Above is what is left of my Hosta plants. Not just this one, all five of them in and about the yard. A few years ago, I reached an agreement with the resident eight point buck, Adam; don’t eat the plants in the garden and I will not turn you into venison. And so it was written.

This morning, I woke to a scene of a Hostas bloodbath… chlorophyll bath? Every leaf was gone, the plant eaten down to the stem. I do not think it was Adam. He is no fool, and he knows I let him hide in the backyard during deer season. So who was the culprit that ate the forbidden Hostas? The eldest doe in a small herd, Eve. They are both getting bounced from the garden.

A pistol for Hostas eating deer…

Nah, on two points of disqualification. The deer were here before I decided to build a house and put in gardens in the midst of their game trails. These deer have given names and I have a strict wildlife anonymity rule when it comes to hunting. However, there is lots and lots of other hunting.

For the longest time, my perspective on the 10mm Automatic… its formal name, was that it was intended for self defense and security applications. You can’t blame me, Jeff Cooper and the Bren Ten folklore took me in.

For my personal interest, the 10mm Auto cartridge requires a moderately long barrel to extract its potential, which means a full size pistol, which means I have no place on my body to conceal it and carry. However, as a trail gun, as a close in hunting combination, carried in a belt holster or across the chest, the 10mm Auto pistol is aces.

Mainstream ammunition manufacturers, and specialty loaders, all have ammunition labeled for medium game; that would be deer, feral hogs and larger varmint. Some have it labeled for big game, elk size. I have it labeled for hogs, deer, black bear, and elk size game, with my own blend of handloads, with hard cast bullets, and all close in shooting.

Outfitted with a red dot optical sight, one compact enough to keep the pistol’s tall open sights on active duty, the M&P10 and 10mm Auto is a very fast combination for hunting New England’s hilly, dense woodland. Smith & Wesson includes a package of adapters that accommodate virtually any open red dot system.

In addition to the features indicated on the previous table, the Performance Center M&P is supplied with two sides; previously pictured, right side and, pictured above, the left side. The left side being particularly handy, as that is where most of the controls can be found: thumb safety, slide stop, take down lever, magazine release. I said most, because the magazine release can be swapped to right hand operation and the ambidextrous thumb safety can be actuated from either side.

Top side has a lot going on. Tall night sights provide a level of visibility is low light situations and co-witnessing with a low profile optical sight installed. The optical sight mount cover follows the slide top contour to cover any potential clothing/holster snagging surfaces and to protect mounting surfaces.

The loaded chamber check view port straddles the aft ejection port edge and the barrel tang. I know how useful that port is, however, I also know manufacturers surround its use with multiple cautions that this feature does not replace a proper open slide chamber check. The grill work, up front, provides a gas escape route above the barrel’s compensator slots.

To say the stippling on the gripping surfaces is a non-slip surface is an understatement. A couple of boxes of ammo shot through the M&P10 will leave you with farmers hands. I like that a lot, for its contribution to safe gun handling, and for its contribution to control when shooting. Four backstrap inserts accommodate virtually any hand size: small, medium, medium large, large.

How many inserts are needed? Well, summer bare hands and winter gloved hands can use a different contour and, in the event you aren’t too ornery to have a friend, spouse, or complicated relationship, the grip can be quickly changed to accommodate other shooters.

Opened up, typical M&P 2.0 striker; camming ramped barrel, trapped recoil spring, polymer grip with internal, stainless steel chassis containing all of the fire control pieces. The only deviation from other 10mm Auto 2.0 models is the long slide and long and ported barrel.

A little better illustration of the ported barrel and alignment with the slide vents. Disassembly requires no tools.

The 10mm Automatic…

Pictured above, all 10mm Automatic L-R: Prvi 170 grain Flat Point Jacketed, PMC 170 grain Jacketed Hollow Point,  Federal 180 grain Hydra-Shok, Buffalo Bore Heavy 10mm 220 grain Hard Cast. These are the four types of factory ammunition used within this review.

I do not know how many times the 10mm Automatic has been pronounced deceased, mostly by lots of people who are not in a position to conduct a valid analysis. All the while, the number of loads produced in factory ammunition keeps increasing, at the direction of manufacturers who are in a position to analyze consumption. Today, there are approximately 65 factory loads, an amalgamation of 20 brands.

While anticipation of the 10mm Auto ran high, many federal local law enforcement agencies passed on the 10mm for reasons mostly related to agency policy and regulation, reasons not necessarily shared with the civilian population. You know, the group think of government.

Where agencies have to select firearms and calibers suitable to all on their rolls: tall, short, lightweight, heavyweight, big hands, little hands, etc. Civilians are free to choose firearms that meet individual preferences.

Ammunition	Bullet Type	Weight Grains	Rated MV FPS	Recorded MV FPS
Prvi	FPJ	170	1116	1169
PMC	JHP	170	1200	1034
Federal	JHP	180	1030	1106
Buffalo Bore	Hard Cast	220	1200	1098

At 25 yards, well supported, fitted with a micro red dot, all of the above put five shots comfortably into standard 3.5″x2.5″ playing cards, my standard targets for handguns. 52 targets to the box, I don’t shoot jokers, $1.98 for two decks from the dollar store.

Other ammo choices from retailers’ shelves covers expansive ground. As an example, Winchester produces four loads for the 10mm Auto: 180 grain FMJ Target, 175 and 180 grain JHP, and one 200 grain Big Bore SJHP listed for deer and big game. Big game, in this case is defined as elk. Federal has ten products servicing the 10mm Auto crowd that span target, self defense, medium and and a 200 grain load for big game hunting applications.

Hard cast handloads

Most of my shooting with the 10mm Auto is with handloads and cast bullets. Why? Cast is less expensive as component bullets and I still have a good deal of clean lead alloy for casting when I have that inclination. They are also great for defensive and hunting applications as they are deep penetrating and do not deform. Above 155, 180 and 200 grain component bullets.

The 155 grain bullets are the basis for inexpensive target practice, pest/varmint control and self defense. The 180 grain is good for deer size game self defense. The 200 grain is a heavier hitter than the 180 grain, despite being slower. Again, deep penetration.

All of the above are assembled to 1.260″. All fed without a hitch through the Smith & Wesson performance Center M&P10 2.0. Cases were assembled from thoroughly cleaned, sized, expanded and inside/outside case mouth chamfered once fired brass. As would be the case with auto loader cartridges, a taper crimp was applied.

There are so many powder types to choose from, so I listed four loads for each bullet weight, hoping at least one would be useful to most.

10mm Automatic Cast handload Data

Warning: Bullet selections are specific, and loads are not valid with substitutions of different bullets of the same weight. Variations in bullet length will alter net case capacity,  pressure and velocity. Primer selection is specific and primer types are not interchangeable. These are maximum loads in my firearms and may be excessive in others. All loads should be reduced by 5% as a starting point for development where cartridges have greater than 40 grains in capacity and 10% for cartridges with less than 40 grain capacity following safe handloading practices as represented in established mainstream reloading manuals. Presentation of these loads does not constitute a solicitation for their use, nor a recommendation.