E-Mail 'Springfield Armory XDm 10mm, by Pat Cascio' To A Friend

23 Comments

1. Good read. However, I’ll stick to the 45ACP as its been eliminating bad guys since 1911. I do wonder, could it be a sufficient round for bear country?

   1. Where I live in NC we have a black bear problem. I have had the critters come onto my front porch, backyard, and even walk up to me within 10 yards before I knew they were there. When walking out in the neighborhood I carry my .45ACP and two extra magazines loaded with ball ammo. I feel HP’s would expand too quickly and would not get the penetration on bears like ball ammo would. I do not feel under gunned carrying my .45 around black bears. However, if I was in grizzly bear country I would want a pistol in at least .44 mag.

   2. 45 Acp is a relic. 10mm is superior in all forms.

2. I’m quite excited about this gun, however, is this a gun you would stock for the long-haul or is it a fun gun? I think there’s some logic in stocking a common caliber, I don’t think you’re going to find much 10 mm laying around after STHF.

3. Nice but still more than I would ever need in a hand gun. My .45 1911 will stop a bad guy just as quick.

4. Sorry you had a crappy 1006. I LOVED mine – carried it daily for 12 years, in fact. I only wish I had it back.

   Ate those hot Norma 170gr. JHP’s without a hiccup in the early days – back when that was the ONLY defensive ammo you could get for them. The only thing I ever change on mine was… empty mags.

5. The 10mm “hot ” loads are similar to a .357 Mag ballistically , but do not achieve the ballistics of even a reduced load .41 mag. If you were going to hunt with a handgun, or carry for bear protection, then simply carry a .44 mag revolver…Never a mis-feed, stovepipe, dropped magazine, etc…and you won’t get more than 6 shots at a charging bear anyway.

6. As an aside, I have the Springfield XDm 4.5″ pistol (chambered in .45 ACP) and am VERY happy with it. I’ve let a few friends shoot it at the range and they’ve all been impressed with the accuracy and how easy it is to handle and shoot.

7. Anyone else remember the “Sonny Crockett” Bren Ten?

   10mm is about the limit in a conventional semi auto pistol. Beyond that, you are gonna need to beef up the frame like a Wildey’s or a Desert Eagle.

   What I would really like is a carbine in 10mm that takes 10mm pistol mags. Something like my Keltec Sub 2000 does in 40 S&W with Glock mags. In 10mm, the carbine would be able to wring out enough extra oomph from the round to meet or beat a 41 mag revolver. That would be a darned good black bear combo.

   There is no pistol caliber cartridge sufficient for consistently defending against charging griz. No, not even the 460 or 500 mags. If you think there is, you haven’t really lived in griz territory and dealt with them.

   1. About the carbine, I’ve lately been wondering why someone doesn’t make a semi-auto clone of the 10mm MP5 that H&K made for the feds years ago. Loaded properly, 10mm might make a decent PDW cartridge. I’d trust it over 5.7, anyway. And with the MP5, you’d get a 30-round mag, instead of the ten or so the Hi-Point carbine has.

   2. Right, Benjamin. In my Alaska days, the general idea most folks had was to save the last .44 mag bullet for yourself if you couldn’t stop a grizzly or brown bear with the other 5.. So my preferred choice was a Marlin 45.70 lever action or secondarily a 12 ga shotgun alternating 00 buck and slugs. However, I have seen bear spray used even more effectively than bullets and no life lost.

      From a human self defense perspective, a 10mm is not necessary. My understanding is that with the new loads developed for the 9mm that the FBI has gone back to that caliber.

   3. I suspect you will see a Ruger PC carbine in 10mm announced at the SHOT show this year.

      1. .45ACP would be nice too!

   4. The purpose of PCCs is to shoot the same ammo as your sidearm (ideally same mags), more accurately than you can shoot your sidearm — or for subsonic reasons (IMO pistol self-defense projectiles are more reliable and more proven than say .300 blk projectiles at subsonic velocities).

      Otherwise, you’re always ahead to go w/ a rifle.

      10mm in a pistol caliber carbine is nothing more than a novelty.

   5. Benjamin

      Hi point makes the 995 in 10 mm now. This is their carbine. I had one in 9mm. Looked cheap but function was very good. The worse thing: cheap and bad trigger. Lots of creep and never knew when it would break.

8. Pat

   Good article. Was wondering how that XDM 10mm was. I have a Sig 220 Elite in 10mm. Have to say it also rocks the 10. Very heavy so it mitigates the recoil of my hot 10mm handloads very well. If this pistol was around a year ago I might have gotten it instead. But even though it was ridiculously expensive ( 1169.00 ) I am ok with the purchase. Indulgence is sometimes good.

9. Have had Glock 20’s and 29’s for a long time now. 10mm has it’s advantages, especially if dealing with a “mixed threat”situation such as an automobile shielded adversary. For bear, take a look at Underwood ammo using a Lehigh projectile, an Alaska hiker took down a coastal Brown Bear with a Glock 20 using Underwood 180 grain machined copper projos..Better to have a 450 Alaskan lever action, or better yet an anti -tank rifle for a Grizzley, but according to Anchorage FFLs the Underwood ammo is a game-changer for Bear and the 10mm. I will be following this one.

10. I wish springfield hadn’t sold out Illinois gun owners and dealers with the dealer license law. I like SA and RRA but I won’t be buying from either of them.

11. A shooter owns everything his bullet lands on. Put another way, a lawyer is attached to every round you fire in a public setting, and he’s not your lawyer. With the 10mm, the risk of shoot-throughs is much higher. Think of having to use your defensive pistol in a store, on a bus, in an amusement park (where gang bangers are thick).
    Pistol carbines…..are pistols, as noted by some commenters already. They’re more accurate, but still pistols where the rubber meets the road.
    While a guide successfully killed a 450 lb Grizzly with a 9mm S&W using Buffalo Bore ammo, it’s not the way I’m going to bet. We don’t get do-overs with bears, who think you are crunchy and taste good. Some bears shrug off multiple hits from .30-06s. You don’t get to know which bear you get to tangle with.
    I can shoot a Nine, Forty, or .45 ACP without ear protection on occasion, even in a building….if I have to. The report of a full-house 10mm, outside, without protection is like having ice picks stuck into your ears. It might be preferable to be deafened to being eaten by a bear, but I don’t encounter bears often….so the .40 S&W serves me well. I can throw a 9mm conversion barrel in the Glock for versatility when needed. My 1911s have gathered dust since Glock came into my world. Lighter, more durable, easier to maintain, double the ammunition reserve, more tolerant to filth (I get dirty at work) and sawdust, and reliable.
    A friend with an XD came to me with his slide locked to the rear….HARD. We couldn’t get it to move into battery. A call to SA revealed the solution: a very hard blow from a plastic mallet to the slide. That solved the problem, but having the thought of this stoppage occurring at a bad time is a consideration. I don’t use that kind of force on a gun without first consulting the manufacturer. We see XDs in class sometimes and for the most part, they run OK.
    Nice write-up on the Ten. If I lived where some of the readers do, I might have one!

    1. Bears are not like other North American game. The heavy muscles and large bones are much more like African big game. Ballistic tests that I have seen indicate that when hunting bears, especially large bears like a grizzly or polar bear calls for African big game strategies. High speed rounds like the .308, .30-06, and .300 Winchester Magnum tend to fragment on impact because bears are built so tough. Same problem hunting Rhinos, Elephants, and even Water Buffalo. The ballistics tests I referred to above were specifically about bears. The three calibers above did not penetrate more than 1″ into bear muscle before coming apart. A .45-70 round on the other hand plowed right through more than 4″ of bear muscle.

       When my father hunted the large and dangerous game in Africa he used his .416 Weatherby Magnum. It is also what he used for his Polar Bear. His typical load was a 400gr monolithic solid bullet that launches at 2,700fps. The monolithic solid is a very hard, very strong projectile. His .416 is ported but it still has quite the recoil (6,400 foot pounds of muzzle energy). His bull elephant, Rhino, American Bison, European Bison, Water Buffalo, lion, and polar bear were all one shot kills with the .416. The right tool for the job makes all the difference. If I go bear hunting I will borrow his .45-70 for black bears and the mighty .416 for the big bears.

       There is an entertaining bear story in the Lewis and Clark journals. When they were preparing to head west from St. Louis they stopped at a large Indian encampment west of St Louis to ask about what was “out there”. The Indians told them about the vast herds of game they would see and the natural wonders. Then the Indians cautioned them about a particular kind of bear (turned out to be the Grizzly). The Indians told them “If you see one of these bears, just keep away from it”. The group responded “We have guns, it will be no problem”. The Indians said “With this bear it does not matter if you have guns”.

       Undeterred the expedition headed west. When they encountered their first Grizzly it took hits from 13 long guns before it finally collapsed and died. The last man to shoot it was able to reach his rifle out and touch it to the dead bear. He was that close to being killed by it. That bear encounter changed their view of the mighty grizzly.

12. Love 10mm have a glock 20 gen 4 myself. It’s a blast to shoot and it’s my edc. I open carry at church and never take it off unless I am sleeping.

    I think it’s a excellent modem caliber to take over the 45 acp. Which it out performs in everyway.

13. Josh,quit sleeping in church!

    1. Haha never have ….

Comments are closed.