.45 ACP vs. 10mm in Dan Wesson 1911 Commander?

So I've decided the Dan Wesson Commander Bobtail (CBOB) 1911 will be my next firearm acquisition. Since I love the low-and-slow feel of .45 caliber recoil, and the stopping power of the .45 round, I decided I would go with the .45 ACP version....until I started reading about the 10mm round. It seems that you can get the "!0mm Light" or "10mm FBI" rounds (not .40 s&w) that feel similar to the recoil PUNCH of a .45 ACP (as opposed to the CRACK! of a 9mm and full-load 10mm rounds)

In fact the only real downside of the 10mm round seems to be that the ammo is more expensive than .45 ACP....except that IT'S NOT!!! I just checked doubletap and cabela's and the price for 10mm ammo seems to be exactly the same as .45 ACP (am I missing something?!?!?!) btw, i refuse to shop @ walmart for any reason whatsoever, so their prices don't factor in.

Soooooooooooo....anyway, I know I should just go fire a 10mm with some different types of ammo and decide for myself....but I figured I'd ask the SRP fellas first, seeing as ya'll are good folks and seem to have great insight on gun related quandries.

BTW, my main purpose for this pistol will be concealed carry....with some occasional plinking and target practice a couple times a year.

So watcha think??? Go with the 10mm, or stick with the trusty .45 ACP?

I'm a 45 ACP fanboy but I've only heard good about the 10mm.

I'd still stick with the .45 though. You'll always be able to find parts/ammo etc' for it, and if you're slightly paranoid about a SHTF scenario that's always a plus.


But for those of us with half a dozen carry guns who needs parts?

If you already have a .45 acp, I'd say it's be way more convenient to get a .45 also.

I do some handgun hunting for coyotes and other game. I always seem to get better terminal results with a .45, over the .40 or any 10mm.

The .45 is also easier to get good handloads with, using cast bullets, IMO.

Edit: The .45 ACP also has the advantage of a much lower muzzle-flash in low light conditions.

I'd go .45 because of compatibility with my other 1911s. I buy ammunition 5,000 plus rounds at a time, so the savings of buying another caliber is largely lost on me.

I also know I guy that has bought and sold several 10mms. To my knowledge, he hasn't even considered selling any of his .45 1911s for at least as long as I've known him.

Forgot to mention, I did check one of those commander bobtails out when I was thinking about an Ed Brown bobtail. It was a nice piece. I was hesitant to consider a bobtail for a long time. In the end, I think they work out really well.

I have a friend who absolutely swears by his 10mm. I shot .45ACP during IPSC competitions some 15 years ago and love it. The 1911 platform is awesome, so you can't really go wrong either way.

I had a Colt Combat Elite gov model in 10mm and sold it because I read that they had a problem with slides cracking. I bought a Glock model 20 in 10mm and it is a great gun. For a concealed carry I think any 10mm would probably be too large to carry comfortably for any length of time.

If it was a size that was comfortable to carry I would suspect it wouldn't be comfortable to shoot. As far as comparing it to the 45ACP I think the 10mm is flatter shooting and probably has better stopping power.

I also have a few pistols in 40 and they are a compromise in portability and lower recoil while retaining substantial stopping power. To me it is sort of like someone asking if they should buy a Norton, a Naniwa or a Shapton, they are all good and will all get the job done equally well IMO. OTOH, an individual may like one better than the other.

Glad to hear you won't patronize wallmart. I won't either. If at all possible buy American. The job you save may be your own.

I remember when the 10mm was getting a lot of press and my first time getting to shoot one. Recoil, recoil, recoil, muzzle blast muzzle blast muzzle blast. My first impression was, why not just make it a .357 auto pistol? I didn't like it and didn't feel it was going to catch on very well because to my unscientific tests the .45 was going to knock down about as well without the muzzle blast and finicky way guns had with the round. But I also thought if I had to defend my self with a 10mm the bad guy on the other end was going to be very, very unhappy I had one in my possession.

Now with the lower power 10mm, it's a much tamer beast with similar philosophy to the .45. But again to my unscientific thinking on it, it's not enough to justify buying it over the .45. Even though I have to say I like

In my experience the guys who reload stick with the .45 and sell their 10mm's after having them a while. The guys who buy ammo in bulk tend to keep their 10mm's and will fight you if you say it's not the best caliber.

Either way you go I think the thing to remember in an SHTF situation, with any pistol caliber is shot placement.

It's a way too long answer to say I think you'd be happy with either. But in my mind the .45 has such a proven record of so called stopping power it's the surest bet. Now if the 10mm is a flatter shooting round like a 9mm I would consider it.

I love and recommend .45s , but my skinny butt cant hide one, one of these days I may have to break down and get something smaller. But with the versatility and parts availability of the 1911, theres nothing better!

As an old firearms instructor that have used and carried both 10mm and .45acp I would go with the .45acp. The 10mm wears out the gun faster, whit the reliability problems following from this. Also the 1911 was designed to handle the .45acp.

If I were to bet my life on one it would be the .45acp.


EDIT: ALSO remember to run about 500 rounds through the gun to test it before starting to carry. Reliability test.

I see that your location is Seattle. I lived there for about 10 years. I have a lot of friends in the "firearms training business" there. Feel free to PM me.

Another buddy of mine always likes to point out that when god gave John Moses Browning the design for the 1911, it was in .45 ACP. Hard to argue with that.

Good choice of pistols.

I'd have to go with the .45 ACP.

Not owning a gun yet I refer to a quote from something that I heard a local range master say to me when we were discussing conceal and carry.

He said, bullets, no matter the size do not work, you have to keep firing until you find one that works.:)

In other words, if you fire a .50 cal then you might find that it is the second or third bullet that works, a .45 well you might find the 4th or 5th bullet and so on down the line.

Point is, find a caliber that you are happy with, and then hope and pray you never have to find a bullet that works. Which is why I will probably go with a 40 cause I am little and will have a hard time concealing much else.

I am now 63 years old. I fired my first Colt 1911 .45 acp when I was 15 years old. Since that time I have never been very far out of reach of a 1911.

When the Colt Delta 10 MM came out a Colt rep. came out to our range.
I shot it all day.

My conclusion is that it had one advantage over the .45 - flatter
trajectory. This was with the origional hot 10 load.

I would go with the .45 acp.

As my Grandfather use to say, "Hold it level and it will kill the Devil"..

really, it all boils down to what you enjoy to shoot, but really you cant beat a .45 acp for a good cheap easily acessable round, you could shoot all day for minamal expenses, and as you said the stoping power of a .45, particularly with a hydro shock round, is very nice. you cant get anymore stopping power without having to worry about what its going to land in 9 blocks away

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jdurango

until I started reading about the 10mm round. It seems that you can get the "!0mm Light" or "10mm FBI" rounds (not .40 s&w) that feel similar to the recoil PUNCH of a .45 ACP (as opposed to the CRACK! of a 9mm and full-load 10mm rounds)

So watcha think??? Go with the 10mm, or stick with the trusty .45 ACP?

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See the part in blue that is where you gave it away, to what you should buy....
If the thought even crossed your mind to buy Light or Down loaded 10mm's then why bother buying that weapon...

I own both, in fact a few of them....

If I was sitting in the house and needed a goto weapon I would love to wrap my hand around the grip of any 1911 or clone....

On the flip side if I were out in the big wide world and wanted a weapon that would handle more targets and situations I would rather have the 10mm on my side...

My view is somewhat slanted to harder hitting weapons with more penetration in the last 7 years since we moved to Idaho...(the nearest neighbor is 1/2 mile away)

Up here the threat is more animal then human, and any human target here will be "meth-o-lated" so you would need more power anyway to make sure they are well vent-o-lated....
So add that grain of salt to my opinion....

Hi,

Before pistols were banned in the UK, I was definitely a 0.45ACP man.

The only full power 10mm I have shot was a Bren Ten; shooting it with full-house loads made using a 4" 0.44Mag revolver seem like a walk in the park :)

Best regards

Russ

.45 ACP, because shooting twice is silly!

well glen you do get around on this forum dont you?
you bring up a good point in your position i would certainly worry less about a back stop, i live in a minor city well within the subs, so its something ive thought of in a different manner, offcourse i also feel i out to put in that if i thought i had a decent chance of running into some sort of animal that a good hydro shock 45 wouldnt put down... i dont think id feel much safer with the 10 mm i will admit my experience with them has been minimal though it was a rather nice solid feeling round the times i have shot it, put me in mind of the 45 magnums you find sometimes

Quote:

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Originally Posted by captainboog

Another buddy of mine always likes to point out that when god gave John Moses Browning the design for the 1911, it was in .45 ACP. Hard to argue with that.

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Haha....amen! I think this argument alone pretty much settles the issue.... .45 ACP it is!!!

Thanks for all the awesome replies! I guess the only reason I was considering the 10mm is because it seems to be a very versatile, accurate and powerful round....but on the other hand, like many of you mention, the .45 ACP has arguably better stopping power against "humans" (criminals), makes a bigger hole, is less succeptible to over-penetration in an urban environment (ie. Seattle, WA), is a VERY FUN caliber to shoot, arguably has cheaper/more available ammo and is easier to control (recoil-wise) with less muzzleblast....and then of course, the argument that really settles the issue: It is God's will that the 1911 be chambered in .45 ACP!!!! =)

Sounds like the 10mm would be a better round for someone who can actually UTILIZE the versatility, accuracy and penetration of the round....perhaps someone like gsixgun who lives in a more rural environment with less human population and more big scary animal population...btw, Seattle (especially the rural outskirts) has been overwhelmed with tweakers and meth labs...I'm quite certain if I ever have to use my pistol for defense (God forbid) it will be a tweaker or crackhead on the recieving end of a shiny .45 HST round.

Anyway, thanks again for helping me decide!!! :gwh:

Good choice. Man, this thread makes me miss my Kimber.

http://pics.gunbroker.com/GB/1370020...ix39148609.jpg
Is this the weapon in question? I like all the 1911's

Quote:

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Originally Posted by icedog

http://pics.gunbroker.com/GB/1370020...ix39148609.jpg
Is this the weapon in question? I like all the 1911's

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Yep! That's her exactly! Just google Dan Wesson Commander 1911 (lookslike you already did)...tons of reviews pop up (way more than with most guns I google) and they ALL give this gun very high marks, especially when price is factored in. Youtube has a good video review and there is a killer review on gunblast.com too....anyway, very nice pistol. Unfortunately I'll have to sell my Para Ordnance P12 to be able to afford it =(

O well, at least I'll still have a 1911 .45 =) :gwh:

The reason the FBI went with the 10mm is because at the time the 40 was really new and they wanted something with more oomph than the 9mm and the 10 fit the bill however it was an issue with women and smaller guys who had trouble handling it so they got custom loads of lower force.

I worked for the INS and we used the 40 S&W and what we did is the uniformed guys got a barretta model 96 (as I recall or was it the 94) Brigadier with a strengthened frame and us plainclothes types got an H&K also with a highly strengthened everything and they loaded up the round to the max. Initially the frames cracked with use and when I used it in my Glock it seriously messed up the spring with only a few rounds fired.

I have a Glock 21 .45 and I love it! I would stick w the .45 over the 10MM because I stand a better chance of an accurate double tap w the .45...

I love 45's, My last purchase was a Springfield XD. Great Weapon, but I have yet to see any 45acp that would be really good for concealed carry. Most are too big. Here in Fla. your usually in a T shirt and shorts, so I have to be ab le to put it in my pocket. I went with the Kel Tec 9mm w/ Springfield Ranger ammo.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

The reason the FBI went with the 10mm is because at the time the 40 was really new and they wanted something with more oomph than the 9mm and the 10 fit the bill however it was an issue with women and smaller guys who had trouble handling it so they got custom loads of lower force.

I worked for the INS and we used the 40 S&W and what we did is the uniformed guys got a barretta model 96 (as I recall or was it the 94) Brigadier with a strengthened frame and us plainclothes types got an H&K also with a highly strengthened everything and they loaded up the round to the max. Initially the frames cracked with use and when I used it in my Glock it seriously messed up the spring with only a few rounds fired.

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Curious. I assume it was cop loads...+p+? I saw them crack a Taurus snubnose 38sp.

Get the .45 ACP. 'Nuf said. BTW, after reading a couple of reviews, I'll have to handle one!

Are you planning to reload? If so, the cost difference between the .45 ACP and the 10 mm will be negligible (but I don't know how much you can ease off on the powder charge of a 10 mm and still have your pistol cycle properly -- it is a high pressure round). If you are not going to reload, there are a lot more choices in "cheaper" .45 ACP than in 10 mm, and .45 ACP will be available in any gun store in the US, unlike 10 mm. You'll want to run a bunch of the cheaper ammo through the pistol at the range in order to get really familiar with the particular pistol you buy, and you'll want to try at least a few different brands of premium ammo to see which your pistol likes better, in order to pick your self-defense round. So having more options in cheaper ammo can be important.

I tend to think of the 10 mm as being in the same category as the .41 Rem. Magnum -- a really great round (both originally designed for law enforcement, as I recall) that got left behind by the marketplace, but good for handgun hunting and longer-range target shooting. One wouldn't think of the .45 ACP (or the 9 mm or the .40 S&W, for that matter) as a hunting round. One of my favorite revolvers is my S&W Model 57 in .41 Rem. Mag (not a concealed carry gun). But I reload, so the cost per round difference is not an issue.

In terms of concealed carry, you probably ought to rethink the .40 S&W round. It is a smaller round than the .45 ACP, and so your small, concealed carry pistol will hold more rounds of the .40. I don't think there is any real lack of stopping power in the .40, and it should be easier to control than a full-house 10 mm round, especially in a small handgun. The .40 already is a sort of light-load 10 mm, anyway. And I don't think you're likely to go hunting with a concealed carry pistol, so that potential of the 10 mm round will be of no use to you.

Just my 2 cents.

wmssims

If I were you I would just buy one of each...

I have:

Colt Combat Elite 10mm,
Colt 1911 70 series 45
Colt Commander 45
Glock 20 10mm
Glock 36 45
Colt Govt 45

And love them all!

:gwh: