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9mm Federal

By
Scott Mayer
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While the 9mm Federal will fit in revolvers chambered for .38 S&W, it is an unsafe gun/ammo combination that can result in a catastrophic failure and should not be done.

This is one of those cartridge screw-ups you just have to laugh at because it’s so obvious in hindsight. Back in the late 1980s, Federal decided shooters needed a revolver cartridge that duplicated the ballistics of the 9mm Luger pistol cartridge. I don’t blame them—the 9mm was a hot commodity back then.

The 9mm Federal revolver cartridge (right) is a rimmed version of the 9mm Luger pistol cartridge (left).
The 9mm Federal revolver cartridge (right) is a rimmed version of the 9mm Luger pistol cartridge (left).

Ballistically, there really wasn’t much one could gain over .38 Special +P loads with a rimmed 9mm. One argument for the new cartridge though was that if there was a rimmed version of the 9mm Luger, like there is for the .45 ACP (.45 Auto Rim), guns could be made with a shorter length cylinder, making them overall smaller and lighter.

Unfortunately, the 9mm Federal (left) is so close to the old .38 S&W (right) that a potentially dangerous situation exists.
Unfortunately, the 9mm Federal (left) is so close to the old .38 S&W (right) that a potentially dangerous situation exists.

Enter the 9mm Federal—a rimmed 9mm revolver cartridge that sent a 115-grain JHP at 1,280 fps. Charter Arms made a Pit Bull revolver for it, but left the cylinder full-length, so nothing was gained over a .38 Special as far as the gun size was concerned.

Unfortunately for Federal, it was AFTER the cartridge was introduced and put in production when someone’s light bulb came on. The 9mm Federal has almost the same cartridge dimensions as the old .38 S&W. There are a whole lot of old top-break revolvers chambered for the .38 S&W, and that cartridge operates at a much lower pressure. The 9mm Federal cartridge fits in .38 S&W chambers and, because of the very real possibility that someone could fire 9mm Federal in an old top-break revolver resulting in a KaBoom!, the cartridge was dropped in the early 1990s.

While the 9mm Federal will fit in revolvers chambered for .38 S&W, it is an unsafe gun/ammo combination that can result in a catastrophic failure and should not be done.
While the 9mm Federal will fit in revolvers chambered for .38 S&W, it is an unsafe gun/ammo combination that can result in a catastrophic failure and should not be done.

 

 

 

Scott Mayer

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“Shooting Guns & Having Fun”

 

Scott Mayer
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