10mm?

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Dryft

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Hey y'all,

So, as it should be obvious to all, there's a bit of an ammunition shortage going on...

But, in Cabela's the other day, they had plenty of 10mm! Yeah, it's a little more expensive than some of the other handgun rounds out there, but in a quick look over at BulkAmmo.com they had plenty too and the price per round isn't a heck of a lot higher than .45 or anything else.

So, to that end, what are some of the top 10mm pistols out there according to you? This would be more of an "interesting option" question rather than "I've gotta buy one so I can get ammo" for one simple fact:

Ammunition producers are going to make the most popular calibers first.

I've never put a lot of thought into 10mm though, and would love to hear opinions!

Thanks y'all.
 
If you get a Glock you can buy a 357 Sig barrel for it. That way you can have two calibers that might remain on the shelf longer during a freak out.

Glock and EAA are the only current production guns I know of with the exception of some high dollar 1911 makers. The best 10mm guns were the 10XX series by S&W but they have been out of production for 20 years now.

I love the 10mm (and also the 357 Sig) but I'm a reloader. Factory ammo availability only matters insomuch as its a source of reloadable brass.
 
Yes you can get a big Glock and convert down to different calibers.

Another gun that I think is a nice 10 though is the EAA Witness Hunter:

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Dan Wesson built several nice 1911 models. I have a stainless Bobtail Commander in 10mm.
 
The only 10mm in production and worth of consideration are the Glock 20 and some high priced 1911 like the Colt Delta Elite (not sure if still in production) and Dan Wesson/Kimber.


The Glock is strong and reliable but is not for everybody because of the "funny" trigger and lack of external hammer......and it is a polymer pistol.

Furthermore, the standard barrel has polygonal rifling which is not the best to fire hardcast bullets, which comprise a lot of the hot full spec wildlife defence 10mm ammo out there

Do yourself a favor and steer clear of the EAA pistols...Customer Service is a big joke (I would not trust that company to run a lemonade stand, let alone selling firearms)

The pistols itself have quality control isses, some run perfectly off the bat, others are jam-o-matic lemons....and you have to deal with EAA and pay for shipping to and from

To complete the picture, some EA Witness 10mm models cannot sustain a healthy dose of true 10mm ammo (meaning full SAAMI specs, not the 40 S&W power level of the common commercial 10mm ammo) without cracking the frame or the slide or doing some expensive modification (personal experience).


The last (and best for me) option is getting your hands on one of the S&W 10mm, the best platform for the round by far, but you better to hurry up because these are going up in price in the used market.
 
Bought this custom by Chuck Warner off this site about 3yrs ago. It is one of my favorite pistol's to carry. It is always on my hip when I go deer hunting. It is legal to hunt with a 10mm in Oklahoma, and it makes a great CC SD weapon,
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The Glock 20 and Colt Delta Elite are excellent guns.

If I were looking for a 10mm, the G20 would likely get my vote, closely followed by the Colt.
 
There are actually some 10mm revolvers out there that are pretty nice. EAA's Witness is nice, if you buy used check the slide, the early rounded slides had some teething problems but the later model ones work well. Witnesses (at least the large frame models) can swap out slides from a 22lr all the way up to the might 10mm. Very versatile.

Smith and Wesson has the 1006 model, not in production but they are around.

But Glocks handle the 10mm really well. In the Gen 3 series there are four pistols a 20 (full size) and a 29 ("compact" but really about the size of a 19). There are the "small frame" (SF) models of both as well. I bought a 29sf and it is my favorite pistol. It fit my hand better than the 20, but your mileage may very.

I don't like Glocks generally, but in a 10mm they really are one of the best things out there.
 
If you get a Glock you can buy a 357 Sig barrel for it. That way you can have two calibers that might remain on the shelf longer during a freak out.

Glock and EAA are the only current production guns I know of with the exception of some high dollar 1911 makers. The best 10mm guns were the 10XX series by S&W but they have been out of production for 20 years now.

I love the 10mm (and also the 357 Sig) but I'm a reloader. Factory ammo availability only matters insomuch as its a source of reloadable brass.
I would guy .40S&W barrel instead of .357Sig.
 
I was new to the 10 mm world and bought a G20 SF, I absolutely love the platform! The G20 handles the full power loads very nicely! Can't go wrong with G20


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I had an EAA Witness. Mine was a good trouble free gun but I always found myself wondering about the slide or frame cracking even tho it never did. I traded it on a Glock 20 and for me, it was a great move.

I have an extended aftermarket barrel in 10mm, and a 40 S&W conversion barrel as well. The gun is utterly reliable using either cartridge.

IMO the Glock 20 is the best thing going for 10mm at a reasonable price.
 
Glock 20 and Smith 1006 were my choices in the early '90s. If I were in the market for a third, I'd take either.
 
10MM is a cool cartridge. Its got some interesting history, and there are some very neat guns chambered in this round. There is also a really great forum dedicated to this cartridge and the guns for which it is chambered: http://10mm-firearms.com/index.php Many of the members on that forum are also members of this forum.
 
Do yourself a favor and steer clear of the EAA pistols...Customer Service is a big joke (I would not trust that company to run a lemonade stand, let alone selling firearms)

The pistols itself have quality control isses, some run perfectly off the bat, others are jam-o-matic lemons....and you have to deal with EAA and pay for shipping to and from

To complete the picture, some EA Witness 10mm models cannot sustain a healthy dose of true 10mm ammo (meaning full SAAMI specs, not the 40 S&W power level of the common commercial 10mm ammo) without cracking the frame or the slide or doing some expensive modification (personal experience).

This is good advice. The upper end EAA models don't seem to have the same problems as the base models, and EAA seems to be transitioning back to the square slide, but stories of poor customer service abound. Even the working ones are undersprung. Not that they are bad guns, but they are the most likely of the available options to require remediation right out of the box. The EAA Witness should really only be considered by people who know what they are getting into.

Again - NOT bad guns, but anecdotal evidence (based on Internet posts -- so whatever that's worth) suggests that there is a higher likelihood that you may have an issue with an EAA Witness than say a Glock or a new production Colt Delta Elite. Combine that with (again anecdotal evidence) that you might have customer service issues...I would choose this option only if I fully understood the caveats.

Another note - Some guys who shoot the 10MM Glocks suggest an aftermarket barrel that provide more chamber support than the factory barrel. This is especially true if you are going to reload, or use top end hot loads.

Older Delta Elites lacked proper chamber support, and were also susceptible to frame cracking. Colt now makes a relief cut in the frame to avoid the cracking.
 
If you can get a 10 at a fair price do it. Had a Delta Elite, wish I still did. It's like this, 40S&W is the Cheerleader, and the 10MM in the Linebacker.
 
Third gen S&W 10xx
The tank that just soaks it up and keeps rolling.
 
You know, I started this thread out of sheer curiousity - now, I must say, I really want one!

That Delta Elite looks positively awesome, and though I've never been a huge fan, I would totally carry a Glock in the field and leave the .357 revolver at home.

Thanks folks, now I have to save up even more money. It never ends!
 
i didnt see anyone mention RIA 10mm 1911. I picked one up about a month ago and i love it so far! RIA has a pretty good reputation for building reliable 1911's and mine hasnt been any different. something to look into. They have the tactical 1911 and the tactical 2011 (full length rail).
 
FWIW, I have an EAA 10mm Match Elite, and it's my favorite pistol. And EAA took reasonably good care of me when I had an issue. But the comments about those sometimes needing some tweaking are right. Once you've got it how you like it, though, you get a near-1911-quality trigger, way better chamber support than a Delta or a Glock (important for hot rounds and reloading), and a steel frame that really soaks up the recoil. And it's cheaper than the used 1006's you can find, or than the 1911's. JMHO.
 
The 10mm Dan Wesson Bobtail is reliable, accurate and has plenty of power.
This 120# doe was taken at 45 steps. She only made it about 40 yards.


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G20 paying a tad under Six can't beat it but just need a aftermarket barrel for case support. 700 tops compared to the other options.
 
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