9x18mm

9×18mm Makarov
9×18mm Makarov cartridge (Full metal jacket bullet and steel case)
Type	Pistol
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
Used by	Russian Armed Forces, Polish Armed Forces Armed Forces of Ukraine, Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, People's Army of Vietnam, Military of Bulgaria, People's Liberation Army, Military of the Czech Republic, Military of Slovakia, others
Production history
Designer	B.V. Semin
Designed	1946
Produced	1951–present
Specifications
Case type	Rimless, tapered
Bullet diameter	9.27 mm (0.365 in)
Neck diameter	9.91 mm (0.390 in)
Base diameter	9.95 mm (0.392 in)
Rim diameter	9.95 mm (0.392 in)
Rim thickness	1.25 mm (0.049 in)
Case length	18.10 mm (0.713 in)
Overall length	25.00 mm (0.984 in)
Case capacity	0.83 cm3 (12.8 gr H2O)
Rifling twist	240.00 (1 in 9.45 in)
Primer type	Berdan or Boxer small pistol
Maximum pressure	160.00 MPa (23,206 psi)
Ballistic performance
Bullet mass/type Velocity Energy 95 gr (6 g) FMJ 319 m/s (1,050 ft/s) 313 J (231 ft·lbf) 95 gr (6 g) FTX 305 m/s (1,000 ft/s) 286 J (211 ft·lbf)
Test barrel length: 97 mm Source(s): C.I.P.

The 9×18mm Makarov (designated 9mm Makarov by the C.I.P. and often called 9×18mm PM) is a Russian pistol and submachine gun cartridge. During the latter half of the 20th Century it was a standard military pistol cartridge of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc, analogous to the 9×19mm Parabellum in NATO and Western military use.

During the Second World War and the early Cold War, the 7.62×25mm Tokarev was the standard automatic pistol round for the Soviet Union and its satellites in Eastern Europe. This ammunition is still in use by many of these countries today. During the war the Red Army had found a few shortcomings of its 7.62mm TT-33 pistol, one of which was a tendency to inadvertently drop its magazine while in operation. The army wanted something that was lighter, with a heel release instead of a button and different ammunition. A direct blowback design was chosen for the pistol's operation, since it would be quick and cheap to manufacture, as well as accurate, due to the fixed-barrel design allowed by direct blowback operation.

The 9×18mm Makarov round was designed by B.V. Semin in 1946, and was intended to be a relatively powerful round with modest bolt thrust that could function safely in a simple or direct blowback pistol. It was based on the 9×18mm Ultra cartridge which was developed in 1936 by Gustav Genschow & Co. for the German Luftwaffe, as a more powerful alternative to the 9×17mm used in the Walther PP, also a simple blowback design pistol. Nikolay Fyodorovich Makarov went on to design the Makarov PM pistol around the 9×18mm Makarov round in 1948.