.40 S&W / 10mm

.40 S&W / 10mm Auto

History & Design Intent

The 10mm Auto arrived in 1983 and was briefly adopted by the FBI, but its stout recoil led Smith & Wesson and Winchester to shorten it into the .40 S&W in 1990 — a cartridge that fit standard 9mm-frame pistols while delivering more bullet mass.

Operational Profile

The .40 S&W typically drives a 165–180 grain bullet around 1,000–1,100 fps, a middle ground between 9mm capacity and .45 mass that dominated U.S. law-enforcement holsters for two decades. The full-power 10mm Auto remains a hard-hitting choice for hunting and bear defense.