Thoughts On 10mm

[4949shooter]

I posted my personal 10mm thoughts on another forum and I thought I would repost them here. You guys might agree or disagree, but it's always up for discussion! See below:

Getting back to the original topic, I do believe the 10mm is on the rise again as a self defense round. In that sense I mean as in both two legged and four legged predator self defense. I carry mine as a backup while I am hunting predators at night. Right now I am using Hornady Critical Defense for this purpose. Hornady states they recommend this bullet for use in full sized guns, and the bullet is a tough bullet designed for penetrating barriers. I am thinking this might come in handy if I have to penetrate a bear's skull. I have called in my fair share of black bear while hunting coyote at night, and the bear are coming in to the call because they are hungry. The Hornady load is not a full power load (I wish it were) but I don't have any qualms carrying it.

But I think the real strength in the 10mm is its versatility. You can load it light (.40 S&W level) with Federal fmj and Hydrashok (~1000 fps). You can load it medium with Hornady 155 (~1280 fps) and 180 (~1160) fps), or Winchester Silvertip (~1170 fps). Or you can go full power with Buffalo Bore 180 (~1300 to 1350), or Underwood 180 (~1300). Underwood also offers a Colt Delta Elite load which is a 180 grain Gold Dot at 1240. My favorite Underwood load is a 165 grain bullet at ~1400 which is a hoot to shoot out of my Glock 20 with a 22 pound RSA.

Just a side note, I am not advocating using ammo from the small ammo companies for duty carry or self defense on humans. For this type of work I would stick with the larger companies, or Corbon. It's a shame the major ammo manufacturers don't manufacture a full power 10mm load. I wish Corbon would offer a 165 or 170 grain bullet @1300 fps (hint to TeamCorbon). I think a lot of 10mm shooters would go for a bullet in this range.

The 10mm is also a very shootable round, if you get past the muzzle blast and all the anti-10mm hype. While I was testing my Glock 20, I fired hundreds upon hundreds of rounds one handed, using both weak and strong hands without an issue. I was using full power 200 grain ammo for this. Both of my teenage sons have no problem shooting full power ammo through the G20. All that having been said, I understand the 10mm isn't for everybody.

The 10mm....either you love it or you hate it. But either way I don't think it is leaving the shooting industry any time soon.

[Intercooler]

   I agree on what you can do with the 10mm up and down. Having a better 10mm HP style bullet would help no doubt. As for the loading if you call some of the suppliers (not Federal, etc...) and ask for a specific load for your ammo they can or will do it.

[4949shooter]

Agree. 

BTW, the original thread is on Stoppingpower.net on the Pistol Palace forum, just in case anyone is interested.

[gandog56]

My thoughts.

I love the 10mm so much it is the ONLY duplicate caliber I own in all my pistols. All others, I only own one of in every caliber.

Unless you count my Dan Wesson Pistol Pack .357 mag revolver as 6 duplicates, since I have 6 different barrels I can screw on it.

Still only has one receiver, though.

[4949shooter]

My thoughts.

I love the 10mm so much it is the ONLY duplicate caliber I own in all my pistols. All others, I only own one of in every caliber.

Unless you count my Dan Wesson Pistol Pack .357 mag revolver as 6 duplicates, since I have 6 different barrels I can screw on it.

Still only has one receiver, though.

Yeah...one gun.

I have dupes in .40, because .40 S&W used to be my favorite. Not any more..

[Geeman]

The reason I like the 10mm is this:

Watch someone shoot a mag of 9mm slow fire into a target.  They have a look of concentration on their face.

Watch someone shoot a mag of 10mm slow fire into a target.  The corners of their mouth start to turn up about the third or forth round, and by the time the mag is spent, there is a healthy grin residing on their faces.

Watch someone dump a load of 9mm rapid fire, and you will see the same kind of curling up on the corners of the mouth as you see with the 10mm slow fire.

Watch someone dump a load of 10mm rapid fire, and you will see the same look of concentration you see with the 9mm slow fire, as they are concentrating on keeping the beast under control.  Upon the last round being fired, locking the action open, you see things like laughter, huge grins, and hear things like "Oh Baby", "MaMa", "YESSSS", "Holy S***" or "WoooHooo".

I like it cause it just plain fun!!!

[4949shooter]

The reason I like the 10mm is this:

Watch someone shoot a mag of 9mm slow fire into a target.  They have a look of concentration on their face.

Watch someone shoot a mag of 10mm slow fire into a target.  The corners of their mouth start to turn up about the third or forth round, and by the time the mag is spent, there is a healthy grin residing on their faces.

Watch someone dump a load of 9mm rapid fire, and you will see the same kind of curling up on the corners of the mouth as you see with the 10mm slow fire.

Watch someone dump a load of 10mm rapid fire, and you will see the same look of concentration you see with the 9mm slow fire, as they are concentrating on keeping the beast under control.  Upon the last round being fired, locking the action open, you see things like laughter, huge grins, and hear things like "Oh Baby", "MaMa", "YESSSS", "Holy S***" or "WoooHooo".

I like it cause it just plain fun!!!

Which just might be the best part of all! 

[The_Shadow]

I will say that 10mm has had a long and somewhat rocky road but it still lives on for several reasons...

The FBI's search for a better round when it was called upon, with their exhaustive study they found the 10mm and it was what they wanted.  However even though the testing was somewhat sided then neutered, the 10mm did what they sought.  We all know that led to the short and weak 180gr JHP @ 980 fps.

I remember reading all the stuff about the 10mm early on and as a handloader I was very interested in the power and performance it brought from a semiauto pistol which I hadn't had in my arsenal at the time but was looking to get into the semiauto platform.  The guns were limited to Colt, Bren Ten, The Plastic Gun was coming of age and the robust stainless steel Smith & Wesson model 1006 5", 9 + 1 (more than Colt), was about to hit the streets.  I put mine on "Lay-Away" and took delivery of it March 1st 1990.  I had already purchased the Carbide dies from RCBS while the gun was in lay-away.

Back then the bullets were Hornady 170gr XTP and 200gr XTP, with the Truncated Cone profiles.  I also picked up the RCBS 175gr TCBB mold to cast bullets for even more target play.  I was using 10.4 grains of then Hercules Blue Dot that I had come to love in my other cartridges under the 175gr. cast bullets.  From the 1006 they were like laser beams out to 130 yards on clay pigeons sitting on the berm.

As the proliferation of the 40 slow & watered down began its rise, we saw many newer styled jacketed projectiles in various styles and weights from 125, 130, 140, 150, 155, 165, 170, 175, 180, 190, 200 & even 210 & 230 which didn't stay around long.

I liked the 10mm for the versatility of the cartridge from mild to wild and everywhere in between!  I carried the S&W while hunting but never took a deer with it yet.  I did put a finishing shot on a wounded deer (not by me) using one of my 200gr  Black Talon's, it was a nasty wound track and the recovered bullet opened as advertised.

I continued to read & learn about the 10mm guns and cartridge only to find out I wanted more of the guns and I started collecting as I could afford a few.  My handloading knowledge has continued throughout the 10mm love affair and as you can see in the 10mm pull-down's, my thanks to those who sent commercial cartridges (mostly Intercooler), we can all learn from what is documented as being used to push our favorites.

While some major commercial companies have maintained a supply of 10mm in their line ups, it was people Mike McNett  of Double Tap Ammo who kept the cartridge at full power loadings that brought even more enthusiast on board and envisioned even more boutique companies to take up part of the challenge of producing the extreme performance 10mm ammo using quality, top end performance bullets we see today, from companies like Underwood, Corbon, Buffalo Bore in the wake of the late Mike Willard of SwampFox Ammo.

I will say, 10mm is here to stay and it will be in my arsenal for all the rest of my days! 

[4949shooter]

Yep...I really do think that Mcnett and the Colt Delta Elite kept the 10mm alive, and Glock helped keep it afloat with the G20.

[pacapcop]

The beauty of  15 rounds of magnum power semi auto.

[Steve4102]

  The 10mm really shines when you are able to handload and Taylor you ammo for your specific needs. 

[gandog56]

  The 10mm really shines when you are able to handload and Taylor you ammo for your specific needs.

My favorite 10mm reload at 21 feet.

185 grain Precision Bullets RFN and Blue Dot.