The 9×19mm Parabellum (also known as the 9mm Parabellum or the 9mm Luger or simply as the 9mm) is a rimless, tapered firearms cartridge.
Originally designed by Austrian firearm designer Georg Luger in 1901, it is widely considered the most popular handgun and submachine gun cartridge due to its low cost, adequate stopping power and extensive availability.
Since the cartridge was designed for the Luger semi-automatic pistol, it has been given the designation of 9mm Luger by the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI) and the (CIP).
A 2007 US survey concluded that "about 60 percent of the firearms in use by police are 9mm [Parabellum]" and credited 9×19mm Parabellum pistol sales with making semiautomatic pistols more popular than revolvers.
Origins
The cartridge was developed by Austrian firearm designer Georg Luger in 1901. The cartridge was derived from an earlier round designed by Luger (7.65×21mm Parabellum), which itself was derived from a cartridge used in the Borchardt C-93 pistol (7.65×25mm Borchardt). Shortening the length of the cartridge case used in the Borchardt pistol allowed Luger to improve the design of the toggle lock and to incorporate a smaller, angled grip.
Luger's work on the Borchardt design evolved into the Luger pistol, which was first patented in 1898 and chambered in 7.65×21mm Parabellum. Demand from Germany for a larger caliber in their military sidearm led Luger to develop the 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge for the eventual P08 pistol. This was achieved by removing the bottleneck shape of the 7.65×21mm Parabellum case, resulting in a tapered rimless cartridge encasing a bullet that was 9 millimeters in diameter.
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 Imperial German Navy adopted the cartridge in 1904, and in 1908, the German Army adopted it as well.
To conserve lead during World War II in Germany, the lead core was replaced by an iron core encased with lead. This bullet, identified by a black bullet jacket, was designated as the 08 mE (—"with an iron core"). By 1944, the black jacket of the 08 mE bullet was dropped, and these bullets were produced with normal copper-colored jackets. Another wartime variation was designated the 08 sE bullet and identified by its dark gray jacket, and was created by compressing iron powder at high temperature into a solid material (—"sintered iron").
The name Parabellum is derived from the Latin motto of Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken (DWM), Si vis pacem, para bellum ("If you want peace, prepare for war").
Popularity
After the end of World War I, the popularity of the 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge increased with the vast number of pistols and submachine guns being adopted by many militaries and law enforcement agencies around the world. The 9×19mm Parabellum has become the most common caliber used by U.S. law enforcement agencies, primarily due to the availability of controllable compact pistols with large magazine capacities that use the cartridge.
From the 1980s to the 1990s, a sharp increase in popularity occurred with semi-automatic pistols in the United States by both law enforcement and military personnel, a trend foreshadowed by the adoption of the Smith & Wesson Model 39 by the Illinois State Police in 1968. In addition, the Beretta M9 (a military version of the Beretta Model 92) was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1985. Previously, most American police departments issued .38 Special and .357 Magnum caliber revolvers with a five-round or six-round capacity. The .38 Special was preferred to other weapons, such as variants of the M1911, because it offered low recoil, was small and light enough to accommodate different shooters, and was inexpensive to purchase. The 9×19mm cartridge is ballistically superior to the .38 Special revolver cartridge, is shorter overall, and being an autoloader cartridge, it is stored in flat magazines, as opposed to cylindrical speedloaders. This, coupled with the advent of the so-called "wonder nines", led to many U.S. police departments exchanging their revolvers for some form of 9mm semiautomatic pistols by the late 20th century.
In 2013, a chart of popular calibers that was released by the website Luckygunner.com showed 9×19mm Parabellum as having 21.4% of the entire cartridge market, followed by the .223 Remington at 10.2% (with 5.56 mm included this is 15.7%). The next most popular caliber was .45 ACP.
Cartridge dimensions
The 9×19mm Parabellum has 0.86 ml (13.3 grains H2O) of cartridge case capacity.