The Makarov is a wonderful weapon. I owned one of the Soviet Military issue 9 mm x 18 versions for years and I loved it. The Makarov is a rough Soviet copy of the German Walther PP. It is a fine pistol in its own right and was state of the art for decades. The 9 mm x18 Mak is a robust, hard shooting, highly accurate, completely reliable weapon. The .380 is a lower powered version designed for old Soviet bloc police departments and retail sale in countries where sale of firearms capable of firing military issue ammunition is prohibited. It is easily concealable. But, it is obsolete and there are problems associated with it that have nothing to do with the many fine qualities of the weapon.
First, neither .380 or 9 mm x 18 Makarov ammo are cheap. In .380, Winchester White Box, the standard range ammo, runs about $20.00 for a fifty round box. 9x18 Markarov is more expensive. However, 9mm Parabellum Winchester White Box is only around $15.00 a box for 50 rounds or a little over $25.00 a box for 100 round range packs. And, you can go cheaper in 9 mm ammo depending on your weapon. My Glock will eat just about anything you feed it without a hiccup so I usually use $10.00 a box Soviet Tula steel case on the range.
Second, the .380 round is not really a good self defense choice. The 9 mm Parabellum is the oldest semi-
auto pistol round in use today and a lot of time and work has been put into refining it. The .380 is also a 9 mm but with the cartridge case and propellant load shortened. So, you can think of a .380 as a 9mm "short" in the same way that you would compare .22 long rifle ammo to .22 short. The standard 9 mm is about 40% more powerful than a .380 when a purpose loaded self defense round like the Remington Golden Saber is used. In a self defense situation that means that each round you hit with is going to do 40% more damage and be 40% more likely to take your assailant down. In a real gunfight, you are not going to place every shot where you want it and you need the ones that do hit to do the maximum amount of damage possible. The video below shows what happens when a 147 grain 9 mm Parabellum Remington Golden Sabre hits ballistic gel. Ballistic gel is a substance designed to have the same physical characteristics as human body mass.
Third, there is the problem of capacity. The standard Makarov holds eight rounds. Some later versions may hold ten or twelve in double stack magazine which increases the weapons thickness and reduces concealability. Modern medium frame 9 mm's have a fifteen or sixteen round magazine capacity. In a real self defense situation, you are not going to hit every shot. The more chances you have to hit your assailant, the more likely you are to survive. A modern 9 mm handgun can give you up to twice as many shots without having to do a combat reload.
My advice is to acquire a quality, state of the art weapon and then learn how to use it. Every weapon is different and you need to become completely comfortable, confident and competent with it. The 9 mm is the smallest pistol cartridge recommended for self defense these days. .380 is usually reserved for "backup" weapons and with the advent of .380 sized 9 mm pocket pistols, the round is becoming less and less relevant.
I carry a Glock 19 9 mm. It cost a little under $500.00. I decided to go with the Glock because I had already become accustomed to Glocks when I trained with a Glock 22. I bought the 19 because it is
more concealable, cheaper to shoot, fits my smallish hands better and has less recoil. It has a fifteen round magazine capacity and no bad habits. It shoots accurately and predictably. There are also .22 caliber conversion kits for the Glocks and I will probably purchase one in the future to further reduce my training costs. I shoot at least a hundred rounds per month live fire and would like to shoot more.
If I were not in the security business and was going to purchase a weapon for home and personal defense, I would probably choose the Smith & Wesson SD9VE. Smith & Wesson has had a lot of teething problems with their semi-autos but they seem to have them licked now. The SD9 is identical in many respects to the Glock 19. It even field strips identically to a Glock. It is combination of previous models including the less than stellar performing Sigma and the better performing Shield series. The SD9 is now considered to be an accurate, reliable weapon. I trained with a guy carrying one and it didn't hiccup once in over four hundred rounds fired despite the fact that the guy was "limp wristing" the weapon at times.
The decision to carry a firearm is a serious one that should not be taken lightly. If you are going to carry a weapon you need to be competent with it. That means choosing a good quality weapon, firing it until you become competent and then firing it some more on a regular basis to stay competent. Given that, it just makes sense to invest in a good quality, state of the art weapon that will not cost an arm and a leg to fire on a regular basis.
Second, the .380 round is not really a good self defense choice. The 9 mm Parabellum is the oldest semi-
Third, there is the problem of capacity. The standard Makarov holds eight rounds. Some later versions may hold ten or twelve in double stack magazine which increases the weapons thickness and reduces concealability. Modern medium frame 9 mm's have a fifteen or sixteen round magazine capacity. In a real self defense situation, you are not going to hit every shot. The more chances you have to hit your assailant, the more likely you are to survive. A modern 9 mm handgun can give you up to twice as many shots without having to do a combat reload.
My advice is to acquire a quality, state of the art weapon and then learn how to use it. Every weapon is different and you need to become completely comfortable, confident and competent with it. The 9 mm is the smallest pistol cartridge recommended for self defense these days. .380 is usually reserved for "backup" weapons and with the advent of .380 sized 9 mm pocket pistols, the round is becoming less and less relevant.
I carry a Glock 19 9 mm. It cost a little under $500.00. I decided to go with the Glock because I had already become accustomed to Glocks when I trained with a Glock 22. I bought the 19 because it is
more concealable, cheaper to shoot, fits my smallish hands better and has less recoil. It has a fifteen round magazine capacity and no bad habits. It shoots accurately and predictably. There are also .22 caliber conversion kits for the Glocks and I will probably purchase one in the future to further reduce my training costs. I shoot at least a hundred rounds per month live fire and would like to shoot more.If I were not in the security business and was going to purchase a weapon for home and personal defense, I would probably choose the Smith & Wesson SD9VE. Smith & Wesson has had a lot of teething problems with their semi-autos but they seem to have them licked now. The SD9 is identical in many respects to the Glock 19. It even field strips identically to a Glock. It is combination of previous models including the less than stellar performing Sigma and the better performing Shield series. The SD9 is now considered to be an accurate, reliable weapon. I trained with a guy carrying one and it didn't hiccup once in over four hundred rounds fired despite the fact that the guy was "limp wristing" the weapon at times.
The decision to carry a firearm is a serious one that should not be taken lightly. If you are going to carry a weapon you need to be competent with it. That means choosing a good quality weapon, firing it until you become competent and then firing it some more on a regular basis to stay competent. Given that, it just makes sense to invest in a good quality, state of the art weapon that will not cost an arm and a leg to fire on a regular basis.
