What's not to love about the 610. You have the power of the 10mm for hunting or silhuoette and the capability to run it on the much cheaper 40S&W. In addition it comes with the ability to use moon clips with a design feature that allows them to be easily loaded by hand. BTW, that design feature is the split in the fingers that allows the fingers to spring freely without "stacking" on an adjacent cartridge.
However, the 10mm is NOT as powerful as the 41 Magnum. While both calibers are similar in terms of bullet weights and diameters, the 41 Magnum has a distinct edge in terms of shear power. However, unless you reload, the 41 Magnum can be VERY difficult to find in local shops and it's sometimes more expensive than 44 Magnum ammo depending on where you are shopping. IMO that's the huge plus for the 610, the 40S&W is easy to find and the only centerfire that's cheaper to run for non reloaders is the 9mm. It's what I mostly use in my 610 and typically it gets 2 or 3 boxes of 40 caliber run through it at every range outing.
My only regret is that S&W dropped it from the catalog before I had the funds for a 4 inch version, as much as I enjoy shooting my 6 1/2 inch 610 it does get tiring after a long range session and it's just a "tad" too long for convenient concealed carry.
Personally, if I had the power to do it, S&W would currently be offering the 610 in 3 different barrel lengths using tensioned barrels and be marketed mainly as a 40 caliber revolver with the 10mm option as a "plus". I'd also have a 9mm 686 in the catalog packaged as a Kit with a second 357 Magnum cylinder to drum up a bit of interest in shooting revolvers in today's "youthful" shooter.
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