Beginner's Question: What is 9mm "Luger" Ammunition?

[SiriusBlunder]

Thanks for the correction.

Why did "Luger" become a standard? Sure, first pistol for the chambering, but it wasn't the original name for the cartridge.

I'm not sure why I think firearms nomenclature should make sense. It often doesn't.

(My other pet peeve-- revolvers not being pistols. The original term was revolving/revolver-pistol...)

Not sure when SAAMI or C.I.P. picked "Luger" and it became the standard. In the late 70's/early 80's, my circle referred to it as it 9mm Luger or sometimes 9mm Para(bellum) if we needed to differentiate between Makarov and Kurz/Corto/Browning/Short (had an acquaintance that refused to use .380 ACP and used the others randomly). Since then, seems like "Luger" has fallen out of favor colloquially in a lot of circles.

I agree with you. We used to use "pistol" and "handgun" interchangeably. Now that's a huge faux pas.

ETA: Since I'm corona-bored, I started searching for the history of the name and when SAAMI/C.I.P. standardized on "Luger". Nothing definite yet, but this doc with a history of headstamps and pics of old ammo boxes was interesting.

[JAH 3rd]

As others have said, shipping comparisons can save you a few bucks. SG Ammo and Target Sports are the two I check when comparing the same brand/quantity of ammo. With my last purchase of 45 acp from Natchez, it was considerably cheaper to buy 10 100 round boxes than the same ammo packed at 1000 rounds. I don't know what your local ammo availability situation is, but once in a blue moon I can find a deal locally.

As far as paper targets go, get a target that will contrast with your front sight. One day at the range, the light bulb came on! Shooting a black target with a black front sight is not ideal, at least for my old eyes. I found an orange target allowed me to easily track my front sight. The orange background even helps out with 3-dot sights too. I like to think that this aided my accuracy.......and cut down on frustration on sight picture acquisition.

[olstyn]

LOTS of 9x19 brass has the word "Luger" on the headstamp, too, not that most non-reloaders pay a lot of attention to that, of course.

ETA: Examples (not my image, found it with a google search for "9mm headstamp"):

[UNM1136]

I am a fan of ammoman.com when they have stuff in stock. I learned a long time ago that their free shipping more than made up the sale prices+shipping Cabellas charged me.

pat