| File:T 73.JPG Swiss made 7.65 mm Parabellum Thun 1973
Type
Pistol
Place of origin
Flag of German EmpireGerman Empire
colspan="3" style="background: lightsteelblue; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"
| Service history
In service
1898-1949
Used by
Germany, Switzerland, Finland
colspan="3" style="background: lightsteelblue; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"
| Production history
Designer
Georg Luger and Hugo Borchardt
Designed
1898
Manufacturer
Deutsche Waffen und Munitions Fabriken
colspan="3" style="background: lightsteelblue; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"
The 7.65x21mm Parabellum (also known as .30 Luger and 7.65 mm Luger) was a pistolcartridge introduced in 1898 by German arms manufacturer Deutsche Waffen und Munitions Fabriken (DWM) for their new Pistol Parabellum. The primary designers were firearms designers Georg Luger and Hugo Borchardt, who developed the round from the earlier 7.65x25mm Borchardt while working at DWM.
The 7.65 mm Luger should not be confused with the 7.65 mm Browning (.32 ACP) or the 7.65 mm French Longue.
Georg Luger developed the 7.65 mm cartridge from earlier 7.65 mm rounds. As mentioned, it was used in the DWM Pistole-Parabellum ('Luger pistol'). The 7.65 mm Parabellum cartridge uses a shorter cartridge case than the 7.65x25mm Borchardt, 7.63x25mm Mauser, and 7.62x25mm Tokarev cartridges, which are the about same length.
Performance[]
The rimless cartridge uses a 6 g (90 gr) full metal jacket bullet with a flat trajectory and moderate recoil, but relatively low stopping power. It is very accurate in the Swiss Parabellum pistol.
Considered as too weak by the German army, the 7.65mm Parabellum was replaced by the 9x19mm Parabellumcartridge, which was created by removing the bottleneck of the 7.65 mm Luger cartridge to accept a 9 mm bullet. Due to the almost identical case width, rim width, and overall length of the cartridges, any 7.65mm Parabellum firearm can be converted to 9mm Parabellum with only a change of barrel, and vice versa.
With the adoption of the Luger pistol in 1900, the 7.65 mm Luger became the standard pistol cartridge of the Swiss Army until the late 1940s. The later sidearm of the Swiss military, the SIG P210, was also manufactured in this caliber, but only for civilian use; Swiss military issues of the P210 were chambered in 9x19mm Parabellum.
The Luger pistol in 7.65 mm aka Finnish M/23 model was adopted by the Finnish in 1922. 8000 pistols were delivered, but few survived the war. Most remaining examples were rebarreled in 9mm, and a limited quantity remained in storage until 1980 for arming non-combatant personnel.
Several handguns have been manufactured in this caliber for commercial sale in countries that restrict civilian ownership of firearms in military calibers. Examples include Benelli B80, the Browning Hi-Power and the RugerP89.
A handful of submachine guns have been manufactured in this caliber, notably the SIG Bergmann 1920 (the licensed Swiss version of the Bergmann MP-18/1), the Swiss M/Neuhausen MKMS and the Suomi M-26.
Muzzle velocity[]
6 g (90 gr) full metal jacket: 365 m/s (1200 ft/s)
