10mm or 45 Super

[ram1000]

I have never needed to concern myself with the number of different offerings for a given gun.  If it has the one specific offering available that I want/need then that's good enough.  It seems that both the 10mm and 45 Super are more and more on the offering plate anyway so I can find plenty of variations to practice with and plenty of variations to use suitable for camping/bears or whatever is out there.  I carry a compact 1911 for simple CCW anyway.

[ram1000]

All else equal, yes.  Bigger holes are better.

But...

A 250 grain 45 super has the same sectional  density as a 200 grain 10mm.  But it lags behind a few hundred feet per second.  And a 10mm heavy enough to drop to 1050 fps has a much higher sectional density.

So all else is not equal.  Nothing wrong with 45 super but it is not a10 mm topper.  460 Rowland would be the round to trounce the 10 in a 45 caliber.

I was just rereading your post and I don't think that your correct regarding velocity being less using a 45 super.  Underwood says the 180 gr. 10mm fmj is doing 1300 fps and the 200 @ 1250, while the 185 gr. 45 super comes in at 1300 and the 200 gr Xtreme Penetrator is 1100.  That makes them almost even in velocity, so is the 45Super then slightly more effective??? (not that the difference is enough to matter).

[sqlbullet]

You need to compare velocity for sectional density, not bullet weight.  That is why I was comparing a 250 grain 45 super to a 200 grain 10mm auto.  Those have about the same sectional density, or penetration potential.

A 180 grain 10mm at 1300 fps is going to penetrate alot deeper than a 185 grain 45 at the same velocity.  Think of hitting an 8d nail and a 16d nail with the same hammer.  Takes a lot more hits (force) to get the 16d into a board.

[ram1000]

I get it!

[Mike_Fontenot]

[...]
A 180 grain 10mm at 1300 fps is going to penetrate a lot deeper than a 185 grain 45 at the same velocity. 

BUT, the .45 Super (assuming equal expansion percentages) is going to make a bigger hole ... bigger hole with less penetration.  There's a trade-off there ... exactly how to always make that trade-off isn't a trivial issue.