357 Magnum vs. 10MM

I am more of a revolver guy and the .357 is going to win it for me, but at the same time I think your summary of the auto10mm vs the 357 revolver is spot on. I would like a Delta Elite but by the time I have that kind of money together another one of those pesky revolvers rears it’s ugly head...

I am more of a revolver guy also but 10mm Auto wins over 357 Mag for me. I don't have much love for 357 Magnum but find 10mm Auto a nice revolver cartridge. That said ballistically speaking there is not enough different between the two for the target to tell the difference. I like 10mm for similar power levels to 357 Mag in a shorter fatter cartridge that works better with moonclips and is a little gentler on my ear when fired without protection.


My S&W 610 6.5-inch. The only thing better than a S&W 610 would be a S&W L-frame in 10mm Auto, but I am not holding my breath for that.

I have three 10 mm semiautomatics, and love shooting them and reloading. That said, I recently bought a S & W 686 and I am a much better shot with it. The single action trigger is sweet! I just bought a set of .357 dies and will soon start cranking them out.

How about working up the .357 with Blue Dot? Alliant has load data published for it.
Also, 1351 is quite a bit below Hodgdon's stated fps for a minimum load of W296 and 240fps below their max charge, but that was out of a 10" barrel.

Of course, 15 rounds of 10mm does trump 6-8 rounds of .357, that and recoil and muzzle flash, as you stated.

I enjoy both the 10mm and 357. My experience with both cartridges in revolvers with the same barrel length (4.2”) is that the 10mm has a slight edge. In my view, their both excellent...

I have both .357 686 no dash and 10mm semi-auto long slide and enjoy the heck out of both. Both of them have the 6" barrels. But at the end of the day I carry a 686 with a 3" barrel. I enjoy it more now especially since brass is scarce . My 10 mm ejects the brass to the next county, making it hard to pick up and reload. With so many new shooters at the ranges I'm afraid the hot brass will poke someones eye out. Don't have to worry about that with my .357.

ms6852 said:

I have both .357 686 no dash and 10mm semi-auto long slide and enjoy the heck out of both. Both of them have the 6" barrels. But at the end of the day I carry a 686 with a 3" barrel. I enjoy it more now especially since brass is scarce . My 10 mm ejects the brass to the next county, making it hard to pick up and reload. With so many new shooters at the ranges I'm afraid the hot brass will poke someones eye out. Don't have to worry about that with my .357.

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I find myself gravitating back to revolvers, as well.

ms6852 said:

I enjoy it more now especially since brass is scarce .

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Just in case you are looking for 10mm.
https://www.ammunitiontogo.com/prod...00pcs-10mm-armscor-new-unprimed-brass-casings

DanK3Pos said:

Just in case you are looking for 10mm.
https://www.ammunitiontogo.com/prod...00pcs-10mm-armscor-new-unprimed-brass-casings

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Thanks for the link. I'm good to go for right now. As a matter of fact I am one of those guys that buys bullets first and than the gun. I purchased a couple of cases of 10mm rounds a while back before the madness and than my gun. Have components too except the dies.

Palladan44 said:

The 357s when near max always have felt "stout" to me, you know youre shooting a magnum with the big BOOOM and muzzle flash, etc. and turning heads at the range.

The 10mm...possibly like shooting a hot .40 smith and wesson. Maybe like a .45+p. Nothing to write home about as far as recoil or noise.

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Going by feel alone is not a good way to compare handgun power. I can load you two cartridges in the same caliber using the same weight bullet where one "feels" hotter, but is actually the slower of the two. Same thing comparing a semi-auto to a revolver. The way an autoloader spreads out the recoil impulse gives it a very different feel as compared to a revolver. I've got some .44 loads that I can shoot in an auto all day, which quickly become not much fun in a revolver or single-shot.

Ain't that the truth! And the M610 N-frame can handle extra spicy loads at that. Some have even converted the M610 to 10mm Magnum!

Palladan44 said:

Handloading for 10mm as a revolver only must be a joy! Fully supported chamber, dont have to chase brass, and im sure loads can be worked up nicely to have the following: A Magnum attitude, Consistency, and accuracy.

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As have I.

DanK3Pos said:

I find myself gravitating back to revolvers, as well.

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I like them both but when I ponder downsizing later in life I think I'll let the 10mm go first. I have semi's and get tired of chasing the brass, can only see that getting worse with time. However, if I have to go semi due to not being able to handle the recoil of a revolver that may change.

Both are solid rounds and high on my list.

Can't find a 10mm in a lever action, I can run the same ammo for both, so for me the 357 is my cup of tea.

When choosing between the 10mm and .357 mag, my vote goes to the .44 Special.

The facts as I see it... Everything in caliber selection is a trade off... capacity, versus velocity, recoil, and contact / entry wound area. Whether a bullet expands and performs as hoped has too many variables to predict with certainty.

Lacking availability of cadavers or live / dead animals to shoot many times... to anyone who has shot steel poppers on a windy day, and bowling pins on a table, it quickly becomes apparent that the larger / heavier .40, .45, .357, .10mm all have sufficient "knockdown power" where caliber (diameter) makes any difference is contact surface area. The larger calibers and / or velocity are more forgiving of a less than wonderfully placed shot. Take pins that have a pound or so of added weight to the 3lb. 6oz. standard pin from absorbing many bullets and they get harder still to take off the table.

I've seen other calibers (like .38 super / special and 9mm) have center of mass hits on a bowling pin absorb and envelop the bullet and not even fall over. Yes, I've also seen shooters clean the table with five shots with the same calibers but, in all cases I knew of these were not anything like factory loads.

Targets like water bottles, paint cans, watermelons are all such stupid examples of a target and a cartridge ability to illustrate any meaningful information, why these "tests" aren't ridiculed amazes me.

Anyway, as it is I don't criticize anyone for what they use, see my signature file

The 357 and 10mm are pretty similar on paper but in reality they are different. .357 is faster and lighter, generally has a more rugged bullet because it’s a 357 and people run them pretty hot for hunting purposes. The 10mm is heavy and slow by comparison which has its notable pros and cons, especially at extended range where elevation hold can be tricky. The biggest drawback for 10mm is bullet selection because 10 never really took off like most mainstream pistol rounds so there hasn’t been much development specifically for it. .40 has been waning in popularity for quite a while now and similarly the bullet makers haven’t done a whole lot with 40sw bullets either when compared to the .357.

What that all boils down to is this:

A whitetail buck shot at 18 yards with a .357 took 2 shots in the chest as he walked by. The JHP bullets expanded to about .8 inches and stuck under the skin on far side.

A whitetail buck shot at 11 yards with a 10mm took 3 shots to the chest as it walked by. The best bullet I could find at that time was a wide meplat truncated cone that did mushroom a bit to about .6 inches and lodged under the skin on the far side.

Comparing the damage done, the .357 made a bigger hole and ripped loose more hide on the far side than the 10mm. The 10mm still got the job done but with non-expanding bullets and the lack of damage on the far side of the deer and almost no hide pulled loose I suspect that an expanding bullet would not have penetrated as deep and the damage would not have been focused in the vitals.

As a hunting round I still like the 10mm but it is nipping at the heels of a .357. No auto loader that is not obnoxiously large (Desert Eagle) can maintain a steady diet of stout .357 magnum loads where there are many pistols which can take the 10mm all day long. It’s a pressure issue and .357 has a lot more of it than the 10mm. The thing 10mm has that .357 doesn’t is in capacity and reload speed. The guns (unless talking Coonan .357 or 10mm revolver) are different enough that they seem to fit totally different roles. .357 doesn’t have the capacity to be comfortable as a bear gun. You have 6, 7, or 8 shots depending upon the model and then it’s a slow reload, BUT the .357 as a primary hunting gun is more than adequate for thick woods whitetail, hog, etc. 10mm on the other hand is a bit softer shooting and has the capacity and reload speed necessary for defensive use against a large predator. Sink a dozen rounds into a bear and he generally isn’t inclined to keep up an attack. Reload and sink another dozen into him and you can feel pretty sure that your walking away on the winning side of the fight, but then you have a gun that is not quite as powerful and is not as well suited for a primary hunting arm. Yes, I do realize that most folks don’t take a sidearm as a primary, but it is getting more popular each year and I expect the red dot sight craze for semiautos will keep that trend going as it gets easier to accurately fire a sidearm out to a distance that folks feel comfortable hunting at. A bow hunting stand becomes a pistol stand.

Each has its merits. I like both. I have owned both. Currently I own 3 .357 guns and 0 10mm but it is one thing I do want to buy to replace the delta elite I sold. I will buy fully supported and I will buy quality. .357 wins there as well because a 686 is around $700 new and 10mm of comparable quality is going to generally be a grand or more.

See my earlier post, I like 10mm in a revolver.



Two does shoot about 30 seconds apart with a S&W 610, 10mm Auto, 200gr XTP going ~1250 fps at the muzzle. First doe hit at about 18 yards with a high shoulder shot going down through a shoulder blade and spine from a high tree stand, she dropped in her tracks and never moved. Second doe was hit with a double lung shot at ~25 yards and she spun a full 360 and not wanting to track her I gave her a follow up shot, again with a high shoulder going in just behind the shoulder blade angling forward and disrupting the spine enough to drop her in her tracks. All the bullets exited even the one that when through the shoulder blade and spine.

Pick the proper bullet for the application and there is so little difference between the two cartridges ballistically as to not matter at all, again assuming you pick the right bullet.

I have 10mm in 1911,wheel gun and carbine. I shoot the wheel gun more than the other 2. I don't loose my brass that way. The semi-auto's throw the brass far.

WestKentucky said:

It’s a pressure issue and .357 has a lot more of it than the 10mm.

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357 Mag Maximum Pressure = 35,000psi
10mm Maximum Pressure = 37,500psi

I think that if one did tests with bullets known for a good balance for expansion and penetration for both calibers, the difference would be minimal on performance.

I think the comparison of 10mm to 357Mag is appropriate as they appear to be very similar in performance to one another. The 357Mag will be a little bit flatter shooting but not enough to have an errant hit when using the same POA between the two cartridges at handgun hunting distances.

I have both a 357 Mag revolver and a 10mm Glock and for woods carry in my area my Glock gets carried. The benefits of additional capacity, ease of getting back on target are great benefits when hunting in wolf, bear and mountain lion country.

I have a friend who was taking a backpacking trip with a few dads and their daughters last year and their group was being tracked by a pack of wolves. The wolves were on both sides waiting for a chance to get the group to disperse from one another, but the dads saw this and kept the group together and they started throwing rocks in the area of the wolves after a bit of this and continuing further down the trail they got to a point in the trail and the wolves just left. I wondered if they were at the edge of this packs territory, he said it was quite odd, how quick they just abandoned the hunt. All the fathers were carrying side arms, but knowing that there are wolves in the areas where I hunt, backpack and recreate, I'll choose my 10mm Glock for multiple threats.

To each their own, there isn't a bad choice between the two.

You guys are horrible.

Forcing me to look for new guns and & new caliber to load.

That's the story I'm telling my wife anyway!

Glocks and s&w revolvers are my favorites, so I'll need one of each in 10mm now...