S&W 610 or Glock 20? 10mm/45ACP?

How to spend the money in my gun piggy bank?

  • S&W 610 all the way

    Votes: 40 60.6%
  • G21 is the practical man's choice

    Votes: 18 27.3%
  • Buy neither and get the XD45 NP3'd

    Votes: 8 12.1%

  • Total voters
    66
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HOV

Member
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Jan 5, 2010
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Location
VA
I need your help to spend my gun piggy bank money.

Here's what I currently have that is relevant to the question:

(1) Glock 20 - stock
(2) XD45 Service - purchased used with wear to the slide. Had it Duracoated but found that Duracoat comes off pretty easily, needs to be NP3'd to carry because I'm anal retentive.

Here's the 2-part challenge:

(1) I know the 10mm guys can relate to this - I have chasing brass and especially hate losing it. And my used 10mm brass has just a hint of the Glock bulge to it.

(2) I love the .45ACP caliber but this XD45 is my only .45ACP projectile launcher. Right now I don't carry it because I want to keep the finish somewhat intact. The Duracoat has been rubbing off with just the friction between jeans and pistol while walking.

Here are the potential material solutions to solve the challenges with the money I have in my gun piggy bank. I can only afford one:

(1) Get a S&W 610 4" revolver. Since the Glock 20 holds over 2x the number of rounds as the wheelgun in a slimmer package, I will not carry the revolver at all. It would be only to use at the range to work up new 10mm loads and not have to chase brass, and avoid the minor Glock bulge that I'm getting.

(2) Get a Glock 21. I don't have any reason based on experience to doubt the reliability of my XD45, and I love shooting the gun, but I have to admit the intardwebs horror stories of the XD45 has spooked me a little no matter how I try to put that out of my mind. Getting a Glock 21 will allow me to get a carry pistol in a beloved caliber, plus the ability to share parts between that and my Glock 20.

For instance, my G20 is a black framed gun. I could get the G21 in OD or even OD & SF to have a little flexibility in how I carry either gun. I could have two slides for two frames that allow me 4 options in carrying either 10mm or .45ACP.

So what do you think? Should I get a S&W 610 range gun or a G21 to add to my CCW rotation?
 
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I'm confused...what are the horror stories on the XD45's? I've heard plenty on the G21....which I've owned and never had a problem with for the 1200 rounds I ran through it before trading.

I'm interested because I'm bringing home a used XD45 this weekend to play with and likely buy.
 
I too have an XD45 and it has been ultra reliable, accurate and otherwise wonderful. Fix the finish and with the money you same get a revolver like the 610.
 
If you like .45 for carry, then maybe look at the smaller glocks? Can't go wrong with Glock 21 though. Same frame as the G20.

If it were me, I would buy the revolver and smile all the way to the range. I am guessing that any carry piece will show wear after awhile, so why worry about it.

Never heard about an XD jamming so bad it needed to be sent to Springfield to fix. That's a new one for me.
 
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I took a look at the G30 and like the way it feels, but for me just about any pistol I own carries about the same to me. I can carry the G20 just as easily as I can the G26 or the G23, so I may as well choose the one with the most capacity and velocity - G21.

Plus, like you said - the G20 & 21 have the same frame. So if I get a G21 in OD & SF, I can have:

- G20 OD SF
- G20 Black regular frame
- G21 OD SF
- G21 Black regular frame

But I hear you on the 610 thing. I just love the idea of spending $78 on 500 pieces of Starline brass and having them last forevahhh.
 
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FoMoGo said:
Get the 610... and maybe accept that a carry weapon will receive some wear?

It was a comedy of errors with my particular pistol. Only pistol I ever bought used off Gunbroker. Showed up at my FFL looking like an abused range queen, gunk everywhere, rear sight off to the side like it had ben dropped. Unbelievable amount of holster wear.

But it cleaned up very well, and once the rear sight was adjusted it was super accurate. I fell in love with it.

So I had it duracoated, now it looked like new. Got new mag springs, perfect!

Until I carried it exactly 3 times. By the third time, I could start seeing bare metal coming through the front part of the slide.

So this won't be regular wear like any other pistol, it will be poorly applied duracoat coming off a previously beat range queen, some kind of awful looking motley monster under there. Considering I have other pistols to carry, it wouldn't be my first choice to carry. It still looks mostly great at this point, but that will change quickly.
 
The only thing bad about the 610 is that you have to buy moon clips to use. I had one but the good thing is that you can get the RIMZ moon clips which are better than the metal ones....
 
The only thing bad about the 610 is that you have to buy moon clips to use

I LOVE moon clips. Don't own a gun that uses them but have some.

The original speedloader!!!

Besides, they are beautiful. If there were moonclip jewelry I would buy some for my current wife.
 
With that revolver you can also shoot .40 s&w, I believe...(I realize you can do the same thing with the model 20 glock with a conversion package, but the revolver is a neat idea, and would add diversity to you collection as described)
 
I am a reloader, which is why I want the 610. Chasing brass makes me a complete neurotic at the range... I love the idea of leisurely emptying the cylinder into a little brass collector.

What was your experience with the XD?
 
oh my mistake, the 610 is the 10mm revolver. i was thinking of a snubbie .38 model lol.

since you do reload, personally, i would go with the G20. everyone i know that has one loves theirs. dead reliable with variable power loads even.

however, if you prefer to shoot a lot of full power 10mm loads, i would then go with the 610 revolver. i have seen g20's with frame damage from extended use of full power loads. the 610 can take more of a beating.



my xd45midsize wouldn't feed any brand of FMJ reliably, and was horribly inaccurate (and the accuracy would get worse the hotter the barrel got). sold it.

there's a reason larry vicker's refers to xd's as "range toys".....
 
I have a G20 LOL

It's pretty much down to S&W 610 as a range toy & way to test my new 10mm hand loads without losing brass, or a G21 to share a common frame and holster, and have a .45ACP to carry as my XD45 is not cutting it in its current state.

Twisted, I know.
 
Can't see the point in a revolver in 10mm. If going revolver I'd go 357 or 44. The Glock 20 is the way to go.
 
I can carry the G20 just as easily as I can the G26 or the G23, so I may as well choose the one with the most capacity and velocity - G21.

Whoa... One sceond... The G21 would give you significantly more size than either the 26 (love my 27, perfect warm weather carry pistol) or the 23, only has more capacity than the 26, and is the slowest of all four models of Glock you are talking about.

And I don't think you can get an SF in OD. I know you can't get a C model in OD (I tried), and (unrelateed to Glocks obviously) the XD is melonited, which is a finish that doesn't wear away with the black coating on the steel. So even if you can see bare metal, that metal is protected by the melonite treatment which is very similiar to Glock's Tennifer treatment, only I don't believe it involves cyanide.

So no matter how anal retentive you are, a little metal showing on your XD is no cause for concern, the black coating is purely aesthetic in nature. Will you be too ashamed of the holster wear on your carry pistol to use it if you need it?
 
Edited Title -- Sam

Buy a case reforming tool for the Glock bulge.
I really enjoy revolvers. You have no reason to own one for load development.
You won't compete, carry or enjoy a S&W 610. You might as well shoot your Glock and for the amount of brass you loose in fifty years you might break even on getting a revolver.
 
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NGVI said:
Whoa... One sceond... The G21 would give you significantly more size than either the 26 (love my 27, perfect warm weather carry pistol) or the 23, only has more capacity than the 26, and is the slowest of all four models of Glock you are talking about.

And I don't think you can get an SF in OD. I know you can't get a C model in OD (I tried), and (unrelateed to Glocks obviously) the XD is melonited, which is a finish that doesn't wear away with the black coating on the steel. So even if you can see bare metal, that metal is protected by the melonite treatment which is very similiar to Glock's Tennifer treatment, only I don't believe it involves cyanide.

So no matter how anal retentive you are, a little metal showing on your XD is no cause for concern, the black coating is purely aesthetic in nature. Will you be too ashamed of the holster wear on your carry pistol to use it if you need it?

The one thing that matters most for carry for me is grip size. Since I carry my G26 with a G19 mag, it's the same effective size as my G23. Both of which are ~0.5" shorter than a full size grip. Heck, even the stock mag with Pearce extension is maybe ~3/4" shorter than a full size mag. It doesn't feel that much different. I really can't tell much difference between carrying my G26 and my G20, unless I use the completely stock 10-round mag.

Of course, the handling is worlds apart, but I'm just talking about carrying.

Yeah, I hear you on the melonite treatment. It shouldn't matter whether there's black on the gun or not. But yes, I am ashamed to carry a rat pistol. Seriously though, it's not just about my sense of aesthetics, it's about resale value. I like to keep my guns in good shape to hold value if I ever need to divest for emergency purposes.
 
Gunfighter - your word is bond. The people have spoken, I must grow my gun piggy bank some more and get the 610.

Besides, 15 rounds of 10mm > 13 rounds of .45ACP. Love the things you have - my G20 is a great carry pistol and even better because I already own it.
 
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HOV,

Here is just something to look at till you break the back of that piggy bank.

S&W 610 -- 5" that been converted to DA only;
SW610-10MM.jpg


I have been shooting this gun for about 20 years !!! It is my main IPSC/Bowling Pin revolver and has won it's share of awards for me plus a little cash. I know it has over 30,000 rds. and maybe close to 50,000 rds. thru it -- about 1/2 hot Pin loads and the rest hot .40S&W and lower end 10mm for IPSC --- it is STILL ACCURATE , matter of fact, I don't remember EVER having a new bought S&W revolver that was not accurate out of the 40 or 50 I have owned.
 
Gorgeous, what kind of front sight is that?

I always shot my 27 without any extensions, figure I bought it to be a very small carry gun and if I could carry something that was bigger and wanted to I would, since I had a few other pistols that fit the next size brackets up very well. I also shot it better without the extensions. There's something to be said for using something the way it was designed. You do give up five rounds going from the 19 magazines though, but that's why most of us carry a spare magazine.
 
Gunfighter - very nice. I like the pre-lock vintage, and that's the barrel length I was considering.

Why the conversion to DA only?

I do own a non-accurate S&W revolver - my 442 is a super gun in every way except for accuracy. Compared to my 1960's vintage S&W Model 36 Chief's Special, the old gun is waaay more accurate (comparing DA to DA of course).
 
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