The 9x19 mm in the U.S.A.
The 9mm was certainly not extremely popular in the US until, say, the 1970s, but it was far from rare. American firearms enthusiasts began buying the Luger pistol in 9mm as soon as it became available, even prior to World War I. I have seen at least two standard-length P.08 pistols on exhibit in museums which are reputed to have come from Mexico before the entry of the USA into the Great War. This is taken as evidence of German military advisors being present in Mexico, fomenting the border troubles for the purpose of keeping the US out of the European War. Never having had the opportunity to examine the provenance of these two pistols, or even to find anyone knowledgeable about pistols around those museums, I take leave to doubt this origin. I think it more likely that there were hobbyists on both sides of the Rio Grande then, just as now, and someone made a private acquisition.
Military personnel returning home after the Great War brought all sorts of souvenirs, and captured enemy armaments have been the favored mementos of warriors throughout the ages. The Lugers and Mausers chambered for the German service cartridge led to all the major US ammo companies offering the 9x19, though not as commonly as the “home grown†ammo.
The 1930s were a fertile period for firearms development, beginning with the Tokarev in 1933. At least two of the major 9mms were introduced in 1935: The Browning GP (High Power) and the Vis, produced at the Radom facility in Poland. These were followed closely by the Walther
Heeres Pistole (did I spell that correctly, Marko?) which soon was modified and adopted as the P38. Luger production continued well into WWII, and the Italian Glisenti was a 9x19, of sorts. (
For goodness sakes, do NOT fire 9x19 Luger ammo in one of the latter. It will chamber but the pistol was made for a much lower pressure loading.)
Bring-backs of the European 9mm pistols accounted for a lot of US sales of commercial ammo, and many of the pistols did yeoman service for years. None of the guns were produced in the US, though, and it took a few years for the European arms industry to get up to speed. Adoption of foreign surplus pistols by any law enforcement agency would have been ludicrous, though surely some officers carried their personal trophies. (And some private individuals, too - - a friend of mine was assaulted on The Fort Worth – Jacksboro Highway in the 1950s. A single FMJ from a Vis/Radom stressed the axiom, “Don’t bring a tire tool to a gun fight.â€)
There was no US-produced 9mm service-type pistol until the advent of the Colt Commander and the S&W Model 39. The Commander was first marketed in 1949 but I can’t find earliest date it was offered in 9x19. The M39 was offered for sale in 1954, but was scarce for several years thereafter. I recall seeing Browning High Powers marketed in the mid-1960s, in ads aimed at selling for law enforcement use. They used the same illustration for years: A HP shown with a seven-point star badge. In 1967, I worked at Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office in Fort Worth. Uniformed personnel were required to carry ONLY Colt or S&W four-inch .38 or .357 revolvers. One dispatcher tried to obtain permission to wear a brand new BHP, as I did with my M39 I got in ’66. Didn’t work for either of us. The CID Captain carried an Inglis-produced BHP in plainclothes, though, and I coveted that pistol.
I think it was the late 1960s, perhaps early ‘70s, when Illinois State Police became the first US LEA to issue a 9mm sidearm, the M39. They were about the onliest ones for several years. A few more followed their lead.
The French-made MAB PA15 attempted to sorta, kinda, follow the trail blazed by the BHP. It was still a single action auto, though, even if it held a couple more rounds. One should mention the H&K VP70, I guess - - More noteworthy for the polymer frame than for the double action only trigger, but still not widely popular.
The first “Wondernine,†using the current, common, parlance, was the S&W Model 59, combining the 9x19 cartridge and DA/SA of the P38 and M39 with the double column magazine of the BHP. This first came about in 1971. (I went to
SCS&W to verify my recollection of the date, and find that Supica and Nahas used almost identical language to the above in their historical intro to that section.
] A series of S&W models following along this track have been introduced since that date, a surprising number of them pre-dating the introduction of the Glock pistols to our shores. (I do not intentionally neglect the Beretta wondernines, but there is a gap in my knowledge [and interest] in that regard.)
I was a college student/hospital employee, making about $300 a month when I saw that Montgomery-Ward’s in Fort Worth had a wooden barrel of greasy old P38s beside the pistol counter. Your choice, $35.00. During that time, good GI 1911s could be had for around $50. But a new Browning HP was $69.00. The latter was NOT an “also ran,†they were simply far less common on the used military market, and first-run commercial guns are always higher priced than current surplus.
I believe it would be fair to say that:
1. the war souvenir 9mms made a fairly wide introduction of the 9mm to America,
2. the S&Ws broke trail and started the acceptance into widespread use, and
3. the Glocks solidified its adoption in the USA.
Isn’t history fun?
Johnny
