10mm Auto | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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10mm Auto Jacketed Flat Point cartridge
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Type | Pistol | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Designed | 1983 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Produced | Since 1983 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Specifications | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parent case | .30 Remington | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Bullet diameter |
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Neck diameter |
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Base diameter |
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Rim diameter |
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Rim thickness |
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Case length |
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Overall length |
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Case capacity | 1.56 cm3 (24.1 gr H2O) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Rifling twist | 406.40 mm (1 in 16 inches) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Primer type | Large pistol | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Maximum pressure (C.I.P.) | 230 MPa (33,000 psi) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Maximum pressure (SAAMI) | 37,500 psi (259 MPa) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Ballistic performance | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Test barrel length: 117 millimetres (4.6 inches) Source(s): DoubleTap Ammunition |
The 10mm Auto (10×25mm, official C.I.P. nomenclature: 10 mm Auto, official SAAMI nomenclature: 10mm Automatic) is a semi-automatic pistol cartridge first developed by Jeff Cooper and introduced in 1983 with the Bren Ten pistol. Its design was subsequently improved, then produced initially by ammunition manufacturer FFV Norma AB of Åmotfors, Sweden.
Although it was selected for service by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1989 from the aftermath of the 1986 FBI Miami shootout, the cartridge was later decommissioned (except by the Hostage Rescue Team and Special Weapons and Tactics Teams) after their Firearms Training Unit eventually concluded that its recoil was excessive in terms of training for average agents' and police officers' competency of use and qualification, and that the pistols chambered for the cartridge were too large for some small-handed individuals. These issues led to the creation and following replacement to a shorter version of the 10mm that exists today as the .40 S&W. The 10mm never attained the mainstream success of this compact variant, but there is still an enthusiastic group of supporters who often refer to the .40 S&W as the ".40 Short & Weak" or "Short and Wimpy". The cartridge was originally known as the .40 Super.
The 10mm Auto cartridge was originally drafted and championed by eminent firearms expert Lieutenant Colonel John Dean "Jeff" Cooper. It was designed to be a medium-velocity pistol cartridge with better external ballistics (i.e., flatter trajectory, greater range) than the .45 ACP and capable of greater stopping power than the 9×19mm Parabellum. When FFV Norma AB (now Norma Precision AB) designed the cartridge at the behest of Dornaus & Dixon Enterprises, Inc. for their Bren Ten pistol (a newly developed handgun with design inspired by the CZ 75), the company decided to increase the power over Cooper's original concept. The resulting cartridge—which was introduced in 1983 and produced since—is very powerful, containing the flat trajectory and high energy of a magnum revolver cartridge into a relatively short, versatile rimless cartridge for a semi-automatic pistol. The case was derived from the .30 Remington rifle round, cut down and the walls straightened to accept the same diameter bullet as the much older .38-40 Winchester.