Yeah, so "dead" they keep making guns and ammo for it.
You'd think with
two current threads containing multiple posts that easily refute the claim that the 10mm Auto is a "dead round," the 10mm-haters would call it a night.
Oh well, ...
3 word for ya: HARD TO KILL.
Terry's right. The 10mm Auto (in pistols
and ammo) hasn't just continued to sell at some marginal level, sales have actually increased, and this resurgence has been noted by the gun press, previously long silent on all things 10mm.
Like some zombie or vampire that simply refuses to stay in its coffin, dead and buried where uninformed "urban legend" says it should be, the 10mm Auto keeps coming back to the obvious consternation of some folks. Why they get frustrated with its persistence, I couldn't tell you. Maybe the big 10 stirs up some deep psychological insecurity for them when compared to the prissy calibers they prefer. Comparative caliber phobia? Defensive feelings of inadequacy? Who knows?
As far as the 10mm's staying power, my theory is that once a shooter gets a fair taste of it, the round sells itself and they think, "Sh*t, why didn't I get one of these sooner?"
The list of what's selling is quite impressive for a supposedly "dead" cartridge:
Smith 610 revolvers;
Glock 20s/29s;
Witnesses (full-size & compact);
pre-sellout Smith 10mms floating around in all varieties, some still NIB;
and Delta Elites that ABSOLUTELY refuse to loiter long on dealer shelves.
There were 3 DEs in my local gun shop before X-mas: 2 standard models in blue and a stainless DE Gold Cup. Each had extra mags, and all were in excellent shape. Well, the blue DEs are gone, and when I went in today so was the GC.
By the way, not only RSR but Jerry's Sports Center sells a lot of Witnesses. Have your dealer contact Jerry's if RSR is out. This time of year a lot of wholesalers are running low on inventory or back-ordered on new stock.
The list of who's selling 10mm ammo is quite long, but if it were indeed a "dead" caliber you can bet that smaller companies like Texas Ammo Company (TAC) wouldn't be bringing out and advertising new 10mm Auto lines, but that's exactly what TAC's done with their 10mm "Express" line, which includes
4 different loadings. Ditto ProLoad. Ditto Georgia Arms, etc., etc., etc.
Dan Wesson will be releasing its 1911-pattern Pointman Major in 10mm next year. Why would a gun maker chamber a pistol in a "dead" caliber? For laughs? No, because they know there's a market for it. And unless it's a POS out of the box it'll sell.
The thread on the 10mm HK isn't all theory, as a couple of posters from Alaska have successfully converted full-size .40s. Check it out. With the .40 Kimbers, owners have the barrels reamed out to 10mm, install a stiffer recoil unit, get some DE or CMC mags, and start shooting. Apparently, 'smith Dane Burns is getting requests to do this "conversion" all the time.
Care to guess what effect all that has, in turn, on sales of 10mm ammo?
