Love it or hate it, the vaunted 10mm has definitely been enjoying a resurgence of late, we also like to shoot and argue about guns.Here are some of the top 10mm handguns out there capable of taming this underrated beast of a cartridge.
Posted on 07/02/2018 5:29:47 AM PDT by w1n1
Love it or hate it, the vaunted 10mm has definitely been enjoying a resurgence of late, we also like to shoot and argue about guns.
Here are some of the top 10mm handguns out there capable of taming this underrated beast of a cartridge.
Colt Delta Elite
Colt stepped up in 1987 after the original Bren Ten went out of production and introduced this 10mm pistol.
The Colt Delta Elite was for the 1911 followers, re-designed to fire the 10mm cartridge.
It was the best of both worlds: a gun worthy for personal-defense but powerful enough to take hunting.
Glock 20
The Glock brand and quality is enough, most people will buy it whether its a 9mm or a 10mm without thinking.
The G20 is based on the new larger frame meant to accommodate chunkier cartridges such as the .45 ACP, the full-sized Glock 20 boasts a 15-round capacity.
Smith & Wesson 610
Since revolvers is what Smith & Wesson are into, they fitted the large stainless steel "N" frame to house six 10mm rounds. Since the 10mm is a rimless design, something needed to be done to allow extraction of the fired cases from the cylinder.
Smith & Wesson looked at a simple solution for the .45 ACP-chambered model 1917 and 625 revolvers in the past, the use of "moon clips". Read the rest and full description of these top 10mm handguns here.
Sorry, not a fan of 10mm.
The 10mm is a great cartridge.
It is the semi-auto power equivalent to the .357 magnum.
Neither am I. Dad had a 10mm 1911 Colt, I wasn’t impressed. Why’s every story got to be about Glocks, lol. Everyone should know what I think of Glocksters by now, lol.
I can no longer keep up with the Glock numbers except for the 17 and 19. If I got $500 for a birthdya present, I would get a full sized Glock in 10mm.
If my Daughter told me I could pick out any 10mm I wanted for my birthday, it would be a Sig P220.
At one time I owned 2 Colt Delta Elites and an Auto Ordinance 10mm. They were all 3 great guns. Seemed to kick about the same as a 1911 in .45 ACP except maybe a bit sharper.
I did note that they definitely put more care into the Auto Ordinance 10mm than they did their .45 models.
Most off-the-shelf 10mm is crap. Few ammo manufacturers load to SAAMI spec, which makes all the difference.
If you think you've tried 10mm, try again using a full SAAMI spec load such as offered by Underwood ammo, and then you'll know 10mm.
P220 is hands down the best of the 10mm handguns out there. SAO if you can find it. Actually the P220 platform is the apex predator of the 45ACP world too. JMB made a masterpiece in 1911, but Sig Sauer put the cartridge in platform to last another 100 years.
It’s the best round for my needs right now. Never really thought much about it when I lived in more civilized areas.
A Glock is the gun you don’t worry about scratching up and wearing off the finish.
It’s hard to beat the quality in a Sig.
My .380 is a jewel...
No Springfield? I have an XD40 that I have put thousands of rounds thro. One stovepipe when new and tight. Stock trigger wasn’t bad but I installed a Powder River which is excellent. I can hit almost as well as with my target pistol. I honestly don’t know how I could improve it.
Or pistol-whipping someone with, lol. Yea, there’s nothing like buffaloing with a pool noddle, lol.
I still have two boxes of Norma 10mm. I no longer have a 10mm pistol tho.
I think the Norma stuff is full power.
Would you recommend a stiffer recoil spring when shooting these?
Hello Disclaimer,
Do you have personal experience with Underwood? Which grain sized bullet would you recommend for paper shooting?
Thanks,
MFO
.40 S&W Long ;-)
This is the expensive option, but it's a good idea to shoot paper with the same round that you intend to carry - at least enough to really know the round.
I have found that recoil and cycling varies to some extent for the grain and load, velocity and mass, in the 10mm family offered by Underwood - not to mention ballistics characteristics.
The key to the Lehigh Defense slug is high velocity. Hollow-points appear to have a sweet spot velocity far slower, and is probably the reason for the under-loaded 10mm rounds IMHO. High grain slugs are the usual preference for thick skulled game hunting pistol use.
There are other good manufactures, but I found that Underwood is a fairly consistent load, at around a 5% variance.
The pistol should be able to handle/cycle 10mm SAAMI spec out of the box. Before making any modifications, look into your wrist angle and proper grip, meaning if your hand can properly handle the lager size frame required for the 10mm cartridge length. There are good videos on the subject.
Not everyone can properly support the firearm; maybe try a 357 and up revolvers instead. 10mm is the max length cartridge for semi-autos, but that limit isn't the case with revolvers.
I still have two boxes of Norma 10mm. I no longer have a 10mm pistol tho.
I think the Norma stuff is full power.
Interesting, Norma bullets/slugs have a good rep, and their reloading supplies, I haven't seen much about cartridges from them but I'll have to take a look.
Pistol whip? You watch too much TV
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