9mm

9mm refers to a family of pistol cartridges that share a 9 mm bullet diameter. The most common variant is the 9x19mm Parabellum, often called 9mm Luger. It was designed by Georg Luger for Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabrik (DWM) in the early 1900s and adopted by the German Navy in 1904 and later by the army. The round gained worldwide popularity after World War I and became one of the standard pistol cartridges for military, police, and civilian use. The 9x19mm Parabellum typically fires a 115–147 grain bullet at velocities around 320–450 m/s, delivering 450–700 joules of muzzle energy depending on load.

The cartridge is produced in numerous loads, including standard, +P and +P+ to achieve higher pressures. Military and police adoption has been widespread, and in NATO, 9x19mm Parabellum is the standard service pistol cartridge. In civilian markets, a wide range of pistols, submachine guns and carbines are chambered for 9mm.

There are other 9mm cartridges that differ in case length or design, such as 9x18mm Makarov, 9x17mm, and 9mm Largo, and are not interchangeable with 9x19mm Parabellum. The 9x19mm remains the dominant choice for professional and recreational shooters due to its balance of recoil, ballistic performance, magazine capacity, and widespread firearm availability.