9 mm Luger Parabellum

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The 9 mm Parabellum pistol cartridge (9 x 19 mm Luger, 9 x 19 mm NATO) was introduced in the late 1890's by the German weapons manufacturer Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken (DWM) for their Pistole Parabellum. It was a higher-power version of the earlier 7.65 mm Luger Parabellum, itself developed from an earlier 7.65 mm Borchardt cartridge. It is commonly known by the DWM engineer and firearms designer, Georg Luger, who was one of the primary people to work on the round and the pistol.

It has become the most widespread pistol cartridge in the world. It also is widely used in a variety of pistol-caliber carbines by civilians, and has been the dominant submachine gun cartridge since World War II.

The name Parabellum is derived from the Latin: Si vis pacem, para bellum ("If you seek peace, prepare for war"), which was DWM's motto.

1 Development
2 Case material and design
3 Performance
- 3.1 External ballistics
4 Synonyms
5 See also

[edit] Development

Based upon his earlier 7.65 mm Parabellum pistol cartridge, Georg Luger designed the 9 mm Luger cartridge at the German company Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken, and presented a 9 mm version of his Luger pistol to the British Small Arms Committee in 1902 via Vickers. Three 9 mm Pistole Parabellum prototype pistols were delivered to the U.S. Army for testing at Springfield Arsenal in mid-1903. The German military showed interest in a 9 mm version of the Parabellum on March 1904.

The initial cartridge was created by removing the bottleneck of the 7.65 mm Luger cartridge resulting in a tapered rimless cartridge. The bullet shape was further modified in the 1910s for a better auto-loading.

Post-World War I 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 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 08 mE (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 9.7 g (150-gr) 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. Many police departments that use 9 mm rounds in their handguns switched to this weight after the investigation of the FBI shootout in Miami in 1986, because the lighter 7.4 g (114 gr) loading used by the officers was found to be less effective than a heavier load like 124 gr. Bullet weights up to 9.5 g (147 gr) are available.

9mm are most commonly used in handguns and pistols due to their size. However, 9mm's were common in semi-automatic rifles produced in the 1950s-1980s. Ofcourse, these were substantially weaker rifles (but still capable of produce severe harm like a handgun), generally used for hunting small animals such as squirels, chipmunks, or rabbits.

[edit] Case material and design

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.

Aluminum: 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.

[edit] Performance

The 9 mm Luger cartridge combines a flat trajectory with moderate recoil. 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 full metal jacket (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.

Image:CartridgeComparison.jpg

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. Because of these features, the 9 mm has been widely used in commiting crimes and violent shootings.

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 1980s and early 1990s 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 never-ending controversy in the United States over the suitability of 9 mm as a police and self-defense cartridge. On the other hand, European police forces favor it, and in general feel that in the United States there is too much emphasis on large cartridges for police use.

[edit] External ballistics

7.5 g (115 gr) Full Metal Jacket: 390 m/s (1,280 ft/s) — 570 joules (421 ft·lbf) of energy
8.0 g (124 gr) Full Metal Jacket: 360 m/s (1,180 ft/s) — 518 joules (386 ft·lbf) of energy