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Tuesday, October 08, 2024

Why 10mm Auto Was a Total Disaster for the FBI

The FBI's adoption of 10mm Auto in 1990 was supposed to be a revolutionary leap forward for law enforcement. It wasn't. Today, we're walking through the factors leading up to the FBI's infamous decision and why they quickly ditched 10mm in favor of .40 S&W. Find out what went wrong, and the parts played by Smith & Wesson and Gaston Glock.

VIDEO HERE  (23:06 minutes)

21 comments:

  1. Sorry, but I just don't have time to watch the video. But, didn't the FBI go back to 9mm and not the .40?

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    1. It went to the.40S&W, the move to the 9mm happened later
      JD

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  2. simple, most DEI hires could not handle the 10mm. hell, most had problems with 40 S&W
    let alone the 10mm. and after seeing a few of them shoot, they should go back to the 38.
    or stop hiring DEI 's I used to think you HAD to be a good shot to be in the FBI.
    but from what I have seen on some ranges it not the case anymore.
    besides, this was after the FBI shoot out where 2 ex army guys shot the shit out of them. it was what 4 to 1 odds in the FBI favor too ?

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    1. I remember reading about the Miami shootout in print before the internet. The FBI planned to ram the bad guys' car so the agent put his pistol on the seat. During the collision his pistol (surprise, surprise) flew off the seat and he spent most of the gunfight looking for his gun IIRC. There were other tactical failures as well, the SWAT team with its' rifles and body armour didn't arrive until after the fact so the un-armoured FBI agents only had pistols and a couple of shotguns. In the end the FBI decided that the problem wasn't lack of tactical co-ordination or basic marksmanship it was that the agents were using 38 Special and 357Magnum revolvers and S&W 9mms so a multi-million dollar program was launched.
      Bureaucracy never admits it failures, does it?
      Al_in_Ottawa

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  3. Repackaged and shipped about three years worth of brass at FLETC in Charlestown two years ago. Far more .40 S&W than 9mm. The rest was 5.56mm. I’m not a fan of .40, but federal law enforcement sure is. Eod1sg Ret

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  4. For the Cliff's Notes version, basically the FBI ditched 10mm because chicks and nancyboys couldn't handle it.
    --Tennessee Budd

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    1. Bingo! The 10mm is a handful. I cannot handle it in a 1911 platform but the Glock 20 tames the bite. It is my warm weather daily carry.

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  5. The push came for the 10MM after their total goat-rope of the Miami shooting. As per the policy of the Famous But Incompetent, they blamed the gun and not their arrogance, stupidity and poor tactics. Yes, I know. De mortuis nil nisi bonum. But truth is its own defense.

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  6. Decent video. Between sissies and politics, who needs this shit? FBI should carry bigger purses to hit you with.

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  7. The Government quest for a tax payer funded, non-recoiling, never missing, lightweight, high capacity firearm.

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  8. Anyone tried 7.62x25 Tokarev….????
    I heard/read that it’d shoot thru engine blocks….????
    Ed357

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    1. It's a good round, but not that good.

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    2. But... but... but... it's a COMMUNIST round!

      (From a guy whose daily carry is a CZ-82.)

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    3. Well, .30 Mauser then...it's the same round the commies just copied it.

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    4. The Russians produced 7.62 Tokarev armour-piercing ammo for the PPSh-41 burp gun. During the Rhodesian civil war the Russians supplied both to Mugabe's faction and it was found that the 7.62 could defeat the body armour worn by the govt security forces.
      Not sure if it would break an engine block but it is a speedy little round.
      Al_in_Ottawa

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  9. In late '80s I was at a range in Newington, VA firing range. Only a few years out of Federal Protective Service and still had the FPS hat. Firing my Colt Delta Elite in 10mm. A man took the lane next to me. Removed his jacket to show off his FBI badge. We fired for a while then he turned to me and asked "What you using?" I smiled and said "10mm. In the FPS we can handle it." I honest-to-God thought the guy was going to hit or shoot me. I'm 6'6" tall, at the time 250lbs and was hanging conduit and hauling cable. I really could handle the 10mm. I love pissing off Fibbies.

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  10. .45 ACP, a proven accurate man stopper, has been around since 1911, although has sigificant recoil, I'm told. I don't find it all that bad and I'm a small statured person with small hands.

    Yet, Eff Bee Eye, the vaunted "gunslingers of gunslingers" of fed.gov opts for a round/pistol combo with noted HEAVY recoil, all because they were out matched, ONE TIME, in a shoot out that likely will NEVER BE REPEATED. Typical .gov idjit thinking.

    Nemo

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  11. 68 year old lady here. My go to and daily carry is a Glock Gen4 G40 (10mm long slide). For me the recoil is no big deal

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  12. I have a Delta Elite from the late 80's. It didn't seem to recoil much more than the .45 ACP but there was a twist to it. For me it it pointed better than my Colt but that may have been due to the grips. Once I forgot to put my earmuffs back on when I came back from the target and I thought it had exploded when I pulled the trigger.

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  13. I reserve my traditional pistols for putting down injured/elderly animals here on the farm.
    I turn 73yo in a few weeks; on a good day, my wrists and hands are painful toast.
    .
    We live in bear cougar hog territory.
    My carry is a .300bo AR pistol.

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