HandgunMan said:
...I think it is only a matter of time before it is accepted by the military as an issued sidearm for at least one of our branches of our military. When that happens we can be assured ammo will always be available and when that happens, people buy that caliber.
Unlike you, I doubt that we'll ever see 10mm as a standard military weapon, even for Special Ops troops.
Those troops often have the option of using just about anything they need, but I've never heard or read about any of them using 10mm weapons. Ditto .357 SIG weapons, even though that round would work almost as well as 10mm, and the guns shooting that round would fit many more hands.
While I never saw combat during my military service, I had two close friends who were Special Ops troops, and who had done multiple combat tours in hot zones; and I've talked with others. Most of them would rather have a good automatic weapon for most combat situations; they said they would use handguns only when they had no other option.
While a 10mm round is more potent than other handgun rounds, most 10mm round velocities don't come close to rifle or carbine round velocities
and high velocity (i.e., greater than 2000 fps) is what can cause debilitating tissue damage. While the temporary would cavity from rifle rounds can be devastating, that is NOT the case with handgun rounds, most of which travel at far less than 1500 fps).
The temporary wound cavities from handgun rounds seem to have only limited and maybe even temporary effect; what does real damage is when the bullet hits a key organ or bone structure, or the central nervous system.
On line I could find only two 10mm loads that exceeded 2000 fps -- and most 10mm were the 1400-1500 fps range. Well-placed shots that hit critical spots are the key with handguns, and I suspect that most GIs would find that harder to do with a 10mm handgun than a 9mm handgun.
