Why is automatic pistol cartridge case so long?

alvin · 06-28-2009, 07:03 PM

It's not a Luger question, but it's pistol cartridge case length related.

People doing reloading may notice pistol cartridge is way longer than necessary from holding that little bit smokeless gunpowder point of view.

Same is true for revolver cartridge. For revolver, I would guess it's related with backward compatibility, the sze was designed from black gunpowder days. But for automatic pistol cartridge, they were designed for smokeless gunpowder, why were they all so long? Won't a shorter cartridge case at least saving some brass?

I thought over and over again, but I could not find a reasonable explanation. Could you help?

06-28-2009, 07:03 PM	#1
alvin User Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: US Posts: 3,843 Thanks: 132 Thanked 729 Times in 438 Posts	Why is automatic pistol cartridge case so long? It's not a Luger question, but it's pistol cartridge case length related. People doing reloading may notice pistol cartridge is way longer than necessary from holding that little bit smokeless gunpowder point of view. Same is true for revolver cartridge. For revolver, I would guess it's related with backward compatibility, the sze was designed from black gunpowder days. But for automatic pistol cartridge, they were designed for smokeless gunpowder, why were they all so long? Won't a shorter cartridge case at least saving some brass? I thought over and over again, but I could not find a reasonable explanation. Could you help?

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