10mm brass and other inquiries

[dlawson]

I am in the market for a new handgun. I am an avid rifle reloader and love this sport as much as many of you fellows. I currently reload for several rifle rounds and a few pistol rounds. With income tax in the near future I am seeking a new pistol for my arsenal. 10mm from my research is what I prefer, but I have a few questions. 1) How much trouble am I going to have getting brass? 2) If it is harder to get brass and more hassle, is it worth it compared to the 40 in your opinion?
Please feel free to express your opinions on these questions and other issues you have encountered with your 10. I am looking in particular at a full size glock 20 which I will have to purchase new, where I could get a glock 40 used for approximately 125 cheaper, but practically brand new hardly fired. I cant find a 10mm used. This gun will be used for mainly target shooting and lying on my night stand at night. I am not concerned with recoil because I actually enjoy it so that's not an issue. Other than that please give me your input. I want to note that I have never shot a 10 as none of my buddies I shoot with own one, but like I said, I love recoil so that's not an issue. I would like to hear opinions from 10mm owners please. thanks

[Mike / Tx]

I have had one for quite a few years. Save the looking around and just get over to Starline and pick you up a 500ct box or more if you can afford it and be done with it. It's the best you will find and IF you can keep up with them the 500 will last you years.

The biggest thing you will find with the 10 is it chunks those cases into the next county. Loaded to 10mm levels it isn't like those nicely behaved 40's or 45's you see folks shooting which pile up their cases in a neat circle 3" right of where they are shooting. Yours loaded to spec will be landing around 13-20' to your right, in front and behind you. Don't get me wrong, I have shot literally thousands of rounds through mine and recovered "most" of the cases. It is simply the nature of the beast they throw some brass.

As for bullets, to be honest I tried to buy in bulk for practice. As such I found that the bulk Winchester 180gr JHP shot almost as well as my go to Gold Dot load does. Close enough to use for full power practice loads anyway. I tried everything from the 135's up through the 200's and felt that the 180's gave me a compromise of velocity and weight that worked out the best. I might not have the heaviest, but I have very close to it running faster to make up for it, in other words. I use(d) mine for hunting for a number of years and wanted something which shot flat out to 50-75yds and had enough weight to penetrate once it got there. I get that with the 180 GD and have had no issues what so ever.

I cannot give any info on cast as this is one pistol I have not used it in "yet'. I have jumped into a couple of group buys to give it a whirl though so who knows.

Primers, well i have them all, but the 10 gets Winchester LP always. They are a touch hotter and have never had an issue lighting off any charge weight I have assembled in any weather I have used them in. Others might disagree but you shouldn't have issues in any manor with them.

Powders, my personal preferences are Accurate hands down. I use #5 for weights between 135 and 155, #7 from there to 175, and #9 for anything above. I simply find it is the cleanest burning, easiest measuring, and lowest flash powder for my uses. It will get you where you need to be in most cases without stretching your cases into weird shapes. My chamber is fully supported but even so there were a few times when I tried some of the more recommended powders that my cases were a bit bulged, which I know was from higher pressures and why I stuck with the Accurate. I get the same velocities with no case issues. Well other than the Easter egg hunt when I go to pick them up.

Your uses, your loads, and what you expect out of it for accuracy will also guide you along. Everything I mention here works fine in my pistol, but you may have a 180* idea of what you want to accomplish. That said if you go the top end load route as a 10mm should be, then you will be fine with any of the Accurate powders listed for the weights I described. Follow your manual and you will be fine.

[hartcreek]

Why settle on a 10mm? If you are deciding to man up and get a magnum auto why settle for a 10mm when you could buy something better? There was a magnum post a while back you could pull it up and see what the guys posted.

I reallly like my Auto Mag. Cutting cases down is not really that big a deal.

Now there are more alternatives.

[steve4102]

With the shortages and hording over the past few years 10mm brass has been hit and miss, but so has everything else.

Starline has 10mm brass in stock now.

https://www.starlinebrass.com/order-.../all-cases.cfm

[RickB]

I agree with most of what Mike/Tx said.
I bought 500 cases, fifteen years ago, and because I pick it up, and because friends know I have a 10 and they pick it up for me, I probably have 1000 cases, now. Tracking-down every piece can be difficult, as it does eject 15-20 feet.
The vast majority of the loads I shoot are what I call "Cooper's Intent" loads; Jeff Cooper wanted a 200gr bullet with an impact velocity of 1000fps, which translates to a muzzle velocity of 1050-1075. Such loads are easy to shoot, easy on the gun, etc.
For such loads, you can use just about any powder that isn't "fast"; I've used Unique, N340, N350, and Power Pistol.
If you do want to shoot a lot of hot/heavy loads, then you are going to have to buy more brass; loaded to mid-range levels it will last forever, but if you are going nuclear, then you can't get many loadings from each case.
I shoot mostly coated "black bullets", with no issues. For hot loads, I go jacketed, though plated or coated bullets should be good to 1200fps.

[Clark]

The 10mm may be longer and higher pressure SAAMI registered, but with a much stronger case head, the 40sw can produce more power in reality.

Many 10mm handguns have a higher mass slide. I have found the most power possible is with a 10mm handgun with a 40sw after market barrel with good case support. Think KKM.

Because of these facts, and the market place making 40sw brass much cheaper, 10mm discussion on a reloading forum is something of a character check. Are you dealing with a procedures man or a get-r-done man?

[Sevens]

Some good thoughts already laid down and Clark has also done the kind of testing that reveals a mostly "unknown" secret of the 10mm. If you are willing to play outside of the lines, and you are focused on a Glock for 10mm, then an aftermarket .40 S&W barrel for the 10mm Glock is going to put you in a really good position.

I have been loading 10mm since 1992 and there are a few things that haven't changed. You simply don't "find" 10mm brass, at least often enough or in any volume worth noting. Also, 10mm brass ejects a country mile and anything short of a physical brass catcher strapped to your hand or erected somewhere near simply won't address this issue. You can attempt to monkey with recoil springs but understand that every action has an equal and opposite reaction... you will first be monkeying with your feed cycle (you may certainly succeed) but you will also be monkeying outside the design spec for that slide to be slamming violently back in to battery. I have even seen a 1911 10mm where my buddy put in a harsh-angle firing pin stop in hopes of reducing the travel of the brass but it still lofts the stuff as far as any handgun that either of us run... EXCEPT for my Smith & Wesson 1006, which is the grand champion.

With all that said, 10mm is good and fun and certainly worth exploring so long as you know going in that it is a brass eater. Or more accurately, it is a brass loser, the stuff simply gets lost and especially to most handloaders (who are frugal by nature), it is a difficult pill to swallow.

Enter the .40 S&W, but not a .40 S&W pistol, but a 10mm pistol running a .40 S&W barrel. As Clark eluded to, the .40cal runs a small pistol primer and it leaves more meat in the case head that simply isn't there with the LP-constructed 10mm brass. And though the 10mm does run a slightly higher PSI max according to SAAMI, folks must understand that the difference between .40 S&W and 10mm is NOT like the difference between .38 Special and .357 Magnum.

10mm, depending on the ammo, is a couple hundred FPS beyond .40 S&W. More when a handloader is taking 10mm to it's limits. With factory ammo, the lines are blurred completely.

Bottom line? With a proper .40 S&W barrel, a Glock 10mm pistol can be run very hard and the brass you chuck is the second most plentiful brass on this planet and can be found in bucketfuls. I think I have a tree in the corner of my back yard that spawns .40 brass twice a year.

My Glock 29 with a .40cal KKM barrel runs .40 S&W ammo flawlessly, accurately and is a gun that I run HARD with complete success.