For War!!!

I live in the USA and when we hear the words 9mm, there is no doubt what caliber the speaker means. This is wrong, as there are an unbelivable number of cartridges out there that could be called 9mm. A short, quick list includes: the 9mm browning short, the 9mm largo, the 9mm parabellum, the 9mm ultra, the 9mm magnum, the 9X21mm, the 9x23mm, the 9mm makrov, the list can go on. Many if not all of the other 9mm cartridges stem from the 9mm Luger, also called the 9mm Parabellum, 9X19mm, 9mm NATO. Here are 2 links that go into detail on how various 9mm cartridges came into being. http://www.burnscustom.com/showarticle.php3?article=9x23/9x23WhereAreWe.php3

http://hunting.about.com/od/guns/l/aasthandguncara.htm

However the round we are talking about today is the 9mm Luger. The basic history of the cartridge is simple interesting. In 1893 Hugo Borchardt introduced the C-93 self-loading pistol. It utilized a firing mechanism based on the Maxim machine gun and the Winchester lever action carbines toggle mechanism. It fired a 7.63 x 25 mm cartidge that had the same dimensions but a lighter powder load than the cartidge 7.63 MM Mauser round that would become famous with the introduction of the Mauser C-96 "Broomhandle" pistol in 1896. Borchardt was born in Germany but moved to the US. In 1894 an employee of the DWM Company, which evolved from the Company which originally produced the Borchart, Georg Luger went to the US to try to sell the Borchardt to the US military. The pistol was rejected by the military in part because of it being cumbersome and delicate. Mr. Luger took the critic back with him and redesigned the pistol. He strunk the locking mechanism and toggle, changed the grip angle, shortened the 7.63 X 25 mm to a 7.65 X 23mm cartridge which became known as the .30 Luger and was the basis for the Russian 7.62x25mm Tokarev cartridge, although the Russian cartridge operates at a higher pressure than the Luger. The Luger was adopted by some military units by 1900; however, there was some worry about poor stopping power in the light cartridge and by 1902 a new cartridge with the same base, but shorter at 19mm and not necked down, but tapered to a 9mm caliber was introduced. Thus was born the 9mm Luger or 9mm parabellum, which has become the single best selling handgun cartridge in the world.

The Luger was the German Army's sidearm during both world wars. During the second world war, it started being phased out in preference of the Walther P-38, which holds the distinction of being the first commercially viable double-action autoloading handgun. The Hi-power was introduced by FN and became a very popular military sidearm, although not a double-action, it utilized a double-stack magazine alowing 13 rounds in the magazine versus the 7 or 8 available in a single stack magazine. Thus the Hi-Power introduced in 1935 became the first hi-capacity 9mm. It was actually designed by John Browning of the 1911, BAR, and machine gun fame in 1925 and patented in the US in 1927. The design was modified somewhat by Dieudonne Saive of FN before it was released. The flood of "wondernines" that hit the US in the late 1970's and 1980's mostly combined the Walther's double action with the hi-capacity of the Hi-power. With the end of World War 2 and the forming of NATO, it was decided that the 9mm would become the standard caliber of sidearm. It took about 40 years for the US to pick a 9mm sidearm. The production of weapons for these test resulted in most of the development of the 9mm firearms. The switching of most police departments to autoloading weapons and 9mm also added to the flood of 9mm models from every US and most foreign weapons manufacturer.

I have fired a great many 9mm and I have owned 2. My favorite 9mm and the one I still have is a Hi-power. I would love to own a Luger and a P-38 and there are some surplus Walther's hitting the market now so that might happen. Luger's are just too pricey and I want a shooter not a collector's item. I have fired Rugers, Smith and Wessons, Glocks, Stars, Firestorm, Taurus, and one each of Colt and Berreta. Now if you want to pick out a personal weapon for what ever purpose, the manual of arms of each gun will be important. If you can't work it safely, than you don't need to own it. Also the individual feel of the weapon is important, as well as any other factor you like. Otherwise the characteristics of the cartridge are the same.

I like the 9mm Luger. As a cartidge it is accurate, doesn't have a lot of recoil, is controllable and pleasant to shoot, unless maybe out of a derringer. It has enough stopping power for most situations, regardless of what you have heard. With the possible exception of the .45, the 9mm cartidge has had more development on it for various situations. I don't feel underarmed with a 9mm. Personally, like my Hi-power and with a good holster, even the heavy, all-steel gun carries good. However, if you want something a little more portable, or double action, I find the little Firestorm a good compromise, it is light, has a decent trigger, but the only models I have found so far only offer 10 round pre-ban mags. For the price this is a rocking little gun. I believe it is made by Llama. Bersa makes a mini 9 10-shot that I haven't seen an actual version of yet. I want one of the Firestorms, but I may change to a Bersa when I get to actually handle one.

Rugers are nice and I wouldn't mind having one of their full sized autos but they are a little wide in the grip for my hand. The Smiths feel better, but I don't like their safety, decockers that much, and I still feel a little miffed at them over rolling over to the gun grabbers a few years back. I don't like Glocks, I think the baby Glock is the bomb, and Glocks are high-quality firearms that make tons of sense in everyway, but when I shoot one ... I just don't like it. I haven't shot an XD yet in 9mm, but the .40 I shot felt better than a glock, so if I go polymer, I might go XD. Around here they are a little cheaper than a Glock too. I also haven't tried the Taurus PT111 polymer either. It stacks up right between the XD subcompact and the baby Glock(23). I also want a Kel-Tec P-11 although I might take the PT111, I don't know, need to find someone to let me shoot each.