p38 shoot 9mm british

[michelbrecht]

can you shoot British 9mm ammunition ww2 with a Walther P38 ? what is the difference between 9mm para and 9mm british ? thanks

[me6_130]

If both are 9x19mm parabellum it should be shootable. The difference could be in the load or the quality of gun powder but that would be a minor difference.

http://cartridgecollectors.org/?page...ger-cartridges

https://sites.google.com/site/britmi...arabellum-ball

Carles

[nickn]

I believe WW2 9mm ammo for use in sten guns is hotter then 9mm intended for pistols
My grandfather told me during we2 he damaged a captured Luger shooting sten gun 9mm

[ValhallaMilitaria]

The Sten gun ammo( Italian) was captured by the millions of rounds in Africa by the British who then chambered the Sten in it simply to use the 'free' ammo, plus it would then be dropped into occupied countries to resistance fighters who would, presumably, have access to Nazi 9mm ammo. I know MG rounds were loaded 'hotter' than rifle rounds but I have never really investigated the issue of submachine gun ammo. Did the Germans issue proprietary ammo for their 9mm handguns and then a special load for the MP 38/40 series of SMG's?

[nickn]

The Lancaster was designed to fire a variety of 9mm cartridges including the Italian version which I believe was less hot then the German ??

[kanister]

The Italian 9M38 (for MAB38A and similar) was 20% more hot than other 9Para or 9Luger.
The Italian 9 Glisenti ( for Glisenti M1910 and some SMG like the FIAT 1915 and Beretta 1930) was 15% less hot than other 9mm.
British and German cartridges were equivalent.

[me6_130]

Germans were very touchy about shooting foreign ammo in their weapons, due to problems the different loads could cause. Even with their own ammo, when delivered and recollected later, as MG ammo could cause problems with the rifles...

Carles

[lew07]

Yes I heard that the Sten needed hotter ammo to make it cycle correctly.

[Grossfuss]

P38 9mm ammo

Hi,

It was a long time ago when I was a member of a pistol club (1970's) and I don't know the make, but the one 9mm round we were told never to use in a P38 was colloquially known as "2Z". This may have been intended for the Stirling SMG.

I was present when the slide on a P38 broke in two just behind the part over the barrel so I can affirm that some rounds ain't a good idea.

Happy Days - fond memories of full-auto fire by Section 5 dealers at Bushfield Camp and Moody's Down! Given a go with a Bren with strict instructions for only short bursts of three rounds - then the voice from behind "Go on - let it go"! and that was that mag empty - what a buzz!

All the best,

Grossfuss