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TRBCD 37gr 'Totally Fragmenting Soft Point' |
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Providing Terminal Ballistics evaluations to Government and the Private Sector |
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Brass Fetcher Ballistic Testingass Fetcher Ballistic Testing |
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9x19mm (9mm Luger, 9mm NATO) |
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The 9x19mm cartridge comes close to perfectly balancing cost per round, weapon magazine capacity, controllable recoil and terminal effectiveness, as any handgun cartridge yet invented. Using a bullet of 0.355” diameter, it is typical for this cartridge to be able to propel a 124gr bullet to 1200 ft/sec out of a handgun with a 4” barrel. This is slightly slower than a .357 Magnum but significantly faster than a .38 Special, using the same bullet weight. The .38 Special was long a standard issue cartridge among US law enforcement, but was largely replaced in the 1980s by the ‘high capacity’ 9x19mm handgun, like the Glock 17, which can hold 17 cartridges, versus the six-shot revolver, in .38 Special or .357 Magnum. Much has been said about the 9x19mm being a ‘weak’ cartridge. This statement is almost certainly non-sense, but it still gets significant attention. A 9mm is ‘weak’ compared to a .45ACP, much in the same way that a 12 gauge shotgun is ‘weak’ compared to a 10 gauge shotgun. It’s all a matter of perspective : with satisfactory shot placement, the bore diameter/caliber won’t matter. However, the larger weapon can make up for borderline shot placement in some instances, with its greater inherent effectiveness. |
