What’s the Difference Between 9mm Luger and 9mm Parabellum?What is the difference? Lots of folks have wondered about that. And there are lots of other 9mm cartridges around, too, which can be confusing.Answer: The short answer is this: None. They are simply two different names for the same cartridge. And 9x19mm is another name for it – as is 9mm NATO. Whether you call it the 9x19mm, 9mm Luger, 9mm Parabellum, or 9mm NATO, it’s the same cartridge. Same size, that is. Some military ammo is loaded hotter, and/or with harder primers, for use in submachineguns. Such ammo should be avoided for use in your average 9mm pistol. Now, I don’t mean to oversimplify things here. There are a host of other 9mm cartridges, which are not the same. These include the 9mm Action Express, 9mm Bayard Long, 9mm Browning Long, 9mm Centerfire (which is actually a shotgun shell, if you can believe it), 9mm Makarov, 9mm Ultra, 9mm Winchester Magnum, just to name a few. It’s worth reiterating that the cartridges i