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Question about 9mm cartridges?
- Thread starter Acosta
- Start date
mountainclmbr
New member
The 9X19 is the 9mm Parabellum also known as the standard 9mm or 9mm NATO and is very common. The 9X17 is commonly known as the .380 (or 9mm Kurz) and is probably the second most common round. The middle round, 9X18 Makarov is the 9mm Makarov, a Russian round found in some imported pistols from Russia or the Eastern Bloc countries.
These rounds should never be interchanged. They headspace on the mouth of the case and each case 17, 18 or 19 mm length is different. The pressures also differ so damage, injury or death could occur if you were able to get a higher pressure round to fire somehow.
Edit to add, the 9X20, the 9X18 Police and the 9X18 Ultra are not common and you would probably have difficulty finding factory ammo. I have not heard of them before this.
These rounds should never be interchanged. They headspace on the mouth of the case and each case 17, 18 or 19 mm length is different. The pressures also differ so damage, injury or death could occur if you were able to get a higher pressure round to fire somehow.
Edit to add, the 9X20, the 9X18 Police and the 9X18 Ultra are not common and you would probably have difficulty finding factory ammo. I have not heard of them before this.
Last edited:
Jim Watson
New member
Generally agree.
9x19 = 9mm Parabellum = 9mm Luger = 9mm NATO is the baseline caliber.
9x17 is commonly known in the USA as .380 Auto or ACP. 9mm Kurz or Corto or Browning Short in the rest of the world.
9x18 Makarov is really a 9.2mm with .364" bullet instead of .355". Found in Makarov and some other East Bloc guns.
9x18 Police was developed in the early 1970s when the German police wanted a more powerful pistol than .32 Walthers. They bypassed the Police and went on to guns in 9mm Para. You will occasionally see a Walther PP Super and rarely a Sig-Sauer P230 in 9mm Police and even finding the ammo for it is a challenge, so there is little risk of a mixup.
9x18 Ultra was developed in the 1930s so Hermann Goering could have a distinct sidearm for the Luftwaffe. That fell through and ol' Hermann got them Krieghoff Lugers. 9mm Ultra Walther pistols and their ammo are extremely rare.
9x20SR (semirimmed) is otherwise known as 9mm Browning Long. Sweden used the caliber for a while, a lot of their 1903 FNs and Husqvarnas were sold here as surplus but with the chamber sleeved to .380 because there was no supply of ammo. Pity, it is nearly as powerful as 9mm P in a smooth flat gun. There were also a very few LeFrancais and Webley 9mm Browning Longs, but not many.
Then there are the 9x21, 9mm Steyr, 9mm Bergman-Bayard (Largo in Spain), 9mm Mauser Export, 9mm Winchester Magnum, and 9x23 Winchester. Probably some others but those I have seen guns for (except the 9mm Win Mag.)
9x19 = 9mm Parabellum = 9mm Luger = 9mm NATO is the baseline caliber.
9x17 is commonly known in the USA as .380 Auto or ACP. 9mm Kurz or Corto or Browning Short in the rest of the world.
9x18 Makarov is really a 9.2mm with .364" bullet instead of .355". Found in Makarov and some other East Bloc guns.
9x18 Police was developed in the early 1970s when the German police wanted a more powerful pistol than .32 Walthers. They bypassed the Police and went on to guns in 9mm Para. You will occasionally see a Walther PP Super and rarely a Sig-Sauer P230 in 9mm Police and even finding the ammo for it is a challenge, so there is little risk of a mixup.
9x18 Ultra was developed in the 1930s so Hermann Goering could have a distinct sidearm for the Luftwaffe. That fell through and ol' Hermann got them Krieghoff Lugers. 9mm Ultra Walther pistols and their ammo are extremely rare.
9x20SR (semirimmed) is otherwise known as 9mm Browning Long. Sweden used the caliber for a while, a lot of their 1903 FNs and Husqvarnas were sold here as surplus but with the chamber sleeved to .380 because there was no supply of ammo. Pity, it is nearly as powerful as 9mm P in a smooth flat gun. There were also a very few LeFrancais and Webley 9mm Browning Longs, but not many.
Then there are the 9x21, 9mm Steyr, 9mm Bergman-Bayard (Largo in Spain), 9mm Mauser Export, 9mm Winchester Magnum, and 9x23 Winchester. Probably some others but those I have seen guns for (except the 9mm Win Mag.)
starshooter231
New member
I agree with the above info. And YES the gun or manual will say which size you should use.
If it's a MODERN gun, it will definitely have the proper chambering marked on it somewhere (because the manufacturers would prefer not to be sued by someone who manages to cram the wrong ammo in their pistol); you can't always say the same thing about military or older firearms, since they were expecting that they would only be used with ISSUED ammunition. There are also cases of after-market barrels being made to allow calibre substitutions; many of the Swedish Brownings that were originally chambered in 9mm Browning Long were fitted with 380 Auto/9mm Browning Short barrels when they were imported into the US, so you have to be aware that things may not always be what they appear to be.
barnetmill
New member
You guys sort of missed one that can cause real problems. The 9 MM Gilisenti. I believe that it uses a case that is very similar to the 9 mm luger case, but differs in loading. The problem if I recall correctly is that 9 mm luger loadings will damage the gilisenti pistol.
Jim Watson
New member
True, I didn't think of that one.
Could be because there aren't many Glisentis (or Brixias or 1915 Berettas) in service around here to be at risk of mixup. But if you did, it would be nearly as bad as shooting .30 Tok (7.62x25 Soviet) in a Schwartzlose.
Could be because there aren't many Glisentis (or Brixias or 1915 Berettas) in service around here to be at risk of mixup. But if you did, it would be nearly as bad as shooting .30 Tok (7.62x25 Soviet) in a Schwartzlose.
barnetmill
New member
I mentioned the Glisenti because it sounded like Acosta might has been located in southern europe and some of these older guns could be more readily found there than is the case where I live that is in the northeast gulf of mexico region.