10mm In Compact Autos

[Colt]

I've read the existing (locked) 10mm threads, and found them entertaining and informative.

Something I haven't seen addressed is the potential of 10mm in a compact auto.

As you might guess, I prefer 1911-style autos, and my current CCW piece is a 45 ACP Kimber RCPII. Glocks aside, this seemed the best compact for the round I could find. But one thing that's always bugged me about it is the idea that a 3 inch barrel doesn't give the bullet enough time to develop full velocity.

I'm curious what the folks here might have to say about 10mm as the perfect round for compact autos. It won't give you the same performance it would in a full-sized auto, but could a hotloaded 10mm round "make up" for the shorter 3" barrel and give you the perfect compact?

 

[ABBOBERG]

Since the 10mm is like a .40 S&W, only longer, you would be defeating the purpose of a short barrel since the extra powder will not have the extra barrel to burn it - you might as well go with a .40 in a compact gun. If you wanted to optimize the performance of a 10mm from a 3" barrel, you would have to find the right powder and hand load them yourself, but I doubt you would gain anything over a .40. I don't even know of anyone that makes a 3" barreled 10mm.

What would be nice would be a 6" long gun with a 4.4" barrel, but it is not on the market yet.

 

[gunfan]

Truth is, that Dan Wesson/ CZ "Commander" length pistols will be availble soon! This, or a Glock 29, will likely be your best bet to fulfill your desires/needs.

I hope that this helps,

Scott

 

[agtman]

Compact 10mms

Well, here's one I've become more fond of. It packs nicely during the extremely hot weather, when you wear fewer and thinner clothes.

It's a G29, and it's very accurate.



It handles any 10mm load it's fed, from the hot Double Tap/Texas Ammo/Corbon stuff to the watered-down .40-level ammo. While there's some decrease in velocity from the G29's 3.8" barrel versus the bigger 4.6" and 5" barrelled guns, it's not as much as you might think if you're running the hotter 10mm loads to begin with.

There was an interesting point discussed in a couple of threads on GT's 10Ring from posters who had chronographed various hot 10mm loads from a G29, a G20 (4.6" tube) and the 5" pistols, like the S&W 1006 or Delta Elites. The point made was that hot 10mm loads which used the heavier bullets (180gns, 200gns) appeared to lose less velocity from the G29's shorter tube than did hot loads which used the lighter bullets (135gns, 155gns). Just FYI.

 

[Iggy]

Dan Wesson CCO 10mm

One of 4 produced.

 

[Denko]

That CCO is real nice.I hope CZ will make it. I do prefer the 1911 format. When I left the PRK for a carry state, I started looking for my carry gun. I wanted something small yet powerful. Kimber and Dan Wesson were not in the 10mm market at the time. I had read many internet tales of unreliable short barreled 1911's in 45acp. Plus the 45 does give up some power in a shorter barrel. So I ended up with a Glock in 10mm. It has been reliable .Check out the ten ring at Glock Talk, there are some posts detailing performance from a model 29. The shorter barrel doe not give up much in 10mm. It is a good combo for my needs.

 

[KaceCoyote]

wonder if the CZ-97 could stand a 10mm loading?

 

[MachIVshooter]

Since the 10mm is like a .40 S&W, only longer, you would be defeating the purpose of a short barrel since the extra powder will not have the extra barrel to burn it

Hogwash. With my IMR 800x loads using 180 gr. Gold Sabres and CCI 350 primers, I only loose an average of 64 FPS from my 5" 10mm's to my Witness Compact 3.5" (1406 down to 1342), which translates to 70 ft/lbs difference. And at 721 ft/lbs from a compact, it certainly out-classes any .40 load, even from full-length guns.

That said, Compact 10mm guns tend to be nearly as large and heavy as full-size 9mm and .40 caliber pistols. Mine is basically identicle dimesionally and in terms of weight to my S&W 4006. I carry my Witness all day, every day. I love it for it's 10+1 capacity and great handling/good accuracy, but at 43 ounces loaded, this can be taxing. I am planning to pick up a S&W 340PD. Half the rounds and a bit less power, but much easier to pack 24/7.

 

[Mossyrock]

Kimber Custom Compact 10mm

I recently converted a Kimber Compact Stainless in .40 to 10mm. Not an easy task, but not impossible. The barrel rechambering was done by Bob Hunter at Hunter Customs. The biggest stumbling block was figuring out the proper spring weights to slow down slide velocity to the point where the slide wouldn't outrun the magazine's ability to feed ammunition. This involved an EGW flat-bottomed FP stop, a 25 pound mainspring and a cut down 24 pound Commander recoil spring. The magazine is a Metalform 10mm OACP mag which is a standard catalog item. I suspect this was produced to support the Dan Wesson 10mm CCO. .40 cal OACP mags won't work due to the block at the back of the mag. I tried to remove the block from the Kimber mag, but it was spot welded in, and I destroyed the magazine in the process. I am currently using a Cominolli double-buffered guide rod with good success. Thus far, I have around 300 rounds through it with no excess wear or battering. In fact, the buffers don't have a mark on them. Of the 300 rounds fired, 200 were PMC 200gr FMJs, and the rest consisted of a handloaded 180gr Silvertip equivelant practice round using Winchester Power Pistol. The PMC 200gr 10mm rounds averaged 950 fps out of the 4" Kimber barrel. I have not had a chance to chrony the handload. The only casualty has been a broken extractor hook on an old Delta Elite extractor that I used. I replaced it with an Ed Brown 10mm extractor. I also replaced the Kimber slide stop with an Ed Brown "Hardcore" slide stop for a little peace of mind.

I had originally planned on building a 10mm CCO from Caspian components, but I stumbled upon this .40 cal Kimber and decided to go this route instead. I pretty much have the functional part down. Now I get to start on the "nice to have" mods like Heinie sights and Ed Brown grip and thumb safeties.

Here are some pics from my first range session.

 

[Colt]

Thanks for the ideas

Many thanks to those that gave their input.

I like that 40 SW conversion, but will probably end up going with a production gun. ($)

Thanks again.