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Unread 10-19-2012, 06:39 PM   #22
Drake
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This topic is a bit old but I thought there may be some interest in the research I've done. Here's a family tree I made of the cartridges which descended from the 7.65mm Borchardt (I hope the auto-resizing is working correctly!) -




7.65x25mm Borchardt - Introduced by Hugo Borchardt in 1893 for his C.93 self-loading pistol which was produced by Ludwig Loewe & Company. The cartridges were made by Deutsche Metall-Patronen-Fabrik. After 1896 the two firms were merged into one company - Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken (DWM). The pistol and its cartridges enjoyed limited commercial success. The cartridges were made in Germany and the United States.

7.63x25mm Mauser - The C.96 Mauser pistol was developed using the 7.65mm Borchardt cartridge. When the pistol was nearly ready to bring to the commercial market, Mauser developed its own variation with a slightly heavier powder charge. This cartridge was introduced in 1896 and was dimensionally identical to Borchardt. It was sold with the DWM catalog number 403. These cartridges were apparently sold interchangeably by DWM and most other makers. Only differences in labelling existed and slight differences in the cartridge cases (copper primer, no stab crimps on the Borchardt rounds).

7.65x21mm Parabellum - Designed by Georg Luger, working for DWM, patented in 1900. It was developed for a modification of the 1893 Borchardt pistol called the 'Borchardt-Luger'. The cartridge itself uses a truncated version of the 25mm Borchardt case. It was given the DWM catalog number 471. The pistol and its cartridge were adopted by the Swiss Army in 1903. This cartridge was introduced with a round nose bullet but a truncated cone version appeared in 1903. Around the same time, a blackened case variation for the rifle-length 'Parabellum Carbine' was offered. This used a heavier powder charge to take full advantage of the longer barrel. The Carbine load was officially cataloged as DWM 471A but many used the same '471' headstamp as the cases are identical otherwise.

9x19mm Parabellum - This was developed in 1902 by DWM for a modification of Luger pistol. The previous versions used the 7.65mm Parabellum which failed to impress the German military. A more potent cartridge was requested which was developed by trimming the 7.65x21mm case to 19mm and loading a 9mm bullet. The cartridge and newly redesigned Parabellum pistol (C.04 - 'Navy Luger') was adopted by the German Navy in 1904 and another redesigned pistol (P.08) was adopted by the Army in 1908. It was originally loaded with 124gr truncated cone bullet which was replaced in 1915 with round nose bullet - both have the same DWM catalog number 480C. Loading data remained the same. The reasons for the change of bullet shape remain unclear. US makers continued to use the truncated cone for the '9mm Luger' well into 1930's. An experimental version, the 9mm Carbine was advertised. This used a blackened case with a DWM catalog number 480D, however it was never seen outside of the 1904 DWM catalog.

9x25mm Mauser Export - This was the most powerful member of the family. It was developed by Mauser and made by DWM in 1908 for Mauser C.96 'Export-Modell' pistol. Much like the 9mm Parabellum it began as the 7.63x25mm case which was necked to 9mm. Rather than trimming the length it remained at 25mm to maximize the powder capacity. It was also used in the Mauser C.06/08. A few submachine guns were also produced for this cartridge such as the Steyr-Solothurn MP-34 and the Danuvia 39.M and 43.M. It had the DWM catalog number 487.

7.62x25mm Tokarev - The TT-30 pistol was developed in the early 1930's by Fedor Tokarev. It used a domestic-made version of the 7.63mm Mauser called 7.62mm TT M.30. It had the same dimensions and loading as 7.63mm Mauser but most often with a copper washed or lacquered steel case. Captured ammunition in German service during WWII was listed as 7.62mm Pistol Patrone 2601 (r). There is some confusion about the loading data of 7.62 TT as it compares to the Mauser cartridge. Originally they were identical and interchangeable. Postwar loads such as the Czech M.52 cartridge and subsequent commercial loadings tend to be higher velocity than the original Russian cartridges. For this reason it's ill-advised to use Tokarev ammunition in a 'Mauser pistol.
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