10mm recommendation for the fairer sex

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Greyinggrayling
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Aug 13, 2022
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Anchorage AK
Female shooter here. My husband and I have the Kimber camp guard 10mm.

While i feel the gun fits my hands just fine, I’m not a fan of how much punch the bear loads have. Loads that are less hot are fine however.

Definitely more of a fan of a 357 but that’s just me.


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Thank you for your insight!
 
OP
Greyinggrayling
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Aug 13, 2022
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Anchorage AK
Personally, I think to much is made of the capacity thing. I think we often get to focused on higher capacity handguns for these kinds of situations because it gives us a bit more of a warm fuzzy feeling knowing you have 15+1 but in all likelihood, for most shooters, it's a false sense of security and we should be far more focused on selecting something we can draw and easily shoot well in a variety of circumstances. Focusing more on something that is comfortable for you to shoot then shooting it often and getting very proficient with it, IMO, is far more important then the number of rounds it holds.
10-4. I guess if a bear is charging you at full speed, likelihood of emptying a 15 capacity mag is low as fast as that beast can move. They’re friggin fast.
Previous poster made more sense saying have another magazine ready for the walk back to camp.
 

yfarm

WKR
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Was in a CC class with a couple of women, one brought a compact 40S&W had trouble controlling the gun, she was petite. Gave her my G20 with a ported barrel and shot dead center with the first magazine. Have no complaints with the pistol, put a stiffer spring in it for bb ammo but still ejects .40 practice ammo fine.
 
Joined
Aug 10, 2015
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I'm a pretty novice pistol shooter but as a decent sized man, I find the frame of the Glock 20 and 29 to be a little chunky for my hands. It's maybe half inch or so larger than I would like.

The Sig Xten does intrigue me and I would like to get my hands on it since I believe the frame is slightly smaller.

For what it's worth, I went with a Glock 19 after initially looking at the 10mm.
 

Kurts86

WKR
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Aug 15, 2020
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What wrong with the Springfield? It’s on my short list
The Springfield 9mm/40s&w XD and XDM series don’t have the best reputation in the serious handgun training/shooting/competition world compared to Glock/Smith and Wesson. Springfield has also had some political PR missteps that some people in the 2A community have blacklisted them over.

I’m not sure the same could be said for Springfield 10mm pistols as their smaller/previous designs. Besides Glock 10mm’s Springfield 10mm’s have been on the market the longest and have a good reputation overall.

You are going to hear a lot more noise about 10mm reliability and ergonomics on the whole compared to 9mm’s regardless of manufacturer so take it all with a grain of salt. The cartridge behaves differently than it’s 9mm counterparts.
 

WKB

Lil-Rokslider
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If you are used to a 629 in 44 mag, honestly I would look at a 686+ in 357 magnum or a 327r8 in 357 mag. The 686 is an L frame which means it has k frame sized grips, and is round butt. 7 rounds of 357 mag.
The 327 is an N frame so same size as your 629, just with 8 rounds of 357 mag.
if you are dead set on a 10mm maybe the S&W 610 would be of interest.

I have a Glock 40 MOS 10mm, but I often carry a 629, my 69 Combat Magnum with 2.75" barrel, or my Model 58 in 41 mag. I just shoot DA Smiths really well.
 
Joined
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N. CO
Well, I’m the woman who will be carrying it, and I currently carry a SW 629-4 .44mag revolver, so yeah…I can shoot a 10 😊
Consider the Springfield XD-M 4.5" 10MM. I bought one 3-4 years ago and I'm happy with it. It's my sidearm of choice when I backcountry bowhunting solo in moose, bear, and lion country. I believe that it comes with different size backstraps to customize shooter grip. The recoi is manageable, especially if you're use to shooting a .44 mag. Decent price and takes a beating like a champ while bushwacking up in the mountains.
 
OP
Greyinggrayling
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Anchorage AK
I think I have come to a decision.
Very excellent advice from everyone. And I hope it is good research for other fair maidens that have a hunter’s heart. Every single input was valuable.

In the meantime, I found this YouBoob vid pretty good. Not saying that’s what I’m doing, just good fodder:
 
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What wrong with the Springfield? It’s on my short list

I had 2 very concerning experiences in the field with my XD45 where the one time had I needed to use it in a dangerous situation, it would not fire. The second time was less dangerous but still was the final deciding factor to move to a different platform.

Both were due to dirt intrusion from airborne dust getting into the gun and causing it to malfunction. We were riding ATVs and doing work in dusty conditions at the time.

Since moving to Glock and exposing them to the exact same conditions I have not experienced any failures.


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Joined
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Western Montana
Which 10mm handgun would you recommend for a medium-framed woman with medium size hands?
I want something for big critter protection that is easier to get back on target than my SW .44 magnum and lighter weight. Kinda intrigued with the Glock 20 Gen5, but the grip is rather cumbersome on the stock 20s.

Thoughts?

Edit to add: I am the medium frame woman, the gun is for me, yes I can handle a 10mm
I found a Springfield XD-M Elite Compact here in Missoula at a local sporting goods store. It looks to be new in the box, maybe 20-40 rounds fired from it. No idea why the person sold it / traded it in. There is just a bit of wear on the top of the pistol in the slide/chamber area. I am thinking about getting it for myself!
A new one runs about $590.00 I believe and this one is on sale for $475.00. If you are law enforcement, military, first responder active/retired it would bring the price down to $447.00! It has a 10 round magazine and 2 additional 15 round magazines. Heck with one 15 round magazine you wouldn't even have to pack a second magazine. It has extra grip panels that can be changed out so it fits your hand perfectly and it has several additional magazine floor plates. It also has a soft case in the firearm's box.

Bob Ward & Sons. (Purchased recently by Al's Sporting Goods out of Utah
406-728-3220

SPRINGFIELD ARMORY XD-M Elite Compact 3.8" barrel - $475.00
3 magazines - 1-10 rd & 2 - 15 rd
extra grip panels & base-plate for magazines
soft case
Original box - appears to have had maybe 20 rounds put through it.
Pictures included
 

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OP
Greyinggrayling
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Anchorage AK
My husband just bought himself one of those. Since I just bought myself something else this past weekend, we’re going to have a shoot out and see who has the best firearm for bear defense. Maybe we’ll swap. Or not. Or sleep in separate beds afterward when the smoke clears. Depends on how heated the argument gets 😊
 
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I'm a smaller dude, 145 pounds fighting weight. Just got a Gen 5 G20 and with a TRL-1 on it, it shoots frickin awesome. Much less muzzle bounce than I was expecting. It is a little large in the hands, maybe the SF would have been a better option, but I am very happy.
 

BjornF16

WKR
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I'm a smaller dude, 145 pounds fighting weight. Just got a Gen 5 G20 and with a TRL-1 on it, it shoots frickin awesome. Much less muzzle bounce than I was expecting. It is a little large in the hands, maybe the SF would have been a better option, but I am very happy.
The Gen 5 should be a SF with the modular backstrap system. Just don't add the backstrap

Edit: "The smallest back strap is integrated in the GLOCK MBS frame reducing the trigger distance of the standard size frame by approximately .08 in. The medium back strap adds approximately .08 in – equaling the size of a standard frame and the large back strap increases trigger distance by a total of approximately .16 in."
 
OP
Greyinggrayling
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Anchorage AK
I’ll post pics when mine comes in.
I found one that meets my three requirements:
  • Kicks like a girl
  • Kills a Kodiak bear
  • Looks scary to a liberal
I think I covered all three rather well. The third was just a bonus.
 
Joined
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The Gen 5 should be a SF with the modular backstrap system. Just don't add the backstrap

Edit: "The smallest back strap is integrated in the GLOCK MBS frame reducing the trigger distance of the standard size frame by approximately .08 in. The medium back strap adds approximately .08 in – equaling the size of a standard frame and the large back strap increases trigger distance by a total of approximately .16 in."

Thanks for correcting me!
 

Sammymusi

WKR
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Jun 18, 2019
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I’d say Springfield , I messed with that and the Glock 20 , the reason I didn’t go with the Springfield is it didn’t fit in my marsupial holster very well as it went in too far and I didn’t want to have to “find “ it in the holster.
 
OP
Greyinggrayling
Joined
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Anchorage AK
My new little friend

IMG_3489.jpeg
Smith and Wesson M&P 2.0 Performance Center in 10mm
Ported barrel, flat trigger, interchangeable palm swells
Comes in at just under 2 lbs empty, and 2.5 lbs 15+1 loaded
Reviewers state the safety can be removed and S&W will send caps to fill the openings on requests.
I think I’m in love.
Range report will follow this weekend.
 
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OP
Greyinggrayling
Joined
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Anchorage AK
Cleaned, lubed, then took it to the range and shot about 150 rounds through it to get it broke in (Federal 180gr FMJ). No misfires or failures to load. Wasn’t shooting hardcast yet, though. That will be later.
Recoil is totally manageable, target reacquisition is quick.
Not painful…at…all. Even better than what I was expecting from online reviews. Granted it was light loads, but I’ve shot “light loads” in the .44 mag that kicked much harder than this.
Grip is great. I put on the small palmswell and it fit me perfectly. The texture on the grip was good, but I was certainly feeling the skin irritation after the second box was empty. Luckily I’m not always going to be shooting 150 rounds in an hour. But my fingers and wrist don’t hurt!
Winner winner chicken dinner

Now to practice at home drawing from holster and getting muscle memory on the safety (this is the first pistol I have owned that has a safety).
Target at 10 yards:
IMG_3498.jpeg
 
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