“The WeekenD’orr” by Christian D. Orr
Beretta vs. Makarov: Who’s The Big Winner? Okay, mea culpa: as my shooting buddies know, I’m a big-time Beretta fanboy. The 9mm Beretta 92FS AKA the M9 is U.S. military circles, is my sentimental favorite semiautomatic pistol, and indeed the very first pistol I truly fell in love with. (Strictly platonically speaking, of course, so no Dr. Joyce Brothers jokes, please). This Beretta love dates back to Thanksgiving Weekend 1989 when I was at the tender age of 14. Fast-forward to 2002, when I was 27 y/o, and I finally bought my own Beretta whilst stationed at Tyndall AFB, Florida. (The specimen used for the purposes of this article was an extra one I bought whilst stationed at Scott AFB, Illinois 2004).
But as my shooting buddies also know, I’m also a big-time fanboy of the Pistolet Makarova, i.e. the PM Makarov 9x18mm autopistol. Although my Mak love (again, strictly platonic) doesn’t go back as far as my Beretta fandom, she’s no spring chicken in that regard either. My very first CCW piece was a genuine Russian-made Baikal/Izhevsk IJ-70 model that I purchased in Florida back in 2001 (during that same aforementioned Tyndall AFB posting). Alas, I traded that one away in 2005 (so much for posterity. eh). Ergo the one used for this article was a Bulgarian I bought in 2003 (part of the huge influx of Bulgarian surplus Maks that Century Arms imported back then).
So then, though I’ve written plenty of individual range reports on the Beretta 92 and Makarov alike, up until now, I’d yet to do a head-to-head range showdown writeup on these two classic Cold War guns. Well, at this time last year, I thought to myself “Y’know, now’s as good a time as any to finally make up for lost time.” After all, had the Cold War turned “hot” anytime between the mid-1980s and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, these two pistols would indeed fought against each other; the Beretta M9 on the side of the U.S. and NATO ally Italy; the Mak on the side of most if not all of the Warsaw Pact/Eastern Bloc countries.
Originally this was head-to-head was only intended to be a single-stage matchup, but I ended up doing three rounds of evaluations, for reasons that’ll become evident through the course of the article.
BERETTA VS. MAKAROV PART 1: 01 MAY 2024
Yes, that’s right, the first of these sessions coincided with that damn dirty Commie pinko holiday known as “May Day.” Rest assured that was purely coincidental timing on my part.
All three of these sessions were conducted at the excellent Silver Eagle Group (SEG) indoor shooting facility in Ashburn, VA. (I worked there briefly as a Range Safety Officer [RSO] back in 2019). All three sessions utilized the ICE-QT paper target.
Having laid that initial groundwork, onto the parameters of this particular range test…
Ammo used:
—Blazer Brass 124-gr FMJ for the Beretta
—MaxxTech 92-gr FMJ Brass Case for the Mak
Course of fire:
—15 rounds of head shots at 7 yards, DA trigger mode for the first round of each magazine, SA trigger mode the rest of the way, Chapman-modified Weaver Stance
—10 rounds of torso shots at 15 yards, DA trigger mode for the first round of each magazine, SA the rest of the way, Chapman-modified Weaver Stance
—15 rounds of head shots at 25 yards, SA all the way, Chapman-modified Weaver Stance
—10 rounds of torso shots at 50 yards, SA all the way, Chapman-modified Weaver Stance
Not surprisingly, the Beretta gave me better groups at the first two distances.
What surprised the hell out of me is the Mak gave me better accuracy at the latter two distances. For whatever reason my M9 was shooting super-low for me that day. I thought to myself at the time:
“I mean, there’s no way in hell that either (A) the Mak is an inherently more accurate pistol than the Beretta and/or (B) 9x18mm Makarov is an intrinsically more accurate cartridge than the 9x19mm Parabellum, ‘Deadliest Warrior: Green Beret vs. Spetsnaz‘ claims notwithstanding. Unless MaxxTech (made in Bosnia and Herzegovina) is the world’s best-kept secret in match grade ammo? But even that wouldn’t explain why the Beretta-Blazer combo was underperforming for me today!“
Well, as a couple of my Facebook friends and acquaintances who are fans of both pistols pointed out to me, the Mak’s fixed barrel help make it surprisingly accurate, even though the pistol isn’t typically touted as a “tack driver.”
Nonetheless, the suddenly poor long-distance performance of my Beretta concerned me, as she’s always been one of my sweetest-shooting handguns regardless of distance. As my nephew and fellow gun enthusiast Ryan put it, “the Beretta is your Old Faithful.”
So anyway, I said to myself and my FB gun buddies that night, “Gonna have to see how the 115-grain and 147-grain loads compare at those same distances.”
Which makes the perfect segue to…
BERETTA VS. MAKAROV PART DEUX: 03 MAY 2024
Loads used for the Beretta:
—CCI Speer Lawman 147-gr. TMJ
—Nosler 115-gr. +P JHP
—US Cartridge 147-gr JHP “L.E. Contract Overrun”
Load used for Mak:
—Sellier & Bellot (S&B) 95-gr FMJ
Distances with each load:
—15 rounds of head shots at 25 yards, all single-action, Classic Weaver Stance
—10 rounds of torso shots at 50 yards, all SA, Classic Weaver Stance
(Yes, I skipped the 7- and 15-yard lines on this go-around.)
Once again, my Beretta was shooting waaaaayyyyy to the left. The problem was less severe with the 115-grainers; at least they all stayed on the gert-damn silhouette! Both 147-grainers,landed in the shoulders, ears, and completely off the damn silhouette! And this was after taking 3 o’clock Kentucky windage. 🤯🤯🫣🫣
As for the Mak.the only flaw was that it shot waaaaayyyy high. My very first shot went into the target’s forehead, which would’ve been just swell if the noggin had been my actual intended target as opposed to the torso!
That said, once I took the 6 o’clock Kentucky windage, I had only only total whiff with the Mak at 50 yards. As for the 25 yards…well, ho-lee shyte, y’all can see for yourselves the amazingly tight groups the gun & load gave me!! 💥💥🕳️🕳️🔫🔫
BereMak at long-distance = Wow!So, my Beretta fanboy biases aside, I gotta admit, the Makarov won the accuracy contest.
However, reliability is another story. The M9 gave me ZERO failures of ANY kind. Meanwhile, the Mak gave me several slidelock failures on the last shot…as well as a weird tendency to send the slide forward after I’d removed the empty mag, even though I most assuredly did not trip the slide stop lever. 🤷♂️🤷🏿🤔🤨🧐
“N-E-who,” I was now wondering, “after 20 years of faithful accurate service, maybe it’s time to replace either the sights and/or barrel on the M9? Mayhaps even send her to a certified Beretta doctor, er, pistolsmith like Ernest Langdon?”
Well, maybe the third time would be the charm for Beretta, especially if I tried yet another stance…
BERETTA VS. MAKAROV PART III: 6 MAY 2024
Once again, I skipped the 7- and 15-yard distances.
But this time, I also threw in my Beretta M9A1-22 .22 LR thrown in as a “control” specimen;” same dimensions and ergonomics as her 9mm Parabellum sister, but a smaller, lower-recoiling, rimfire caliber.
Loads used? Well, to paraphrase the Beatles, I “got back to where I once belonged,” using the same loads 92FS and the Mak that I’d used for Round 1 of this eval, ergo:
—CCI Speer 124-grain Blazer Brass for the 92FS
—MaxxTech 92-grain FMJ for the Mak
As for the M9A1-22:
—Winchester 40-grain High Velocity Hollow Point Copper Plated
Distances with each load:
—15 rounds of head shots at 25 yards, all single-action
—10 rounds of torso shots at 50 yards, all SA
This time I went with the Isosceles Stance, even though it’s long been my least favorite of the old-school 2-handed “static range” stances. By contrast, I used Chapman Modified Weaver during Round 1 and Classic Weaver during Round 2.
Well, going to Isosceles (whilst sticking with 3 o’clock Kentucky windage) gave me a BIG improvement with the 92FS at the 25-yard mark; yes, I still threw one shot leftward into the paper bad guy’s right shoulder, but eh, I called that nasty flier, as I lost control of my KY windage and allowed my sights to drift too far to the center. (What can I say, with Isosceles, my arms tire out faster than they do with Chapman or Classic Weaver).
With the Mak at that 25-yard distance, I had to take 7 o’clock windage on the bad guy’s chin line; I still got mostly good hits, but also a few high right whiffs.
As for the 50-yard mark…
…a slight improvement for the Beretta — hell, my very first shot went perfectly dead center into the 5x-ring — but still, too many misses and low peripheral hits.
Meanwhile, the Mak shined yet again (taking a 7 o’clock hold on the target’s waistline) at that max distance:
–Three hits taking the 5-x ring
–Two hits still in the 5-zone
–One hit low-right 4-zone
–Two hits high-right in the shoulder/2-zone
–Two rounds, er, unaccounted for.
As for the M9A1-22 “control” specimen…
At 25 yards she stayed mostly centered, though kinda low; first round strayed into the bottom of the chin line, but still in the 5-zone for scoring purposes. I overcompensated and pulled one flyer high-right and completely off the bad guy.
At 50 yards, ugh, way too low; first round impact in the BG’s left pelvic area. Six rounds landed in the 5-zone, but four of those actually hit at or below the waistline. One round hit in the gut/4-zone, one in the forearm/2-zone…and the last round, ugh, just ugh.
The Verdict
So then, the final winner in the Beretta vs. Makarov showdown is…?
Well, lessee, at 7 and 15 yards, Beretta 92FS wins.
At 25 yards, the Makarov wins when using the two Weaver Stance variants, yet the Beretta wins when using Isosceles. Go figure.
Makarov clearly wins at 50 yards.
On balance, as impressive as the Makarov was, I still gotta give the nod to Beretta. After all, the overwhelming majority of pistol fights take place within 7 yards, and the 92FS continues to shine at that distance. Plus, the Beretta has the advantages in reliability, long-term durability, magazine capacity, terminal ballistic energy, and reloading speed. Oh yeah, not to mention availability of spare parts.
All of these factors were completely and conveniently ignored by the co-hosts and producers of that aforementioned “Deadliest Warrior.” The hosts of that show arbitrarily deemed the Beretta vastly inferior to the Makarov. Their determining criteria? Simply because Green Beret representative Sgt. George Gomez had one unfortunate miss with his M9 whilst the truly ultra-badass Spetsnaz veteran Sonny Puzikas was 100% with his PM. (I mean,really, a 3:1 kill ratio in favor of the Mak during the show’s computer simulations? Give me a friggin’ break!)
Having said all that, it’s an honor & pleasure having both of these classic autopistols in my arsenal.
(NOTE: This is an updated version of an article originally published last year on the author’s Patreon page “The D’Orr-senal of Democracy.”)
Read the full article here
