Author Topic: 9mm History Question  (Read 1208 times)

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Offline 1SOW

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9mm History Question
« on: September 19, 2012, 11:46:44 PM »
The German auto pistol used bottle-nosed ammo.  The Germans cut off the bottle-nose and developed the 9mm Luger.
This happened around 1903.

Question:  What weight bullet was used in the early versions of the 9mm Luger?

I've done some searches; and most repeat, with almost the exact same words, a brief history that doesn't include the early bullet weights and shapes.

During the War,  the Germans replaced the lead cores with jacketed steel cores.  Some of these were mentioned up around 150+ grs. ( but that's from memory).

I'm just curious about the primary ammunition used in the 9mm Lugers before the lead shortages caused them to adapt and use steel cores.

Has anyone read what the early 'primary' ammunition specs were?   Do you have a reference?

Offline armoredman

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Re: 9mm History Question
« Reply #1 on: September 20, 2012, 12:06:05 AM »
I was told the first 9mm bullets were 124 grain, as submitted by Georg Luger for the trials of the higher caliber version. I also recall he came up with the cartridge on the fly, as he was not impressed with anyone who didn't like 30 Luger. I have no links, just what I remember, sorry.

Offline ace73

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Re: 9mm History Question
« Reply #2 on: September 20, 2012, 09:44:15 AM »

Offline JimThornTX

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Re: 9mm History Question
« Reply #3 on: September 20, 2012, 11:44:03 AM »
CZ 52
CZ 82
CZ 83 Satin Nickel
CZ 75 P-01 ODG
CZ 75 P-06
CZ 612 HD

Offline jameslovesjammie

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Re: 9mm History Question
« Reply #4 on: September 20, 2012, 02:38:41 PM »
I thought that I read once that it was a 130 grain lead truncated cone with a LOOONG nose, similar to the Lyman 356402. 

Offline jameslovesjammie

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Re: 9mm History Question
« Reply #5 on: September 20, 2012, 02:42:45 PM »
1SOW,
you might like this article!!

http://cartridgecollectors.org/?page=introduction-to-9mm-luger-cartridges

Well, after reading Ace's article, I had the composition wrong and the weight wrong, but nailed the profile!

Offline 1SOW

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Re: 9mm History Question
« Reply #6 on: September 20, 2012, 10:31:54 PM »
ACE73, thank you very much!  Exactly my question answered.  Good link.
Quote
Ball: The earliest loads have FMJ truncated
cone bullets weighing 124grains. These were
replaced in Germany with 124grain FMJ bullets
with a round ogive in 1915-1916 (Figure 3)
though truncated cone bullets were used on
commercial loads in the United States into the
1930s. Later, round nose FMJ 115 grain bullets,
usually has a concave base were introduced by a
number of countries including Britain (Figure 4).

 

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