Opinion
Ft Collins, CO –-(Ammoland.com)- 10mm Auto.
Last weekend, during a DTI Defensive Pistol Course on the East Coast, a student brought a 1911 pistol in 10mm Auto caliber.
10mm Auto had a brief following when it was first introduced in 1983. But, it never gained significant popularity, and there has been scant demand for the ammunition for at least the past thirty years.
Recently, it has garnered some popularity among handgun hunters. But, as a serious carry pistol, the 10mm has few adherents.
One of them was my student last weekend, but his enthusiasm for the caliber quickly withered as his $1,500.00 pistol failed to cycle time and again! Most common problem was failure to feed.
We cleaned and lubed it, but feeding issued continued.
In our, and his, frustration, we eventually put this student into a GLOCK G19, which of course, ran fine for the duration.
We’ve seen a few other pistols in this caliber at our Courses, but not many, and I’ve never seen one that ran reliably. The 10mm Auto is a long, straight-walled cartridge. It is essentially “designed to fail!”
Pistols chamberd for it usually have tight chambers (for accuracy, you know), which exacerbates the reliability issue.
As a hunting handgun, the 10mm Auto may have a place, so long as you’re not hunting anything dangerous! As a pistol carried for serious purposes, it has few followers, as noted above.
One fewer after last weekend!
/John
Read Related AmmoLand’s in-depth review P220 review here: SIG P220 Legion 10mm Optics-Ready Handgun Review & Range Report.
About John Farnam & Defense Training International, Inc
As a defensive weapons and tactics instructor John Farnam will urge you, based on your own beliefs, to make up your mind in advance as to what you would do when faced with an imminent lethal threat. You should, of course, also decide what preparations you should make in advance if any. Defense Training International wants to make sure that their students fully understand the physical, legal, psychological, and societal consequences of their actions or in-actions.
It is our duty to make you aware of certain unpleasant physical realities intrinsic to the Planet Earth. Mr. Farnam is happy to be your counselor and advisor. Visit: www.defense-training.com
Mastering the 10mm is like mastering the .357 magnum in the K and J frame S&W revolver. It takes some work. The extra power is worth the world if you feel you need it
Another know it all, that doesn’t know it all. The 10mm is great cartridge and it can be loaded mild to to hot for defense or hunting. In the Glock 20 & 29 platform with simple swaping of barrels you csn have a 40,357 Sig, and a 10mm in one handgun. A friend of mine was very fond of his Colt Delta Elite and wouldn’t sell or trade it for anything. So , I can only conclude that author in this case has misdiagnosed the perceived problem. As one commenter stated in their response, limp wristing could be the culprit.
A lot of 1911 malfunctions can be laid at the feet of limp-wristed shooters…..just sayin.
John, It seems you are stating your case on the operation of only a few pistols. I’ve been smithing for over 40 years and have build a bunch of 1911’s in 10muther-muther. I have never had an issue in making them run as reliable as any other 1911 in any other caliber. I agree it is not the best defensive caliber in full house loads but that is a subjective matter and reliability certainly isn’t the reason for my comments. I also worked for S&W for a number of years and have 2 1006’s that have hundreds of rounds down… Read more »
Doesn’t like them cause the recoil hurts his limp wrist…..
You can’t limp wrist a 10mm and expect it to function. Compact 45 autos will do the same thing.
I consider the uneven performance of the cartridge in some weapons as more of an industry inexperience issue than anything inherent with the cartridge itself. More practice in designing weapons for the cartridge would solve the issue, in my opinion. It can’t be treated as ‘just another round,’ it’s beefy enough that you can’t use the standard approach. I’ve seen similar issues in ‘up-gunning’ pistols designed for .380 to 9mm. ‘Should work’ often doesn’t.
I have 5 10mm guns. 4 are 1911 models, 1 is a Glock. All feed perfectly. Someone has a bias!
I have a Dan Wesson Bruin in 10mm and a Grand Power P40 in 10mm. I have has no issues with either gun. Obviously the DW is a high quality 1911 ans has a fully supported feed ramp.
I do think the 10mm is a fantastic round with can be loaded ro 40 S&W levels or loaded to stop 4 legged animals. To each their own. I love shooting my guns that are in 45 ACP but 10mm is a blast too!
My Delta Elite runs just fine, between myself and family we’ve put at least a couple thousand rounds through it. I would have left the class rather than use the Glock