The 9mm Parabellum pistol cartridge was introduced in 1902 by the German weapons manufacturer Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken (DWM) for their Luger pistol.[1] It was a higher-power version of the earlier 7.65mm Luger Parabellum, itself developed from an earlier 7.65mm Borchardt cartridge.
It is one of the most widespread pistol cartridges in the world.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]
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
| 9 mm Luger Parabellum |
Ball and hollow point 9mm Parabellum rounds |
| Type | Pistol |
| Place of origin | Germany |
| Production history |
| Designer | Georg Luger |
| Designed | 1901 |
| Produced | 1902 to present |
| Specifications |
| Parent case | 7.65mm Luger Parabellum |
| Case type | Rimless, straight |
| Bullet diameter | 9.02 mm (0.355 in) |
| Neck diameter | 9.65 mm (0.38 in) |
| Base diameter | 9.93 mm (0.391 in) |
| Rim diameter | 9.96 mm (0.392 in) |
| Case length | 19.15 mm (0.754 in) |
| Overall length | 29.69 mm (1.169 in) |
| Primer type | Small pistol |
| Ballistic performance |
| Bullet weight/type | Velocity | Energy |
| 115 gr FMJ | 1180 ft/s
(~360 m/s) | 356 ft·lbf
(~484 J) |
| 124 gr FMJ | 1150 ft/s
(~351 m/s) | 364 ft·lbf
(~495 J) |
| 147 gr FMJ | 1000 ft/s
(~305 m/s) | 326 ft·lbf
(~443 J) |
Test barrel length: 4 in
Source: Federal Cartridge Co. ballistics page |
Development
Georg Luger based the 9mm Parabellum cartridge on the earlier 7.65mm Parabellum pistol cartridge. In 1902, Luger presented the new round to the British Small Arms Committee as well as three prototype versions to the U.S. Army for testing at Springfield Arsenal in mid-1903. The German military showed interest in a 9mm version of the Parabellum in March 1904.
The initial cartridge was created by removing the bottleneck of the 7.65mm Luger cartridge resulting in a tapered rimless cartridge. The bullet shape was slightly redesigned in the 1910s for a better auto-loading.
Post-World War I 9mm pistols were adopted by a number of countries and 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 - "with iron core"). By 1944 the black identification of the 08 mE bullet was dropped and these bullets had normal copper colored jackets. Another wartime 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 - "sintered iron").
A special load (identified either by an “X” on the headstamp or by a green lacquered steel case) with a 9.7g (150gr) full metal jacket bullet with a subsonic muzzle velocity for use with suppressed firearms was produced by the Germans during WWII. Other countries also developed subsonic loads.
The 9mm cartridge has been manufactured by, or for, more than 70 different countries and has become the world’s standard pistol cartridge, being a standard pistol caliber for NATO and the militaries of many other countries of the world.[citation needed]
After WWII, the common weight of the 9mm was changed to 8.0g (124 gr) to increase the accuracy of the ammunition. Many police departments that use 9mm rounds in their handguns switched to this weight after the investigation of the FBI shootout in Miami in 1986, because the lighter 7.4g (114 gr) loading used by the officers was found to be less effective than a heavier load like the 8.0g. Bullets weighing up to 9.5g (147gr) are available.
9mm cartridges are most commonly used in pistols due to their size. However, 9mms were common in semi-automatic rifles produced in the 1950s through the 1980s. These are substantially weaker than other rifles, and are generally used for hunting small animals such as squirrels, chipmunks, or rabbits.
The golden age for 9mm in the US occurred during the period between the early 1980s and the mid 1990s along with the "autoloader revolution".[citation needed] As violence became more prevalent in American cities, police increasingly began to look to the quick reloading and high capacities inherent to semi-automatic handgun design.
At the time, most police departments were issuing .38 Special caliber revolvers with a six shot capacity.[citation needed] The .38 Special was advantageous because it offered low recoil for inexperienced shooters, the revolvers were small to accommodate shooters of different sizes, and it was relatively inexpensive.
As departments began looking for an semi-automatic equivalent, the 9mm was the obvious parallel to what they already knew and trusted.[citation needed] Possessing very similar ballistics to the .38 Special, the 9mm is a much smaller round and exhibited less recoil, so capacities could be easily increased by as much as 250% and still fit in a frame able to be used by smaller officers and inexperienced shooters.[citation needed]
Soon after police started the switch to semi-automatic 9mm pistols, the U.S. military did the same with the Beretta 92. With these two solid endorsements, private citizens followed suit in large numbers.[citation needed]
As trust and acceptance in the basic design of the semi-automatic pistol grew, so too did experience with this "new" class of handguns. Increasingly, it became apparent that there was a gap between the efficacy of the 9mm and the .45 ACP cartridge.[citation needed]
Attempts to bridge this gap came in the early 1990s with the widespread availability of high pressure loadings of the 9mm cartridge.[citation needed] Such cartridges are labeled "+P" or in the case of very high pressure loadings "+P+". Ballistic performance of these rounds was markedly improved over the standard loadings, but the carrying of these rounds also introduced many legal liabilities associated with carrying "extra deadly bullets".[citation needed]
Around the same time, the .40 S&W round debuted at the 1990 S.H.O.T. show for the firearms industry. The .40 S&W sought to fill the gap between 9mm and .45 ACP as a compromise between the two. While increasing bullet diameter to roughly half the difference between 9mm and .45 ACP, the .40 S&W retained the same SAMI standard pressure load limits of the 9mm (35,000 PSI). This afforded only a 20% (typical) capacity loss when compared to the 9mm, but also afforded the ammunition the speed and controlled. ensured expansion of 9mm +P+ loads without the need for the legally dubious +P label.[citation needed]
Because of the many advantages of the .40 S&W chambering, along with a growing perception of 9mm being an underperformer, 9mm's popularity declined dramatically in the US beginning in the mid 1990s.[citation needed] Currently, 9mm is relatively uncommon amongst American police forces although there are still some notable major metropolitan police departments that still stand by it.[citation needed] It also remains the US military's standard issue cartridge.
Case material and design
- Brass: Since 1902, the common construction material of 9mm 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 9mm has continued and is in use today.
- Steel: Various countries have experimented with the use of steel for the construction of 9mm cases since WWI. Lacquered steel cases were used almost exclusively by the Germans during World War 2 with considerable success. Steel case cartridges are still being produced and are available today from Russia.
- Other materials: Plastics have been widely used in the production of 9mm blank ammunition by a number of countries. Plastic case ball ammunition has been produced in experimental lots.
Performance
The 9mm 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 9mm full metal jacket (nonexpanding) bullets in the extremities and not even realizing it, or at least not being slowed down.[citation needed] Like many battle reports, these are difficult to prove or disprove.
Because it is inexpensive, easy to manufacture and effective enough for most uses, it has become the most used pistol cartridge in the world.[citation needed] In the U.S., 9mm remains a very popular civilian cartridge for self-defense and handgun target shooting, due to its low cost, modest recoil, and the large number of handguns available in this chambering.
The 9mm 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[citation needed], and the introduction of the .40 S&W cartridge that offered superior ballistic performance while retaining much of the ammunition capacities associated with 9mm ammunition.
In practical use, 9mm is most effective with increased-pressure +P and +P+ loads with expanding (hollow point) bullets which are intended to increase damage in soft tissue. It should be noted, however, that in the U.S. such loadings have introduced legal liabilities in otherwise justifiable incidents that have occurred in the past. [citation needed]
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