need advice for first 10mm auto pistol

I bought my 10mm's on a whim...but really I think the best advice is go try one before buying. 10mm is not my first choice for home defense even though I have several at my disposal--I prefer a mild load 45 acp.
 
Glock 40 or Sig P220 with an emphasis on the latter, largely because it is heavier.

10mm in a "1911" is kind of a kluge and I would not want to order one long distance and hope that it worked.

Personally, I don't have or want a 10mm, the .45 is ample; but then it is your Euros.
 
@stagepanther yes trying out the 10mm before purchasing is a must. But you and Jim Watson also have a point about the .45. There are many nice guns available in that caliber and the ammo supply is also neat. Much better than the 10mm auto to be honest.
 
@stagepanther yes trying out the 10mm before purchasing is a must. But you and Jim Watson also have a point about the .45. There are many nice guns available in that caliber and the ammo supply is also neat. Much better than the 10mm auto to be honest.
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Nobody can "preach" what the best gun for you is--if you really want a 10mm go for it. But you mention home defense as one of your uses, and the 45 acp would be far better in that application than 10mm IMO. I have quite a few 9mm guns as well but for in the house still prefer 45 acp.

Or you could just get both. :D Some 45 acps are interchangeable with 10mm since they often use the same frame.
 
That's correct. But it is always a good idea to check out other options as well. I just want a rather powerful big-bore handgun. It does not need to be 10mm at all costs. 10mm sounds good on paper but it could be possible that I do not like the shooting characteristics of the gun. That's why trying the 10mm auto before purchasing is really important.

Getting a gun that can be modified to use another caliber via an extra barrel would also be a good possibility of course.
 
10mm can shoot .40S&W or .357SIG with barrel changes. Some folks even shoot .40S&W through their 10mm barrels and seem to get good results although the practice is generally not recommended.
 
I agree with JohnKSa, if you get the Glock doing a barrel swap to shoot 40S&W or 357Sig would be easy to change out and would be cheaper to shoot.
 
Tanfoglio and Grand Power have offerings in 10mm. I'm one of those dinosaurs who prefer DA/SA but for years, I'd held off because I don't like manual safeties. The P40L from Grand Power comes in "decocker only" but for reasons beyond my understanding, they only seem to import the manual safety models.
 
I recently went through this dilemma myself as I've owned a S&W 1076 for many years, but magazines and other parts are getting difficult to find and I really wanted something of more recent production so that I'd have better availability of mags, holsters, parts, etc. I've never really cared for Glocks nor the Springfield XD. I like 1911's and Sigs, but most of them cost more than I really wanted to invest in this endeavor. I also wasn't really interested in a revolver as I already have several revolvers in powerful calibers like .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum so a 10mm revolver didn't really offer anything I don't already have. I wanted to like the EAA/Tangfolio Witness in 10mm, but I've heard too many reports of problems with them to want to roll the dice. I finally ended up buying one of the S&W M&P 2.0 10mm's with a 4.6" barrel as I've always liked the feel of the M&P line and it was available with a manual safety which I prefer on a striker-fired gun.

Unfortunately, I have to admit I'm a little bit disappointed with this gun and I say this as a longtime S&W fan. When I first got this pistol, I had a lot of strange, intermittent failure to feed malfunctions where the bullet was presenting at too steep an angle and hitting the barrel hood. This was happening with both Underwood 180 gr XTP and my warmish handloads of Blue Dot and a 175 gr LSWC. I even had instances where the gun was ejecting live rounds and jamming on the next round in the magazine. I researched the issue online and found that this sort of malfunction is not uncommon particularly with the shorter 4" barrel models. Some posited that the pistol was undersprung and that the slide was outrunning the magazine spring. I tried replacing the stock recoil spring and guide rod with a 22 lb sprind and guide rod assembly from Galloway Precision but the problem persisted. Finally, I marked my magazines and discovered that one was having problems while the other ran reliably leading me to believe that the issue was likely weak magazine springs.

I called S&W about the issue and was instructed to send in the problem magazine for replacement which I did. In the meantime, I bought another factory magazine and it too had the same issue with both the stock recoil spring and the one from Galloway. My magazine spring theory was further reinforced when I inspected the new mag spring and found it to be significantly shorter after having been loaded for just a few hours. I finally seem to have sorted the problem out by replacing the magazine springs with M&P 45 mag springs from Wolff and thus far, the gun has run reliably with my handloads as well as both 180 gr and 155 gr XTP's from Underwood. I have since received my replacement magazine from S&W but after my previous experience I immediately replaced its spring with one from Wolff and it too runs reliably.

I really want to like this gun especially since it finally seems to be running reliably. However, I have to admit I'm rather disappointed in having to replace springs in brand new factory magazines, particularly when the magazines cost over $40 each. I don't know if S&W didn't do enough R&D before bringing this gun out in 10mm or if their spring subcontractor is providing substandard springs. Perhaps I'm picking nits as replacement magazine springs from Wolff or Springer Precision only cost $7-8 each, but I cannot quite get past the notion that I shouldn't have to replace springs in brand-new $40 magazines for a brand-new $600+ gun.
 
agent00 said:
@101combatvet Yes that's my plan anyway. I also want to rent a 357 sig pistol, the only other caliber thatn you give the feeling of shooting in a Magnum in a pistol besides of getting Desert Eagle of course (but they are too expensive and a bit too bulky for my liking). A used Coonan Pistol would be a option too but I have never seen than offered here in Austria on the used gun market.

@Shadow9mm and TruthTellers Thanks for your recommendations. Yes a Glock would be the most obvious choice due to the great availability. Another pro is of course the fact that I am already familiar with the Glock 17. Had the chance to use g17 at the range quite often.
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For me, the 10mm is a difficult round to maintain followthrough in rapid-fire stages, much like the .40 S&W. I'm sure the .357 Sig has that same issue. Ammunition for all has been challenging to find because their popularity has dwindled over the last few years. If your heart is set on owning one, you could find an inexpensive pistol in any of these calibers.
 
I've had both a G20 and G29. Both are solid guns, but I sold both after the Smith M&P was offered in 10mm. They offer a version with a 1911 style safety which won me over.

I don't mind a Glock, or other striker fired gun not having a manual safety as long as it is carried in a holster that covers the trigger. But for what I do that isn't always an option and I found myself leaving the chamber empty in some situations.

The Smith has a lighter trigger and better sights. I shoot it more accurately, and with a trigger that light appreciate the safety.
 
I have a Tanfoglio Witness Stock in 10mm Auto and like it a lot. It's a very nice gun. Magazines only hold 14 rounds without some tweaks, but it's reliable, accurate, and shoots well.
 
I went with the Kimber Target long slide in 10mm. The 10mm is going to pack some elevated recoil as its a potential 1300+ fps caliber. My Kimber LS is a bit heavy compared to other platforms, but that extra mass equals smoother shoot-ability. Absolutely love the feel of a traditional 1911 and the awesome downrange energy of 10mm . You really start to understand a high energy caliber slamming large steel gongs at 25 yds with authority!
 
Having been impressed with how little felt recoil is in even the .45 version of the Shield, when I decided to move up to 10mm, I went with the S&W M&P. It proved to be a good decision. With factory loads, it's a very soft shooter, as well as being well made, accurate and reasonably priced.
 
If you really want a 10mm and don't plan on hunting with it go with the G20. If you want to hunt with the G40. The problem I've run into is finding adjustable sight to fit the G40 MOS. (still looking around). Plus you'll save a little on the 20 over the 40.
 
I'm looking into buying a new Sig Xten. Ive done alot of research and have watched a lot of you tube as well as asked others who have already handled and shot it and it seems to be making alot of folks happy
 
For polymer, if the Glock 20 fits your hand, that’d be my first recommendation(unfortunately it doesn’t fit my medium hands). 2nd choice is the XDM and XDm Elite. Both the Glock and Springfield have been around a while(the Glock more so). I’ve seen issues with S&W M&P 10mm’s, ymmv. The Sig X-Ten looks promising, but it’s still newish and I’d wait the full year from it’s release before buying.
 
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