The 10mm Automatic By Chuck Hawks 10mm Auto Illustration courtesy of Hornady Mfg. Co.

Norma brought the 10mm Automatic cartridge to life in 1983, for the Bren 10 pist ol. The demand for this cartridge and a gun to shoot it was created by the effor ts of various vocal gun writers and proponents of big bore pistol cartridges, in much the same fashion as they had whipped up demand for the earlier .41 Magnum revolver cartridge. The much-ballyhooed Bren 10 proved to be a mechanical and commercial failure, an d the future of the 10mm Auto cartridge was in doubt. Colt saved the day for the 10mm Auto by chambering their Delta Elite version of the 1911 Government Model auto pistol for the faltering cartridge in 1987. Glock, S&W, and others eventual ly introduced large frame autos for the 10mm. The 10mm Auto approaches the .41 Magnum in power. It is capable of driving a 175 grain bullet at muzzle velocity (MV) of 1290 fps from a 5.5" barrel. This load is still available from Winchester with a Silvertip JHP bullet. Needless to say, it is plenty powerful, with 649 ft. lbs. of muzzle energy (MV). As you might su spect, this load kicks like a .41 Magnum, too. The 10mm Auto got a shot in the arm when the FBI adopted it. As with the .41 Mag . revolver cartridge, recoil proved to be a problem with the 10mm for police use . The cartridge simply kicks too hard for many shooters to handle well, and shoo ters with small hands had trouble gripping the large framed pistols required for the cartridge. Large, heavy pistols are also difficult to conceal, and tiring t o carry all day. These are the same complaints that limited the popularity of th e .41 Magnum revolver cartridge for police use. The FBI successfully addressed the recoil question by developing a lower velocit y load for the 10mm Auto. This lowered the velocity to 1030 fps using a 180 grai n JHP bullet (Federal figures). This has come to be known as the "10mm Lite" loa d, and led to the development of the .40 S&W cartridge, but that is a story for another article. (See The .40 Smith & Wesson). The size and weight problems created by large frame pistols are not so easily so lved, and few police agencies have followed the FBI's lead in adopting the 10mm Auto. The .40 S&W cartridge can do the same job in medium frame pistols. Of the "Big Three" U.S. ammo companies, Remington does not load for the 10mm. Wi nchester offers the Silvertip load mentioned above. And Federal offers two loads for the 10mm, the 10mm Lite mentioned above and a 155 grain JHP bullet at 1330 fps. This latter load develops 805 ft. lbs. of ME. The best one shot stop percen tage in the caliber, according to the study by Marshall and Sanow, belongs to th e full power Winchester 175 grain Silvertip load, an excellent 92%. The 10mm Lit e load has compiled a very good 82-87% record, depending on manufacturer. Reloading for the 10mm Auto is straight forward, and the 10mm uses the same .400 " bullets as the .40 S&W. The popularity of the latter cartridge insures a decen t selection of bullets. The fifth edition of the Nosler Reloading Guide shows th at 9.5 grains of HS6 powder behind their 150 grain JHP bullet gives a MV of 1156 fps, and 10.5 grains of HS6 gives the same bullet a MV of 1290 fps. These loads used Winchester cases and WLP primers, and were tested in a 6" pistol barrel. The full power Winchester Silvertip load is probably the best choice for use in

the field, and the 10mm cartridge has been promoted more as a hunting cartridge than a self-defense cartridge in recent years. The full power Winchester load is a flat shooting pistol cartridge, with a mid-range rise of only 3.3" over 100 y ards. The 10mm is the best hunting cartridge normally chambered in autoloading p istols, if a centerfire auto accurate enough to take advantage of the cartridge' s trajectory can be found.

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