9×19mm Parabellum

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 cartridge case used in the Borchardt pistol allowed Luger to improve the design of the toggle lock and 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 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 rimless, tapered cartridge that encased a bullet 9 millimeters in diameter. In 1902, Luger presented the new round to the British Small Arms Committee and three prototype versions to the US Army for testing at the 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 can be 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 (DWM), ('If you want peace, prepare for war'). ==Popularity==

After the end of World War I, the popularity of the 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge increased as many militaries and law enforcement agencies around the world adopted a vast number of semi-automatic pistols and submachine guns. 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 US Army in 1985. Previously, most American police departments issued .38 Special and .357 Magnum caliber revolvers with a five- 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. and is shorter overall. As an autoloader cartridge, it is stored in flat magazines, rather than in cylindrical speedloaders. This, coupled with the advent of the so-called "wonder nines", led many US police departments to replace their revolvers with 9mm semi-automatic pistols by the late twentieth century. The 9×19mm Parabellum has become the most common caliber used by US law enforcement agencies, primarily due to the availability of controllable compact pistols with large magazine capacities that use the cartridge. In 2013, a chart released by the website Luckygunner.com showed 9×19mm Parabellum with 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 specifications==

types: unjacketed (lead), full metal jacket, and hollow point The 9×19mm Parabellum has 0.86 ml (13.3 grains H2O) of cartridge case capacity. The cartridge headspaces on the mouth of the case. The common rifling twist rate for this cartridge is 250 mm (1 in 9.84 in), six grooves, ø lands = 8.82 mm, ø grooves = 9.02 mm, land width = 2.49 mm and the primer type is small pistol. According to CIP rulings, the 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge case can handle up to Pmax piezo pressure. In CIP-regulated countries, every pistol cartridge combination must be proofed at 130% of the maximum CIP pressure to be certified for sale to consumers. This means that 9×19mm Parabellum chambered arms in CIP-regulated countries are currently (2014) proof-tested at PE piezoelectric pressure. ==Performance==

The round was originally designed to be lethal to , but is still lethal at longer ranges. The 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge combines a flat trajectory with moderate recoil. According to the 1986 book Handloading, "the modern science of wound ballistics has established beyond reasonable doubt that the 9 mm cartridge is highly effective." In 2014, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released a report detailing the potential combat effectiveness of the 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge when compared to other calibers such as the .40 S&W and the .45 ACP cartridges that were specifically developed for use by the FBI. ==Improvements and variations==

NATO standard The round is also known as "9mm NATO" because it has become a standard pistol caliber for NATO countries' forces. The cartridge has been manufactured by, or for, more than 70 countries. While the NATO standards do not specify the type of bullet to be used, Declaration III of the Hague Convention of 1899 prohibits the use of expanding ammunition in warfare by signatories, so official NATO 9 mm ammunition is FMJ "ball" bullets. Declaration III does not apply in conflicts involving non-signatories to the Hague Convention, including paramilitary and other nongovernmental fighting forces. In 2021, with the standardization of STANAG-4509, NATO adopted the 5.7×28mm SMG/pistol cartridge for the PDW program. It is in the same power range as 9×19mm Parabellum but has a few additional advantages, such as a larger magazine capacity and improved armor penetration. Swedish m/39 9mm Parabellum entered Swedish service as m/39 with the import of the Kulsprutepistol m/39 from Austria, with a bullet weight of . During the Congo Crisis, the Swedish UN-contingent raised complaints about the performance of the m/39 cartridge (9mm Parabellum) used. This led to the Swedish Army commission of 1962, which concluded that a new round was needed for the Carl Gustav m/45. The resulting m/39B had a tombac-plated steel jacket surrounding the lead core. While the lands of the barrel can cut into the tombac, the steel jacket resists deformation, thus causing the gas pressure to rise higher than the previous soft-jacketed m/39, giving the bullet a Vo of and an impact energy of 600 joules. The mantle also acts like a penetrator when striking a target, going through up to 50 layers of kevlar, 7 cm of bricks, or 25 cm of wood, allowing the bullet to defeat body armor up to Type IIIA. +P variant Attempts to improve the cartridge's ballistics began in the early 1990s with the widespread availability of high-pressure 9mm loadings. Such overpressure cartridges are labeled "+P", with maximum average pressure of or in the case of very high-pressure loadings, "+P+", with a maximum average pressure of . The velocity of these rounds is improved over standard loadings. In addition, improvements in jacketed hollow-point bullet technology have produced bullet designs that are more likely to expand and less likely to fragment than earlier iterations, giving a 9mm bullet better terminal effectiveness. In addition to enhanced penetration capabilities, these overpressure variants offer a flatter trajectory and reduced recoil. The increase in service pressure causes a rise in bolt thrust, so this overpressure ammunition induces more stress on critical weapon parts during firing. After initial research conducted in the late 1980s under the codename "Grach", the Russian armed forces adopted two specialized 9×19mm variants. • R50 at means the closest 50 percent of the shot group will all be within a circle of radius at . The 7N21 (Cyrillic: 7Н21) 9×19mm overpressure variant features an armor-piercing bullet and generates a peak pressure of . The 7N31 (Cyrillic: 7Н31) / PBP 9×19mm overpressure variant uses the same concept with a similar but lighter bullet that achieves higher muzzle velocity. The penetration of an -thick St3 steel plate is specified at up to . The 7N31 cartridge was developed in the late 1990s for the GSh-18 pistol. The 7N31 was adopted for the PP-90M1 and PP-2000 submachine guns. Its maximum service pressure remains unclear. The two-round construction makes them effective against both unarmored and armored targets. If the bullet strikes an unarmored target, it remains intact, producing a wide wound channel. If the bullet strikes an armored target, the sleeve is stripped away, and the core penetrates on its own. The disadvantage of the rounds is that high-impact velocities are required to work effectively, so the bullets are relatively light to maximize muzzle velocity. This means they lose velocity relatively quickly, limiting their effective range. The 7N30 (Cyrillic: 7Н30) or RG057 consists of hardened steel core tension-fitted into a metal sheath. The 7N35 (Cyrillic: 7Н35) consists of lead core in a metal sheath. It was never accepted into service. Other variants 9mm Parabellum ammunition is available in a wide range of types and variations, designed to meet the specific needs and preferences of users. This diversity in 9mm ammunition encompasses multiple standard categories, such as full metal jacket (FMJ), jacketed and unjacketed hollow point (JHP), frangible ammunition, soft point, tracer, and other specialized variants tailored for competitive shooting or law enforcement applications. VBR-B produces specialized bullets for this cartridge, a two-part controlled fragmenting projectile and an armor-piercing bullet that features a brass sabot and a hardened steel penetrator. These are designed to increase the content of the permanent wound cavity and double the chance of hitting a vital organ. ==US data==

The energy delivered by most 9mm loads allows for significant expansion and penetration with premium hollow-point bullets. Illinois State Police, border patrol, Federal Air Marshals, and United States Secret Service favored and used +P+ 9mm loads at for years with excellent results. Key: • Expansion: expanded bullet diameter (ballistic gelatin) • Penetration: penetration depth (ballistic gelatin) • PC: permanent cavity volume (ballistic gelatin, FBI method) • TSC: temporary stretch cavity volume (ballistic gelatin) ==See also==