9mm Federal

[leadman]

I have been playing with some small handgun cartridges lately, along with the 38 Special. Seeing all the extra room in the 38 spl. case got me to thinking about the 9mm Federal.

I haven't seen or read anything about this is quite awhile. Is it dead and buried?

I don't remember all the guns it was chambered in and whether the cylinder was matched to the length of the cartridge or not. Seems like it would have been a great combo for concealed carry.

Anyone have one of these?

[Bret4207]

You and I are about the only ones that recall that dog. I think Gil Sengel did do a blurb on it in Handloader though. Considering what you can do with the 38 Special it always seemed a waste of time to me. It wsa invented at a time when everone wanted a 9mm and they weren't many choices avaialble.

[MtGun44]

+1 on Bret's comments.

The Handloader article pointed out that it was pretty marginally needed and the cartridges
were capable of fitting into a .38 S&W chamber. Since there are a LOT of ancient guns that
were marginal with .38 S&W out there, and these loads would probably blow the guns to
pieces, it apparently was allowed to quietly die as a bad idea from multiple different directions.

Given that there were several fairly successful spring wire type of extractor system 9mm revolvers
made, it seems unnecessary to have a rimmed 9mm - without the liability issues of making
ammo that will easily blow up old guns. Many folks will shoot ANYTHING that will fit in the
chamber.

Bill

[leadman]

How about a rimmed 41 shortened and necked down to 9mm??

I did have a Blackhawk with a spare 9mm cylinder rechambered to Gary Reeders 356 GNR, a full length 41 necked to 357. This would be more than needed for concealed carry so shorten the case and probably still get 1,200 with a 125gr bullet. Would not fit any gun I can think of off hand.
Probably work out about like the Taurus 40 S&W revolver.

[MtGun44]

How much different than a .357 Sig would this wind up being? Of course it would
be rimmed.

Bill

[BAGTIC]

I doubt there would be any liability issues. If one fires the wrong ammo in a gun and it causes damage it is not the fault of either the gun or the ammo. It is like dropping a 20 gauge shell in a 12 gauge chamber and then loading another 12 gauge behind it.

.38 Super fits in .38 Auto. Anyone recall any real world cases where someone got sued? There are several other examples of calibers that will fire in incorrect chambers. I dont recall any company losing a suit because of it. Example: 8x57 in a .30-06 chamber