As long as there are REAL weapons to hunt with (.30-30, .30-06, .308, 12 GA, etc.) the question is mote. A handgun is the weapon of choice until you can get to a REAL weapon, or you can't carry a REAL weapon.
The Old Saying, We carry a pistol to fight our way to a Rifle is really the only thing you need to know! As to caliber, and specifically the argument over which is better, I'm not gonna take the bait on that, it's pointless to say the least. That said, pistols absolutely SUCK for fighting! Your forced to choose power vs what you can handle and shoot well enough, and no matter what you choose, it still dosn't even come close to a Rifle with even a questionable caliber! Years ago, the Air Force agreed to let us adopt the 10 mm auto as our standard sidearm, we got a bunch of S&W pistols and mags and went through the transition to get really good with them. The Upgrade in power was pretty serious, even over the .45 APC we had been using, and that served us quite nicely, until all the good full spec ammo dried up and we got .40 Short and Weak instead! Long story short, we were forced out of our sidearms and into the M-9 with it's 9 mm chambering, which absolutely SUCKED! Now days, I carry the 10 mm auto in a full size 1911 double stack, thats 16 +1 rounds of 100% pure nastiness with 200 grain solids truckin along @ near 1300 FPS, or 220 Grainers moving along at a swift 1200 FPS, that's SERIOUS power, more then the mighty .357 Mag with Nuke power hand loads! And the best part of 10 mm auto is the hand loads can go from the old FBI specs to Full Nuke +P and then some, taking things to damn near .41 Mag power levels, and it does it in a case that still fits the .45 auto size magazine! I pretty much stopped carrying the .357 Mag, and if I want more then the Big Ten, I go to ether .44 Mag, or .454 Casull and load with any of the choices from .45 Colt all the way to full anti material .454!
I my case my Belgian Browning HiPower in 9mm, gets me to my 30M1 Carbine, behind the Seat, and that gets me to my Custom AR10, in 308NATO, stored at home.. Good enough for this Monkey...
The only issue I have with these other rounds, like 10mm or the other specialized rifle rounds, is that they will be hard to come by in a SHTF world. I have nothing against them in today's world. But I am a firm believer in having weapons that take commonly used and available ammo. I'll always have something to run .223, .308, 7.62 x 39 and 51, .45 and 9mm. And those are the ones I stock up on. If nothing else they will make great barter. And in any type of TEOTWAKI event they will be found on any battle field.
This is what makes the 10mm such a good choice, to s of .40 S&W around that you can pick up and use if needed! Many only need a recoil spring change ( which should be part of your kit) and you can still rock and roll. Carry a 9mm Barrel and spring set and your good to go, though you would need Mags for the 9mm!
The old sheriff was attending an awards dinner when a lady commented on his wearing his sidearm. “Sheriff, I see you have your pistol. Are you expecting trouble?” “NO Ma’am. If I were expecting trouble, I would have brought my rifle.”
I thought about getting a 10mm about 20 years ago when it was time for me to legally buy my own hand gun. But the only options were a cult delta elite and those were like a thousand bucks. The other choice was plastic and they had a reputation for blowing up. Plus the 10mm bullet selection really sucked compared to .451'' if you found anything cool it was nearly double the price of the 45 bullets. Loaded ammo was always at least double the price.
Thankfully, that's all changed ( pre Plandemic) to where the factory 10mm auto stuff is about the same as .45 or decent 9mm! I haven't bought any since the lockdowns, but as soon as my supplier starts catching up, I will be re stocking! They are super good at producing quality ammo and reasonable prices, so much so, that they have loaded my fav bullets ( the. 180 gr Golden Sabers) and are selling them for what cheep "White Box" ammo sells for, and I can buy it in bulk and a pretty decent discount!
Well 20 yeas ago I could get a Walmart value pack of 45acp 230gr fmj for $19.99. Now I'm lucky if I can get 230gr fmj loose bullets for 20 cents each. The market has shifted to 9mm. 45 is becoming a lot more like 10mm.
I like my 45 and some years ago I bought once fired 45 brass (4,000) and reloaded them for pennies, I used the wife's food saver and sealed and put in an ammo cans. Should last long along time and stuff I shoot probably can reload another 6 times.
Have you tried some of the new polymer coated hard cast lead bullets? I've been shooting quite a bit of them in different calibers, and the polymer coating is tough enough to not leave ANY lead behind, and the load specs are just like regular cast lead. It's really a win-win.
10mm 180 grain XTP @ 1,300fps. About as good as it gets in hard hitting 10 mm ammo,, and reasonably priced again, and in stock, AGAIN!
I've pushed .357 Sig (.355" 90gr XTP's) to 1750fps out of a 6" barrel, and they don't disintegrate in flight. I never bothered to test them in a water jug, I probably should as I'm sure they would in water, but in the wood backstop I pried them out of they seemed to lose the lead in (relatively) one piece and leave the complete copper jacket shallow behind. There is some kind of cannelure tool available that I'd love to try to see if the bullets would be easier to load into the case and crimp, but also if it would keep the lead inside the jacket when it hits barriers. I'm not crapping on you, just my observations from my favorite handloads. Maybe the .401 diameter XTP's aren't as tough?
I had molds made for the 10mm. I'm running 200 grain HPs and SWCs that I powder coat. I need to get the stuff to make 200grn JHPs for the corbin.
Never had any issues with any of these, I have tested them in various mediums to see what they would do, including a rack of ribs with a big ham behind them, they absolutely destroyed the rib they hit and turned the ham into soup before spreadding it all over the back stop in a 4 foot circle, That's powerful! They are explosive, and yet they do crush bone, that's pretty hard to get a bullet to do, especially from a sub. 44 mag cartridge! Even better are the 220 grainers, those bad dudes will break a pelvis and keep on truckin!
I have a .40 S&W barrel for a 10 MM both work 100%. Some 10 MM fans say .40 S & W stands for .40 Small & Wimpy.
