes: 4 22.2%

  • Win231

    Votes: 9 50.0%
  • Total voters
    18
  • Poll closed .
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nitrohuck

Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2012
Messages
17
Hey all,

My first post here on the forums, I've been creepin about for awhile reading all of the good info here and figured I'd pick some brains more experienced than mine on a topic that I am very excited to get started on.

Before I start, I should mention I have done tons of research on the subject, and have read many different data sheets and have a pretty good idea of where I am going in my new adventures of reloading Makarov 9x18 rounds, so I am not coming out of ignorance, but much more so out of interest, in hopes of narrowing down a few different powders that are best for 9x18.


I have recently purchased the following items to begin my reloading process of the 9x18 Makarov rounds:

1. Lee Turret Press Kit LINK (Side note, if anyone has experience with this kit/turret press please let me know good or bad. It looks like an excellent kit to begin with, and is a good price with the Grafs dealer discount, only $166)

2. Lee Carbide 9x18 dies

3. Electronic Caliper from Grafs


I am still going through a few boxes of Sellier and Bellot and I plan on saving the spent casings (when I can find the damn things, I swear some of them enter orbit after leaving the chamber). In time I will start trimming 9mm casings as well as it seems to be very cost effective when you are looking at shooting thousands of rounds as opposed to 1 box a month (which I couldn't do if I tried, too trigger happy :D )

I plan on starting out with the Berrys 95grn plated round nose (will also snag some HRN XTP's for SD rounds) and will be using most likely CCI small pistol primers (not my biggest concern).

Now down to the nitty gritty... From compiling all of the info I have seen, I have narrowed down my powder choices to a few of the seemingly top preferred powders, and I wanted to see if any of you have experience/preferences for loading your 9x18 rounds.


Primary uses will be for target practice, so I am going for a more accurate load over simply just a powerful load...

The reason I ask this as opposed to just going out and trying the powders myself is that where I live in Vermont it is over 45 minutes to the nearest shop that carries reloading equipment, and their prices are pretty high for 1lb of powder (roughly $40) so if I manage to get some guidance beforehand it could end up saving me a lot of cash in trial and error.

Powders I have narrowed it down to:

- WSP
- Unique
- Win231
- Titegroup
- Bullseye

Does anyone have experience with these powders and can attest to their accuracy? For the SD rounds I will obviously load hotter and accuracy will take a bit of a dive, but I am much more concerned about my plinking rounds, this CZ 82 pistol so far has proven to be insanely accurate, hitting 50 gallon drums at 130+ yards with ease using sellier and bellot, I'd love to keep/improve that accuracy with my loads.

Again, I am using a cz 82 pistol. I will be compiling lots of data, saving every target sheet, and hopefully will be able to share some insights and wisdom in the future once I get more comfortable with this new round.

Thanks in advance and have a great day!
~Huck
 
Last edited:
pete950 said:
Accurate # 5 and 7
Click to expand...
This. I use AA#7 in my Mak loads

I also use 9MM NATO cases for conversion to 9MM Mak as they have no caliber designation on them.

The trick to using 9x19 cases is to resize them in the 9x18 sizeing die -before- you trim them. You need to use fired cases else you'll not be happy with the outcome.
 
Yep I've heard that you need to fireform the 9mm Luger cases the first time and people suggest using very light loads to do this, which makes sense to me...

After running the 9x19 through the Makarov sizing die I need to get a case length gauge sized in 9x18 correct? I am a little unclear as to exactly what materials I would need for that... but seemingly it would just be

trimmer, 9x18 case gauge, and sizing dies (which I would already have the dies)?


Does the case gauge just attach to the front of the cutting device so that it stops when it is supposed to? I have noticed that not all trimming devices work exactly the same,

Also, off of the top of your head do you know what your max loads were with AA#7? I figured I would start at around 3.2 and work up from there, or I could start lower if that is looking like a safer option.
 
The best trimmer I have used to trim 9x19 down to 9x18 is the Lee trimmer. DO get the shell holder that chucks into your drill, and DO get the wooden ball handle cutter. Take your fired & cleaned brass, resize in your mak die, bell the case in your mak expander die, trim, chamfer, MARK THE CASE HEAD WITH A SHARPIE!!! Now you are all set to load.
 
I've tried all the powders above, but nothing comes close to Power Pistol if you want the highest velocity without overpressure. The bad thing is the muzzle flash.
For cheap plinking use titegroup as 1lb will lasts awhile.
 
Of the powders you listed I would use W231. BTW, just in case you don't know, W231 and HP-38 are identical powders so you can buy the one that's cheapest or available when you take that trip to the store. As for primers the CCI primers you mentioned are just fine. I use either CCI or Winchester primers for my handgun loading.

Using W231/HP-38 you can push a 95gr bullet up to right around 1000 fps so if you load a SD bullet you really won't need to push the velocity up any more, especially if you already found an accurate load.

IMO it's not a good idea to use cases with an improper headstamp in a different caliber. No matter how careful you are it always seems to somehow find it's way into the caliber of the headstamp. I do understand you wanting to use 9X19mm brass since it's so available but buying 9X18mm brass from Starline is also on the inexpensive side and it's extremely good brass.

500 new cases for $79.50 isn't all that bad these days, especially for a not so common caliber. https://www.starlinebrass.com/products/index.cfm/cid/68/9MM-Makarov-Brass/ For the most part you will probably lose them before they fail.

Welcome to the forum...
 
I definitely hear you on the importance of not mixing up the brass...

luckily I don't even own a 9mm firearm, much less reload them... The only bad thing I could see happening is if someone else picked up my 9x18 and figured they were 9x19 and blew their own pistol up... however one should always check random brass picked up off the ground before loading it...

at the moment I really am not worrying too much about trimming 9x19's though... I have a good amount of Sellier and Bellot that I'll be saving so hopefully that will last me over for awhile.
 
.......care to elaborate?
Click to expand...

Sure! :D

If it were me I would go with one of the Accurate Arms powders. I like a ball powder in a small capacity case, as it meters very well. I also prefer the AA powders over w231. I dont care for 231 for lots of reasons that if I go into will only de-rail your thread when the 231 fans show up.:evil:
 
Of the powders listed unique is the best choice in my opinion if you have a powder measure capable of repeatable accuracy with small charges of it. I also use acc #5 in the 9x18. There is no such thing as a powder that meters better than #5 either. I don't know the experience level of others giving advice on what the best choice in the mak is, but i have been loading the 9x18 with unique and #5 for over 20 years and i can tell you that with a supply of each your bases are covered with the makarov. If you cast bullets ranchdog outdoors has the best 9x18 makarov mold to be had.
 
Cheers for the info.

I called up the closest shop that carries reloading supplies (friggin hour away :banghead: ) and asked what he had in stock...

I first asked about Accurate #7... his response "don't think I have it, that's not a good number"

So I then asked about #5.... "don't think I have it, that's not a good number"

Why the hell does this guy think they are "not good numbers"? Granted this guy is LITERALLY about 95 years old and I have sometimes been afraid he might keel over infront of me when I'm in his shop, but he does seem to know his stuff... So why the bashing on 5 and 7?

He DOES carry Win231, and while I am sure that it would be a fine enough powder for a beginner reloader, I do not doubt you that it has its quirks which might render it less than savory for some people...

So sadly, given that #5 and #7 are out of the equation, I turn to other powders... Power Pistol was mentioned, I am really unfamiliar with it, Flyskater could you perhaps share a little insight as to your loads and also how it performs accuracy-wise?

Again, I ask this question because I am going to use this for target practice, accuracy is key to me and I don't need heavy hitting rounds flying off target, that won't do me too much good...

Titegroup was mentioned for cheap plinking, would you all rate this over Win231 and Power Pistol out of the three? or would PowerPistol rank first?
 
ljnowell said:
Sure! :D

If it were me I would go with one of the Accurate Arms powders. I like a ball powder in a small capacity case, as it meters very well. I also prefer the AA powders over w231. I dont care for 231 for lots of reasons that if I go into will only de-rail your thread when the 231 fans show up.:evil:
Click to expand...
I also like Accurate powders but where I live they are very hard to come by and when you do fine them they are expensive instead of being cheaper like they should be. Ramshot Zip is also a good choice but again, can't be found where I live. that's why I'm a huge fan of W231/HP38...
 
nitrohuck said:
So sadly, given that #5 and #7 are out of the equation, I turn to other powders... Power Pistol was mentioned, I am really unfamiliar with it, Flyskater could you perhaps share a little insight as to your loads and also how it performs accuracy-wise?

Titegroup was mentioned for cheap plinking, would you all rate this over Win231 and Power Pistol out of the three? or would PowerPistol rank first?
Click to expand...
While Powder Pistol is a good powder it does have it's bad points. First, it's loud and second, it produces excessive flash. IMO so much so it makes that powder unacceptable for me to use. There are other choices that are in it's burn rate range that also work well. (namely Universal, HS-6, SR-7625 and a few others on the upper and lower end)
 
Found a place that sold Accurate #7 and snagged a pound of it to give it a try, anyone have their load data offhand that served them well accuracy-wise? It's a bit difficult to find #7 loads for 9x18 I've found
 
nitrohuck said:
Found a place that sold Accurate #7 and snagged a pound of it to give it a try, anyone have their load data offhand that served them well accuracy-wise? It's a bit difficult to find #7 loads for 9x18 I've found
Click to expand...
IMO that's why you should have bought W231/HP-38 instead. There is data on the Hodgdon load data site for that powder and a few others for the 9X18mm.

Sorry I can't help you with AA#7. It's a fairly new powder and that's a fairly neglected caliber here in the USA.
 
AA#7 is a great powder for replacing Blue Dot. I don't see it working well in a medium-pressure, and low-bullet-weight cartridge like 9x18, but I can run some numbers in QuickLoad tonight.

If you can find .380 ACP load data, a .380 max load should work OK in 9x18 and still have a little headroom.

That AA#7 will work good in .357 Magnum, and in 9mm Luger hot loads.
 
Another vote for Green Dot. Only real downside is that is does not meter as well as some other powders. It performs very well in 9mm Mak.

4.0 grains of Green Dot with a 95 grain bullet is about max. I show 1084 FPS avg for this. Start at 3.7 and see what works for you.
 
I usually use Unique with cast bullets. But with my 9x18 bullets, Unique seems to smoke as bad as W231. So W231 is my choice for this cartridge, cuz it meters better.
 
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