Tax Return Time! Which 10mm?

Following my annual tradition of making sure that my tax return is spent before I get it... I've got a question!

Which 10mm do I actually want? I'll give you my criteria, and hopefully you folks will chime in on what you've experienced!

Uses:
Shooting at the range. Always fun.
Concealed carry during winter. You know, jackets and such.
Perhaps matches like USPSA (handloaded wimpy ammo, just to major specifications) or 3-gun. Probably not though.
Gun for those predators. After all, eastern KY is grizzly country (not really, but a good excuse, right?). I do visit the northwestern states fairly frequently. And with only ten shots in a California magazine, they had better do some damage. Why not 10mm?

There you go, in order of importance.

What I'm looking for:
No plastic. Unless you have one you really like. Nope, no Glock. Not even the Poly 80. Don't like them. Same with the Tanfoglio/EAA plastic guns. They are too wide right where my thumb is. I can't reach the safety quite right.

A nice trigger. I can change sights, grips, etc. easily. I can even change a trigger if I feel like it, but it's too much work for this one. I want it to be pretty nice out of the box. Too many projects right now.

Double stack. You 1911 guys will have to give me double stack opinions.

Contestant number one!
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/851305725
Tanfoglio/EAA full-ish size.

Contestant number two!
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/853149893
Tanfoglio again, but smaller. I'm thinking this will be better for carry, not so great for the range. I'm leaning away from it, but if someone has one, and it turns out to be plenty big enough to get a good handle on it, by all means, let me know!

Contestant number three!
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/855345159
Rock Island double stack 1911ish thing. Maybe the one without the rail instead. My concern with a 10mm 1911 is the chamber support issue. I know the Colts had issues, and I'm sure others did. What's the deal with this? Does anyone here have experience with Rock Island's 10mm 1911s?

My affinity toward CZs and their copies from around the world started with a desire for DA/SA pistols. I have now found that I rarely use the DA, so 1911s are again open to me. However, there is also a "want" of a USPSA "Open" gun, (Czechmate?) that I haven't decided on yet. So, funds may be relocated to an open gun instead of a 10mm.

Thanks for the advice on what you would do! I'm hoping this thread will be a little more fun than the glut of "they're coming to take them away!" threads.

Reinz said:

The premise is that the RI 10mm dbl stack (I don’t own) is the same size as my RI 9mm dbl stack. I presume this because my EAA Witness 10mm is the same size as my Witness 38 Super.

I have medium sized hands. By looking at the two photos you can see that my thumb wraps about 1/4 inch further around the grips on the Witness 10mm dbl stack versus the RI 9mm dbl stack. Thus, my hands have a tad more purchase power on the Witness.

Click to expand...

Fantastic! You've got experience with both! I do believe the frame size is the same for the 9mm and the 10mm/.45 RIAs. Size is good to know. With the hammer back, and you gripping the firearm as you would shoot it, where does the trigger hit you on both guns? And which pistol has a better single action trigger?

Now, the big question... on your 10mm Tanfoglio/EAA, what's the brass look like? Is the chamber supported fully? A picture of the removed barrel with a cartridge in it would be fantastic. If anyone (NorthBorder?) has this for the RIA (either double stack or single stack, I don't think that would matter), that would be great too.

My right hand measures nine inches from tip of thumb to tip of fifth finger. Don't know if that is a useful measurement though.

From what I've seen, the CZ 10mm is a custom shop conversion. And I haven't seen a whole lot about it. Unfortunately.