A 1934 Peters ammo roster listed the 9mm with 125-grain FMJ and HP bullets. From 4\u201d barrels they clocked 1,030 fps, packed 300 ft-lbs of energy. The 7.65 (.30) Luger sent 93-grain bullets at 1,173 fps from 4\u00bd\u201d barrels, with 284 ft-lbs. The 9mm was just getting traction; the 7.65 would fade. <\/p>\n
The Foundation<\/h2>\n
The Germans were on the ball before the world caught fire in 1914. In 1893 they\u2019d trotted out the 7\u00d757 rifle cartridge, in1905 the 8\u00d757 JS and 9.3\u00d762. All are still commercially loaded, still popular. But no rifle round from the Old Country can match the success of the pistol cartridge Georg Luger produced in 1902 by necking his 7.65mm case to accept 9mm bullets.<\/p>\n Chambered in the Luger pistol of that year, it was adopted by the German navy in 1904, by the German Army in 1908. Soon it caught the attention of other nations. When NATO was formed in the 1950s, the 9mm Luger round became the standard sidearm cartridge for all NATO members \u2013 except the U.S. Not until 1985 would our armed forces break off their long romance with the .45 ACP to take up the 9mm. Since then \u201cthe nine\u201d has served, in uniform and out, in sub-machineguns as well as pistols, among elite military units worldwide. Russia came late to the party. Not 20 years ago, the 9mm Luger (or 9mm Parabellum or 9\u00d719) became the first Russian military cartridge designed out of country.<\/p>\n [For another perspective, check out 9mm vs. 45 ACP: The Ultimate Caliber Conundrum<\/a>.]<\/em><\/p>\n Oddly enough, this round owes much to North America\u2019s firearms wizard John Moses Browning. Celebrated for the lever-action rifles he designed, then for self-loading shotguns first built in Belgium, Browning applied his genius to full-auto mechanisms in the BAR battle rifle, the 1917 and later .50-caliber machine guns.<\/p>\n But as early as 1894 he\u2019d developed a gas-driven .38 pistol. The next year he had a blowback-cycled .32. At his usual break-neck pace, Browning improved on both in 1896, with a handgun that would blaze a path to the future. Upon firing, breech and barrel stayed locked as recoil started them rearward. A link pulled the barrel down, separating them. Refined, this mechanism cycled the 1911 that would serve U.S. armed forces for 74 years.<\/p>\n John Browning\u2019s .32 ACP Model of 1900 was patented in 1897. Improvements blessed its successor, the Model 1903. Almost concurrently, a 9mm version appeared, Browning\u2019s first \u201cnine.\u201d Over the next 20 years, the prolific designer would come up with several more pistols. The Model 1903 would appear in .380 ACP.<\/p>\n The last pistol from John Browning\u2019s bench was in response to a request from France\u2019s Ministry of War for a high-capacity 9mm sidearm. The 9mm Parabellum, a short-recoil-driven pistol, was patented February 22, 1927, three months after Browning\u2019s death. That pistol, going into full production in 1935 as the P.35 pistol, was adopted by Belgium\u2019s army and other European military units. The pistol was also produced in Canada during WWII to supply Canadian, Chinese, Greek and British troops.<\/p>\n Live The Armory Life.<\/strong> The latest content straight to your inbox plus an automatic entry to each of our monthly gun giveaways!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n![\"cartridge](\"https:\/\/www.thearmorylife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/cartridge-comparison.jpg\")
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