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10mm vs. 9mm — Revisiting the Handgun Cartridge Debate

The clickbait is strong in this one

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I cannot stand 10mm Autos! Does that explain my ownership of 2 Colt M1911s, one Delta Elite 10, one Ultra Elite 10,
EAA Witness (Tanfoglio) in 10mm Auto, and an M1 Carbine in 10 Magnum, and an AR-15 planned in my 10mm Professional designed cartridge. Long live the 10mm Auto. The video of an 8-10-year-old little girl shooting an M1911 in 10mm Auto
disputing recoil problems with FBI people who cannot shoot what a little girl totally controls!!!!! I have an M1 Carbine in .50AE, .45 Win Mag, and also 9 Win Mag. Am I addicted???? Where can I buy an AMT pistol in 10mm Magnum?
 
Not a lot of meat to this report. Could go far deeper into advantages / dis for each.

So I'll post some thoughts: I have recently gone to an older 10mm XDM with the 5.25 barrel. I live in Alaska brown bear country. They go thru my yard now and then. For years I have carried a 41 magnum loaded with 250 -265 gr hard cast bullets. Execept as a noise maker a couple times (the bears really didn't care), I have never needed to shoot a bear with it. I'm in my late 60's now and my grip and finger strength is fading. I found myself having a harder time pulling the double action trigger on my SW model 657 . After shooting a friend's XDM 4.5 barrel gun carrying 16 rounds, I watched for an opportunity to buy one. I even looked at several competing brands side by side. All were nice - then my current gun came up and I grabbed it.

What I like: 1) Longer barrel to eke out the last bit of power from this rather moderate cartridge ( when brown bears are the issue). 2) Grip safety AND safety trigger- being an old revolver guy I still struggle w the concept of these new auto-loaders with few safety measures and being on full or half cock when chambered. 3) 16 rounds vs 6 in a revolver - big plus on more ammo. Bear charges are chaotic and more ammo is a comfort. 4) reasonably good power when fed 200 gr solids. 5) compact package to carry - I use a Quick Lock chest holster - chest holsters are the best in our heavy brush and with heavy guns. They don't throw out your back, snag far less on brush and I can carry day after day with little bother. Loaded, my XDM still seems lighter than my 41 revovlers - but with a lot more ammo. 6) much lighter trigger pull when the XDM is in action - my arthritic fingers really complain on the double action revolver pull.

What I'm not so enthused about: 1) modest power of the 10 for my uses. Most 220 gr loads I can find start slow and give up too much velocity. I am comparing to the big revolver cartridges preferred by many Alaskans - 44 mag (#1 choice in popularity) , 454, 475, 480, 12 ga or rifles. For the 10 I have settled on 200 gr solids like Underwood and Buffalo Bore as best mix of velocity and energy. 2) I prefer semi autos with a de-cock - wish I had the option on this gun - I would feel much better carrying a chambered round.

Ammo - one must look carefully at the intended use of a 10mm. It seems way too expensive, over powered and bulky gun for general CCW use - I prefer my 40's or a 9. But when it comes to ammo for the 10 - a LOT of it is rather feeble and no more potent than my 40's yet at a much greater price in a bigger gun. So for bear ammo I really study the factory loads for max "horsepower". To save money for practice I load my own and since I load for 40 SW too, compenents are simple as long as I have the brass. For full steam loads I am sticking w Factory.

I hope this helps a bit. Please note in dealing w brown bears nearly all handgun cartridges are only a stop gap. When I'm seriously worried about them I carry a 12 ga pump w Brenneke magnum slugs. Photo is a little old but that is in my driveway. I had a bear in my garden a couple days ago but the photos don't show size.
 

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I cannot stand 10mm Autos! Does that explain my ownership of 2 Colt M1911s, one Delta Elite 10, one Ultra Elite 10,
EAA Witness (Tanfoglio) in 10mm Auto, and an M1 Carbine in 10 Magnum, and an AR-15 planned in my 10mm Professional designed cartridge. Long live the 10mm Auto. The video of an 8-10-year-old little girl shooting an M1911 in 10mm Auto
disputing recoil problems with FBI people who cannot shoot what a little girl totally controls!!!!! I have an M1 Carbine in .50AE, .45 Win Mag, and also 9 Win Mag. Am I addicted???? Where can I buy an AMT pistol in 10mm Magnum?
You are ignorantly parroting a myth about the 10mm having too much recoil fir the FBI.
 
In the world of high school geometry (you knew that was going to come back to bite you one day- and it just did..) there is a big difference between “diameter” and “area” where the diameter is a 1 mm difference the area of the circle is 1.12 inches for a 9mm and 1.26 inches for a 10mm or a 12% increase for the 10mm.

A much better comparison would be between a 9mm and a .40 S&W as the .40 S&W is essentially a shortened 10mm. Where both the 9mm and .40 S&W were designed from the outset to be combat rounds, the original Norma 10mm was intended to be a hunting round.

Case capacity and other arguments aside there is a saying in the automotive world- “there is no replacement for displacement” which is why you don’t see a 4-banger hopped up Honda Civic going up against a Nitro Funny Car.
 
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