coyotejoe - I believe the 7.65 Luger was upstaged by the 9mm because the German Military wanted a heavier bullet for greater penetration at distances to 50 yds, which for most european nations as well as the United States, was deemed the max effective distance for a handgun cartridge. The German Military was aware of the field trials in the United States for a more modern sidearm to replace the 1873 Colt and knew that Georg Luger had earlier submitted P-08 pistols in 7.65 for calvary use against hostile native Americans in the desert southwest and the results of those trials were of interest to them.
Two problems with the 7.63mm Lugers surfaced. The Calvary failed to follow instructions not to lubricate the Luger pistols as their tolerances were very tight and sand would jam the action (sound familiar) and the pistols failed to properly function. In addition, they found the 7.65 or 30 Luger not as effective in de-horsing a man as the 45 Colt cartridge. The requirement for a handgun for he Calvary was to be able to de-horse a man or falter the mount at 50 yds. But even when the Luger was submitted it 45 acp caliber the design of the pistol was found to be overly complicated and subject to failure during field trials.
They don't have deserts in Germany and since the Germans felt they could read their own instructions, they adopted the P-08 pistol but in 9mm, which is just a 30 Luger with the shoulder chopped off - hence, 9mm........ The 30 Mauser was a different story however.
The 30 Mauser was about the same (I believe) as the original Borchardt round and was widely adopted as a more powerful round than the 30 Luger and was found to have no apparent problems stopping hostiles. In fact, Sir Winston Churchill used a Broomhandle against the Zulus in one of his African engagements and wrote home to his mother about the fabulous Mauser pistol. He is quoted as stating that the enemy - hostile Zulu warriors- had massed some 30 meters to his front and were preparing to assault when he took aim and fired. He stated that he killed 9 and wounded 1, then quickly recharged the pistol and this time his aim was more effective (thats 10 out of 10 at 30 yds, which is pretty dang impressive). So this tells me there may still be a role for a 30 bore in defensive situations if overpenetration is not a concern and the desire to leave someone leakin' from two holes is........... jmtcw. Mikey.
