9 mm Luger
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Ball and hollowpoint 9mm Luger rounds |
The 9 mm Luger pistol cartridge (9 x 19 mm Parabellum, 9 x 19 mm NATO) was designed by firearms designer Georg Luger. It has become the most widespread pistol cartridge in the world.
Based upon his earlier
7.65 mm Luger pistol cartridge, Georg Luger designed the 9 mm Luger cartridge at the German company
Deutsche Waffen-und Munitionsfabriken (DWM) and presented a 9 mm version of his
Pistole Parabellum to the
British Small Arms Committee in
1902 via
Vickers Limited. Three 9 mm Pistole Parabellum
prototype pistols were delivered to the US Army for testing at
Springfield Arsenal in mid
1903. The German military showed an interest in a 9 mm version of the Parabellum in March
1904. The word "Parabellum" comes from the Latin phrase "if you want peace, prepare for war".
The cartridge was created simply by removing the bottleneck of the 7.65 mm Luger cartridge resulting in a tapered rimless cartridge.
The original design was a full metal jacket (FMJ), truncated cone bullet weighing 8 g (124 gr). In Germany, this load was replaced with 124 grain (8.0 g) FMJ bullets with a round ogive in 1915-1916, but truncated cone bullets continued to be used on commercial loads and in the United States.
Post-World War I (WWI) 9 mm pistols were adopted by a number of countries, and post-WWI acceptance of this caliber spread even more rapidly.
To conserve lead, during World War II (WWII) in Germany the lead core was replaced by an iron core encased with lead. A black bullet jacket identified this bullet and it was designated as the 08mE (mit Eisenkern or "with iron core").
Another war-time variation, designated as the 08SE bullet and identified by its dark gray jacket, was created by compressing iron powder at high temperature into a solid material (Sintereisen or "sintered iron").
A special load (identified either by an "X" on the headstamp or by a green lacquered steel case) with a 150 gr (9.7 g) FMJ bullet with a subsonic muzzle velocity for use with silencers was produced by the Germans during WWII. Other countries also developed heavy bullet, subsonic loads for use with silenced guns.
The 9 mm Parabellum cartridge has been manufactured by, or for, more than 70 different countries and, today, has become the world's standard pistol cartridge, being the standard pistol caliber for NATO and the militaries of most countries of the world.
After WWII, the common weight of the 9 mm was changed to 8.0 g (124 gr) to increase the accuracy of the 9 mm Luger ammunition. Bullet weights up to 9.5 g (147 gr) are available.
- Case material -
Brass: Since 1902, the common construction material of 9 mm cases has been brass. For appearance, durability, or identification cases have been nickel or copper plated or painted.
Aluminium: To conserve brass, aluminum cases have been produced since 1941 (Switzerland) and the development of that material in the use of the 9 mm has continued and is in use today.
Steel: Various countries have experimented with the use of steel for the construction of 9 mm cases since WWI. It has met with very little success but is still being produced and is available today from Russia.
Other materials: Plastics have been widely used in the production of 9 mm ammunition by a number of countries.
The 9 mm Luger cartridge combines a flat
trajectory with moderate
recoil, and fair stopping power. Its main advantages lie in its small size and low use of resources for manufacturing. Its main disadvantages are its tendency to overpenetrate and small wound cavity size when nonexpanding bullets are used. There are many anecdotal reports of soldiers being shot with 9 mm FMJ (nonexpanding) bullets in the extremities and not even realizing it, or at least not being slowed down. Like many battle reports these are difficult to prove or disprove.
It is a good small game cartridge for the handgun hunter.
Because it is inexpensive, easy to manufacture and effective enough for most uses, it has become the most used pistol cartridge in the world. In the U.S. 9 mm remains a very popular civilian cartridge for self-defense and handgun target shooting, due to its low cost, modest recoil, and the huge number of handguns available in this chambering.
For police use, it is mainly used with higher speed overpressure (+P) expanding (hollowpoint) bullets which are intended to increase stopping power. The 9 mm cartridge was extremely popular for police use in the 1980's and early 1990's but fell out of favor, a result of marginal results in some shootings, likely due to the relatively primitive bullets available at the time, and the introduction of the .40 S&W cartridge that was perceived to be better in all ways. There is a neverending controversy in the United States over the suitability of 9 mm as a police and self-defense cartridge.
