Spanish 9mm Ammunition
 

Is there any way to tell 9mm submachine gun ammunition from regular pistol ammunition? I acquired a couple of thousand rounds of Spanish made ammunition and no information about it other than the head stamp is 9mm and 41 which I assume is the manufacture date, and black lacquer on the primer.

Hi:

Watchout for corrosive primers!!!

This is a silly question, but are you sure you purchased 9x19 (Parabellum)ammo? The Spanish used 9x23 ammo (Largo) during this period.

Sieger

Spanish 9mm Ammunition
 

It is 9x19 and just to be safe I am assuming it is corrosive.

Re: Re: Spanish 9mm Ammunition
 

Tac:

May he borrow one of yours?

Sieger

Re: Spanish 9mm Ammunition
 

Hi:

That being established, I read a test report, back in the 1960s, about "machine gun ammo" used during WWII. The article concluded that there was no ammo made during the war that couldn't be safely fired in a pistol. I doubt, however, that your Spanish ammo was part of that test.

Are the primers crimped in? If not, this could simply be commercial pistol ammo.

I quess you will have to fire some and find out. I wouldn't fire it in your Luger until you could establish that it wasn't too hot for it.

Some name brand chinese ammo I tried in my late war Mauser was much, much too hot for the Parabellum system. This stuff was loaded to +P+ specs .

In my experience, Lugers don't function will with 124 gr. ammo with a velocity much over 1,100 feet per second

Here's the reason for my question. I've had this ammunition for years, it is not crimped by the way. After I first got it, I tried firing some in an Erfurt Luger I had. I had never fired the Erfurt before this. It would jam after every shot. The reason for the jam was that the firing pin retainer would not hold in the the breach block locking grooves. It would back out and jam the gun. Since I had never fired the gun, I don't know if the problem existed before I tried shooting it or if the ammunition caused the problem.

Hi:

You would have had to pierce primers and have the gass blow the plug back against its locking grooves violently to cause the condition you are telling us about.

Did you experience any pierced primers?

Sieger

You can't save enough money on foreign ammo or Joe Bloe's reloads to make blowing up your gun and possibly vaporizing a couple of your fingers worth it. The last time I let a jerk slip me a few of his daddy's reloads I thought I was firing a .44 Magnum instead of a 38 special. I informed him the ammo was not factory (he had put it into a factory box as if it was new), and also added a few choice remarks about his heritage.
1. Many, many amateurs take up reloading and 99% of them load too hot, give up after a while and then sell the remainder of what they loaded. Those little time bombs are out there by the tens of thousands.
2. Foreign made ammo has too long a history of non-uniform and corrosive behavior to trust any gun you value with it and too many foreign manufacturers have an established pattern of poor quality control.

Reloaders
 

Hi:

I couldn't disagree with these comments more.

Sieger

No, there were no pierced primers or gas blow back. I guess the locking grooves were badly worn when I got the gun. I am having the block welded and grooves recut.

Sieger,
Do you mean to say you CAN save enough money on foreign ammo or Joe Bloe's reloads to make blowing up your gun and possibly vaporizing a couple of your fingers worth it?
I'm not sure what you are disagreeing with.
Do you mean beginners/amateurs DON'T reload too hot and then foist their little bombs on unsuspecting people (I was in a gun store a few days ago and listened to a conversation between one of the sales people and a guy on the phone who wanted to know if he should fill up his cases all the way with powder XYZ or if not, "how far up to fill them").
And do you mean that foreign ammo makers DON'T have a long and well-deserved reputation for poor quality control and corrosive ammo that is often corrosive even when the box says it is not.
I'm completely puzzled.

The Facts
 

davidkachel:

"Do you mean to say you CAN save enough money on foreign ammo or Joe Bloe's reloads to make blowing up your gun and possibly vaporizing a couple of your fingers worth it?"

If you exercise some common sense and know what you are buying, yes. Some of the foreign 9x19 ammo is excellent stuff. Reloads, well, you have to know how they are loaded. If in doubt, pass up the deal.

"I'm not sure what you are disagreeing with."

I hope I've cleared that up.

"Do you mean beginners/amateurs DON'T reload too hot and then foist their little bombs on unsuspecting people (I was in a gun store a few days ago and listened to a conversation between one of the sales people and a guy on the phone who wanted to know if he should fill up his cases all the way with powder XYZ or if not, "how far up to fill them")."

I believe it is illegal to sell your reloads to anyone, unless you have a licence to manufacture ammo. Knowing this, simply don't buy reloads that are produced by amateurs. If someone else wants to kill themselves, let them deal with that.

"And do you mean that foreign ammo makers DON'T have a long and well-deserved reputation for poor quality control and corrosive ammo that is often corrosive even when the box says it is not."

You are trying to lump all foreign manufactures together here. This is illogical at best. If you buy crap, that's what you have bought. If you buy quality, that is what you have bought. It's up to you to educate yourself as to what is crap and what is quality.

If you have a question on a certain type of ammo, please question it in this forum and we will respond with our comments.

"I'm completely puzzled."

I hope this explanation has cleared up your confusion.

Sieger

Foreign Ammo
 

Rick:

I couldn't agree with you more!

Sieger