Hello everybody, I believe that when originally formed, the German anti terrorism team(s), GSG9, used S&W 19s until later replacing them with semi-autos. Does anyone know what the teams' normal carry load for their 19s was? A 38 Spl plus p, a 357 mag? What bullet? My questions are just those of an old, retired academic who still wonders about a lot of things.

Cheers,
John

This article has some info on ammunition, mostly in the last half while discussing weaponry. Very little, though, specific to revolvers.
GSG 9: Germany’s Counterterrorist Elite

Early loads for 9mm, .38 Spl, and .357 Mag were reportedly the early generations of the Geco BAT (Blitz Action Trauma) frangible loads, specifically developed in the 1970s for such purposes and illegal in Germany for anyone else at the time.

The GSG 9’s first guns were the Model 36 and HK P9S. Later (after 1977) came the 2.5 inch Model 19.

PS: The article linked above is pretty good, except for the Model 66 mistake. Also, Wegener himself frequently changed and embellished his own roles in various operations in interviews as he got older, all of which the article takes at face value. His men had the good taste to generally refrain from contradicting him.

GSG9 uses SIG P226. As does SEAL DEVGRU

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V/r,
Markham

Hello GerSan69, Absalom, and Claymore33, Thank you each of you. The information is just what I was hoping for.

Stay safe.

Cheers,

John

The name for that round outside the US was the Geco Action Safety round, or so I was told. Nomenclature solves a lot of potential problems. Apparently the importer didn't feel that was sufficiently macho for the US market.