That's why I said something about Croatia. I was thinking something in the XD series which is modified from the HS2000 series by HS.
Again - not a firearm enthusiast by any means, but I do remember having a copy of Popular Mechanics in the 80s with their Miami Vice feature. It was on their cars, boats, and firearms. Don Johnson carried the infamous Bren Ten. I believe that was the first firearm to ever use 10mm Auto. Might have even been designed for it?
The 10mm was the brainchild of Col. Jeff Cooper and a couple of gun journalists (whose names escape me), that wanted the power of a magnum in an autoloader. By going to higher chamber pressures, and higher velocity, they intended to get more power than a .45 ACP with a flatter trajectory and the greater magazine capacity that the narrower cartridge would enable.
The Bren Ten was the first gun chambered in 10mm. It came out in 1983, but had some quality problems, and the company went bankrupt in 1986, not long after “Miami Vice” had made their gun famous. Not many were made.
Fortunately, Colt brought out the Delta Elite in 1987, a 1911 chambered in 10mm right as the Bren Ten went out of production.
The Smith & Wesson model 645 carried by Don Johnson after the Bren Ten was the first S&W large caliber autoloader, and in many ways was responsible for the array of large bore, auto loading handguns from S&W in the next generation, that came out in 1989.
The 10mm Smith and Wesson model 1076 (built on the same frame basics as the 4506, the subsequent model to the 645) was adopted by the FBI that year, rather infamously, as a response to agent losses in a shootout in Miami in 1986.
S&W offered a variety of large, stainless steel autoloaders in their “3rd generation”. Both 10mm and .45 ACP. The 1006 (10mm) and 4506 (.45) had the same basic fire control (DA/SA with a safety/decocker) and 5” barrels. The FBI gun, the 1076, had a 4.25” barrel, and was a DA/SA with a frame mounted decocker only.
Glock was next to market with their Glock 20 - which followed, in 1990, on the heels of their very popular Glock 19, and meant that Glock had a 10mm before they had a .45 ACP (the Glock 21).
When the FBI, rather famously, asked for a lower power load for their 10 mm, the .40 S&W was born, and the 10mm fell in disfavor. Very few guns were made in 10 mm from about the mid 1990s until just recently, when the cartridge underwent a bit of a resurgence.
Glock and Colt kept the flame alive by keeping their guns in production. S&W discontinued the 3rd generation pistols in the late 1990s. The complex machining and craftsmanship required to make an all steel gun like the 3rd generation was not cost competitive with the revolution in polymer frames.
These days, there are variety of manufacturers offering a 10 mm. All steel guns on 1911 platforms, polymer frame pistols from all the major manufacturers, and even revolvers.
I don’t really understand the appeal of a 10 mm revolver, because from a power perspective, it’s about the same as a .357 magnum. The advantage of the 10 mm over the .357 is the fact that you can put it in an auto loading magazine, while .357 auto loaders have always been troublesome because of the cartridge rim. Ref: the Coonan pistol.
Most 10 mm ammunition on the market today, is really just a large .40 S&W. The original concept of the 10 mm was a 200 grain bullet at 1200 ft./s. Or a 180g at 1300 ft./s.
The .40 S&W is, typically, a 180g at 1050 ft./s. Since muzzle energy is 1/2mv2, that 20% reduction in V is a 40% reduction (or slightly more) in ME.
Most 10mm ammo is loaded to that lower velocity, with 180g at 1050-1100 f.t/s. Typically. The range ammo I shoot in 10 mm is 180g S&B - which runs about 1100 ft./s. Not much more than .40 S&W and it is quite mild to shoot, particularly out of a big, all steel, pistol.
If you really want the performance of a 10 mm, you have to seek out manufacturers like Buffalo Bore, or Underwood, to get the original velocities, and power, for which the cartridge was intended.
There is a very big difference in ME, felt recoil, and performance between the “good stuff” and the typical 10mm ammo.
So, if you are carrying a 10 mm as defense against large mammals, you have a variety of platforms from which to choose, but you should be very selective about the ammunition, as there is a very big performance difference between properly loaded, full power 10mm, and the commonly available ammo.
And I suppose you could thank Don Johnson that any of it is available at all…
