I ran across something different last week. I'd stopped in my favorite gun shop to see if there was anything there that I needed to own but didn't know about. 
So my favorite gun dealer was showing me all the stuff she'd gotten in since the last time I was in. One of the toys was a H&K VP70Z, a gun H&K stopped making about 1989.
As I was looking at it, I saw 9X21 stamped on the side of the slide and asked what it was. She said it was 9mm Parabellum and I replied that 9mm Para is 9X19. Neither of us was quite sure what she had and I was much more enthralled with her latest Sig anyway.
So I did a little checking on 9X21. It seems that it is a round that is identical to 9X19 (Parabellum) in every way except that the brass is 2mm longer and the bullet is seated 2mm deeper to maintain the same overall length. That leaves the same space available for powder so the net result is a round that is identical to 9X19 except the two rounds aren't interchangeable.
So what function would a 9X21 serve? Very limited it appears. It seems to have one purpose. Some (Eastern European?) countries prohibit civilian ownership of guns capable of using military ammunition. Not because they fear the power of the ammo, there are many legal rounds with more power than 9mm, but to reduce the theft and black market resale of military guns and ammo. Ammo being the bigger item since it's not serialized and very difficult to trace as opposed to guns.
Anyway, when 9mm's were outlawed there were a lot of people left owning now illegal guns. The easy solution was to bore the chamber out 2mm deeper. Something even a lousy gunsmith could do in a couple of minutes. Since the rounds are the same overall size that would be the only change needed. The fact that even 9X19 brass is useless for reloading in 9X21 probably helped keep the government happy.
Apparently 9X21 hasn't caught on very well. There are a few guns available in it (including European Glocks) but it seems that when it comes to buying new guns, most people want a more conventional caliber.
So, it would be interesting to find out how this H&K wound up in the US. There were only about 400 VP70Z's made in 9X21 and none were supposed to be exported to the US. Someone must have brought it over with them. BTW, custom 9X21 loads are available in the US but they tend to be expensive which sort of defeats the purpose of owning a 9mm.
It would be interesting to see if a 9X19 barrel could be found for this gun. That would make ammo a lot easier to come by and it would make for a neat story explaining why the slide was still marked 9X21!
Tom
So my favorite gun dealer was showing me all the stuff she'd gotten in since the last time I was in. One of the toys was a H&K VP70Z, a gun H&K stopped making about 1989.As I was looking at it, I saw 9X21 stamped on the side of the slide and asked what it was. She said it was 9mm Parabellum and I replied that 9mm Para is 9X19. Neither of us was quite sure what she had and I was much more enthralled with her latest Sig anyway.
So I did a little checking on 9X21. It seems that it is a round that is identical to 9X19 (Parabellum) in every way except that the brass is 2mm longer and the bullet is seated 2mm deeper to maintain the same overall length. That leaves the same space available for powder so the net result is a round that is identical to 9X19 except the two rounds aren't interchangeable.
So what function would a 9X21 serve? Very limited it appears. It seems to have one purpose. Some (Eastern European?) countries prohibit civilian ownership of guns capable of using military ammunition. Not because they fear the power of the ammo, there are many legal rounds with more power than 9mm, but to reduce the theft and black market resale of military guns and ammo. Ammo being the bigger item since it's not serialized and very difficult to trace as opposed to guns.
Anyway, when 9mm's were outlawed there were a lot of people left owning now illegal guns. The easy solution was to bore the chamber out 2mm deeper. Something even a lousy gunsmith could do in a couple of minutes. Since the rounds are the same overall size that would be the only change needed. The fact that even 9X19 brass is useless for reloading in 9X21 probably helped keep the government happy.
Apparently 9X21 hasn't caught on very well. There are a few guns available in it (including European Glocks) but it seems that when it comes to buying new guns, most people want a more conventional caliber.
So, it would be interesting to find out how this H&K wound up in the US. There were only about 400 VP70Z's made in 9X21 and none were supposed to be exported to the US. Someone must have brought it over with them. BTW, custom 9X21 loads are available in the US but they tend to be expensive which sort of defeats the purpose of owning a 9mm.
It would be interesting to see if a 9X19 barrel could be found for this gun. That would make ammo a lot easier to come by and it would make for a neat story explaining why the slide was still marked 9X21!
Tom