The 9mm Glisenti is an Italian

pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, an ...

and

submachine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an autom ...

cartridge Cartridge may refer to: Objects * Cartridge (firearms), a type of modern ammunition * ROM cartridge, a removable component in an electronic device * Cartridge (respirator), a type of filter used in respirators Other uses * Cartridge (surname), a ...

History and usage

The 9mm Glisenti was developed for the Italian Glisenti Model 1910

, first used in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It was also used in other Italian weapons such as the

Beretta Model 1915 The Beretta Model 1915 or Beretta M1915 is a semi-automatic pistol manufactured by Beretta, designed by Tullio Marengoni who was the chief engineer in the company, to replace the Glisenti Model 1910 which had a complex and weak firing mechanism. ...

and

Beretta M1923 The Beretta Model 1923 pistol was a service pistol used by the Italian Army from 1923 until 1945. The M1923 was designed to consolidate the improvements of the 1915/19 model and to use the 9mm Glisenti round. However, due to the vast amount of h ...

pistols, the OVP and

Beretta Model 1918 The Moschetto Automatico Revelli-Beretta Mod. 1915 (Commonly known as the Beretta Model 1918) was a self-loading carbine that entered service in 1918 with the Italian armed forces. Designed as a semi-automatic rifle, the weapon came with an overh ...

s, and the

Villar-Perosa aircraft submachine gun The Pistola Mitragliatrice Villar Perosa M1915, official named FIAT Mod. 1915, was an Italian portable automatic weapon developed during World War I by the ''Officine di Villar Perosa''. Originally designed to be used by the second crew member/obs ...

. The Medusa M47

revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...

can also fire 9mm Glisenti ammunition along with many other

.38 .38 caliber is a frequently used name for the caliber of firearm A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). Th ...

and

9 mm 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

cartridges.

Specifications

The cartridge was based on the German

9×19mm Parabellum The 9×19mm Parabellum (also known as 9mm Parabellum or 9mm Luger or simply 9mm) is a rimless, tapered firearms cartridge. Originally designed by Austrian firearm designer Georg Luger in 1901, it is widely considered the most popular handgun a ...

; in fact, both cartridges are dimensionally identical. However, the powder charge of the 9mm Glisenti cartridge is reduced compared to a typical 9×19mm cartridge, making it significantly less powerful, as it is also meant to be used in blowback pistols, which are easier and less expensive to manufacture than

locked breech Locked breech is the design of a breech-reloading firearm's action. This is important in understanding how a self-reloading firearm works. In the simplest terms, the locked breech is one way to slow down the opening of the breech of a self-reloadi ...

firearms. This means that 9mm Glisenti cartridges will chamber and fire in 9×19mm firearms, at the risk of not cycling properly and causing malfunctions, but it also means that 9×19mm cartridges will chamber and fire in 9mm Glisenti, presenting a significant risk of catastrophic failure to the firearm, and a risk of injury to the shooter. The cartridge is now obsolete, but

Fiocchi Munizioni Fiocchi Munizioni (Fiocchi Ammunition) is one of Italy's largest and oldest manufacturers of ammunition. The company's headquarters and main production plant are in Via Santa Barbara in Lecco, Italy. History Fiocchi Munizioni was founded on 3 ...

occasionally produces batches.

References

Pistol and rifle cartridges {{ammo-stub