Help me pick a 10mm pistol!

[CyberSnow]

I understand from Fish & Game that grizzly tracks have been discovered within 20 miles of my place. I received a gift of 500 10mm target rounds and have decided to start carrying a 10mm. I typically fish alone, wading mid stream and while I have never seen anything but the butts of black bears I am going to start carrying something bigger than my 9mm. I will have it loaded with Buffalo Bore ammo and carried in a chest rig. I am in the market for a decent pistol without a match barrel that has an optic cut. It has to be extremely reliable and I have no real preference on make or model as long as it carries at least 6 rounds.

 

[DR505]

The 10mm is a great round, it has .357 magnum ballistics in an autoloading pistol. If you are going the 10mm route for grizzly repellent, do not limit yourself to six rounds. If you are happy with six, then get a more powerful caliber on the same size frame such as a .41 magnum, a .44 magnum, or a stout .45 Colt.

If going semi-auto, get a higher capacity pistol like a Glock 20 or similar.

I have two 10mms and enjoy them both (see photo). But in bear territory I carry a 265 grain Hard Cast LSWC in .41 magnum, or a 270 grain Hard Cast LSWC in a hot .45 Colt. Both are double action firearms.

 

[DR505]

Oh, and here is a quick table showing comparison energy levels of a few cartridges. The data was run with average velocity from a 4 inch barrel for a wide variety of factory full-power loads.

Cartridge	Bullet Weight	Muzzle Velocity	Energy (ft-lb)
.357 Magnum	180 gr	1400 fps	784 ft·lb.
10mm Auto	200 gr	1250 fps	694 ft·lb.
.41 Magnum	210 gr	1560 fps	1,135 ft·lb.

 

[CyberSnow]

The 10mm is a great round, it has .357 magnum ballistics in an autoloading pistol. If you are going the 10mm route for grizzly repellent, do not limit yourself to six rounds. If you are happy with six, then get a more powerful caliber on the same size frame such as a .41 magnum, a .44 magnum, or a stout .45 Colt.

If going semi-auto, get a higher capacity pistol like a Glock 20 or similar.

I have two 10mms and enjoy them both (see photo). But in bear territory I carry a 265 grain Hard Cast LSWC in .41 magnum, or a 270 grain Hard Cast LSWC in a hot .45 Colt. Both are double action firearms.

Interesting insight! I was chatting with the owner of Buffalo Bore Ammunition and he seemed to have a very similar opinion on 10mm pistols. He also pointed out that most 10mm pistols, (other than Glock), come with Match barrels which are not recommended for the higher powered rounds. While I trust a revolver and experience in the field has taught me that usually a predator incident is over in about 5 seconds and only a pack incident requires more than 6 rounds. I will try some of BB .45 rounds in my 2 appropriate handguns and see if there are any feed issues.

 

[DR505]

Here is another chart with comparative muzzle energies. When a bear is trying to chew on me, I'd rather have the best combination of controllability and energy. For me that is usually the heavy load .45 Colt, but not into Casull territory. I often carry a 5" S&W 25-9 "Model of 1989" revolver.

Overall I still prefer my .350 Remington Magnum chambered Remington 673 Guide Rifle. This rifle, and the Remington 600/660 (after which it was patterned) are favorites of Alaskan guides. My 250 grain Nosler Partitions have a muzzle velocity of just under 2,600 fps (3,600 ft/lbs ME) in a carbine sized rifle that is easy to carry and very fast to get into action.

 

[CyberSnow]

Here is another chart with comparative muzzle energies. When a bear is trying to chew on me, I'd rather have the best combination of controllability and energy. For me that is usually the heavy load .45 Colt, but not into Casull territory. I often carry a 5" S&W 25-9 "Model of 1989" revolver.

Overall I still prefer my .350 Remington Magnum chambered Remington 673 Guide Rifle. This rifle, and the Remington 600/660 (after which it was patterned) are favorites of Alaskan guides. My 250 grain Nosler Partitions have a muzzle velocity of just under 2,600 fps (3,600 ft/lbs ME) in a carbine sized rifle that is easy to carry and very fast to get into action.
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While I don’t disagree with what you are saying, I will say that I am more concerned with being able to punch as many big holes in the skull as fast as possible. One of the drills I trained with was a timed drill on a fast moving approach (the nature of the target was not a bear) and the range master gave you few seconds to stop the attack. To make you aware of its importance, failure to get off 3 killing rounds quickly was rewarded by a powerful bb striking a tender spot on your body. I quickly became a believer in very fast defensive shooting and I believe it paid off more than once in the field. I am not addicted to the speed of the round but am fond of blowing big holes accurately and quickly.

 

[DR505]

While I don’t disagree with what you are saying, I will say that I am more concerned with being able to punch as many big holes in the skull as fast as possible. One of the drills I trained with was a timed drill on a fast moving approach (the nature of the target was not a bear) and the range master gave you few seconds to stop the attack. To make you aware of its importance, failure to get off 3 killing rounds quickly was rewarded by a powerful bb striking a tender spot on your body. I quickly became a believer in very fast defensive shooting and I believe it paid off more than once in the field. I am not addicted to the speed of the round but am fond of blowing big holes accurately and quickly.

Bear threads are always fun...and hopefully remain hypothetical. I would not want to have to put my training and equipment to the test if actually attacked by a grizzly. Bear spray might be the better option.

I did have a tense moment as a mountain lion walked up to about 20 steps away from me. We stood staring at each other for what seemed like 10 minutes, but was probably closer to 30 seconds. The lion quickly (and silently) disappeared, so I turned around and went home.

 

[CyberSnow]

So far we have been pretty lucky. The bear tracks are due to a nighttime visitor. The cameras around the house (only partly covered) haven’t picked up any pictures but now the barn and garbage is secured at night. Talking about mountain lions though, we have an occasional visitor but it typically stays about 100 yards from the house. We do have a much smaller bobcat that likes to hunt for food around the wood shed and is apparently not afraid of people.