9mm Makarov reloading

[Pukindog]

I am not new to reloading and have a pretty good question. Can the 9mm Luger dies be used to load the Makarov cartridge? I know the Mak is actually 9.2 mm, but, has anyone done it? I have a couple hundred pieces of once fired Mak brass and would prefer to load them instead of buying factory stuff.
I am tempted to by one of the CZ82's since they are on the C&R list. ( don't know how that hapened)
Thanks ,
Jeff

[knight0334]

No.. There is a substantial size difference between the Luger and Mak.

You can get Mak dies for about the same prices as Luger dies. Yeah, it'll cost ya $20-$40, but after awhile of reloading your Mak brass it will pay off.

[aubie515]

Cabela's sells Lee Mak dies for $22, so I wouldn't risk using 9mm dies to load Mak ammo.

[mauser]

Jeff
If you have a hankering for a CZ82, go for it, you won't be sorry, they are nice. Check them out here:
http://www.aimsurplus.com/acatalog/C...18_Pistol.html
You save a bundle on shipping if you get more than one at a time. I'm not sure of the exact cost to ship one, but It's somewhere around $40.00. Two will ship to my address for $42.25, 3 will ship for $48.00.
That being said, their most recent lot is a real nice looking batch of guns. (At least the 3 I got are real nice). Here are 2 pictures of one of them: (The other 2 look just as nice, and the other 2 holsters are a lot nicer, one looks absulutely unused).


What a sweet shooting gun, I'm glad I decided to get more than one.
Ambidextrous safety, ambidextrous mag release, ambidextrous grips and ambidextrous holster. I wish I was ambidextrous so I could get the full benefit. I'll have to work on that, this is a great gun to use if you want to practice shooting with your "other" hand. (My oldest son is a leftie, he really likes the feel of this one, none of my other guns are really comfortable for him).
To answer your question about dies; No, you can't use 9mm Luger dies for 9mm Mak. The bullet diameter of the Mak is .008" bigger than the Luger, therefore the sizing die would size the mouth of the case out of spec, to the tune of .008" undersize. (The bullets aren't interchangeable either!). You'd probably have trouble seating the bullet and would most likely get a bulge in the brass because you'd be forcing a bullet into an opening that's too small. The seating / crimp die would also technically be out of spec, but you might be able to make it work, as well as the case mouth expander. For the price of a set of 'proper' dies I wouldn't even try to 'fake it' with Luger dies. I'll be getting a set of 9X18 Lee dies real soon. Factory ammo for the Mak is rather pricey, it won't take too long to offset the price of the dies.
If you want to get rid of your brass, I'd be interested. Something tells me that you aren't looking to get rid of it, but ya can't blame me for asking, can ya?
Now I have a question to ask of any fellow reloaders:
Does anyone have load data for Hodgdon Lil'Gun powder in the 9X18 Makarov, or know the reason why that data doesn't exist? I haven't found any load data for that powder in any auto-loader, there's probably a good reason for that, does anyone have any insight here? Would it be the greater recoil?
I've searched and can't find anything on it. That powder gives impressive results in .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum and .22 Hornet. High muzzle velocity with very low chamber pressure. (But plenty of recoil).