- A few years ago I made this test at the firing range. As a target at the distance of 25 meters [about 75 ft] I used two American military steel helmets [with no liner inside] from early 1950s. I fired at one helmet one full magazine of 9mm Luger cartridges [9X19 Parabellum] using a 1943 made Walther P-38 German pistol. I fired at the other helmet one full magazine of 7.62mm Tokarev cartridges [7.62X25] using a 1947 Soviet made Tokarev [TT-33] pistol. None of the 9X19 bullets perforated the Americam steel helmet which was dented badly after the 9mm bullets hit it. All the 7.62X25 bullets perforated [both ways] the second American steel helmet. The muzzle velocity of the 9mm bullet fired from the German P-38 pistol is about 350 m/sec [1,150 ft/sec]. The muzzle velocity of the 7.62mm bullet fired from the Russian TT-33 pistol is about 415 m/sec [1,362 ft/sec]. — During the same very day I did another test firing the same weapons at the range of 100 meters [110 yds] at a 6-ft tall white silhouette target having a black circle [diameter of 10 cm / about 4 inch] glued at the chest level [I make my own targets]. I did aim very carefully right at the black circle. All the 9mm bullets fired by the German P-38 pistol hit the target low, at the knee level. All the 7.62mm bullets fired by the Soviet TT-33 pistol hit the silhouette target at the chest level around the black circle [2 bullets actually hit the black circle glued on the 6-ft silhouette target]. Firing a pistol at 100 meters [110 yds] is NOT easy. — Note: A] For both tests I fired from a bench rest position. B] I fired ordinary ball ammo [9X19 & 7.62X25]. Please feel free to make any comments. Orita 12/05/05 P.S. I could not make a similar test using SMGs because I don’t own any. I wish I would have the Romanian made WW2 “9mm Orita Mod.1941” SMG and the Soviet “7.62mm PPSh-41” SMG.
- For those of you who may not be familiar with some terms like “9X19” [or “7.62X25”], I should mention that sometimes instead to say “9mm Luger / Parabellum” cartridge it is also correct to say “9X19” where “9” is the caliber measured in millimeters [mm] and “19” is the length of the rimless cartridge case [also measured in millimeters / mm]. If you’re interested in cartridges, please enter here at http://www.cartridgecollectors.org/ and see the IAA web-site and forum which are very interesting. I am a member of the IAA. Orita 12/05/05
Sounds like a fun day! 