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The 9mm isn’t what many people would consider the greatest cartridge in the world — but those folks are wrong. Or they are thinking about ballistic greatness in too specific of terms. To some, the greatest cartridge might mean the perfect round for deer. Others might want the best option for hunting at longer distances or, perhaps, the optimal ELR competition cartridge. The little 9mm isn’t ideal for many different applications, but it is the most prolific centerfire cartridge in the world. Its longevity and popularity is a testament to its effectiveness.
Beginnings of the 9mm
The 9mm, otherwise known as the 9mm NATO, 9mm Parabellum, 9x19mm Parabellum, and 9mm Luger, was developed in 1901 by Austrian Georg Luger for his linkage-driven semi-auto pistol that became an icon of World War II. It fired a 124-grain bullet at about 1,200 fps, which is roughly equivalent to modern +P loads. This was a time of innovation as smokeless-powder cartridges and autoloading pistols were both new tech. It’s the era of Browning’s ACP cartridges among which the .45 ACP and .380 ACP — a shortened version of the 9mm — remain popular today.
After being chambered in Luger’s famous pistol, the 9mm’s popularity spread. During World War I, one of the very first submachine guns, the MP18, was chambered in 9mm and fed from a snail-type drum magazine. By the 1940s, the cartridge was being employed by many countries in numerous firearms including the British Sten, the FN Browning P35, the Walther P38, and the Polish VIS 35.
Bullet Tech Kept The 9mm Relevant
The popularity and proliferation of the 9mm continued to grow after World War II, but other dominant cartridges like the .45 ACP continued to offer stiff competition. Despite the subsequent introduction of many more pistols and submachine guns, the 9mm carried a stigma of being underpowered. In fact, it has long competed with the desire for a more powerful handgun cartridge — a driving force in the development of American pistol and revolver rounds for more than a century. The .45 ACP was a result of this, as was the .44 Magnum, and the 10mm Auto and, subsequently, the now defunct .40 Smith & Wesson.
Despite the introduction of many larger and more powerful options, the 9mm has not only hung on, but has thrived. Much of this is the result of bullet technology. Modern defensive and law-enforcement projectiles are designed with precise terminal performance in mind — specifically maximizing wound channels and minimizing overpenetration. There are countless variations and designs that accomplish this goal with incredible consistency. In fact, the 9mm is more popular than ever among law enforcement after intense scrutiny by the FBI determined that larger cartridges like the .40 S&W and .45 ACP really don’t offer many advantages — at least nothing substantial enough to offset their increased recoil.
More Guns Than Ever
Another testament to the greatness of the 9mm is the sheer variety of guns chambered for it. It’s a simple cartridge design that headspaces off the neck, and works wonderfully in blowback-operated firearms — which means both variety and affordability. You’ll see everything from the tiniest concealed-carry pistols to full-sized comp guns, to carbines and braced pistols at virtually any gun store you visit — all chambered in 9mm.
Former OL shooting editor Jack O’Connor once wrote that a cartridge’s living or dying often depends on whether guns are being chambered for it. That criteria is certainly an indication of the status of the 9mm. For guns, in general, 9mm is the most popular chambering in the world.
One fascinating and unique aspect of the 9mm is that the cartridge is largely unchanged in the past 120 years. We still have a handful of popular rifle cartridges from the era — and before — but they are no longer king of the jungle. Contrarily, the 9mm has stayed at the top. We’ve seen changes and developments in case and chamber design that have raised the base performance level of rifle cartridges significantly. Most of the development around the 9mm, however, has orbited the largely unchanged cartridge. We now have high-performance pistols and shoulder-fired guns in 9mm to which the originals cannot compare. But we can take any reasonable modern 9mm load and safely fire it in most of these vintage guns.
The 9mm Won’t Be Toppled
Unlike many of the modern rifle cartridges, whose advantages resonate with hunters and shooters, efforts to topple the 9mm have, so far, fallen flat. You’ll still regularly find staunch “stopping power” enthusiasts who decry the 9mm as a wimp, but the science is settled. In the previously mentioned FBI paper, a lot of the theories and beliefs about the terminal effectiveness of these cartridges are rooted in folklore and myth. While many handgun cartridges are certainly capable of offering some degree of increased terminal performance, that’s generally offset by the cost of recoil and decreased shootability.
Virtually all the 9mm’s contemporaries like the .32 ACP, 9mm Browning Long, .380 ACP, and .45 ACP have either disappeared or diminished in popularity. Even the .380 ACP and .45 ACP, which remain popular, have been pushed aside by the 9mm.
Newcomers like the 30 Super Carry do offer tangible advantages over the 9mm for many of the same applications the 9mm excels at. The 30 Super Carry offers very similar performance with slightly less recoil and increased magazine capacity. Maybe if it had been invented first, it would be top dog. But considering the slender margins of advantage and the 9mm’s deep roots, there’s no dislodging it.
Read Next: The Best Concealed Carry Guns of 2026, Tested and Reviewed
Final Thoughts
Luger’s creation is undeniably the most prolific centerfire round in the world. Cartridges like the 5.56mm and 7.62x39mm can fairly be considered peers of the 9mm, but neither hold a candle to this little handgun round. Not even they come close to the volume and application of the 9mm. It is one of few historic cartridges that were designed right the first time, and ever improving projectiles and firearms ensure that it will remain for many decades to come.
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