What ammunition for what purpose

[msglaigaie]

I have several weapons in 9x18 and a P-64 is one. I have not seen very much ammunition available for other than a bit of range fire. (Brown fmj, Silver ball and a little hollowpoint). I like a heavy bullet that moves a bit slow, say 900. I do like the Black Talon in 9mm. The winchester SXT (same exact thing) is a copy of the old BT. I am attempting to get reload pricing and availability. A .355 (9x18) and a .355 (9x19) are the same. Has anyone used a bullet with more weight than a 115, say a 145? How heavy a bullet are you using in your carry weapon?

[The Only Sarge]

As a old school reloader please allow me to "throw out" some considerations for you and you can reach your own conclusion concerning ballistics in general..
In no particular order.....................
Bullet (weight,length,ogive etc.) in proportion to bullets seating depth and case capacity. How does this (larger)bullet effect the OAL? Speed,weight=energy. Bigger, slower does not necessarily mean more efficient or deadlier at all. 95g @1050fps versus 115g @950fps gains you what? Harmonics, slide/spring setup....how does a heavier bullet influence your pistol operation?
Just a FYI....the 9X18 Mak round is .363-.365 in diameter and the 9X19 Para is .355.

Now many of us here make 9x18 brass out of 9X19 brass. Look down in the reloading section friend and welcome to the forum.

[msglaigaie]

Thank you. I know nothing about reloading or ballistics involved w/weight. What kind of round would you suggest for self defense at say15 yard range?

[The Only Sarge]

And for the record I carry a CZ82 with my reloads. My standard Mak load is with a hornady 95g mak bullet. Shooting dead hogs (they died suddenly of lead poisoning) with my CZ82 we couldn't tell any difference in the wound channel/depth compared to a 9mm round out of one of my Glocks. You wont be able to tell any difference either.

PETA DISCLAIMER

Dear PETA,
No hogs were hurt during this experiment. We had already killed them with AK47's so the MAK vs. PARA experiment did not hurt them a bit.
Your Pal,
Sarge

[The Only Sarge]

Sorry...we both were posting at the same time.
I did a chrony test on various loads out of one of my P64's.....
http://p64resource.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=4268
Any of the "shelf loads" will do the job. S&B is pretty hot frankly. You will get penetration and bone just shatters with the 95g bullet. Off the shelf I would go with any of the bears fmj....but the S&B is a great defensive round also.

[The Only Sarge]

...................and you probably already know Hornady makes a Mak self defense (what the hell does that mean anyway:) ) round...
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/87099-5.html

[marmy7451]

About 4 years ago I picked up several boxes of 120 gr Silver Bear HP that chroned around 1100 FPS. I have been told to use bullets less than 95 gr in these guns, but I have had no problems with MAK's, CZ's and even P-64's.

I don't have enough to shoot them a lot but I am going to stretch that 800 rounds as far as I can. I also got 6 boxes of 115 gr HP and they also do pretty well.

[msglaigaie]

Who makes the 115HPs?

[marmy7451]

The 115 gr HPs were also Silver Bear, produced by "Low Voltage Enterprise" in Russia. Unfortunately neither the 115 or the 120 is imported now. Makarov.com did a report on testing both and I heard that that site was archived for viewing only.