The caliber debate will probably never end. We all have our favorites, and no one can argue with the fact that different jobs require different tools. The same holds true in the world of self-defense and combat handguns, but despite all that, one caliber stands head and shoulders above all the others in terms of popularity: the 9mm Parabellum.
The name of the cartridge itself reflects this: parabellum, translated from Latin, literally means “prepare for war.” You probably already know this, but the 9mm Parabellum cartridge is also known as the 9x19mm or 9mm Luger, after Austrian gun designer Georg Luger, who invented the cartridge in the early 20th century for his iconic pistol.
With so many cartridge options out in the wild, why has a 120-year-old round become the go-to for so many agencies and individuals? Well, Bill Wilson and Massad Ayoob sat down to discuss that very question.
Bill, of course, is the Wilson in Wilson Combat and Massad Ayoob is among the foremost firearms experts and trainers in the country, having worked with self-defense groups and police departments from all over for decades. They are well-qualified to speak on the subject.
9mm History
Massad starts off by going back in time, noting that “In the rest of the world, there weren’t a whole lot of gunfighter nations. A pistol was often either an execution tool for an officer of a totalitarian government or a badge of office.” As one of the first reliable and easily carried semi-automatic pistols, the P08 Luger, with its proprietary new cartridge, gained a foothold in Continental Europe, especially after its adoption by the Austro-Hungarian and German militaries and police.
When World War I erupted in 1914, the Germans and their allies took the Luger to war. Massad continues his history lesson in terms of the American preference for the .45 ACP cartridge versus the 9mm.
I want to point out that the Americans had practical recent experience in the Spanish American War and the Philippine Insurrection with what they wanted from a combat handgun. The .45 had been adopted for good reasons. The Germans and Austro-Hungarians had no practical experience with modern cartridges in combat. Massad notes that feedback from France to the US was that “Forty-five puts ‘em down.” You might die from getting hit with a 9mm bullet, but unless you are hit in the brain or spine, you weren’t going down. Keep in mind that this refers to early 20th-century ball ammunition, not hollow point, + P, or anything like we have now. Lugers required high-velocity ammo to run properly, but there were no other extras. For a long time in the US, the feeling was that “Forty-five is gold, 9mm is crap.” Some think it still, but that’s another article.
Moving on, though, Massad notes that, with the appearance of hollow point ammo in the 1960s, “The 9mm started getting off of its back and at least up onto its knees.” Keep in mind that, due to the ubiquity of wartime surplus pistols such as the Luger, the Walther P38, and the Browning Hi-Power (under any of its many names), the 9mm cartridge was still going strong in Europe. It didn’t hurt that some of these pistols, particularly the P38 (with a postwar designation of P1) and the Hi-Power, were robust designs that were ahead of their time. Police forces and militaries all across Western Europe adopted these or similar sidearms, many of them in 9mm.
Bringing us up to the 21st century…
Massad observes that “With the current generation of the high-tech ammunition that’s expressly designed to expand out of shorter barrels [and] to be barrier blind, the gap between 9mm and forty-five [has] closed remarkably. Some will tell you nine mil equals forty-five and, frankly, if you compare apples to apples, that’s not so.” That comparison only works when 9mm hollow points are pitted against .45 ball. A hollow-point .45 causes a “somewhat larger wound volume, primarily in terms of the wound cavity.” But, he notes, that comes at the expense of capacity and recoil, particularly for “’NDPs’, or ‘non-dedicated personnel’” who don’t practice as often as they might.
Don’t discount the role of pop culture either.
You know you love James Bond, John McClane, Martin Riggs, and John Wick. People choose guns, and calibers, based on that stuff. As I’ve noted before, Riggs, played by Mel Gibson, is directly responsible for my owning a Beretta 92FS. I can still hear Danny Glover saying “9mm Beretta…thirteen in the mag, one up the pipe.” I wanted one right that instant. Don’t judge. A Walther PPK may or may not be in the works.
Positives of the modern 9mm Parabellum Cartridge
• Easily controllable recoil, making it accessible to smaller framed or older people
• An easy learning curve for new shooters compared to the .45 ACP
• Higher capacity magazines with less weight
• Less expensive to produce than .45 ACP because of materials and the economy of mass production
• Wide variety of ammo choices (Bill claims at least a couple hundred)
• Versatility that rivals the 30.06 rifle cartridge
Massad notes that Europe still plays a large role in the popularity of the 9mm.
Jeff Cooper said that “Americans buy forty-fives for the cartridge and 9mm for the gun designs.” Many of those designs come from Europe. I was told by my first handgun instructor not to buy an autoloading pistol designed in the US. He said I should stick to those from Europe. Now that’s been a while, and there are some good American designs, but, by and large, I tend to agree. Personally, I love me some American revolvers, but all my autoloaders are European or Israeli. Your mileage may vary and that’s cool. I will note that I am currently sans a 1911, so there’s that.
A more sobering consideration also illustrates the case for the 9mm.
Massad talks about the modern emphasis on higher capacity sidearms because police and civilians are seeing more multiple opponent situations and more with offenders on drugs. The opiate epidemic plays a large role there. Before, the worst-case drug scenario was the heroin addict who had built up such a tolerance that he could take multiple rounds without going down screaming.
Opiates are much more widespread, and addicts exhibit similar characteristics as they build up a tolerance. This is compounded by the recent emergence of mob violence and outright riots over the last year and a half. The reality is that higher-capacity sidearms are more attractive than ever. The 9mm suits that need better than larger cartridges like the .45 and more effectively than the .380 ACP or .32 ACP.
“On both ends of the bell curve,” says Massad, “millions of new gun owners, 800,000 cops, however many servicemen for whom the pistol is not the primary weapon, all of them are taking advantage of the lighter recoil, higher capacity, etc. and paying the price for what might be a little less wound factor with each round.”
Bill and Massad both agree that the 9mm seems to be here to stay but note that something unforeseen could change that since gun and ammo choices are driven by what the police use. The 1986 Miami Dade shooting, as an example, resulted in the move to the 10mm and the development of .40 Smith & Wesson cartridge. But, in the end, as we all should know, Bill and Massad reference Evan Marshall’s assertion that, when it comes to stopping power, the three most important things are “shot placement, shot placement, and shot placement.” So whatever cartridge you like best, go practice.
