The 9×21mm pistol

Pistol

When distinguished as a subset of handguns, a pistol is a handgun with a chamber that is integral with the barrel, as opposed to a revolver, wherein the chamber is separate from the barrel as a revolving cylinder. Typically, pistols have an effective range of about 100 feet.-History:The pistol...

 cartridge (also known as the 9×21mm IMI or 9 mm IMI) was designed by Israel Military Industries

Israel Military Industries

Israel Weapons Industries , formerly the "Magen" division of the Israel Military Industries Ltd. is an Israeli firearms manufacturer. In 2005, the Small Arms Division of IMI was privatized....

 for those markets where military service cartridges, like the 9×19mm Parabellum, are banned by law for civilian use, such as Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 and Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

.

History

Based on the 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge, the casing was lengthened from 19 millimetre. The bullet sits slightly deeper, which results in almost the same overall length as the 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge.

Cartridge dimensions

The 9×21mm has 1.01 ml

Litre

pic|200px|right|thumb|One litre is equivalent to this cubeEach side is 10 cm1 litre water = 1 kilogram water The litre is a metric system unit of volume equal to 1 cubic decimetre , to 1,000 cubic centimetres , and to 1/1,000 cubic metre...

 (15.5 grains

Grain (measure)

A grain is a unit of measurement of mass that is nominally based upon the mass of a single seed of a cereal. From the Bronze Age into the Renaissance the average masses of wheat and barley grains were part of the legal definition of units of mass. However, there is no evidence of any country ever...

 H₂O) cartridge case capacity.
9×21mm maximum C.I.P. cartridge dimensions. All sizes in millimeters (mm).

The common rifling

Rifling

Rifling is the process of making helical grooves in the barrel of a gun or firearm, which imparts a spin to a projectile around its long axis...

 twist rate for this cartridge is 254 mm (1 in 10 in), 4 grooves, Ø lands = 8.79 mm, Ø grooves = 9.03 mm, land width = 3.80 mm and the primer type

Percussion cap

The percussion cap, introduced around 1830, was the crucial invention that enabled muzzleloading firearms to fire reliably in any weather.Before this development, firearms used flintlock ignition systems which produced flint-on-steel sparks to ignite a pan of priming powder and thereby fire the...

 is small pistol.

According to the official C.I.P. (Commission Internationale Permanente pour l'épreuve des armes à feu portatives) guidelines, the 9×21mm case can handle up to 235 MPa (34,083.9 psi) piezo pressure. In C.I.P. regulated countries every pistol cartridge combo has to be proofed at 130% of this maximum C.I.P. pressure to certify for sale to consumers.