Why did the Soviets switch to the 9mm Makarov?

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cam1936

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As the title says why did the Soviets switch from the 7.62x25mm to the 9mm Makarov? Was it simply that the new service pistol was designed around that round? Or did it have to do with wanting a round with less recoil?

I can't think of a reason. The Tokarev round is pretty impressive, and while snappy is certainly not too heavy in the recoil department. The Makarov round on the other hand is anemic at best.

Was an official reason ever given?
 
The Soviets wanted a new pistol that would be inexpensive & simple to make. They decided a blowback pistol fitted this need & the Walther PP design was proven & acceptable.
The 9mm Makarov round is about the most powerful that a blowback action will take . They went between a 9mm short ( Kurtz ) ( 9x17 ) , AKA .380 and the 9x19 and went with a 9x18 case.
At the time the Germans had recently adopted a 9x18 Ultra for the same reason.
The 9x18 German ultra used a standard 9mm bullet (.355 ).
The Soviets went with a .362 bullet. The reason being that the Soviets could use 9x18 Ultra if need be but the Germans could not use 9mm Makarov.
 
Favorite of the officiers.
Great for executions: one round at the back of the head and no danger of overpenetrating and hurting an innocent bystander or participating comrade!
And it can be used indoors without blowing out your eardrums like the 7,62x25mm. does.
PP.
 
"...why did the Soviets switch..." Pistols are status and rank symbols there too. But mostly likely to be using a bugger calibre.
"...Wiki is your friend..." Wikipedia isn't a good source for info. Anybody with Internet access can post anything they want.
"...general loss in Soviet manliness ensured..." There'll be a Russian female wrestler along shortly to explain your error. snicker.
 
they also tryed a Makarov in 9x19 straight blowback with a spiral fluted chamber. as the case expands ,it slows down the blowback and ejection. because its spiral the gun trys to twist out of your hand. still have the old green card for it somewere.
 
PerversPépère said:
Favorite of the officiers.
Great for executions: one round at the back of the head and no danger of overpenetrating and hurting an innocent bystander or participating comrade!
And it can be used indoors without blowing out your eardrums like the 7,62x25mm. does.
PP.
Click to expand...

The executions in Russia were performed with .22 Margolin to the best of my knowledge. However, they were done in such secrecy that no one knows for sure.
 
Basically, the Russians went from a stiletto (TT-33) to a penknife (Makarov) if you look at handguns in the same manner as daggers....
 
And the answer is:
The PPSH was replaced by the AK, so 7.62x25 was eliminated.

Doctrine removed the SMG and pistol from the battlefield. But internal security (and occasional military needs) wanted a simple, super-reliable, accurate, suppressible pistol with a good safety. The Mak was perfect.
 
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The 7.62x25 is too fast for the intended purpose of the 9mm Mak. the 7.62 round penetrates building walls and travels just over 1700fps. It also cannot work in a short blowback which is perceived to be a more accurate action requiring less hand fitting. Blowbacks also work more accurately with suppressors.

If you want to do blowback, you need a different round and the 9mm Mak was that round - the answer to the 9mm NATO round in the west.

The mak is also more compact than the Tok with more features and is less expensive to produce and requires less hand fitting.
 
sunray said:
"...Wiki is your friend..." Wikipedia isn't a good source for info. Anybody with Internet access can post anything they want.
Click to expand...

...And anybody else can correct them. Although Wikipedia is not the best or be all and end all source of information, I would hardly toss it aside so quickly.
 
PerversPépère said:
Favorite of the officiers.
Great for executions: one round at the back of the head and no danger of overpenetrating and hurting an innocent bystander or participating comrade!
And it can be used indoors without blowing out your eardrums like the 7,62x25mm. does.
PP.
Click to expand...

That's exactly the reason for lesser power in the KGB service pistol. For executions during WW11 on 22 000 Polish Officers in Katyn forest the NKWD was useing German made 32 ACP ammo. For combat the 7,62x25 is preferable but to finish of the prisoners that round would be to messy and noisy.
 
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