9mm P.A. (''Pistole Automatik'', German for "automatic pistol"), 9×22mm or 9mm P.A.K. (''Pistole Automatik Knall'', "automatic blank pistol") is a firearm cartridge for a non-lethal

gas pistol A gas pistol is a non-lethal weapon used for self-defense and other purposes. It is typically a close-to-exact replica or conversion of a traditional handgun made to be able to fire blanks or tear gas cartridges. Effective range is up to 4.5 metr ...

noisemaking gun. Caliber 9mm P.A. includes various blank, gas or rubber ammunitions made for different use. 9mm P.A. Blank has also been used for theatrical purposes, including as a modification to

muzzle-loading A muzzleloader is any firearm into which the projectile and the propellant charge is loaded from the muzzle of the gun (i.e., from the forward, open end of the gun's barrel). This is distinct from the modern (higher tech and harder to make) design ...

firearms, allowing early-modern

muskets A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually dis ...

and the like to be fired on-stage without the actors learning the complex steps of loading with loose powder.

Variants

Each of the 9mm P.A. cartridge variants are distinguished by a proper color: green, yellow, blue, red, etc. 9mm P.A. ammunitions can be used for different purposes depending on the legislation, these include military training, cinema props, self-defense (rubber bullets can only be used in certain eastern european countries), dog training, historical reenactment, holiday or new year celebration (mostly in Turkey, Germany and Italy). Colombia S.A. and other South American countries also allow the use of rubber bullets for self defense. The use of this ammunition also depends on the 9mm P.A. gun's barrel which can be of three kinds depending on the country's own gun legislation that can be more or less restrictive. Fully obstructed barrel are called "top firing" (or "top venting") for they have a long hole on the barrel's top while the muzzle is closed. "Front firing" (or "front venting") guns have a semi-obstructed barrel that allows for a flame, smoke or tear gas to be ejected out of the muzzle. According to American federal laws, both "front firing" and "top firing" new guns must be identified by a red plastic tip fixed on the muzzle. Russia's guns legislation allows civilians self-defence hence local 9mm P.A. guns can have a clear barrel that can fire non-lethal rubber bullets.

Blank firing

These blank cartridges can also be used to fire pyrotechnics (single or multi-shots) or non-lethal "self-gomm"

rubber bullet Rubber bullets (also called rubber baton rounds) are a type of baton round. Despite the name, rubber bullets typically have either a metal core with a rubber coating, or are a homogeneous admixture with rubber being a minority component. Altho ...

s with the proper adaptor attached to the barrel.

9mm P.A. Knall

Cal. 9mm P.A. Blank (a.k.a. «9mm P.A.K.») are blank cartridges made for semi-automatic pistols. :GREEN. Standard "Blank" cartridges. :YELLOW. "Flash Defense" blank cartridges producing a longer flame at the end of the barrel.

9mm R./9mm R. NC

Semi-automatic 9mm P.A. ammunitions are not compatible with

s 9mm R. (.380) or 9mm R NC designed for blank-firing revolvers.

Tear gas

9mm P.A. CS

Cal. 9mm P.A. CS are cartridges loaded with tear gas CS (80 mg). :YELLOW. "CS" cartridges are loaded with 80mg.

9mm P.A. CN

Cal. 9mm P.A. CN are cartridges loaded with tear gas CN (160 or 220 mg). :BLUE. "CN" cartridges are loaded with 160mg. :PURPLE. "Supra CN" cartridges are loaded with 220mg.

9mm P.A. PV

Cal. 9mm P.A. PV are cartridges loaded with

pepper spray Pepper spray, oleoresin capsicum spray, OC spray, capsaicin spray, or capsicum spray is a lachrymatory agent (a compound that irritates the eyes to cause a burning sensation, pain, and temporary blindness) used in policing, riot control, cr ...

(20, 30 or 45 mg) and intended to be used for self-defense against dangerous animals. :BROWN. "Pepper" cartridges are loaded with 20mg. :RED. "Pepper flash" cartridges are loaded with 30mg. :RED. "Extra strong" cartridges are loaded with 45mg.

Rubber bullets

Front-firing 9mm P.A. pistols can shoot 18 mm non-lethal self-gomm rubber bullets through an adapter attached to the barrel's end. Unlike 9mm P.A. rubber bullets, these 18 mm rubber bullets are manually loaded by the muzzle.

9mm P.A. Tehkrim

Cal. 9mm P.A. Tehkrim. Russian ammunitions maker Tehkrim manufactures non-lethal rubber bullets (0.68g) chambered in 9mm P.A. This particular ammunition cannot be used in standard 9mm P.A. blank firing pistols sold in Europe and America for they use semi-obstructed (front firing) or fully obstructed (top-firing) barrels. :RED.

9mm P.A. PP9RP

Cal. 9mm P.A. PP9RP. Russian ammunition with a rubber bullet (standard, sport or magnum) similar to Tehkrims. :BLACK.

Notable makers

9mm P.A. semi-automatic pistols

Notable 9mm P.A. pistols include ME,

Umarex Umarex Sportwaffen GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of air guns (including Umarex air pistols such as the Beretta Elite II), tear gas, tear-gas and signal pistols, paintball markers under the RAM brand and airsoft guns, based in Arnsberg, No ...

(Reck), Röhm and

Walther Walther is a masculine given name and a surname. It is a German form of Walter, which is derived from the Old High German ''Walthari'', containing the elements ''wald'' -"power", "brightness" or "forest" and ''hari'' -"warrior". The name was fir ...

from Germany (earlier from West Germany), Kimar (

Chiappa Firearms Chiappa Firearms, Armi Sport di Chiappa, is an Italian firearms manufacturing company based in Brescia. It was founded in 1958 by Ezechiele Chiappa as Armi Sport. Total unit production is around 60,000 per year. Its U.S. headquarters are in D ...

) and Bruni from Italy, Ceonic, Ekol, Retay and Zoraki from Turkey and

KSAP Klimovsk Specialized Ammunition Plant (CJSC KSAP) (russian: Климовский специализированный патронный завод, Klimovskiy spetsializirovannyy patronnyy zavod) is an ammunition enterprise located in Russian ...

from Russia. These makers can be classified in four distinct groups. Those, like Walther or Röhm, who are gunmakers who manufacture notorious models chambered in 9mm P.A. A second group includes Umarex who produces models licensed from famous gunmakers including

Colt Colt(s) or COLT may refer to: *Colt (horse), an intact (uncastrated) male horse under four years of age People * Colt (given name) *Colt (surname) Places *Colt, Arkansas, United States *Colt, Louisiana, an unincorporated community, United States ...

Smith & Wesson Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (S&W) is an American firearm manufacturer headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. Smith & Wesson was founded by Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson as the "Smith & Wesson Revolver Company" in 1856 ...

. These guns are copies faithful to the originals in terms of cosmetic and design and they use real names and logos. The third group is the largest of all four as it encompasses all makers from Italy, Turkey and ME from Germany who are selling unlicensed replicas of famous brands except Ceonic, like the

Beretta 92 The Beretta 92 (also Beretta 96 and Beretta 98) is a series of semi-automatic pistols designed and manufactured by Beretta of Italy. The Beretta 92 was designed in 1975, and production began in 1976. Many variants in several different calibers co ...

or the Magnum Desert Eagle. Due to obvious copyright reasons, these models are more or less resembling to the original and they use an alternative name. For these reasons they are cheaper than licensed models. The last group comprises makers like KSAP who design and produce original guns chambered in 9mm P.A.

9mm P.A. fully automatic pistols

Turkish gunmaker Ekol manufactures a full-auto unlicensed replica of the

called the Jackal Dual (215 mm/1150 gr) retrospectively dubbed "Magnum" since it is available in a shorter barrel version called Jackal Dual Compact (185 mm/1050 gr). The Jackal Dual (full-size Magnum or Compact) is a semi-auto & full-auto blank

machine pistol A machine pistol is an autoloading pistol capable of fully automatic fire. The term can also be used to describe a stockless handgun-style submachine gun. The term is a calque of ''Maschinenpistole'', the German word for submachine guns. Machine ...

using a 15-round or a 25-round magazine.

9mm P.A. fully automatic submachine guns

Turkish gunmaker Ekol manufactures an original (yet loosely resembling the

Uzi The Uzi (; he, עוזי, Ūzi; officially cased as UZI) is a family of Israeli open-bolt, blowback-operated submachine guns and machine pistols first designed by Major Uziel "Uzi" Gal in the late 1940s, shortly after the establishment of the ...

) 9mm P.A. fully automatic

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 ...

, the ASI. The ASI is basically a semi-auto & full-auto blank machine pistol with added parts and sold with both a 15-round and a 25-round magazine.

9mm P.A. ammunitions

Cal. 9mm P.A. Blank, or ''9mm P.A. Knall'' (in German), or ''9mm P.A. Blanc'' (in French), ammunition notable makers include Geco, GSG, Umarex (Titan Perfecta), Wadie and Walther from Germany (earlier from West Germany),

Fiocchi 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 Ju ...

from Italy,

Sellier & Bellot Sellier & Bellot is a firearms ammunition manufacturer situated in Vlašim, Czech Republic. It is a subsidiary of the Brazilian company CBC. Foundation Sellier & Bellot was founded on August 5, 1825 by a German businessman of French ...

from

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, Pobjeda Sport (Concorde, Victory) from

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

, Meca (Anatolia Fisek), Turac (in V.Sport and Kaiser brands), Özkursan or Y.A.S. (Yavascalar) from Turkey. Some of these makers, like Pobjeda Sport, use different brands depending on the market and their local distributors. Some makers like Y.A.S. use empty cases manufactured by other ammunitions makers in this particular case it's Umarex and some makers like Turac produce cases by themselves. Cartridges are available in brass or steel cases depending on the maker or the brand.

Conversion to live ammunition

Modified versions of the 9mm P.A. Knall, adapted to fire lethal 9mm parabellum projectiles, are occasionally encountered in criminal

forensics Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and crimina ...

. Modification of blank-firing ammunition, associated magazines or firearms is strictly prohibited by law in some countries . Attempting such a conversion is dangerous for the user since the materials and production methods involved in the making of blank-firing replicas are not the same as those of firearms designed for live ammunition.

Gallery

P99_and_Roehm_3S_with_ammunition.jpg, Walther P99 & Röhm RG 3, P99 is chambered in 9mm P.A. Pistol_Horhe_mirror.jpg, KSAP Horhe in 9mm P.A. with PP9RP rubber bullets.

References

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