The original "Wondernine"

L

lonegunman

New member
What was the first wondernine??

Specifically, with the following characteristics:
--9mm
--High Capacity, say 13 or more rounds
--Decocker
--DA/SA
 
B

beemerb

Moderator
The HP does not meet all the criteria.Its a SA and no decocker but I think it is the original wonder nine.First nine with a hi cap mag.
 
A

Archie

New member
The Smith Model 59.

It's a logical evolution of the M39 Smith. As I recall, the M39 came out in 1955 or '56. The M59 was in the middle '60s, I think. (They never did impress me, nor do they now.)

Part of the evolution must mention the Walther P-38, the first widely accepted double-single action pistol with decocker, and the Browning HP, being the first widely accepted double stack magazine. Those guns came out in 1938 and 1935, respectively. However, neither fit the full defination of "wondernine".

The CZ 75 came in 1975, didn't it? Somewhere around there. The 92 Beretta was introduced in the '80s. The 92 Beretta, like the M59 Smith, was an "updated" version of an earlier Beretta, the model 1951 Brigadier. Currently seen in the "Helwan" incarnation. Fair pistol, rotten safety... but I digress.

The term "Wondernine" I first recall from the middle to late '70s. I think "Guns and Ammo" magazine was where I first saw it used, but it may have been coined elsewhere.

Being an old 45 shooter and considering my 357s as my "small" guns, I've always wondered about nines!
 
B

blades67

New member
The S&W 39 was the original DA/SA high capacity wondernine.

The Browning High Power was the original wondernine.
 
B

buzz_knox

New member
The *&* 59. Used by the SEALs as the basis for the Hush Puppy sentry/dog removal system in the late 60s - early 70s. The Beretta 92 came later.

As for the 39, it's a single stack so it doesn't meet the capacity requirements.

If you lose the DA/decocker requirement, the Mauser 1896 is the original wondernine with a 20 round mag.
 
W

Wild Romanian

Moderator
The orignal "Wondernine"

Just to set the record straight. The term wondernine did not originate in America. It was actually the Germans who coined the word.
The term, if memory serves me right came along in the 1980's when Sig and Berretta and a host of other European high capacity autoloaders were flooding the world's handgun markets.
The term wondernine did not refer to any one particular weapon but to the entire breed of high capacity autoloaders.
The High Power predated the term wondernine by many, many years but it was the first high capacity 9mm and it still considered by most experts to be the standard by which all other 9mm's are compared. Sometimes I seriously wonder why they even bothered to invent all of the other wondernines. They certainly were not an improvement of the breed and in more than one case a great leap backward in terms of workmanship, beauty, durability, reliability and most important accuracy. I have never shot a bad high power. I cannot say that about the many other high capacity wondernines I have owned and still own.
As the famous Jeff Cooper once said, "The double action autoloader was a solution to a problem that never existed".
I will add one more prophetic note "The double action autoloader seems to have created a lot more problems than it attempted to solve". W.R.
 
B

branrot

New member
I'm actually going to have to guess the HK VP70. I really don't know much about it, though. Beretta would be my second guess.
 
A

Ala Dan

Member in memoriam
Greeting's All;

When the ole' idea of "spray and pray" first came
to light; I believe it was in the form of Smith
& Wesson model 59, or the Beretta model 92?

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member
 
G

George Hill

Staff Alumnus
No... When did the US Gun Rags start using that phrase? The first time I read that word it was in regards to the S&W model 39...
 
B

BigG

New member
The re-AL meaning is "I shot im 21 times. I wonder when he is going to fall? I'm on my last magazine.:(
 
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