10mm vs 40 S&W

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.
Staff member
keep in mind handloaders can select a wide choice of bullet designs,
and powder charges, so you can vary results a great deal,
the 10mm generally has about a 150-200 fps advantage in increased velocity.
with identical projectiles, and thus more rapid energy transfer and more bullet expansion,
keep in mind much greater expansion results in more rapid energy dumped and reduced penetration.
in bullets designed to expand, but with non-expanding bullets or hard cast bullets with the correct alloy
the 10mm tends to punch noticeably deeper

btw an alloy of 5% pure tin and 95% melted wheel weights works well.
thus the projectile selected has a HUGE effect on the resulting wound characteristic's you'll expect,
for hunting hard cast gas check bullets that exit and break bones are what If used mostly, and have decent results.






 
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I got rid of most of my 40s or converted them over to 9mm that way I have 2 guns for 1 and I have a few of them most of my Glock 40s are now 9mm along with a CZ and a Ruger and for whatever reason I am getting away from 40 and replacing them with 10mm. Anymore 10mm and 45 are my favorite calibers but after a while this will change too but maybe not because most of my 10mm and 45 ACP are 1911 models and right now 1911s are my favorite
 
Ive used a 10mm glock and 357 S&W mag and in my opinion the 8" barrel length 357 mag throwing a 160-170 grain gas check ,
hard cast bullet is marginally more effective than the glock 10mm throwing a 180-200 grain cast bullet, in my personal experience.
but neither holds a candle to the results you get from a 44 mag with a 6"-to-10.375" barrel, and a 300-310 grain hard cast gas check bullet
the 500 mag has several times more power than a 44 mag, but the results on deer/hogs seemed similar to the 44 mag results I got, most probably on larger game like ELK the 500 mag holds a very noticeable advantage
but on smaller game the projectiles, from either handgun , zip through and exit, easily from either revolver.
thus most of the potential power from either is wasted cutting through trees beyond/behind the game after the projectile has exited.
handgun hunting is similar to archery in that in most cases the game is hunted at ranges less than 50 yards,
and once hit, its very common for even well hit game, to run off a few dozen yards before a lethal hit,
takes full effect and the game drops.
(this does not mean many game animal's don't drop, when being hit), and yes shot placements' ALWAYS critical,
hunting with any handgun, the possibility exists , that you come to expect even a few of the well hit animals to run a short way after bullet impact)
heart/lung shots may be 100% lethal, but shoulder spine and brain shots tend to get a faster reaction,
and side pass through shots are not always a rapidly lethal as frontal shots passing lengthwise through the whole body, of the game from chest to hams and exiting like you occasionally can get if the games facing you, with a 44 mag or 445 dwsm or 500 S&W revolver

a few decent bullet mold options











 
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