10mm Vs .357

3

357MagFan

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I have read many forums about this topic and after researching both calibers it seems that in general the 10mm is a stronger round when the barrel lengths are the same. They are close enough that I wouldnt know which would have the edge if you had a 6 inch barrel for the .357 and a 4 inch for the 10mm. Does anyone have any more insight into this?

The strongest .357 round I found was stronger than the most powerful 10mm round although that extra millimeter would kinda make up for the lack of muzzle energy.
 
I'm not sure about your contention that "the 10mm is a stronger round when the barrel lengths are the same." When comparing the hottest factory loaded 10mm rounds (Double Tap) from a G20 (4.6 inch barrel) to the hottest factory loaded .357 Magnum rounds (Buffalo Bore) from a S&W M686 (4.0 inch barrel), the .357 Magnum's performance very slightly exceeds the 10mm's performance. When you move up to six-inch barrel on the .357 Magnum, it even further exceeds the 10mm's performance.

Basically, the .357 Magnum and 10mm are ballistic twins. Frankly, I don't get real excited about the four one hundreths of an inch difference in diameter between the two.
 
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If you do a search, we have had some spirited discussions on this subject here.
I own both. From what I've seen they are so close that there is no practical difference.
I think the .357 magnum benifits more from a longer barrel. With shorter barrels, the 10mm really shines. A .357 snubby has nothing on a Glock 29 exept more recoil. In a long barrel revolver or a little carbine, the magnum really starts smokin'.
All that aside, you'll find more difference from brand to brand than you will in the 10mm to .357 comparison.
 
Full power factory 10mm beats full power factory .357mag in all categories. Bullet diameter, bullet weight, muzzle energy, momentum.

There is a single small specialty house making super-hot .357mag for a buck a round that exceeds not only 10mm performance but also every other ammo company's .357Mag performance Some use that as evidence to conclude that the .357Mag is hotter than the 10mm.

If you believe that a round's performance is defined by the absolute hottest load available on the market (even if only one small company makes it) then you would agree with that conclusion.
 
Bottom line remains, the hottest factory .357 Magnum ammo slightly exceeds the hottest factory loaded 10mm--whether you like that fact or not. FWIW, if you want hot loaded (approximately original spec) 10mm, you have to rely on those maligned (at least for .357 Magnum ammunition anyway) "small speciality houses" such as Buffalo Bore, Double Tap and Texas Ammo. For all practical purposes, the .357 Magnum and 10mm are ballistic twins.

I guess we could always compare the 180-grain 10mm Hydra-Shok at 1030 fps (425 fpe) to the 180 .357 Magnum CorBon at at 1265 fps (640 fpe)--of course, the 180-grain .357 CorBon is hotter at 50 yards than the 180-grain 10mm Federal is at the muzzle. ;)
 
The 10mm Zombies and The.357Gadfly are about five posts away from getting me to put my dozen+ .357 Magnum and 10mm Auto guns under the saw at work tomorrow,

I haven't heard such spirited intellectual discourse since "Uh huh! Batman can so beat up Aquaman!" under the monkey bars in Mr. Smith's class. :rolleyes:
 
I haven't heard such spirited intellectual discourse since "Uh huh! Batman can so beat up Aquaman!" under the monkey bars in Mr. Smith's class.
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Yeah buts that only on dry land, otherwise aqua man has him beat. And Mrs. Anderson is so much cooler than Mr. Smith.
 
Thank you Tamara.
If you do decide to saw up those guns, could you send me one instead?
I'm still playing with .38 specials and 9mm. They seem like enough to me.

Mikey
 
If you were out in the woods and you had only 2 options for a carry gun and they were a 6inch 686+ or a 4 inch 10mm 610 what would you pick and why?
 
for self defense against an angry black bear? 10mm for capacity and reloadability only. For small game? .357mag. Hot 10mm rounds are rare and expensive. .357 will be able to cover what you need 99% of the time in the woods.
 
odd, the 686 has 7 chambers and speed loaders would make reloading a snap, that is if you remained calm, if not you would probably panic, drop the rounds and end up throwing the gun at the bear!!
 
If you were out in the woods and you had only 2 options for a carry gun and they were a 6inch 686+ or a 4 inch 10mm 610 what would you pick and why?
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Whichever. I've carried revolvers in .357, 10mm, .41 Mag, .44 Mag, and .45 Colt into the woods, and not felt nekkid with any one of them.
 
If you were out in the woods and you had only 2 options for a carry gun and they were a 6inch 686+ or a 4 inch 10mm 610 what would you pick and why?
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The 686+ because the L-frame fits my hand (points better) than the N-frame (same reason I'd pick an L-frame over a G20)--I can shoot it better, faster. In terms of calibre, there's not enough difference between the .357 Magnum and the 10mm to make a difference (though I'd tend to have more faith in .357 Magnum bullets at the correct velocity than the .40 S&W bullets used in most 10mm ammo and pushed beyond their velocity range).
 
What do you guys think of the new rounded grips on the 686 compared to the square ones, I like em rounded. Took awhile to get used to but I like them better now
 
The 686+ would be the more versatile firearm of the two choices given.
Remington makes some heavy Golden Saber ammo, 165-gr. I think, for the .357.
There's probably more 'hunting' ammo for the .357, unless you reload for 10mm and make your own heavy bullet ammo.
You might practice more with the .357, too, based on ammo cost and availability.
Then there's that "+1" factor.
 
if you want hot loaded (approximately original spec) 10mm, you have to rely on those ...small speciality houses"
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Unless, of course, you want to buy from Winchester.
...compare the 180-grain 10mm Hydra-Shok ... to the 180 .357 Magnum CorBon...
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I thought you were talking about original spec 10mm--not the loaded down stuff that equals .40 S&W performance.

The .357Mag is a fine caliber with years of history and excellent performance in both the field of self-defense and the hunting arena. It can certainly be loaded to exceed 10mm performance--there's no question about that--Buffalo Bore has proved it. On the other hand, if you're just looking at ammo you can buy at reasonable prices, it's not hard to find 10mm ammo that outstrips typical .357Mag performance.

As far as what to carry in the woods, I don't think there's much practical difference. Carry the package you shoot the best.

Like jc said--for practical purposes the two calibers are virtually identical.
 
juliet charley,

I guess we could always compare the 180-grain 10mm Hydra-Shok at 1030 fps (425 fpe) to the 180 .357 Magnum CorBon at at 1265 fps (640 fpe)
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Why not compare the 180gr 10mm CorBon to the 180 .357 Magnum CorBon? :confused:
 
Well, when I tried to compare the best (BB) to the best (DT), a certain party implied that wasn't playing fair to compare the best in each calibre so I thought I'd try carefully selecting the loads I compared. ;)
 
slightly exceeds

It seems this subject causes almost cut and paste repeatable posts.

But I've seem the 4" revolver compared to 4.6" semiauto and the phrase "slightly exceeds" used enough times that I gotta throw out two cents.

Since the barrel lengths of revolver and semiautos are measured differently, the cut & paste comparison is invalid. For a .357 N-frame revolver, a 4" barrel is really more than 5.6" to the breech face.

In other words, a 4" barrel on a .357 is really an inch longer than the oft quoted 4.6" 10mm barrel.

The losses of the cylinder gap are insignificant compared to an inch longer barrel. The phrase "slightly exceeds" is misleading and confuses the gallery; the comparison is apples to oranges. "Ballistic equals" works for me though.

Larry

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For those who don't know: Revolver barrel length doesn't include the chamber (cylinder) but semiauto barrel length does.

For example, the cylinder length of my S&W .357 is 1.62". This needs to be added to the listed barrel length (4" + 1.62") to compare with a semiauto.
 
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