Among the news from this years MSPO 2017 in Poland, is the interesting announcement of the procurement of 9x18mm Makarov by the Polish National Police forces. The Polish arms company Cenzin will supply 500,000 cartridges for small arms that are chambered in the caliber that is becoming less used in coming years. The contract is valued at 492,000 PLN. Polish police adopted the Walter P99 in 9x19mm in 2000, but there still a number of departments that are still using the 9x18mm cartridge throughout the country, a hold over from the Soviet era. Concurrently, the Polish police forces also signed a contract for 9,750,000 9x19mm cartridges valued at 14.5 million PLN to supply the majority of the forces small arms. Comparing the quantity of the two sales it is obvious where the priorities of the police forces lie, and this this is might be the final purchase of 9x18mm Makarov ammunition.

Specifically the police forces are still using the P64, P83 handguns and the PM-84 submachine gun, all chambered in 9x18mm Makarov. However it would appear that all these small arms should be on their way out of use and circulation within the next decade.

Special thanks to TFB reader Krzysztof K. for providing the links and translation for this post!