Deciding on the caliber of your self-defense or concealed carry handgun can be a challenging task if you haven’t done your research. Although there are many options on the market like 10mm Auto and 357 SIG, the three most popular pistol calibers are 9mm Luger, 40 S&W, and 45 ACP.
Let’s get started!
10mm vs. 44 Mag Comparison
The 10mm Auto was designed for semi-automatic pistols, whereas the 44 Remington Magnum was intended for revolvers and lever-action carbines (the Magnum Research .44 Mag Desert Eagle being an exception). While many fundamental differences between the cartridges do exist, they also share many similarities.
We’ll begin by discussing each cartridge’s technical specifications. We’ll follow with a discussion on how these specs affect real-world performance in areas such as recoil, stopping power, and overall cost.
Cartridge Specs
It’s easy to tell these two cartridges apart at first glance. The 44 Rem Mag is longer (1.61” vs. 1.25”) and has a larger base diameter (0.457” vs. 0.425”) than the 10mm Auto.
The base of the 44 Mag case also has a rim (which it needs in order to chamber in a revolver cylinder), whereas the 10mm is rimless. The 10mm case instead has an extractor groove, which facilitates operation in a semi-automatic platform.
Though there is some overlap, the 44 Mag generally fires larger, wider, heavier bullets than the 10mm. 44 Mag bullet weights typically range from 180 to 240 grain but can go as much as 305 grains, whereas 10mm bullets usually range from 130 to 200 grain.
One might assume that the longer case (1.285” for the 44 Mag vs. 0.992” for the 10mm) and higher case capacity (37.9 grains H2O for the 44 Mag vs. 24.1 grains H2O for the 10mm) of the 44 Remington Magnum would translate into higher maximum pressure. But that’s actually not the case. The 10mm has a higher SAAMI-approved max pressure of 37,500 psi, whereas the 44 Mag has a slightly lower max pressure of 36,000 psi.
Let’s move on to see how the cartridge specifications affect the recoil of each cartridge.
Recoil
Recoil is a critical consideration when purchasing a new handgun. A round with heavy recoil (aka “muzzle flip” or “kick”) will be more challenging to control and effectively slow down the rate of the shooters’ follow-up shots.
Recoil is the product of propellant weight, muzzle velocity (fps), bullet weight, and firearm weight. The faster a bullet exits the barrel, the harder it kicks back on the shooter. (That’s just physics, folks.) A heavier bullet also requires more energy to push it out of the barrel at the same muzzle velocity as a lighter bullet, which is returned to the shooter’s wrists.
Although the 44 Magnum and 10mm pack a punch with high kinetic energy, there is a price to be paid for all that power. That price is paid in recoil, which is why some shooters call these cartridges “hand cannons."
44 Mag firearms, such as the single-action Ruger Blackhawk and semi-auto Desert Eagle, are relatively heavy. That extra weight absorbs some recoil energy. Many ammunition makers also intentionally load their 44 Magnum cartridges light to help reduce recoil. Because full-power 44 Mag rounds are often unnecessary for self-defense (excluding defense against bears), the additional muzzle velocity is widely considered not worth the drastic increase in recoil.
The 10mm is often chambered in polymer-framed pistols, which weigh less and thus absorb less felt recoil. However, the 10mm Bren Ten weighs almost twice as much as the 44 Mag CA Bulldog, so there is a wide range of firearm weights chambered in 10mm.
Felt recoil is subjective and varies from shooter to shooter, so we’ll use free recoil to determine which cartridge objectively has less recoil.
A 10mm firing a 180 grain bullet generally has about 11.4 ft-lbs (foot-pounds) of energy. While this doesn’t seem like much, it translates into a snappy pistol-firing experience.
A 44 Mag firing a 240 grain bullet will have about 10 ft-lbs of energy. Slightly less, and most shooters will struggle to tell a difference. However, if we step up to a 44 Mag Buffalo Bore 305 grain lead flat-nose hard cast bullet, the recoil leaps to 30 ft-lbs, on the level of many rifle cartridges.
This section is a tie. Generally, the 44 Magnum will have slightly less recoil, especially when firing similarly heavy projectiles from similar firearms. Still, the difference is barely noticeable, and the 44 Mag can jump to much more recoil when firing heavier projectiles at higher velocities.
Continue reading 10mm vs. 44 Mag: Battle of the Hand Cannons on Ammo.com
