I've been shooting stuff that bleeds with 10mm since 1982 when I got my first Bren Ten (actually the first critter I shot with a 10mm was fired from the gun that made the Slick magazines circuit - it was purchased by a friend and it did not have a magazine - I had to cobble one up). That first deer was shot with a hand-load, of a 210 gr. .41 SWC swaged down to .400 and launched at about 1100 fps.
Better loads are available now, but I never noticed the 10mm dropped deer sized animals any quicker than a 230 gr. bullet in .45. In fact, while I didn't shoot it, it failed to drop a 150 lb Wild boar shot perfectly through the shoulder - but I admit that was with a 180 Hydra-shok and that is not exactly a top 10mm load. That bullet did not expand and did not exit, it was found in a roast sometime after the meat got home.
10mm is fine, with the right bullets, it is much better (on game given the same shot placment) than a .357 Magnum - even when fired from 8" barrels - at least it has been for me - but no one shoots enough game to have their opion serve as definitive!
But it doesn't beat standard .45 Auto on ~250-300 lb game, other than perhaps in penetration of large thick sculls of much larger animals.
I have sadly found it will do better than .45 when loaded with 165 or 185 gr. expanding bullets - no matter how fast you push them - at least down to 10 lb critters.
Mind you I have guns in 10mm, .45 ACP, .45 Super, .451 Detonics, .460 Rowland and .45 Win. mag (in autos) - I also developed my own wildcat in 1974 that is basically the same as .451 Detonics and 460 rowland (so I am exceedingly happy I don't have to process .308 brass any more!) - but my loads only pushed a 240 gr TC bullet to 1250 fps - that was more than I needed. I have used all of those on game, but some of them not very much.
As always, one cannot enter the discussion without mentioning placment and adequate penetration. I have found that shooting at a target that is 8" in diamer leaves a lot to chance - personally I strive for a 2" group on the size critters in my area (that usually means I must pass up a shot which I could probably hit the lungs for the safety of breaking bone and hitting the heart/arota).
I don't know if it is of any interest but I also fired the prototype Bren Ten at the 1980 IPSC US Region Nationals - the ammo was a 180 gr. JSP intended for a 38-40 WCF stuck in a cut down .30 Remington case - and pushed to 1100 fps (we didn't have a chrono there so I cant say - I will say that when I got my first lot of Norma 200 gr. JTC - it did go 1204 fps and it kicked a LOT more!
Riposte