Somebody at the gun club bought a 10mm and keeps leaving his brass on the ground, so I keep picking it up. Above is my haul form yesterday. The coffee can is gradually filling up, and since I already have bullets and dies (I load .40), I think I need to get something to feed this stuff to. I don't think my wife fully appreciates my logic here, but it makes perfect sense to me!

I've been thinking about a 10mm semi-auto as a backpacking option for a while, I just haven't been able to find anything that checks all my boxes. I'd love to hear some suggestions from the membership, especially if you have any experience with more obscure platforms. Light weight and compactness are a priority, and DA/SA is a plus...sell me on something!

It seems like the only logical response is to buy a 10mm delivery system. My wife uses the same logic with coupons on things we don’t need.

Da/Sa being on the menu I'd look at the P220 Legion or the EAA Witness. Both are of great quality.
Anything else the answer will be the Glock 20.

quote:

Originally posted by Ryanp225:
Da/Sa being on the menu I'd look at the P220 Legion or the EAA Witness. Both are of great quality.
Anything else the answer will be the Glock 20.

The Witness is interesting. What do you know about the Polymer version? Don't get me wrong, I love the P220, but it's big, heavy, and expensive for my purposes.

I'm down to three after trading my cousin on of the P220's.

Thinking I'll add an X-ten at some point when I come across a good deal.

It's a very fun round and quite versatile.

Great cartridge.

Not DA/SA, but on my list, the Smith & Wesson Performance Center M&P 2.0.

The Glock 40 has been my favorite so far. Glock 29 as well. The 40 is accurate, recoil very manageable.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
I've been thinking about a 10mm semi-auto as a backpacking option for a while, ... Light weight and compactness are a priority, ...

Those were a buddy's parameters, so he bought a G29.

It was... shootable. That's about the best I can say about it. Full-load 10mm rounds out of it (e.g.: Underwood's 200 and 220 gr. hard-cast flat-nose [1250 fps/694 ft-lbs and 1200 fps/704 ft-lbs, respectively]) were a handful.

My 10mm Kimber Custom II GFO, OTOH, is quite pleasant to shoot with such rounds.

The G29 was challenging to shoot well, particularly on follow-up shots. My 10mm Kimber I can handle about as quickly & easily as I can my 1911s in .45 ACP.

As one would expect: The Kimber, being an all-steel Gov't 1911, is quite heavy with a full magazine.

Somewhere between those two extremes is where I think I'd be aiming.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:

quote:

Originally posted by Ryanp225:
Da/Sa being on the menu I'd look at the P220 Legion or the EAA Witness. Both are of great quality.
Anything else the answer will be the Glock 20.

The Witness is interesting. What do you know about the Polymer version? Don't get me wrong, I love the P220, but it's big, heavy, and expensive for my purposes.

I only have shot their competition pistols and not the polymer so I can't really speak to those. If light and cheap and reliable are your top priorities then a striker fired platform will have more viable options. All of the good da/sa pistols will be steel and more expensive.

It’s funny how our brains can vibrantly carve out justifications for “need”, isn’t it. . I have “needed” so very many of them.


All that said I was actually rather shocked how shootable a Glock 29 really is. It handles 10mm far better then it has any right to IMO. Not lady physics will not be denied of course so running full house butt stomping loads will still be “energetic” to be sure but the Glocks do handle 10mm rather well as far as I am concerned.

I’m not a 10mm guy though so other than running several different 10mms over the years I’ve never owned a 10mm so YMMV.

10mm is a great flat shooting round with punch. Ruger 1911 in 10mm a fits into my world. Woods gun that does well in rain is the Glock 29.

I was able to find a used 2011 in 10mm.

My other 10mm pistols are a Kimber Custom Eclipse II and a Glock 40 MOS.

Let us know what you decide.

I've shot a G29 and don't mind it. I don't particularly care for how thick it is, the polygonal rifling, or the unsupported chamber (doesn't really lend itself to reloading).

I've tried the S&W M&P, too, and while the example I used shot ok, the trigger was embarrassingly bad. 2000Z71's experience with his has also given me pause.

My brother recently picked up a Rock Island 1911 in 10mm. It's just the basic GI-style model with rudimentary sights, but it shoots pretty well. I don't really want SAO for my application, though, and being a 1911 it's not exactly light.

This hits home, . I have a buddy I bounce things off of that are “needed”. He jokes that I could justify buying a dead horse.

quote:

Originally posted by cslinger:
It’s funny how our brains can vibrantly carve out justifications for “need”, isn’t it. . I have “needed” so very many of them.

You have the brass, you'd be wasting money NOT buying one.

Besides, I'm pretty sure that's the rules.

^ Exactly!

I love the caliber and have owned the S&W 1006,1066, 1086. The 1086 had the best trigger even being DAO. I had an all steel EAA Witness that was handled the recoil best but trigger sucked. Gen 2 and 3 G20 were reliable but Gen3 G29 was a jamamatic and I couldn’t figure out why. XDM 4.5 is reliable like a G20. I shot 40sw out of the Glocks and XDM reliably as well.

Not sure if I can recommend anything that checks all of your boxes.

However, I can recommend something NOT to buy, a 4" Smith M&P 2.0 in 10mm. I really want to like the gun and have it be reliable which is why I totally haven't given up on it yet. One last thing to try is my discovery of .40 S&W magazine followers before it gets chucked into Prince William Sound.

My Sig 320 X Ten has been flawless in shooting. Comfortable, soaks up recoil and I shoot it well. It's not small, it's not light and it's not DA/SA. Carrying in chest holster works out really well. I've also got a Dan Wesson Razorback 1911 in 10mm that I love. Again; not lightweight, small or DA/SA but it shoots really well. Only caveat being recoil springs, it needs a heavy spring to function correctly with hot 10mm loads and I change it once a year. Then there's my Ruger GP100 3" in 10mm. At least it gives you DA with the option of cocking the hammer for SA. . Seriously, I really like the Ruger, it's kind of been my default for when I don't feel like carrying a 4" barreled N-Frame Smith or one of my 10mm autoloaders.

You probably need 2, what’s a pistol without a PCC.



Both are light and compact compared to a Gatling gun. It’s all about perspective.

A buddy of mine has the 3" gp100, and it really is a great gun. But I've already got some good revolver options and kind of want this one to be a semi-auto. That's the primary appeal of the 10mm to me.

Otto, I love that 220. The P220/P245 may be my favorite Sig, and if I end up just buying a 10mm to have a 10mm, the P220 Legion will probably be it. But a full-size, steel-framed service pistol is kind the opposite thing I need for my application. Maybe I just need to give up on having a purpose and just accept that I want it !

Colt Delta Elite