9mm BROWNING SHORT – 380 AUTO
HISTORY (Erlmeier, Brandt Ref. 115).The first specimen is Egyptian from Shoubra Arsenal. It was designated as the M34 from the Italian designation. The numbers at the 4 o’clock position is 27, from Factory 27. The numbers at the 7 o’clock position is for the year...
375 SUPER MAG
The 375 Super Magnum was developed by Elgin Gates, one of the pioneers and promoters of contemporary handgun metallic silhouette shooting. It was based on the 375 Winchester case cut down to 1.610”.
18mm MILBANK-AMSLER
The Swiss also followed events in America during their Civil War with great interest and together with all the other European Nations, realised that the muzzle loading rifle fitted in the same category as the dinosaur and the breech loading rifle was the way of the...
18mm FRENCH TABATIèRE
As discussed before, the US Civil War was considered the turning point in history that ushered in a new era in “modern” warfare. Most importantly, it rendered the muzzle loading rifle obsolete and heralded in the era of the self-contained breechloading cartridge....
375 SWISS P
The 375 Swiss P was developed by RUAG-Ammotec in March 2021 as an alternative or upgraded option to the standard 338 Lapua Magnum and fills the gap between the 338 Lapua and the .50 Cal Rifle. It is 40% more powerful than the Lapua and remains supersonic up to 1,600 m...
9.8mm COLT AUTOMATIC
The experimental Colt Model 1910 pistol was developed by Colt as a possible replacement for the Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammer Pistol and the project dates from around 1908 and continued to around 1913. The metric designation in all probability is an indication that it...
9.65mm BROWNING
The 9.65 x 23 Browning is dimensionally the same as the 9,8mm Colt cartridge and was chambered in the M1910 “Grand Browning” and, as can be seen from the photo below, it is similar to the Colt M1911. The first Grand Brownings were indeed chambered in 45...
9.4mm DUTCH REVOLVER
The 9.4mm Dutch was adopted in 1873 for the M1873 Chamelot-Delvigne system revolver and with its adoption, the cartridge was named the Scherpe Patroon nr.11 (Ball Cartridge No. 11) and was packaged in boxes containing twelve rounds. It is interesting to note that the...
8 X 87 SPANISH ANTI TANK XPL
There is very little known about the 8x87 (or 7,92x88) Spanish Anti-tank rifle. Spain also followed trends from Poland and Germany to produce a more economical means of defeating tank armour as well as light artillery pieces on infantry level. Developments in tank...
9.1mm ABADIE
By the late 1850’s Portugal had ceased to be a global power and by the early to mid-1860’s its influence consisted of mostly areas in Africa. It was during this period that most European Nations were modernising their armies, while Portugal had most of...
9 X 25 DILLON
The 9x25 Dillon was designed in the 1980’s by Randy Shelly, an employee from Dillon Precision. It is a 10mm auto case necked down to 9mm so that he could get a 9mm cartridge to make major power factor for IPSC, which at that stage was set at 175. The large cases...
9 X 23 WINCHESTER
The 9 x 23 was launched at the 1996 NRA Annual Convention. It was just one of a number of 9mm variants that were launched during this period for IPSC shooters to make major power factor for competitions. The outward dimensions are the same as the 9mm Bergmann-Bayard...
CP 9 X 23 S
This was another effort by shooters during the early 90’s in the quest for a 9mm handgun that could be used to compete in major caliber power factor for IPSC matches. It was made by Law Enforcement Specialties of Warminster, PA., with cases in all probability by...
9 X 21 IMI
Owning military caliber handguns is prohibited in many countries, like Italy. In the early 80’s, the 9mm Ultra gained a limited following there for competitive shooters, but the cartridge was far from ideal for IPSC matches, being underpowered even for minor power...
9 X 21 RUSSIAN GYURZA
The Gyurza (venomous snake) was a Russian development by designer Petr Serdyukov during the early-90’s, with the idea to find a replacement for the 9mm Makarov. The Gyurza however lost out to the PY or Pistolet Yarygina which was designed by Vladimir Yarygin at the...
9mm WINCHESTER MAGNUM
This was a Winchester design dating from the late 1970’s to try and duplicate 357 Magnum ballistics in a semi-auto handgun. It was originally made for the Wildeypistol and later the AMT (Arcadia Machine and Tool) Automag 3. The guns were much too bulky for self...
10.93 X 57R SWEDISH
The 10,93x57R was listed as case #155 in the 1886 Lorenz export catalogue as a Swedish case. It was also listed in the Egestorff catalogue up to 1901. (Dixon Ref SC12)
9mm WALKING STICK (CANNE)
The earliest reference to the walking stick design capable of firing a projectile dates from 1580 and is currently in the Wallace Collection in London and incorporates a wheel lock pistol and a sword blade. The design is actually very simple and was manufactured by a...
9mm ULTRA/POLICE
The 9mm Ultra was developed by the German firms of Lothar Walther and Gustaf Genshow (GECO) in 1936 in order to interest the Luftwaffe in a pistol that was more powerful than the 9mm Kurtz but more compact than the P38 but the idea never went any further. Shown below...
15mm LE MAT REVOLVER
The Le Mat was designed by Dr. Jean Alexandre François Le Mat (1824 – 1895), who received a patent in 1856 for a revolver with a 9-shot cylinder that revolves around a separate central short-barrelled shotgun and was also known as the "Grape Shot Revolver." Le Mat was...
9.8 X 36R WERNDL XPL
There were tentative and short-lived Austrian caliber reduction experiments done during the 1870’s but without great success. These appear similar to Roth case #44/3 but are tombak (Brass type alloy with high Cu content and between 5% - 20% Zn) instead of brass and...
9mm TEMPO
Cattle killing cartridge developed in the Czech Republic
17.5 X 29R DUTCH SNIDER
In 1867 the Dutch military authorities, by Royal Order dated 24 January 1867, decided to modify their existing .69 (17.5mm) muzzle-loading percussion rifles to breech loader by using the Snider side-hinged action. These rifles remained in service only for a very...
9mm SUPER COMPETITION
The 9mm Super Comp dates from around June 1997, the same time as the 38 Super Comp and is basically nothing more than a 9x23 with strengthened base. Cases are by Starline. The intent of the cartridge was to give IPSC shooters a 9mm cartridge that could...
17.5 X 28R DANISH SNIDER
One of the concepts that followed from the defeat of Napoleon in 1815 was the beginning of a new movement called nationalism that shaped most of Europe in the years that followed, which also fanned the flames in Denmark and the German Confederation. In early 1848...
9mm SUPER AUTO GRILLMAYER
This cartridge is also known as the 9x25 SAG, or Super Auto G and is based on the 10mm Auto case necked to 9mm and was developed by Horst Grillmayer from Austria. The cartridge is very similar to the 9mm Major, also a Horst Grillmayer development. Some of the original...
8 X 60R GUEDES
During the mid to late 1860’s, various military powers in Europe were in process of changing their outdated percussion cap rifles to the newly developed self-contained metallic breech loading cartridge. Much of the work and research was done by the Mauser brothers,...
15,2 X 40R KRNKA
As with most wars fought over the centuries, someone, somewhere has imperialistic visions of grandeur and religion is used to justify invading his or her neighbour. The Crimean War (1853 – 1856) was no different, this time Czar Nicholas I of Russia wanted to take...
9mm STEYR
The latter part of the 19th Century saw the revolver as the standard military side-arm in Europe and elsewhere. With giant strides made in weapons technology during those years, various military powers put a lot of resources into equipping their armies with the latest...
15mm/11mm JANACEK EXPERIMENTAL
This is one of two cartridges developed by Czech engineer, Frantisek Karel Janacek between 1936 and 1941, the other being the 11/7.92mm. On the 6th of September 1915, the first British prototype tank, named ‘Little Wille’ rolled of the production line in England, and...
13 X 69R FUSNOT MONTIGNY MITRAILLEUSE
- info to follow -
39 BSA
Short summary of the history of the BSA pistol cartridges from Vol. 2 No.7 of The Historical Breechloading Firearm Association by Dr GL Sturgess. Both German and English arms manufacturers suffered a significant decline in their fortunes after the end of WW1 with the...
12.7 X 59 RSA XPL
This was a South African development by one of the technicians involved in the Anti-Materiel project at the CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) during the 1980’s. It was loosely based on the French Anthis round. See also RSACCA 204:19.
380 SMG
This was a Winchester produced cartridge for the Ingram MAC-11 Submachine Gun. Below is a description from the August 1975 AFTE Journal: SPECIAL .380 SUBMACHINE GUN CARTRIDGE FOR MAC (INGRAM) SMG By Monty C. Lutz, Chief Firearms Examiner US Army Crime...
8 X 56R KROPATSCHEK
During October 1885 when Portugal ordered the Guedes Rifle from Steyr in Austria, the order also included 9,000 Kropatschek rifles, which would have indicated that they already saw the error of their ways by trying to introduce a single-shot rifle when the rest of the...
12.7 X 57 ANTHIS
- info to follow -
380 SHORT C. F. (SHORT CASE)
Developed around the late 1860’s and was based on a shortened version of the 380 Short Center Fire (Long Case). Mainly used in cheap mail-order business pocket revolvers (Erlmeier, Brandt Ref. 379) ...
380 SHORT C. F. (LONG CASE)
This was an English development dating from the late 1860’s and was also listed by most European manufacturers. Very similar and in most instances would be interchangeable with the 380 Short Colt. (Erlmeier, Brandt Ref. 378) ...
9mm STAHEL
This was part of the Swiss revolver trials from 1871 – 1881 with cartridges loaded by the Swiss factory at Thun, as well as the firm of J. Stahel of Zurich and can be found in a number of different case lengths. It did not survive as the 7,5mm Swiss M1882 was selcted....
380 REVOLVER MK. 2
With concerns that the Mark 1 bullet might not be appropriate according to Art. 23(e) of the Hague Convention, the British Small Arms Committee commenced with trials late in 1936 and into 1937 with a jacketed bullet to replace the round-nosed lead bullet used. Various...
380 REVOLVER MK. 1
The 455 Webley was the official side-arm of British troops during the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, but after hostilities ceased, the military decided that in a modern era a lighter revolver would be sufficient. The firm of Webley & Scott submitted...
12.7 X 55 VYCHLOP
- info to follow -
380 LONG C.F.
This was an English development from the period between 1870 – 1880 and was originally developed for Rook/Rabbit type rifles for varmint hunting. It was also listed in the 1898 Eley catalogue as a revolver cartridge and was also manufactured by various European...
9mm SPIRLET
This was one of the calibers used in revolvers made by Belgian gunsmith Albert Spirlet who had his shop at Quai de Boverie, 5 in Liège in Belgium around 1894. The revolver used an ingenious design where the barrel tipped upwards instead of downwards, although the 1870...
15mm FRENCH REVOLVER
Biggest of the French Revolver series of cartridges developed around 1890 by the firm of Gevelot & Gaupillat. (Erlmeier, Brandt Ref. 178).
12.7 X 53 SNIPER XPL BY BERTRAM
This was an experimental cartridge based on the 500 Jeffery case, developed around 2002 – 2003 by Bertrams for a potential sniper rifle system for the USMC.
13mm GYROJET
Gyrojets were developed in the mid 1960’s by Robert Mainhardt and Arthur Biehl, founders of MBAssociates. Friend and fellow collector Mel Carpenter wrote a comprehensive book about the history and development of the Gyrojet, called AN INTRODUCTION TO MBA GYROJETS AND...
380 EXTRA SHORT
This might also have been an early British development for small, palm sized revolvers, but not much info available. (Erlmeier, Brandt Ref. 374) ...
9mm SALVO SQUEEZE BORE
The squeeze bore, multiple projectile cartridge system concept was developed by Russel Robinson in 1961 although the patent was only granted in 1969. This was called the Salvo Squeeze Bore system and was different from Project Salvo, which was run by the US Army. The...
380 ALFA
Non-lethal self-defence cartridge from ALFAPROJ, a Czech company in business since 1993. The bullet consists of a round rubber ball delivering a painful, bruise at close quarters.