45acp vs 10mm

This pistol will be a truck/hiking gun.

It’s going to be either a Glock 20 or 21. I love the blue label discounts and familiarity with the platform. However I have absolutely no experience at all with the 10mm round.

Just looking for a discussion on the pro and cons and if maybe I’m over looking something.

Ammo cost won’t be a big factor as this isn’t really a training pistol. I have a 19 as my EDC so I’ll stick with that for training purposes.

I’m leaning heavily towards the 10mm and will be renting one for some range time with it before making a purchase.

1 Like

Where are you hiking? What’s the largest predator you will encounter? .45 will work on dogs, coyotes, cougars, and even a small black bear. Anything bigger, I’d want 10mm. Since a 10mm, would have greater capacity in a pistol of the same size as a .45, I would probably opt for 10 mm.

2 Likes

North and northwest Arkansas so cougar, black bear and hogs primarily.

3 Likes

The wonderful .45 ACP as you know has been around for “Over 100 Years ?” The
10 mm has been, “Almost 40 Years ?” The 10 mm can go from 1100 FPS to over 1600 FPS
with an impressive impact of over 500 PSI. Like other ammo the smaller the grain size the faster. It take a good man to handle and be their best, your it, you make your choice.

2 Likes

The 10mm is hard on guns and hands. Have a bud with a Colt Delta Elite that the front rails are fractured on, mebby 5,000 rnds. It’s also insanely expensive to shoot. For weight vs. potential I’d think 40 S&W or .45 ACP in whatever poly frame you prefer. If you are worried about four legged critters I’d run the highest velocity ammo(lightest boolet weight), for two legged critters the heaviest bullet.

Cheers,

Craig6

3 Likes

I thought about this recently and was looking at the same thing. Only here we have big teethy critters, although not quite up to Alaska standards. I normally carry just standard 230gr ball.

You can get a good hard cast 250gr 45acp load that will be in the same ball park as the 10mm. Check the data and compare. I opted to just keep my 45acp guns and use the hard cast.

3 Likes

I love my G20 gen 4. I swapped out the OEM Barrel and replaced it with an Alpha Wolf by Lone Wolf Distributors and a Heavy tungsten guide rod/spring, Trijican XR HD night sights and mounted a Streamlight TLR-2G light and green laser combo. All these updates fit snug in a Gunfighters Inc chest rig. IMHO you just can’t go wrong with the 10mm auto. My pewpew is a tack driver. Highly recommend this set up.

1 Like

I shot 100 rounds the other day and am absolutely going with the 10mm. I’ll run as close as I can to my 9mm setup so all the muscle memory will be the same.

I have a very similar set up to what your using.

3 Likes

Loaded to their full potential, the 10mm outclasses the 45 Auto by quite a bit. While many “experts” have erroneously claimed that the 10mm is comparable to the 41 Magnum, in reality it compares much closer to the 357 Magnum when you compare most ballistic figures. Add in the fact that in comparably sized frames, you can load 2-3 more rounds of 10mm in a standard magazine versus the 45 Auto. Also, many manufacturers load what I call “10mm Lite”, which runs at roughly the same numbers as a standard 40 S&W, so you can practice with less recoil and pressure on the gun. To me, the 10mm is the way to go for nearly all “heavy pistol” options.

3 Likes

Yup. Companies like Underwood, and Buffalo bore load 10 mm, .357, and 44 mag to their full potential. 10, and .357 are almost identical, with the hottest .357 edging (ever so slightly) the 10 mm by a hair. And that hair is in the 800 ft/lbs of energy range. Big, stout guns required in that territory.

3 Likes

.45 or 10 mm, either is a good choice, though pound for pound, (so to speak), the 10 mm gives you more power and range in a firearm of the same or similar size as the .45 acp.

3 Likes