The 9×23mm Steyr, also known as 9mm Steyr, is a centerfire pistol cartridge originally developed for the Steyr M1912 pistol.

History

Adopted in 1912, the 9mm Steyr was the service ammunition for most branches of the military in

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and remained the service ammunition for

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

between the World Wars.*Wilson, R. K. ''Textbook of Automatic Pistols'', p.235. Plantersville, S.C.: Small Arms Technical Publishing Company, 1943. Some MP 34 submachine guns were also issued in this caliber in addition to

9×25mm Mauser The 9×25mm Mauser (or 9mm Mauser Export) is a cartridge developed for the Mauser C96 service pistol around 1904 by DWM. Mauser pistols in this relatively powerful caliber were primarily intended for export to Africa, Asia, and South America. ...

. When the Austrian Army was incorporated in the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

in 1938 following the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

, many Steyr M1912 pistols and MP 34 submachine guns were rebarrelled to

9×19mm Parabellum The 9×19mm Parabellum (also known as 9mm Luger, 9mm NATO or simply 9mm) is a Rim (firearms)#Rimless, rimless, Centerfire ammunition, centerfire, tapered cartridge (firearms), firearms cartridge. Originally designed by Austrian firearm designer ...

for standardization purposes.

Design

The cartridge headspaces on the mouth of the case. Its performance is close to that of the .38 ACP. Unrelated to the modern 9×23mm Winchester, it is similar to the 9×23mm Largo cartridge in performance, but their dimensions are just different enough to make them non-interchangeable.

Handloading

For handloading, reloadable Boxer-primed cartridge cases can be made from 5.56×45mm NATO brass. This requires inside neck-reaming, as such a conversion would otherwise leave unacceptably thick mid-to-rear case walls from the original cartridges to form the mouths of the new, shortened cases. At least one commercial source apparently can produce such a forming die set, complete with reamer. Loading data would be much like .38 ACP.

Gallery

Image:Steyr Hahn M1912.JPG, Steyr M1912 pistol with holster and 9×23mm Steyr ammunition on stripper clips Image:Steyr-Hahn M1912.JPG, Steyr M1912 pistol with box and stripper clip of 9×23mm Steyr ammunition Image:9x23mm_Largo_comparison.jpg, Left to right: 9×23mm Largo,

, 9×23mm Winchester, and 9×23mm Steyr

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:9by23mm Steyr Pistol and rifle cartridges Military cartridges Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1911