1000 Rounds of 92gr FMJ 9x18mm Makarov Ammo by Tula

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I have a Bul Cherokee 9mm firearm pistol. The statement about this Tula round not being compatible with 9mm NATO weapons made me think....Is there a difference in NATO weapons and my 9mm Bul Cherokee pistol? If so, then will this round fire in my pistol without damage to the firearm? Thanks for the help on this one! Posted On: 6/12/2021 By: Todd Stastny

Hello Todd! The answer to this one is pretty interesting. So, the cartridge we call the 9x18mm Makarov (aka 9mm Makarov) was designed by the Russians. The Russians designed this cartridge in 1946, right after they fought the Germans. The Russians went out of their way to design and adopt a pistol cartridge which the Germans couldn't use in their 9mm Luger pistols if they ever found a Soviet ammo cache. Don't want to supply the enemy, right? The fact that the Americans started using the 9mm only encouraged the Soviets to use their own pistol cartridge – one which America and their NATO allies couldn't commandeer and then use against them if it ever came to war.

So here we have a cartridge which was specifically designed not to work in a 9mm (aka 9mm Luger) firearm. The 9mm Makarov is a pretty similar cartridge, all in all, but its bullet is 0.010" wider than the 9mm. That's enough to make it totally useless in a 9mm firearm. To answer your question directly, if you have a 9mm firearm, you can fire any 9mm ammunition.

There's a little more to it than that, in all honesty, as there are 9mm variants like 9mm NATO, 9mm +P, and 9mm +P+. These cartridges are loaded to higher pressures than the regular old 9mm. You can safely fire 9mm +P or 9mm NATO in your BUL Cherokee – you'll get a higher muzzle velocity, a flatter trajectory, and you can hit your target with more energy. The downside is that higher pressure will wear out your semi-auto's moving parts faster, which is why I generally only recommend "overpressure" ammo for self-defense. However, 9mm +P+ ammo is extremely powerful and may damage your pistol.