why does the military use 124 gr 9mm?

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124 gr is the original weight of 9mm.

Back in the late 1970's and early 1980's the 115gr became popular in the "energy dump" era. Then the Miami Shootout happened in 1986 and it was determined lightweight, high energy, shallow penetrating rounds were not all they were cracked up to be.

Since then, 124gr and even 147gr 9mm bullets have become the standard for 9mm ammo. Cheap, bulk, range ammo is still very common in 115gr weights.
 
why 124 gr fmj 9mm over the 115 gr fmj? maybe the 124 is more likely to tumble?

Actually per STANAG 4090 for NATO 9mm ammunition so long as projectile weight remains within the range of 7.09g/108gr to 8.3g/128gr inclusive, it is acceptable. Some nations issue and use 115 gr ammo, others use 124 gr and still others use other weights like 112 gr.
 
As originally designed by and loaded for Georg Luger by DWM (Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken) the round was an 8 gram (123.5 gr) lead-core bullet. This is the round the German Army originally used, but due to the lead shortage during the war, they developed two additional loads that utilized iron cores.

One type was called "PistolenPatrone 08 mit Sintereisenkern" (with sintered (pressed) iron core). Which weighed 5.8 grams (89.5 gr.) and had markings on the box which said: "Pistolenpatronen 08 S.E."

The other was called "Pistolenpatrone 08 mit Eisenkern" (iron core). That load weighed 6.4 grams (98.7 gr.) and the boxes were marked "Pistolenpatronen 08 m.E.".

Just a note - it wan't called 9mm Luger or 9mm Parabellum, it was called PistolenPatrone 08.
 
why 124 gr fmj 9mm over the 115 gr fmj? maybe the 124 is more likely to tumble?
Do you know this for sure? I thought the services used 147 subsonic for suppressed capability?

I do anyway. I load up 147 grain hollow points that clock around 1050 fps to shoot out of my Sig MPX with suppressor. Very quiet. No supersonic crack.

I do prefer the 124 Montana Gold HP for competition. They just group better out of my pistols. Back when I started loading 9mm’s, I ran all the popular loads through my ballistics program and the 124’s delivered the most energy at 25 yards. If that is now a military standard, perhaps this is why.
 
With an FMJ, I'm not sure it matters that much. All should get complete penetration on an enemy soldier barring some sort of armor.
 
look up Army's new pistol, they are in the process of dropping the 9mm due to
the lack of effective stopping results and going to be taking bids for a new
pistol in 40 S&W or 45 ACP, anyway its worth looking up lots of info on the
U.S. Military looking to replace the 9mm worth the read !
This is for info only NOT starting another this VS that :uhoh:
 
JO JO look up Army's new pistol, they are in the process of dropping the 9mm due to the lack of effective stopping results and going to be taking bids for a new pistol in 40 S&W or 45 ACP, anyway its worth looking up lots of info on the U.S. Military looking to replace the 9mm worth the read !
This is for info only NOT starting another this VS that
Myth.
 
I think its a Fact , Army times the Army's newspaper has multiple articles on
this just go to ARMY times web sight and type new pistol in the search bar and
read the Official Army articles for yourself there posted for public view non classified info :D
 
NATO standard is 124.
Neither .40 S&W or .45 ACP is a NATO cartridge. U.S. military will not be adopting either. Mind you, the U.S. military adopted the M9 for political reasons. Other NATO countries were complaining about the huge difference in spending between themselves and the U.S.. Adopting the M9 was the result.
 
why 124 gr fmj 9mm over the 115 gr fmj?

One would like to believe that military decisions are made with a lot of thought however that's pure conjecture.

The big decisions made by large organizations are most often made by committee. Small decisions like which bullet weight to buy could have been simple chance. There may or may not have been much of a thought process in making the choice.
 
The handgun is far less important in the grand scheme of warfare than civilian gun enthusiasts would like to think. However, the billions of dollars that would be spent on replacing the M9 is far more important to the bidding companies than taxpayers can imagine.

If anyone thinks its about terminal ballistics or better equipping our soldiers - they are sadly mistaken.
 
JO JO I think its a Fact , Army times the Army's newspaper has multiple articles on
this just go to ARMY times web sight and type new pistol in the search bar and
read the Official Army articles for yourself there posted for public view non classified info
Myth............because nearly every year for the last decade the Army/Navy/Marines/SOCOM/DOD/etc announce a new (insert name of small arms here) program to replace existing arms.
 
Well it's fact that the test are scheduled to occur and the military has left caliber open, and even allows for up two caliber options per manufacturer. I'm assuming it' like most times in that it's just to see what's out there prior to deciding on any actual change.

That said, if we believed the Army Times hype the U.S. Military would have changed Service Rifle, handgun, AND calibers for each about 4 times in the past decade.

Caliber is kept open I think mainly just in case somebody somewhere has developed a ".xx whatisit" round that stops bull elephants in their tracks, penetrates body armor at 5,000 yards, cost 1/100 cent per round and recoils like a 22 CB cap. I do think it would be funny if all the police went to 9mm just as the Army went to 40 S/W ;)
 
Simple answer is 124 grain is THE NATO standard loading and the 124 is proven to produce the best terminal ballistics when employing a non hollowpoint type bullet.
 
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