9mm revolver

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I see auctions on Gunbroker for 9mm revolvers, usually S&W, Rugers, & Taurus, but some foreign models too. The Taurus are quite resonable, $280 or so for brand new ones. They are usually snub nose.

Has anyone here ever shot one? How does the 9mm handle in a revolver? How is felt recoil and muzzle lip? What would you compare it too recoil wise? A .38? How is controlability of the 9mm in a snubby frame? Is it comfortable to shoot? Would you recommend it?

Also, would a .380acp cartridge also fit in the cylinder

Thanks in advance for any replies.

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pkbites wrote:

I see auctions on Gunbroker for 9mm revolvers, usually S&W, Rugers, & Taurus, but some foreign models too. The Taurus are quite resonable, $280 or so for brand new ones. They are usually snub nose.

Has anyone here ever shot one? How does the 9mm handle in a revolver? How is felt recoil and muzzle lip? What would you compare it too recoil wise? A .38? How is controlability of the 9mm in a snubby frame? Is it comfortable to shoot? Would you recommend it?

Also, would a .380acp cartridge also fit in the cylinder

Thanks in advance for any replies.

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I have never fired a 9mm revolver, however here is my suggestion. Get a .38 or .357mag! snub nose revolvers are primarily for CC and as i like to say for "when the sh*t hits the fan." so with that being said, a 9mm will be much more pleasant to fire at the range for long periods of time, a S&W J-Frame .357 will be a proverbial BIATCH to fire for long periods of time. I'd also highly recommend getting laser grips.

one of my next guns will be a j-frame .357 scandium with laser grips

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KodiakISGOOD wrote:

...a S&W J-Frame .357 will be a proverbial BIATCH to fire for long periods of time. ...
one of my next guns will be a j-frame .357 scandium with laser grips

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HankT wrote:

KodiakISGOOD wrote:

...a S&W J-Frame .357 will be a proverbial BIATCH to fire for long periods of time. ...
one of my next guns will be a j-frame .357 scandium with laser grips

Click to expand...

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Hank, i am going to hold you personally repsonsible for 2 things....1 the orange juice that shot out of my nose, and 2 the orange juice that is now all over my keyboard!

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The manager here has the Ruger 9mm revolver and says that it's about likea .38 special to shoot. I would think that .380 rounds won't work, because the bullets are just held in by the edge of the casing - the .380 would seat too far forward for the pin to hit the primer reliably.

One note of caution: anyone who wants one of these is advised not to get the Charter Arms 9mm revolver. It uses the 9mm Federal round, which is different from, and not substitutable for,the luger/parabellum. Good luck finding this ammo at all, and the price is probably prohibitive to make this affordable to actually use. They only made this gun for about 2 years, and it didn't take, so they're somewhat scarce. It might be valuable as a collectible, but not it's practical for a working piece.

-ljp

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I have a S&W model 637, .38 spec. Had my local 'smith (ex-PD armorer) get me a 9mm J-frame cylinder from the factory, as S&W used to make a model 940 in that chambering.

Fitted the cylinder to my 637, which is an airweight by the way. This means I only practice with it with lower-powered 9mm reloads, although I've "proof tested" the thing with one cylinderful of Hydra Shoks. Great to carry, and the moonclips make for an easily packed, quick to use speed reload. I now call it a Model 937.

Taurus had had some trouble with their 9mm five shooters, not sure what exactly but it may be off the market now(?) Ruger hasn't made the SP-101 in 9mm for quite a spell now, probably lack of demand. I believe that all of the 9mm parabellum revolvers can use that rimmed 9mm Federal ammo that Legba mentioned, just forget the moon clips.

Interesting note: What killed off the 9mm Federal rimmed was the fact that it would drop into and fire in many old revolvers, including breaktops, made for the old .38S&W round. Naturally that would have been a BAD thing to try. Federal should have thought this through beforehand.

Oh by using moonclips I thinkyou could get .380 ammo to fire in a 9mm parabellum revolver, but why would you want to? Lots of bullet jump out to the barrel lands/grooves, and these days .380 is more expensive than conventional 9x19.

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I can't say I have ever fired a 9mm, but I have always heard it was comparable to .38. In that case I would recomend a .357 if you don't mind a little bit larger frame, and you can shoot .38 at the range to save your wrist.

**Personal preference alert**
I am a Ruger fan, and would recomend the GP100. Medium frame, but it is just a little bit beefier than lot of other medum framed revo's, so it will handle any .357 you want to run through it, even the hot loads my dad cooks up.

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Hay Hank T, is that a picture of a girly-man hand or is it a picture of your hand?

Inquiring minds want to know.

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pkbites wrote:

I see auctions on Gunbroker for 9mm revolvers, usually S&W, Rugers, & Taurus, but some foreign models too. The Taurus are quite resonable, $280 or so for brand new ones. They are usually snub nose.

Has anyone here ever shot one? How does the 9mm handle in a revolver? How is felt recoil and muzzle lip? What would you compare it too recoil wise? A .38? How is controlability of the 9mm in a snubby frame? Is it comfortable to shoot? Would you recommend it?

Also, would a .380acp cartridge also fit in the cylinder

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Click to expand...

My primary (concealed) carry is a Taurus 905 snub-nose revolver in 9mm. It's wearing smooth wood Excaliber grips for anti-snag and better concealability.

Shooting it is like shooting a hotter .38SPL out of my 2" Ruger SP101--it has significant kick, but it isn't as punishing as .357 Mag out of the SP101. It'd probably be on-par with a .38SPL+P (although I've never shot +P). So recoil-wise, it's between .38SPL and .357Mag, and closer to .38SPL.

After I put 100 rounds through it with the stock grips (and developing a bruise on my thumb-joint), I switched to a set of Pachmayr Compac grips, which did OK but negatively affected the concealablility of the weapon (the grips were too bulky, and being rubber, they tended to grab onto my cover clothing), so I swapped it out for the smooth wood Excaliber boot-grips. Interestingly, when I went to these grips the 905 became even less uncomfortable to shoot than with the other grips, and by putting my pinky below the grips, my thumb-joint hasn't had a single complaint.

The 9mm rounds will headspace on a little shoulder cut into the chambers, and the revolver will shoot just fine this way, although to eject the rounds I have to use a rod of some sort to poke them out. To be able to use the ejector rod, you'd have to use the star-clips, which is both a plus and a minus--they allow for fast reloads, but putting the rounds in the clips and taking the empties out is somewhat annoying. Keeping a spare, loaded clip will not be easy, and there aren't any speedloaders for 9mm rounds (that I know of).

Because the .380 cases are shorter, I don't think the .380 cartridge will headspace correctly without the star-clip, though I've never tried to use .380 cartridges in it. Maybe it'll work, but I don't really have a reason to try it (unless someone wants to buy me a box of .380 to give it a shot).

Do I recommend it? What can a 9mm snubbie revolver do that a J-frame in .38SPL can't? Being able to share the same ammo between my Taurus 905, my Ruger Blackhawk Convertible .357/9mm, and my Beretta 92FS is nice, and factory ammo is certainly cheaper for 9mm. That, and the novelty of having a revolver in 9mm are its biggest pluses.

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Legba wrote:

...I would think that .380 rounds won't work, because the bullets are just held in by the edge of the casing - the .380 would seat too far forward for the pin to hit the primer reliably...

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For the Ruger (and for my Taurus 905 and for a S&W 940) there are clips available that clip into the extractor-groove on a 9mm casing and allow the ejector rod to work; I don't see why this wouldn't also work for .380, with the .380 rounds being held in place for the firing pin to hit the primers reliably, but I'm not about to try it =)

Exceptions are the S&W 547 and the P&R Medusa 47 (and the Colt Magnum Carry -- http://www.ezapper.com/ -- which I just learned about): they use an extractor that actually has clips for the groove on a 9mm casing, so that when the ejector rod is depressed, the extractor will pop out the rimless rounds.