the 380 ACP is NOT a shortened 9mm parabellum.
the name "9mm Short" is used occaisionally in europe as a marketing ploy, since most european nations have laws barring private ownership of guns chambered for "Military rounds".
if you see a 380 acp headstamped as 9 short, then it's shitty european ammo. it will be substandard shit useful only for plinking.
This is why I don't like to post in politics.
.380 ACP is synonymous with 9 short whether you like it or not. A rose by any other name is still a rose.
And for the record, the 9x19 was designed by Georg Luger and introduced by DWM in 1902 for use in the Luger semi auto pistol, and I would assume that since Browning was the badass he was.. he likely knew about it when Colt introduced the 9x17 .380 ACP in 1908. Looks to me as if it is a shortened 9 after all. That would explain why it's so commonly known as a 9 Short. Go figure! You keep saying it's not.. but I see this as how can it not be?
As far as the stamp on the cartridge itself goes, it's really foolish to say that the naming convention on the case has anything at all to do with the quality of the round more so than the company that produced it. By this logic, is my Beretta 'substandard shit' because it has 9 Short stamped into it? I hardly think so. If you were to buy 10mm ammo, it's all stamped 10mm, yet most companies use the "FBI Lite" loading because of guns like the Glock that don't have full chamber support. Unless you knew which companies made the full power round, it'd be a shot in the dark. Again, it doesn't matter what's stamped on it. What matters is who made it.
In any case, I think it's pretty clear, so.. I'm gonna call it quits on this. The .380 ACP AKA 9 Short is a shortened 9x19. You are just gonna have to live with it.
Edit on history for clarification.