The 10mm Auto (10x25mm, official C.I.P. nomenclature 10 mm Auto) is a semi-automatic pistol cartridge developed by Jeff Cooper introduced in 1983 for the Bren Ten pistol. It was initially produced by ammunition manufacturer FFV Norma AB of Åmotfors, Sweden.
Although it was selected by the FBI for use in the field, their Firearms Training Unit "concluded that its recoil was excessive in terms of training for average agent/police officer competency of use and qualification," and the pistols that chambered it were too large for some small-handed individuals. These issues led to the creation and eventual adoption of a shortened version of the 10 mm that would evolve into what is today the .40 S&W.
Although respected for its performance and versatility, the 10 mm never attained the mainstream success of its downgraded variant—the .40 S&W. It is considered a niche cartridge, with a small but enthusiastic group of supporters.
History
The 10 mm Auto cartridge was championed by famous firearms expert Jeff Cooper. It was designed to be a medium velocity pistol cartridge with better external ballistics (i.e., flatter trajectory, greater range) than the .45 ACP and greater stopping power than the 9x19mm Parabellum. When Norma designed the cartridge, at the behest of Dornaus & Dixon for their Bren Ten pistol (a strengthened variant of the CZ-75), they decided to increase the power over Cooper's original concept. The resulting cartridge, introduced in 1983, is very powerful, packing the flat trajectory and high energy of a magnum revolver cartridge into a relatively short, rimless cartridge for an automatic pistol.
The cartridge has failed to attain the same level of popularity as the 9x19mm Parabellum, .45 ACP, and the .40 S&W cartridges. This may be explained by the fact that full-powered 10mm Auto loads generate significantly more recoil and muzzle blast compared to most other common handgun cartridges. Additionally, the ballistics of milder 10mm Auto loads can be duplicated in smaller guns using the less expensive .40 S&W cartridge.
The 10 mm Auto earned a reputation for battering guns early on, largely because manufacturers attempted to simply rechamber a .45 ACP design for the 10 mm Auto. The .45 ACP works at a much lower pressure and velocity, and the frame and slide designed to handle the .45 ACP cannot handle the greatly increased forces of a 10 mm Auto without substantial strengthening. Later guns, such as the Glock Model 20, Glock 29 and the Smith & Wesson 1006, were built around the cartridge to help increase durability and reliability.
Another issue with early acceptance was the result of manufacturing problems with the Bren Ten. The contractor who was to manufacture the magazines was unable to deliverer them on time, and as such, many early Bren Tens were shipped to dealers and customers without magazines. The relatively high price of the Bren Ten compared to other pistols (MSRP in 1986 was US$500) also contributed, and the company ceased operations in 1986, after only three years of manufacture. Had not Colt made the rather surprising decision to bring out their Delta Elite pistol, a 10mm Auto version of the Government Model, in 1987, the cartridge might have sunk into obsolescence, an obscure footnote in firearms history.
Thanks to media exposure (primarily in the television series Miami Vice), demand for the Bren Ten increased after production ceased. In the five years after production ceased, prices on the standard model rose to in excess of US$1400, and original Bren magazines were selling for over US$150 (Blue Book of Gun Values, S. P. Fjestad, 13th edition, 1992).
The FBI briefly field tested the 10mm Auto in a 1911 frame platform as well as a 1928 Thompson type sub-machine gun before adopting the 10mm Auto round in the late 1980s along with the S&W model 1076 (a short barreled version of the 1026 with a frame-mounted decocker). During testing of a new service caliber, the FBI concluded that the full power of the load would result in undesirable recoil. The FBI then submitted a requirement for a reduced-recoil loading. This later became known as the "10 Lite", or "10 mm FBI" load. Pistol reliability problems increased with this lighter load and Smith and Wesson saw this as an invitation to create something new: a shortened version of the 10 mm. This new round was called the .40 Smith and Wesson. The .40 S&W would function in a 9 mm-sized pistol; the advantage was that smaller-handed shooters could now have a 9 mm-sized gun with near-10 mm performance. The .40 S&W has become the most popular handgun caliber among law enforcement agencies in the US, while the 10mm Auto has all but disappeared outside the hands of the hobbyist. Colt, Dan Wesson Firearms, Glock, Kimber Manufacturing, Nighthawk Custom, Wilson Combat, Smith & Wesson, STI International and Tanfoglio are some of the few manufacturers that offer handguns in 10mm Auto.
The 10 mm outperforms the .40 S&W by 200-250 ft/s for similar bullet weights when using available full power loads, as opposed to the "10mm FBI" level loads still found in some ammunition catalogs. This is due to the 10mm Auto's higher SAAMI pressure rating of 37,500 psi, as opposed to 35,000 psi for the .40 S&W, and the larger case capacity, which allows the use of heavier bullets and more smokeless powder.
Since its introduction, the 10mm Auto has had a reputation for accuracy which the shorter cartridge seems unable to match. Recently, it has had a small resurgence in popularity, but ammunition can still be more expensive and harder to find than the common .40 S&W. Most avid 10 mm shooters today are handloading, because the price of factory-loaded ammunition may go as high as US$37 for 25 rounds. Companies such as Remington and DoubleTap Ammunition have begun offering full power 10mm Auto loads in "reasonable" price ranges ($39–$43 for 50 rounds, with one exception of specialty rounds at $60 a box). Factory reloads are still being produced, and are carried by popular shooting ranges.
Cartridge dimensions
The 10mm Auto has 1.56 ml (24 grains H 2 O ) cartridge case capacity.
10mm Auto maximum C.I.P. cartridge dimensions . All sizes in millimeters (mm).
The common rifling twist rate for this cartridge is 381 mm (1 in 15 in), 5 grooves, Ø lands = 9.91 mm, Ø grooves = 10.16 mm, and land width = 4.47 mm. A large pistol primer is used.
C.I.P. guidelines indicate a maximum pressure of 230 MPa (33,358 psi). In C.I.P. regulated countries, every pistol/cartridge combo is required to be proofed at 130% of this maximum C.I.P. pressure to certify for sale to consumers.
The SAAMI pressure limit for the 10mm Auto is set at 258.55 MPa (37,500 psi).
Performance
The 10mm Auto falls between the .357 Magnum and the .41 Magnum in muzzle energy for popular loadings. With certain JHP bullets, these energy levels may produce an effect known as hydrostatic shock in living targets. The existence of this phenomenon has been questioned, however.
The cartridge is considered to be high-velocity, giving it a less-curved flight path and less drop or rise above point of aim ("flat-shooting") relative to other handgun cartridges. In its lighter loadings, the 10mm Auto is an exact duplicate of the .40 S&W cartridge. More powerful loadings can equal or exceed the performance of the .357 Magnum, and exceeds .45 ACP performance for equivalent bullet weights.
Some commercial loadings are as follows:
- .357 Mag: 584 ft·lbf (792 J) for 125 gr (8.1 g) @ 1,450 ft/s (440 m/s)
- 10 mm: 750 ft·lbf (1,020 J) for 200 gr (13 g) @ 1,300 ft/s (400 m/s)
- .41 Mag: 788 ft·lbf (1,068 J) for 210 gr (14 g) @ 1,300 ft/s (400 m/s)
The 10 mm load given is about maximum for SAAMI established pressure levels, while the .357 and especially the .41 Magnums are commonly handloaded to significantly higher levels than these samples. Recoil energy of full-power loads is also comparable, being 9.4, 12.4, and 15.6 ft·lbf (21.2 J) respectively for these loads (computed using the same powder and weight of gun). The 10mm Auto may be used for deer or other medium game at short range.
Most 10 mm handguns are not designed for long range shooting often desired in hunting; a few revolvers (using half-moon clips to adapt the cartridge) are made in this chambering, and offer another choice for hunters. Much currently manufactured 10 mm ammunition is closer in performance to the "FBI load" than the full power 10 mm; these still offer sufficient power for defense applications, yet their recoil is more comparable to the .45 ACP in similar guns. A few smaller companies offer full-power ammunition for th
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