The 9×39mm is a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

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 design

The 9x39 is based on the Soviet

7.62×39mm The 7.62×39mm (aka 7.62 Soviet, formerly .30 Russian Short) round is a rimless bottlenecked intermediate cartridge of Soviet origin. The cartridge is widely used due to the worldwide proliferation of Russian SKS and AK-47 pattern rifles, as ...

round, but with the neck expanded to fit a 9.3 mm bullet. Final design was completed by N. Zabelin, L. Dvoryaninova and Y. Frolov of the

TsNIITochMash TsNIITochMash (russian: ЦНИИТОЧМАШ) is a Russian industrial design bureau which is a major designer and producer of weapons for the Russian military and MVD National Guard. The name is an initialism for Central Scientific - Research Ins ...

in the 1980s. The intent was to create a subsonic cartridge for suppressed firearms that had more power, range and penetration than 7.62 US subsonic round used in AKM-type rifles at the time. The commercial Wolf Ammunition bullet weighs 276 grain, or 18 grams, a little more than double that of the normal 123 gr 7.62×39 mm round, and has only subsonic muzzle velocity. This reduced velocity does not produce a

sonic boom A sonic boom is a sound associated with shock waves created when an object travels through the air faster than the speed of sound. Sonic booms generate enormous amounts of sound energy, sounding similar to an explosion or a thunderclap to t ...

, but also limits the

muzzle energy Muzzle energy is the kinetic energy of a bullet as it is expelled from the muzzle of a firearm. Without consideration of factors such as aerodynamics and gravity for the sake of comparison, muzzle energy is used as a rough indication of the de ...

and effective range of a weapon when compared to high velocity rounds normally used in (non-suppressed) rifles. The round has an optimistic effective lethal range of 400 to 530 meters and a maximum penetration of up to 10 mm of steel. Like the 5.45×39mm cartridge, 9×39mm SP-5 features an airpocket in the tip, which increases its tendency to yaw or "keyhole" upon impact, thus increasing soft tissue damage in human targets. The armor-piercing SP-6 cartridge is more effective against light armor, vehicles, or light barrier targets.

Variants

SP-5 (7N8) – The SP-5 (СП-5) (SP: ''Spetsialnyj Patron''; "special cartridge") was developed by Nikolai Zabelin. It is a conventional lead core FMJ bullet, developed for accuracy. SP-5UZ – The SP-5UZ (СП5-УЗ) is an SP-5 variant with an increased charge intended for a factory-specific strength testing of the weapons. SP-6 (7N9) – The SP-6 (СП-6) was developed by Yuri Frolov. It has a hardened metal

armor-piercing Armour-piercing ammunition (AP) is a type of projectile designed to penetrate either body armour or vehicle armour. From the 1860s to 1950s, a major application of armour-piercing projectiles was to defeat the thick armour carried on many wars ...

core. It can penetrate of steel at 500 meters or of steel, of titanium or 30 layers of Kevlar at 200 meters. At 100 meters it can penetrate of steel or GOST 3 rated body armor, while retaining enough power to inflict damage to a soft target behind it. SP-6UCh – The SP-6Uch (СП-6Уч) is an SP-6 variant intended for training. PAB-9 (7N12) – The SP-6's bullet is expensive to manufacture, so an attempt was made to make a lower-cost version of the cartridge. The PAB-9 (ПАБ-9) used a stamped rather than machined steel core. It sacrificed too much performance to be usable. As of 2011, its usage by Russian troops is prohibited. SPP – The SPP (СПП) (SPP: ''Snaiperskiy, Povishennaya Probivaemost''; "sniper – increased penetration") is a sniper round with increased penetration. BP – The BP (БП) (BP: ''Broneboinaya Pulya''; "armor-piercing bullet") is an armor-piercing round. Three modernizations of PAB-9 were created under the designation of BP to remedy its unusable performance.

Weapons

9A-91 The 9A-91 also known as KBP 9A91, is a compact assault rifle currently in use with Russian police forces. It is used as a cheaper and more versatile alternative to the SR-3 "Vikhr". The 9A-91 is a gas operated, rotating bolt weapon, which utili ...

AK-9 The AK-9 is a Russian 9×39mm compact rifle. Its development began when Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant (IZHMASH), now known as Kalashnikov Concern started working on a new silent, flame-less, compact AK rifle in the early 2000s. When creating ...

* AS "Val" * OTs-12 "Tiss" * OTs-14-4A "Groza" * SR-3, SR-3M "Vikhr" *

VSK-94 The VSK-94 (russian: Войсковой Снайперский Комплекс, translit=Voyskovoy Snayperskiy Kompleks, translation=Military Sniper Complex, GRAU designation 6В8) is a 9x39mm suppressed designated marksman rifle designed in 19 ...

VSS Vintorez The 6P29 and 6P30 ( GRAU Indices), commonly known as the VSS "Thread Cutter" (Russian: ВСС «Винторе́з» Винто́вка Сна́йперская Специа́льная, romanized: ''Vintóvka Snáyperskaya Spetsiálnaya "Vint ...

* AMB-17

References

Bibliography

External links