Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 10mm vs 38Super

...ok...plain.... But I took the medium solid trigger out as well as the flat mainspring housing...but they are safely stored away for the next owner.......







...serial number is 007...kinda hard to let that one go....

Bob

That one is a beauty Bob.

Yup, 007, just have em throw it in the box with you RJM, I would.

Nah, I just got first dibs...

The El Capitan was the 4th in the El Series from Lew Horton. There were 500 made in 1991/2. The first was the El Presidente and if you bought that one you had the right of first refusal for your serial number for the rest of the series. I walked into a shop in Connecticut one day about 2001 and they had taken in someones whole El collection...he has serial numbers 007 and 008. El Presidente 007 was $900 and 008 was $1000 as it had the $100 Colt letter with it. I bought 007 and one of my shooting partners bought the other. She sold it about three years later for $1300 and has regretted it ever since... The last two NIB ones I saw on GunBroker had "Reserve not met" bids over $8K. The last one I saw sell before that brought something like $6500...

The El Capitan is the only Officers ACP size slide model in .38 Super Colt has ever made. The frame is an all steel Combat Commander size...

And while a beautiful gun, it dosn't have the balance of a Commander...

Bob

Um, no. Top ends loads in a 5" 10MM run about 1175 fps with a 200 gr. projectile, for 610 ft.lb, energy.

Top loads for a 6".41 Mag revolver run about 1400 fps with a 210 gr projectile, for 914 ft.lb. energy.

The 10MM is more like a .357 Mag than a .41 Mag.

Would have to respectfully disagree when comparing apples to apples...

You have energy, bullet diameter and sectional density to consider....

.401 vs. .410...0.009 difference....9/100ths

SD:

.401"/200 grain/.178
.401"/220 grain/.195

.410"/210 grain/.178
.410"/230 grain/.195

A 6" N frame is way larger than a 5" 1911. A 4" is about the same size and has the same distance from the breechface to the muzzle giving a much fairer comparison. Average MV for a 210 factory round from a 4" .41 is 1250 fps...

From a 4" S&W 57:

Speer 210 Gold Dot/1185 fps

Federal Fusion 210 JHP/1280 fps

Remington 210 SP/1247 fps (1310 6" 57)

Federal 210 JHP/1266 fps (1350 6" 57)

Winchester 240 PT/1166 fps

Federal CastCore 250 HC/ 1080 fps

Buffalo Bore 230 Keith HC/1370 (factory 4" 657)


10mm Factory velocities that have been confirmed by their customers:

Underwood 200 grain HC/1250 fps

Underwood 220 grain HC/1200 fps

Buffalo Bore 220 HC/1200 fps


...and the difference is...little.

That said, the .41 Magnum does have far more potential than the 10mm... A 220 grain HC is about the limit that a 10mm can push from a 5" gun... I have 300 grain .41 loads that are doing 1275 from a 5.5" gun and a 250 HC going 1309 from a 4.25" FA 97...

But when comparing apples to apples the 10mm gives up little to an "equally" loaded .41 in the same size gun....

Bob

Is there anything you’d shoot with a 41 that you wouldn’t shoot with a 10mm?

Self-defense wise...with comparable loads...no. I would feel comfortable with either caliber in their respective firearms as in a 5" 1911/G20 or 4" 57/Redhawk with top end loads no matter where I was walking...including Alaska.

Hunting wise...maybe...

For anything that doesn't bite back on this continent, Dick has put several tons of meat in the freezer with a 230 grain HC .41 with a MV around 1200 fps. What is the difference going to be between that and a .401 caliber with a 220 grain bullet with the same MV...little.

For things that bite back...cougar, coyote, wolves, big hogs...would feel fine with either. Black bear...come in all sizes from a 100 pound cub to a 800 giant....two 600+ pound blacks have been taken within a couple of miles of the cabin where I hunt in Pennsylvania in the last 10 years. I saw the 608 pounder....he was the size of a cow when hung up... When we are talking 500+ pound bears, black or brown, I like at least 280 grains of lead. Would I rather have a .480/.475...you bet...but I can't shoot either well whereas I can drop a 300 grain .41 into a 8" group at 100 yards...so .41 is what I have...

...very old list... One thing it really doesn't say is that probably 99% of those loads were shot through Supers with ramped barrels. Try most of the MAJOR rated loads in a standard Colt 1911 and you will end up with "SuperFace" which is little specks of lead, brass and powder added to your complexion when the casehead ruptures....been there and done that.

The real answer to this question is the 357 Sig.

Yep, just about any bullet profile that won't feed in a 10mm.....

If you add the 9x25Dillon to that list it leaves the 38 Super running behind. Just saying. Cheers NC

The only "Big Game" I'd feel comfortable hunting with a 10 would be Whitetails. Certainly if a self-defense situation arose with a bear and a 10 was all I had I'd shoot him with it, but again, I wouldn't carry one for bear defense anywhere but places that I was very unlikely to see a bear and also where the bears were only small Black Bears. If there was any chance of a Grizzly or big Black Bear, I'd be armed with something more potent. If I thought the 44 Mag. was potent enough, then I doubt I'd shrink away from carrying the 41 Mag. in the same situation. I would rather have a heavily loaded 38-40 than a 10mm.

One place I'd feel comfortable with a 10 and dangerous game would be carrying one I was sure was reliable hunting Mountain Lions with hounds. Again, I'd want to know I wasn't encountering any big bears whilst doing so though and I can't think the 10 would be superior to any of the revolver rounds mentioned. I just wouldn't feel undergunned.

The 10mm has never interested me much and I just sold my only Super. I kinda like the Super but never bothered to load for it and stopping at the store for a few boxes of ammo was often a futile exercise.

This however could get me back in the Super game:

https://danwessonfirearms.com/product/guardian/

..beautiful gun, but I'd never own one only because of the frrontstrap checking.

" I would rather have a heavily loaded 38-40 than a 10mm."

i have one of those buckeye rugers with a 38wcf cylinder and a 10mm cylinder.
i have also a couple of 38wcf revolvers.
the bullets are the same.
but unless you have a speciality build 38wcf, never gonna reach the volocities of a 10mm

made me look up some loads:
10mm glock 200xtp 13grAANo9
reg barrel six inch barrel
1212 fps 1298
1211 1285
1218 1266
1213 1283
1224 1265

ran the same load in the ruger black hawk with the 10mm cycliner
1318fps
1302
1305
1290
1301
1295
Don't think I have seen a 38wcf doing those kinds of numbers.
i would also say in that ruger 10mm is in 41mag territory.