Wow, there seems to have been a resurgence in the interest in the 10mm. I'm glad to see it. I wasn't even aware that some of the 10mm models out now even existed.
I jumped on the 10mm bandwagon back in the 80s just because. It turned out to be a fun round to play around with. Of course, brass was stupid expensive. As a self defense round, I don't know. In full form, it's just too much and in it's tamer form, there are others that can do the job, like 9mm, .40 and .45. But still, it was fun to send 135gr projectiles screaming down range.
I've owned a few 10mm, but I think the most fun platform was the 1911. Just make sure that you have a fully supported barrel and all will be well. If you have a .40, you won't even need to stock a new projectile for reloading.
At the time when I was messing with 10mm, I also had a Coonan .357. From what I remember of chrono data, there ballistics were pretty similar in terms of achieved velocity vs. bullet weight.
Which gun you should get depends on what youre going to do with it. If you want to put a red dot on it, maybe a 1911 or something that you can drill and tap the frame for an optic will be necessary. I'm really not sure of how most of today's "slide ride" optics would stand up to the punishment.
