Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 10 mm for Deer Hunting

That also depends largely on the revolver and factors such as the cylinder gap. I have seen plenty of examples of .44 Mags that do not lose a whole lot of velocity when compared to 6-inch models.

I use 10mm's....have a couple of them. Yes, they would do just
fine for deer. Not my first choice, but I would try it.
I prefer my .44's......but 10mm is a formidable weapon....just
ask Sonny Crockett...

I have seen 4" revolvers chrono faster than 6" revolvers on the same day with the same ammo. I have also seen them chrono nearly the same speed, it all depends on the ammo and the individual revolvers being used.
The Hydro Shock loads by Federal have never been much over 1200 FPS loads and are not top end 44 mag loads.


Check this link

http://www.ballistics101.com/44_magnum.php

I love my 10mm but to say it is the same or close to 41 mag performance is silly.

One thing that can be said for the G20 packing 15 rd. clips of some hot stuff. For just a woods buming gun I really don't think it can be beat. I know a little off the subject. But 30 rds., 2 15 rd. clips,of some pretty hot 180gr. anyflavor in a super light carry package is kinda nice. Especially when your max. your vel. out with 6 inch KKM barrel.

And while I am thinking about it. I know and most eveyone on here knows it is the 1st shot that counts. I have reviewed countless video clips of old timey wheel gun hunters, and one claim that was contstantly made by them almost without exception was when hunting with a handgun, "They preferred to get as many shots off as possible when using a handgun, of course after that first well place shot" Of course this was pre polymer guns with rounds that could be considered "Deer rounds"
And this to was pretty much before scoped pistols became the norm. Iron sights, and scoped hand guns 2 different animals. I have had bucks checking scrapes that I could not get on with my big 2x scoped ruger .454. While I am almost certain if I had iron sighted 10, it would have been no problem. Scoped hand guns for me personally are out, eye relief just to critical for any type of moving game. Now if your in a blind waiting on something to come into a particular area that may be different.

Thank you for pointing out the obvious. I understand that but one can only assume that when you say "Looks like the 10mm is at or near the top of the heap when compared to any revolver caliber with a 4" barrel", that you are looking at energy figures.

Maybe for a Glockophile but I'd rather have something with sights and a trigger more conducive to accurate shooting beyond 15yds.

Granted 1911 platform can offer a much more refined trigger. But if you work with a Glock trigger enough, it is no problem to reach out farther then you think.

This group was shot of a bench rest at a measured 35 yds.

Yesterday at the range I shot several coffee saucer sized groups seated resting of my knees at a measured 70 yds. So, yes it can be accomplished with some practice.

Sights are easily changed, triggers can be manipulated for a better result also. I'm not a "Glockophile" but after a few changes I am very surprised by how well I shoot my G20 with decent ammunition.

I shot Glocks for 15yrs, you're not going to tell me anything I don't already know.

Not a glockophil either.As a matter of fact that is the only one I have. I have shot them for 20 years, they are kinda ugly in my opinion, but they do have a niche that many shooters capitalize on.

j2dogs,

VERY good shooting there!

One thing that I think people overlook about the 10mm is its of shootability. Folks who do not shoot handguns a great deal can, IMO, do better with the relatively modest recoil of the big 10 than they would be able to a ccomplish with, say, a 44 Magnum shooting full house ammo. Much the way a shooter who does not practice a lot will shoot a 243 far better than a 30/06 in many cases.

Part of that equation is how much better a Glock 20 or a 1911 in 10mm handles and distributes recoil VS a traditional revolver.
I, myself do not get out to shoot nearly as much as I used to but I can get pretty respectable groups first shots downrange with my RIA 10mm and formerly my Delta Elite than I can my large bore revolver until I am practiced up again.

I have seen this with brand new shooters as well. Just some basic instruction on focusing on the sights VS the target, proper grip, and trigger control and they are shooting very respectfully with the 10 whereas with a 44 Magnum revolver the muzzle flip and noise and such make good concentration a bit harder in most cases.

Th e G-20 is a very good choice for a woods bumming gun for sure. If I did not have a 23 ounce 329PD, a Glock 20 could fill its role quite nicely. I have gone back and forth between the two several times now and niether is a poor choice by any stretch.

Of course not...

Friends,

No dog in this fight. That said, it has been my experience and observations that factory 44 mag from the major manufacturers is pretty mild. With proper loads, the 10mm is not even close to a hot .41 or .44.

That said, it still is an excellent performer and from a purely practical standpoint, the large framed Glock 10 mm with its high capacity and soft shooting characteristics is a stellar field gun. I've owned 3 G20s over the years and currently my G21 .45 is set up to also run 10mm.

Even long time Glock shooters, who often are cops who rarely shoot past the 25 yard line, are very often surprised at the accuracy that can be wrung out of the platform, with the exception of the .40 Glocks, which is a whole other subject.

.45 Glocks seem to be especially accurate and though it ruffles feathers, I've seen MANY factory 1911s that could not hang accuracy wise with a G 21 and the compact G30. In fact G30s are one of the true accuracy "sleepers" of the .45 world.

They will never hang with my Les Baer but my G21 will put a couple of my Colts to shame.

The 10mm versions on average don't seem to be quite the tack drivers that the .45s are but they are still substantially more accurate than most give credit for.

With that said, I would not hesitate to hunt deer sized game with a 10mm. Do I believe it's an equivalent of the .41 or .44? Not a chance.

However I do think highly of the large framed Glocks for field guns and consider them an excellent choice when needing a self defense sidearm in bear/wolf/mountain lion country.

In the morning I am heading elk hunting. I will be taking both a 5" .44 Magnum and a semi auto. This time however I am strongly debating skipping the usual Glock .45 and packing my Les Baer. The Glock is more practical but the Baer is an easy shooting Tack driver.....

Decisions decisions..

Cheers!

The 10mm is good performer especially out of a revolver. While I have 11 center-fire revolvers, I don't have a 41 magnum so I don't have first hand experience with them. However, my experience is that the 10mm is clearly more powerful than a 357 magnum (have 2 of those). A stout load out of the revolver will drive a 208 grain bullet over 1400 fps. In fact the velocity was for a bullet weighing and you can see there is no sign of pressure at this.

That round yields about 922 ft/lbs of energy from a 6.5" revolver and I can't think of any 357 mags above that, in fact, a lot of factory 41 mags don't claim that much power. My standard load is a 180 XTP at 1252 from the 1911 and it serves me well but more power is there if you need that and don't want to go to a different caliber. The 10mm is designed to operate at a higher pressure than the 357 or 41 mag so that helps it in performance. YMMV

Mackay,

Is the 21-to-20 conversion just a barrel and Mag?

Got a G29 for a song a few years back thinking I could just drop a G20 barrel in it and be deer legal in Tenn.: wrong!

In meantime got a 21SF that's not nearly accurate as my USP 45C, and converting it to 10mm has appeal.

Buffalo Bore Ammunition Ballistics
** Loads below specified 6.5" BBL **
Round Type Weight Muzzle Energy ft�lb Muzzle Velocity ft/sec.
41 Magnum HP-GC----265 -1072-------1350
41 Magnum JHP -------230- 1074-------1450
41 Magnum HCWC----170 -1028--------1650

I also have no dog in this fight - but I have never seen any load lose 100 fps per inch. Usually more like 30 to 50 fps.

I don't own a chrono so all I can go off of is BBTI. I guess I have all the dogs in the hunt (except the .41) since I own and use .44's, .357's, and a 10mm with barrels from 3" to 6.5". I just found it interesting the drastic difference between a 4" and 6.5" in a .44, and how close the listed loads were in .41/.44/10mm.

It was way closer than I thought, but as I have been informed emphatically by several posters that BBTI is doing one or more of the following: They are FOS / they cherry picked slow loads for everything but the 10mm / they made up data/or something. After all, it is not possible that the 10mm could be anywhere close to any of the magnum cartridges.

I am fixing to find out!!!!!I just picked up a new G20SF at the gun show today....I am not much of a Glock fan, but it just felt right when I picked it up.